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Help solve ghost TV

GumaRodak

GumaRodak

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 14, 2015
591
379
Hello,

one day electricity went down and from that time i see ghost apple TV...on all my devices. I did at least renaming the active one so i know which one is live. From that time i am not able to remove the ghost one....tried restarting, reseting airport extreme, reset network setting on ipad, iphone, mbp...removing the control devices from the TV etc...

no luck...this is now like 4 months without luck....

any idea?
 

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do you live in an apartment? or close to your neighbors

there's a decent chance that belongs to one of your neighbors, and you're seeing it over bluetooth.


if it's really a "ghost". Try shutting down your entire network at the same time, unplug everything. Once you've unplugged the last device, then go back to the first and start plugin back in. and I mean everthing, router, mobile devices, computers, streaming devices, HomePods, everything.
 
the ghost appeared rxactly after electricity shut down so i believe its no other atv at neigbhours. That method which you mentioned i tried already + more on that i did reset the network settings on all devices :) no luck
 
GumaRodak said:
the ghost appeared rxactly after electricity shut down so i believe its no other atv at neigbhours. That method which you mentioned i tried already + more on that i did reset the network settings on all devices :) no luck
Click to expand...
And what happens when you connect to it…?
 
Its asking for the code on the screen but no code is showing on the tv
 
Yeah, its strange... but i never ever had a connection from the other “user” iam pretty sure that he would like to connect to my TV because he must see mine as well, and i never saw on the screen a code from his potential request
 
If you've never renamed your AppleTV, it will have the exact same name that ALL AppleTVs have by default. The solution is to rename your AppleTV to something unique to you. Then when it shows up, you know it's yours and anything that isn't named that is someone else's.

This also makes it less likely someone else will attempt to connect to you by mistake. They can't unless they know your code, but the PIN request screen in the middle of some program can get annoying. This won't stop them from pinging you or you them, but it can reduce the frequency as someone tries to guess which AppleTV is theirs.

You would only see the request if they try to use AirPlay. They may never use screen sharing.
 
there is a setting in the airplay settings in the Apple TV, 2 of the choices are "everyone" and "only on same network"
everyone will broadcast your aTV via bluetooth, so your neighbors will see it,
same network will turn that broadcast off, so people must be on your network or wifi to connect.
 
Let me check this and report later. Yesterday a unpluged the TV from ethernet and connected via wifi only, no change...
 
GumaRodak said:
unpluged the TV from ethernet and connected via wifi only, no change...
Click to expand...
that's exactly what should happen.
doesn't matter if the aTV is on wifi or ethernet, it's still on your network.

GumaRodak said:
Yeah, its strange... but i never ever had a connection from the other “user” iam pretty sure that he would like to connect to my TV because he must see mine as well, and i never saw on the screen a code from his potential request
Click to expand...
it's possible they haven't tried it, many people have devices that they don't fully use.
 
so i apologize for late reply. I did recently installed new internet.

So i reset the airport extreme and created new network name. Then turned off everything...airport, iphones, macbook, apple tv, ipad... i keep them turned off for like 20mins...then slowly started to turning them ON step by step...

that stupid ghost TV appeared again :D
wondering why there isnt any option like in wifi "forget this device"

imagine if you are in a flat where all neighbours have 1 or multiple applet vs...it would be a mess... :D

P.S regarding the case that it can be another apple TV...i really doubt the case...because it appeared right after the electricity shut down...what is the chance neighbours purchased apple TV and plugged it right after the power outage? :)
 
GumaRodak said:
P.S regarding the case that it can be another apple TV...i really doubt the case...because it appeared right after the electricity shut down...what is the chance neighbours purchased apple TV and plugged it right after the power outage? :)
Click to expand...
Well, first of all, if my electricity went out I would probably get around to stuff I haven't bothered with earlier; like perhaps opening up new equipment that haven't been a priority before. So, hey, it's possible.

It's more likely that a neighbour had an ATV that somehow got reset by the power outage, though. So it's always been there, just is setup differently now.
 
