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Homesharing, suddenly disconnects all the time

machpost

machpost

macrumors 6502
Jan 28, 2010
420
497
Washington, DC
I don't know if it's related, but lately I've been having problems accessing the photos on my PC on the Apple TV. When I click on my computer on the Apple TV, then select Photos, I'll just get the spinning wheel with "loading photos" message. It usually takes several tries to get it to connect.
 
iphone1105

iphone1105

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 8, 2009
2,106
316
Just an FYI, homesharing over wifi between my iPad and MacBook is flawless, no issues in that homesharing pair, just with the ATV. Which makes me realize more, this is an ATV issue,grrr.
 
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davids8477

macrumors 6502
Jan 4, 2008
282
3
iphone1105 said:
Just an FYI, homesharing over wifi between my iPad and MacBook is flawless, no issues in that homesharing pair, just with the ATV. Which makes me realize more, this is an ATV issue,grrr.
Click to expand...

I honestly do not think its an ATV issue, but rather an iTunes issue.
And its not a router issue.

I have my media in iTunes on a central Mac Mini. When I try to load the Central Library on either one of my ATVs (2 and 3) or my iMac or Laptop I get the Loading Library notice in the local iTunes but nothing loads. The local devices are connected either wired or wireless

I found 2 work arounds.
1. Stop and Start Home sharing
2. Stop and restart Itunes.

Both work immediately and there is no stuttering etc once they have connected.

So I wrote a simple Automator workflow to close and then open iTunes at 6 every morning. For the last week no issues.

Not the best answer, but until a better solution - hopefully from Apple - comes along......
 
Tower-Union

Tower-Union

macrumors 6502
May 6, 2009
450
20
I didn't do a real thorough read of all the posts here (more of a skimming) but the easiest solution I've found is to fire the program up on my computer, then set it to display on the appleTV (little airplay icon in the bottom right of iTunes will allow you to choose where you want it to display), it'll play through the entire show/movie without any problems. Of course its still a PITA to not be able to go through my appleTV to play the next episode but hopefully Apple will fix this!
 
T

txcpetty

macrumors newbie
Apr 10, 2012
2
0
Me too

Worked great until couple of days ago-- network is fine but homesharing is not working. My time zone keeps changing, I think this is an issue. Also set all my computers, and phone to share this helped for a little bit. Then unplugged, it helped for a little bit-- Someone said to do all kinds of changes in address so it wont grab onto phone ect-- REally? must I ? Why can't Apple fix what they broke?
 
S

sers

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2006
329
628
I tried reinstalling older versions of iTunes, but the problem remained. I'm wondering if it's the latest version of the Apple TV OS that's the problem.
 
mavis

mavis

macrumors 601
Jul 30, 2007
4,734
1,452
Tokyo, Japan
I'm having a problem with this, too. I just bought an ATV3 and every time I try to access my iMac's Home Sharing (iTunes 10.6.1 running on Lion 10.7.3), it says that it's unavailable. After restarting iTunes, it works fine.

Here's my setup:

ATV3 --CAT5--> AirPort Extreme 5th gen #1
iMac --CAT5--> AirPort Extreme 5th gen #2

The two AEBS units are connected at 450Mbps (-45dBm) with reserved IP addresses for all of the devices on my network, so I don't think it's a network problem. Also, last night my iPad 3 was disconnected in the middle of a movie (but was able to finish the movie after restarting iTunes), so it's apparently not an ATV3-specific problem, either. Any suggestions?
 
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duncyboy

macrumors 6502a
Feb 5, 2008
724
1
May as well throw my tuppence in too...

Got a new ATV yesterday and have the same problem streaming movies/TV stuff from my iMac. It's finicky at best loading shared photos and music too.

All other service work fine, I'm absolutely convinced it's an issue with Home Sharing. I reinstalled/restarted with the latest software and a restart of iTunes temporarily fixed it. Deffo not an issue with my network.

All I can do is urge EVERYONE on here with a problem, if you haven't already, raise a ticket with Apple through their feedback. From various forums it seems this is quite an issue and the more of us point it out, hopefully, the sooner we'll get a fix?
 
whooleytoo

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
I went through a list of 'fixes' over several weeks (changing channels, changing routers, switching to Ethernet) and they all worked to various degrees.

Finally, I took my ATV2 back for a replacement, and it's been fine* since. I use it quite a bit for music & video, and haven't had the once/twice daily disconnects since.

(* have had other issues, but nothing like as often as the Home Sharing disconnects)
 
S

sers

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2006
329
628
Watched 2 movies last night on one apple tv with no issues. Went to watch another movie this morning on my other apple tv and it quit at least 4 times. Going to take that one back today for replacement and see if that helps.
 
S

sers

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2006
329
628
Went to the genius bar today and they told me to just use the remote app and play my media through AirPlay. I said this wasn't good enough and he suggested I do a full restore via my Mac as opposed to the apple tv. Have it plugged into my Mac now and doing a restore. Hoping this helps.

This is so frustrating.
 
J

jacksyee

macrumors newbie
May 10, 2011
3
0
I have had the same issue since my last update.

