Confused, internet down, no shows on ATV from iMac

[xplnusa]

Okay. So what am I missing here? My WiFi is still up. I can still see my iMac and other devices on my network but I can't seem to watch the 600+ movies that I've ripped onto the HD of my iMac since my internet is down.

Am I missing something here or is this correct?

 

[Longkeg]

I've heard that in some cases the AppleTV needs the Internet to verify content purchased from iTunes. Without that verification the content won't stream. In theory this shouldn't affect non iTunes content, but...
A couple of weeks ago our Comcast was out for over 18 hours; no cable or internet. No problem I thought, I have all 5 seasons of Boston Legal, originally recorded with a USB video capture stick (not from iTunes) in my iMac's iTunes library. They all showed up on the AppleTV but when I tried to play them I got nothing but the spinning doughnut. I was finally able to watch by home sharing to an iPad then air playing on the AppleTV. I chalked it up to a network configure issue due to the Internet being gone. That's just a guess. Like the OP I'd love to know how this works too.

 

[JackieInCo]

My DSL went out last Friday and still isn't fixed. I got around that by using my iPhone to tether to my MBP. I then shared that connection to my ethernet port which connects to my AEBS. I then connected a cable from the AEBS to my ATV which then gave it internet access and was then able to play my iTunes content on my computer. Because I use tetherme. I barely used 500MB of my 7GB tethering allotment even though my T-Mobile apps shows I used 12GB during the week.

The ATV needs some form of internet and it doesn't matter where it gets it from.

 

[Longkeg]

The ATV needs some form of internet and it doesn't matter where it gets it from.

Agreed. But the question is why does it require Internet for non iTunes content? There is no DRM attached to self ripped/recorded files so why is it refusing to play these files? The iPad was wifi only and had no internet either but it could play my programs via home sharing with no problem. Why?

 

[JackieInCo]

Agreed. But the question is why does it require Internet for non iTunes content? There is no DRM attached to self ripped/recorded files so why is it refusing to play these files? The iPad was wifi only and had no internet either but it could play my programs via home sharing with no problem. Why?

Probably something only Apple can answer.

 

[Longkeg]

Probably something only Apple can answer.

Yeah, like that's going to ever happen. It's much more fun to wildly speculate with no real facts at hand. Isn't that what these forums are for?

 

[danny_w]

This is a long standing issue that many here refuse to admit exists. Perhaps it has never happened to them but it has happened to many others, myself included. I wish we knew the real answer and how to fix it.

 

[JackieInCo]

This is a long standing issue that many here refuse to admit exists. Perhaps it has never happened to them but it has happened to many others, myself included. I wish we knew the real answer and how to fix it.

Maybe for the same reasons that the iTunes store requires an account to download album artwork or you need a payment method to download a free app. Without internet access, you can't buy stuff.

 

[Darth.Titan]

Agreed. But the question is why does it require Internet for non iTunes content? There is no DRM attached to self ripped/recorded files so why is it refusing to play these files? The iPad was wifi only and had no internet either but it could play my programs via home sharing with no problem. Why?

It doesn't. My Uverse was out for several days last week, so no TV and no internet. The only thing that kept me sane were TV shows and movies I streamed locally from my Mac to my Apple TVs. I was able to watch both purchased content and my ripped materials with no internet connection at all.

Not saying you guys haven't had issues, I just wanted you to know they weren't normal.

 

[JackieInCo]

It doesn't. My Uverse was out for several days last week, so no TV and no internet. The only thing that kept me sane were TV shows and movies I streamed locally from my Mac to my Apple TVs. I was able to watch both purchased content and my ripped materials with no internet connection at all.

Not saying you guys haven't had issues, I just wanted you to know they weren't normal.

I verified what the OP has posted about once again tonight. Unplugged the ethernet from my modem to my AEBS cutting off the internet. my ATV and Mini hosting my TV shows are plugged into the AEBS via ethernet. Tried to watch a TV show and just got the spinning wheel.

Reconnected the cable modem and tried the show again and it played instantly.

 

[Boyd01]

This is a long standing issue that many here refuse to admit exists. Perhaps it has never happened to them but it has happened to many others

Happened to me about a week ago. My Verizon DSL was down most of the day and my two Apple TVs could not access my library of over 1000 ripped Movies and TV shows on my Mini. But I was still able access everything over home sharing using my MacBook Air.

 

[BuddyRich]

Home sharing needs inet to authorize the device for home sharing. Just the way they designed the protocol.

See a Synology's Devs answer:

http://blog.synology.com/?p=29

Theoretically it shouldn't need it after that, but I think after a certain amount of time it needs to reauthorize. What that time is I don't know... thats why it works for some people without inet and not others. At least for a time. Newer versions of itunes and ios for ATV may even require it to authenticate every time or at least more often. I found it tried to authenticate less often with older versions of ATV OS and itunes 10.x vs. 11/12, but I was lucky enough to have an older ATV3 that could revert back to 5.3.