GumaRodak said:
P.S regarding the case that it can be another apple TV...i really doubt the case...because it appeared right after the electricity shut down...what is the chance neighbours purchased apple TV and plugged it right after the power outage?
Click to expand...
Think what you will, but that's what's happening.

it could have happened a week before the power cut, but you didn't notice till after.
the reboot of the aTV caused by the power outage could have reset something on it.

GumaRodak said:
So i reset the airport extreme and created new network name. Then turned off everything...airport, iphones, macbook, apple tv, ipad... i keep them turned off for like 20mins...then slowly started to turning them ON step by step...

that stupid ghost TV appeared again :D

imagine if you are in a flat where all neighbours have 1 or multiple applet vs...it would be a mess... :D
Click to expand...
You did a lot of work, but nothing you did is in any way associated with how it's showing up
It's your neighbors device so resetting your entire home doesn't affect them
And it's being found by bluetooth, so wifi also has no affect.


it is bluetooth so it doesn't go through walls well, and even when it has a clear path, it only has around 30ft (10m) range.
I live in an apartment building, I see one quite frequently, and another depending on where I am in the apartment.
 
Since i live in a big house and my neighbours are mostly old retired ppls who can barely work with a smartphone, i am pretty sure, there is no other Apple TV in my near location. More on this, i live in a country where Apple products are rated as luxury, as for one MBP 16" peoples have to work like 6-7 months.

But i did a test for you to ensure to you its a ghost TV.
As the picture above is showing i have two apple TVs, the named one is perfectly working with airplay etc.
When i click the phantom one, its asking for a code...
So i turned off the hardware apple tv... the correct one disappeared and the phantom remained, but i was not able to connect to it after i unplugged the HW...
what is the chance that my neighbour did turned his apple tv too at the same time? :)
 
McScooby said:

Delete AirPlay device - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com discussions.apple.com
Click to expand...
I can't find the AppleTV Remote App in the app store? I thought I remembered something about this and searched. The Remote App is no longer available. Is there another way to get to these settings?

9to5mac.com

Apple removes its 'TV Remote' app from the App Store as iOS now has an integrated Remote - 9to5Mac

Apple today silently removed its “Apple TV Remote” app from the App Store, which lets users control the Apple TV...
9to5mac.com 9to5mac.com
 
BruiserB said:
I can't find the AppleTV Remote App in the app store? I thought I remembered something about this and searched. The Remote App is no longer available. Is there another way to get to these settings?

9to5mac.com

Apple removes its 'TV Remote' app from the App Store as iOS now has an integrated Remote - 9to5Mac

Apple today silently removed its “Apple TV Remote” app from the App Store, which lets users control the Apple TV...
9to5mac.com 9to5mac.com
Click to expand...
I originally had same issue as OP, but I'm still rockin' Mojave so can't guide you on Catalina/Big Sur.

I honestly think I solved the issue by changing my AppleTV airplay settings to same network in the airplay settings on my AppleTV / In display settings & my devices were 'smart' enough not to attempt to airplay to any other device - it was that long ago I can't really remember, but prior to that I had 2 or 3 neighbours showing up.

There's also this on Reddit,
https://www.reddit.com/r/appletv/comments/esf2ms

Either way I know it's annoying & frustrating, other option is maybe change your apple tv name to tell folk to change their settings i.e. rename your apple tv to "change your *F*ing* AppleTV airplay settings in menu" or words to that effect which is then broadcast to your neighbours, if you're unable to do so yourself, they might just take the hint!🤣
 
the airplay settings you are talking about are in the apple TV menu?
Tahnks
 
Either that and try to connect to the other apple TV every night at peak time if it's asking for a code (don't think you'd get that message if it's a ghoster), constantly bombard that sucker every night where it says it's asking for a code, that'd be sure to annoy the hell out of whoever's it is to check the internet to solve it!:D
 
i am sure its ghost...airplay settings didnt helped...this stupid bug is insane :), a lot of ppls are having it and there is no solution :)
Its worse as mackeeper in terms of getting rid of it
 
i did reset it several times :) there is one more advice from the web... reset modem and turn off from grid evrything what you can :) and leave it unplugged for 1h or so will try it today
 
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