I have done the following:

1) reinstalled itunes after removing itunes and bonjour
2) hard connected my appletv to my router via cat 6
3) set my router to only wireless G
4) manually set my IP address on my router to ...102 and on my apple tv to ...102
5) restarted router and apple tv2

I get homesharing for 5 minutes then lose it. Oddly sometimes my ipad library can be seen by ATV2. My itunes thinks homesharing is on.

If I turn Homeshare on and off it works for another 5 minutes from my PC.

if i reboott Itunes it works for another 5 minutes.

I wonder if this is a clever way for apple to get you to subscribe to itunes match :)

Any other suggestions than those above? I think it's clearly Itunes - ATV works fine every other way - I can watch my purchased programs and music from the cloud via match for music and movies/TV if I have bought.
 
W

Wildog27

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2008
87
2
My issue is only with the ATV3. It'll do the play homeshare for 10 minutes then quit. I can restart the ATV3 and it'll play for 5 minutes then lose the homeshare again. The other 2 ATV2s we have work fine on homeshare. I wonder if it's some issue with the dual wifi antennas in the system itself and it's not making some transition between the two.
 
D

duncyboy

macrumors 6502a
Feb 5, 2008
724
1
As an update to my previous post- over the weekend I set up my Apple TV with wired networking using powerline adaptors. I figured if I could only use the online stuff like YouTube I may as well speed up the connection. I restarted Home Sharing via iTunes when I was ready and, touch wood, it's been perfect since? No idea why cos it was a decent enough Wifi signal :confused:
 
steve-p

steve-p

macrumors 68000
Oct 14, 2008
1,740
42
Newbury, UK
duncyboy said:
As an update to my previous post- over the weekend I set up my Apple TV with wired networking using powerline adaptors. I figured if I could only use the online stuff like YouTube I may as well speed up the connection. I restarted Home Sharing via iTunes when I was ready and, touch wood, it's been perfect since? No idea why cos it was a decent enough Wifi signal :confused:
Click to expand...

I use powerline to get a wired network to my AV cabinet then straight into a hidden 8 port switch for the various things that need a network (ATV, Xbox, TV, Sky, AVR). I used to have issues with wireless too despite a strong signal but it's 100% stable these days. I think maybe having multiple wifi devices close together can cause some problems.
 
E

EvilC5

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2010
504
0
Hanover MD
I have several ATV2's and 1 ATV3, and they all seem to disconnect from my Mini server library (which is where all my movies are) quite often. every one of my ATV's are wired via cat6 thru gigE switches to the newest AEBS, with the older firmware since lots of people said the new firmware causes issues.

I have VNC on my ipad, and can close itunes out pretty easily and restart, but its still a pain.
 
S

sers

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2006
329
628
Well, restoring the Apple TV via my iMac didn't work. The problem is actually worse now.

I give up!!!!
 
S

sers

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2006
329
628
I think I may have fixed my Homesharing problem. I have a wall mounted plasma tv and my Apple tv was mounted on the wall right behind it. After trying almost very suggested solution on this site and the Apple forums, I thought that maybe something was interfering with the wifi signal. I read in the apple tv owners manual that nothing should be placed on top of the apple tv as it might interfere with the wifi signal. The top of my apple tv was velcroed to the wall and faced the back of my tv. Suspecting that the back of my tv was interfering with my apple tv receiving a consistent wifi signal, I decided to velcroe my apple tv to the back of my tv, but with the top facing outwards away from the tv. To my amazement, homesharing now works without cutting out. I watched a whole movie without it cutting out to the home screen.

I'm still not 100% sure that this solved the problem as I never had any problems with iTunes, YouTube or Netflix movies before. I'll do more testing this week, but I've never been able to stream a whole movie without it cutting out.

I just thought I'd share my experience with you all. Check to see if anything might be interfering with your apple tv receiving a consistent wifi signal. This might be a problem for some people.
 
iphone1105

iphone1105

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 8, 2009
2,106
316
sers said:
I think I may have fixed my Homesharing problem. I have a wall mounted plasma tv and my Apple tv was mounted on the wall right behind it. After trying almost very suggested solution on this site and the Apple forums, I thought that maybe something was interfering with the wifi signal. I read in the apple tv owners manual that nothing should be placed on top of the apple tv as it might interfere with the wifi signal. The top of my apple tv was velcroed to the wall and faced the back of my tv. Suspecting that the back of my tv was interfering with my apple tv receiving a consistent wifi signal, I decided to velcroe my apple tv to the back of my tv, but with the top facing outwards away from the tv. To my amazement, homesharing now works without cutting out. I watched a whole movie without it cutting out to the home screen.

I'm still not 100% sure that this solved the problem as I never had any problems with iTunes, YouTube or Netflix movies before. I'll do more testing this week, but I've never been able to stream a whole movie without it cutting out.

I just thought I'd share my experience with you all. Check to see if anything might be interfering with your apple tv receiving a consistent wifi signal. This might be a problem for some people.
Click to expand...

My ATV is mounted the same way and position as yours, via velcro and homesharing still sucks. But glad it's working for you, that's cool! Enjoy it.
 
whooleytoo

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
EvilC5 said:
mine are all wired to my gigabit network, and home sharing still drops
Click to expand...

Yup, even a wired connection isn't rock-solid. Switching to wired did make a big difference for me, until an update broke it again. The only lasting solution I've seen is having my ATV replaced (under warranty). I'm hoping this one won't break too with a future update!
 
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