Losing connection from iTunes after 1 hour

Steppy · Feb 28, 2012

As the title says, recently my ATV2 seems to be losing its connection with iTunes.

I can be watching a film then after an hour the film stops and it goes back to the ATV menu. When I try a to start it up again it can't find my iMac. The only way I can get it working again is buy turning off Home Sharing in iTunes, then turning it back on again. Once I have done that it carries on again.

I have searched through the internet and can see that I am not alone, but can't seem to find any difinitive answer

Currently using WPA2 encryption, connected wirelessly and my iMac is on wireless too. It only seems to have started recently and was doing it before the latest wireless update from Apple. My ATV2 is not Jailbroken

Any hints/tips greatly appreciated.

kolax · Feb 28, 2012

Try changing the wireless channel on your router. Neighbour maybe has a new router on the same channel and it is causing interference, or even a cordless telephone.

Steppy · Feb 28, 2012

Kilamite said:
Try changing the wireless channel on your router. Neighbour maybe has a new router on the same channel and it is causing interference, or even a cordless telephone.

My router is set to auto select the best channel available, but I could try and select one manually.

Thanks.

Wavell · Feb 28, 2012

Steppy said:
My router is set to auto select the best channel available, but I could try and select one manually.

Thanks.

I used to have this problem.. after months of trying out various wi-fi related tweaks, I ended up just plugging an ethernet cable into back of it and routing the traffic via an airport express (but you'd also get the same end result using home powerline ethernet adaptors). It's been fine ever since. I really think the ATV2 isn't exactly robust when it comes to wi-fi

rayward · Feb 28, 2012

Wavell said:
I used to have this problem.. after months of trying out various wi-fi related tweaks, I ended up just plugging an ethernet cable into back of it and routing the traffic via an airport express (but you'd also get the same end result using home powerline ethernet adaptors). It's been fine ever since. I really think the ATV2 isn't exactly robust when it comes to wi-fi

I have both wired and wi-fi connected ATVs (1st gen.). For years, the connection was rock steady on all of them but, since the last OS Lion update, they all have been dropping off in the manner described by the OP. If playing something the connection is solid but, as soon as I go back to a root menu, I have about a 50/50 chance of the connection being dropped when selecting another movie to play and getting the ubiquitous "You do not have any movies on this device" message.

Normally, a sync of the unit in question will fix the issue. Sometimes I have to close and re-open iTunes to get it to go. Either way, I have to trek to my Mac to initiate the sync (still pissed that Apple have never offered the option to start a sync from the unit).

The issue appears to be entirely with iTunes. Often, when I look at iTunes after a dropped connection, the 4 ATVs are missing from the list and/or iTunes has the spinning colour wheel going. Occasionally a force quit is required to get the ATVs reconnected. I'm hoping that this will be fixed by a future update.

FWIW, my network is run through an AEBS, so it's all-Apple. Everything is operating with up-to-date firmware and software.

Steppy · Feb 28, 2012

rayward said:
I have both wired and wi-fi connected ATVs (1st gen.). For years, the connection was rock steady on all of them but, since the last OS Lion update, they all have been dropping off in the manner described by the OP. If playing something the connection is solid but, as soon as I go back to a root menu, I have about a 50/50 chance of the connection being dropped when selecting another movie to play and getting the ubiquitous "You do not have any movies on this device" message.

Normally, a sync of the unit in question will fix the issue. Sometimes I have to close and re-open iTunes to get it to go. Either way, I have to trek to my Mac to initiate the sync (still pissed that Apple have never offered the option to start a sync from the unit).

The issue appears to be entirely with iTunes. Often, when I look at iTunes after a dropped connection, the 4 ATVs are missing from the list and/or iTunes has the spinning colour wheel going. Occasionally a force quit is required to get the ATVs reconnected. I'm hoping that this will be fixed by a future update.

FWIW, my network is run through an AEBS, so it's all-Apple. Everything is operating with up-to-date firmware and software.

Thank you very much.

It does then seem to point to some kind of update issue as it never used to happen until recently. Oddly I have never seen my ATV2 show up in iTunes???

Guess I will have to wait and see if it improves

redfirebird08 · Feb 29, 2012

This is the kind of thread I was wanting to see here. I've never owned an Apple TV but I am curious about the wireless connection on it. Some people seem to say wireless streaming from iTunes to the Apple TV is great, but then there are complaints like this thread. My Internet is 24 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. I have plenty of files with bitrates above 3 Mbps, so would I run into problems trying to stream those files to the Apple TV?

Steppy · Feb 29, 2012

redfirebird08 said:
This is the kind of thread I was wanting to see here. I've never owned an Apple TV but I am curious about the wireless connection on it. Some people seem to say wireless streaming from iTunes to the Apple TV is great, but then there are complaints like this thread. My Internet is 24 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. I have plenty of files with bitrates above 3 Mbps, so would I run into problems trying to stream those files to the Apple TV?