It might also depend on how you tag your files in itunes. Try tagging stuff as home movies which would never be DRMed... so it should never need to phone home to authenticate them. Might also make a difference.

Here's hopping an ATV4 has an app store that will allow an app like Kodi that can stream from a simple share.

 

[Boyd01]

I think after a certain amount of time it needs to reauthorize. What that time is I don't know... thats why it works for some people without inet and not others.

My DSL connection was going up and down while they were trying to restore it last week. So the Apple TV would work and continue playing a movie I was watching. But if I went back to the menu to choose another movie while the WAN was down, it didn't work. Then it would start working again, and stop again. So the that time interval must be pretty short...

 

[Darth.Titan]

As I said, I'm not trying to call anyone a liar, just relating my experience.

If my internet is down but my LAN is still up, I have no issues using home sharing.

 

[d21mike]

If really only to authorized. Why not use your Phone's Personal Hot Spot if you have one. I am getting my tires changed and working on my laptop using my iPhone Personal Hot Spot. Works great. Seems like most Mobile Share Plans now allow for Personal Hot Spot.

 

[oneMadRssn]

As I said, I'm not trying to call anyone a liar, just relating my experience.

If my internet is down but my LAN is still up, I have no issues using home sharing.

Can you share some specifics about your configuration?

Mac model?
OS X version?
iTunes version?
AppleTV generation?
AppleTV OS version?
Ethernet or WiFi connection?
Router Type?
Anything else that might affect this?

I'm not trying to be cross. I'm legitimately interested to find out why yours is different.

 

[Boyd01]

Why not use your Phone's Personal Hot Spot if you have one.

That would be a good solution, but the last time I checked AT&T's rates, it cost something like $50 more per month than my grandfathered unlimited data plan. Wouldn't be worth it for my usage patterns.

 

[d21mike]

That would be a good solution, but the last time I checked AT&T's rates, it cost something like $50 more per month than my grandfathered unlimited data plan. Wouldn't be worth it for my usage patterns.

I assume you only have maybe 1 phone on your plan. We had 4 on our plan with unlimited. And we had 2 iPads with unlimited data plans. We saved a lot of money by switching to Shared Data and using Personal Hot Spot for the iPads (and now for our laptops). Also, AT&T just lower the prices on the 15GB Data Plan to be the same as the old 10GB plan we were using before. Of course you would not do this to solve the problem with the occasional lost of home internet.

 

[Boyd01]

I assume you only have maybe 1 phone on your plan.

Exactly. They are always trying to sell me a shared plan and it just makes no sense for one person with one phone. I live in a somewhat remote location though and the only internet option is slow Verizon DSL. If they didn't cap the data, and if I could get a reliable cell signal in my house (which I can't), I would be happy to drop the DSL and go wireless. LTE is definitely faster than my DSL.

Unfortunately, that just isn't an option at this point. Back on topic… I have only had this problem a couple times since I got the Apple TVs, so it isn't a big deal. But it is annoying that I can't view my own content using my own hardware when the internet goes down.

Curious…. you use Plex with the Trailers hack, does that work during an internet outage?

 

[McScooby]

I'm sure I got round it before by just plugging the ATV directly into the mac with an Ethernet cable (didn't have a spare Tbolt to HDMI to hand).

 

[Darth.Titan]

Can you share some specifics about your configuration?
I'm not trying to be cross. I'm legitimately interested to find out why yours is different.

Mac model? iMac 13,1 ( At least that's what OS X thinks it is, it's a Hackintosh)
OS X version? Latest public beta of El Cap, 10.11
iTunes version? Latest
AppleTV generation? I have a 2nd and a 3rd gen, both work identically as far as what we're discussing
AppleTV OS version? Latest
Ethernet or WiFi connection? WiFi
Router Type? Airport Extreme base station. (802.11n version, not the new ac version)
Anything else that might affect this? A family of magic gnomes that live beneath the floor? IDK

 

[oneMadRssn]

Mac model? iMac 13,1 ( At least that's what OS X thinks it is, it's a Hackintosh)
OS X version? Latest public beta of El Cap, 10.11
iTunes version? Latest
AppleTV generation? I have a 2nd and a 3rd gen, both work identically as far as what we're discussing
AppleTV OS version? Latest
Ethernet or WiFi connection? WiFi
Router Type? Airport Extreme base station. (802.11n version, not the new ac version)
Anything else that might affect this? A family of magic gnomes that live beneath the floor? IDK

Haha, thanks. Must be the gnomes.

I wonder if el cap is the thing that fixes this....

 

[cynics]

What about Airplaying Peer-to-peer from the Mac?

 

[Darth.Titan]

Haha, thanks. Must be the gnomes.

I wonder if el cap is the thing that fixes this....

Nah, it worked in Yosemite also.