I have no issues with the actual streaming at all. My line is around 12 Mbps and its very smooth.

My issue is with iTunes losing its connection with ATV after an hour. A bug that seems to have developed over the last week or so.

I love the ATV and is one of the best value gadgets I have

Wavell · Feb 29, 2012

rayward said:
I have both wired and wi-fi connected ATVs (1st gen.). ...<snip>

The issue appears to be entirely with iTunes. Often, when I look at iTunes after a dropped connection, the 4 ATVs are missing from the list and/or iTunes has the spinning colour wheel going. Occasionally a force quit is required to get the ATVs reconnected. I'm hoping that this will be fixed by a future update.

FWIW, my network is run through an AEBS, so it's all-Apple. Everything is operating with up-to-date firmware and software.

yep..totally agree.. it's definately all with Apple. I just got fed up waiting for them to fix it (I'm pretty sure it's not a new issue.. it's been in the apple support forums for ages it seems) so decided to take Wi-Fi out of the equation and hard-wired it instead.

steve09090 · Feb 29, 2012

Steppy said:
Thank you very much.

It does then seem to point to some kind of update issue as it never used to happen until recently. Oddly I have never seen my ATV2 show up in iTunes???

Guess I will have to wait and see if it improves

You won't have ATV2 show up in iTunes. You connect it using the password, and it sees everything in the iTunes Library. The reason ATV1 shows up is that it syncs to a HDD like the iPod/iPhone.

Going back to the problem, a mate had heaps of trouble, and we worked it back to the wifi on his router. He ended up going to Ethernet. However, he has just moved house and hasn't had any problems with his wifi connection (when the Mac is set not to timeout). I would suggest it is some kind of interference on the wifi channel as others ave said.

mstrze · Feb 29, 2012

Someone spoke about syncing from the unit. I have had great luck with going into the ATV2 menus and choosing to stop and then restart home sharing with a few taps of my remote. No need to go to the computer and mess with iTunes (in my experience at least.)

I know this doesn't solve the problem, but it's an easier way of dealing with it.

I vote for trying to find a clear wifi channel and choosing one of those. Neighbors or various electrical appliances may be interfering with your signal and causing the dropout.

OR

(I am assuming you have already tried this)...your computer may be going to sleep after one hour and you have not chosen the 'wake on wireless' option to wake it back up. Make sure you are set up properly to do this.

kolax · Feb 29, 2012

Do you have the OS X firewall enabled? Sometimes it interferes with iTunes playing nice with the Apple TV.

redfirebird08 · Feb 29, 2012

Steppy said:
I have no issues with the actual streaming at all. My line is around 12 Mbps and its very smooth.

My issue is with iTunes losing its connection with ATV after an hour. A bug that seems to have developed over the last week or so.

I love the ATV and is one of the best value gadgets I have

Do you mean 12 Mbps for downloads or uploads? Thanks.

Steppy · Mar 1, 2012

redfirebird08 said:
Do you mean 12 Mbps for downloads or uploads? Thanks.

Downloads

redfirebird08 · Mar 1, 2012

Steppy said:
Downloads

Ah. I figured out how to get Home Sharing set up tonight between my iMac and Macbook. Hadn't ever tried it before, but I suppose the performance on Apple TV would be similar to my Macbook streaming content from my iMac. Speed seemed pretty good on some HD files that I tested.

rayward · Mar 1, 2012

redfirebird08 said:
This is the kind of thread I was wanting to see here. I've never owned an Apple TV but I am curious about the wireless connection on it. Some people seem to say wireless streaming from iTunes to the Apple TV is great, but then there are complaints like this thread. My Internet is 24 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. I have plenty of files with bitrates above 3 Mbps, so would I run into problems trying to stream those files to the Apple TV?

Wavell said:
yep..totally agree.. it's definately all with Apple. I just got fed up waiting for them to fix it (I'm pretty sure it's not a new issue.. it's been in the apple support forums for ages it seems) so decided to take Wi-Fi out of the equation and hard-wired it instead.

For the record, I lose connection on both wired and wireless ATVs. I have 4, 2 wired, 2 wi-fi, and all 4 will drop regularly now. In fact, the two I use the most are the wired units, and so they're the ones I see drop the most.

Devie · Mar 3, 2012

This started to happen to me too, I think I had found the problem. It was whenever iTunes wanted something from you. ie, a new software update, logging into the store, or anything that its prompting you to do. So I usually shut down iTunes, restart, log into the store, and leave it. Then off to the atv2 and it would work.

Now I would often leave the thing on over night as I fell asleep during a tv show or something. Wake up and its still playing. This is via WiFi at the other end of the house...

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