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Wife is fed up with ATV - Suggestions? (Sorry long post)

When I first got my mac mini (2009) on Leopard and an ATV then I found that if streaming that the power saving would cut off my streaming connection.

As such I set my iTune Library to be shared out and connect to the shared library from the ATV over the wireless.

No longer did my movie drop out due to the mac going to sleep. Just had to ensure the mac was awake before turning on ATV.:(

I have since upgraded my mini to snow leopard and have the Time Capsule box wake the mini if the ATV tries to connect to the iTunes library.

Is now flawless, only difference is that instead of going to movies I goto Shared Movies instead but works great.

Network is Time Capsule, Mac Mini wired in, ATV in bedroom connected via Wireless.
 
Hi,

I currently planning to set up my own HTPC for my multimedia.

I am going to be using a Mac Mini. I looked at the Apple TV, but it looks like it has way too many problems and limitations.

I plan on using a combination of Front Row and Plex as my HTPC interface. I will set up the Mini so when it is powered on it will launch Front Row automatically. I like the Front Row interface for Photos, Music, and Trailers. Also it can be used to play any iTunes DRM content(if I ever get any).

I will use Plex for my movies and TV shows. I found a plugin for Front Row to add Plex to the menu so I can launch Plex from inside Front Row. With the plugin I can seamlessly switch between the two programs.

I will then attach a external HD to the Mac Mini to store all of the content. I might setup some kind of network later, but for now I just want to get my stuff on my TV.

So far I have been testing this setup on my iMac, and I am really liking it.

Even though the Mac Mini is kind of pricy it has so much going for it in terms of its software flexibility and its hardware's ability to play even HD content. Plus if something better(e.g. Apple TV 2) comes along I can sell the Mini for almost what I paid for it, since Minis seem to retain much of their value.

So my suggestion is to use a Mac Mini with Front Row and Plex in combination.
 
I use Vuze and my Xbox 360 with Netflix for viewing my movies. I just drag whatever movie I want to watch from my HD into Vuze and it shows up on the 360 and streams wirelessly without any problems. I did have to get the new Wireless N antenna for my Xbox.
 
YOu really have to troubleshoot this issue before you declare ATV sucks.

It really could be a wireless problem.

It could be interference from some other piece of electronics or it could be another computer on the network that gets it down to g if it isn't locked to N.

Or your wireless signal could just be crap in one area of the house.

Hell maybe you have 3rd party software installed on your computer that interferes with the whole process as well.

Not a big ATV fan, but many seem to use it without the problems you have.

The number one thing I would do is test it via ethernet. Run a wire across the living room for testing purposes. And I would change routers as well as another test.

Also don't forget you can use powerline networking (200mbps or greater) and network (wired) over your AC power wires.

And new Apple routers let a device wake up a Mac from sleep - made for devices like the ATV from what I understand.
 
I used to have a lot of wireless connection issues with my Apple TV as well. I found that what helped me was to change my Airport Extreme's wireless channel. It was set to automatic and I changed it to channel 11. This has made my wireless connection a lot more stable. We have several wireless networks in the neighborhood, and I'm guessing that one of them was interfering with my signal.

Good luck getting it figured out.
 
aced411 said:
Bought an Apple TV a year ago. As soon as my wife saw how easy it was to use, she was bought in (the main factor). Between netflix streaming on the 360 and ATV, we quit cable and haven't looked back.

Fast forward to today, we have two Apple TV's, about $300 worth of iTunes video and well over 200 DVD's imported via handbrake. I have been fighting with iTunes sync the entire time! I've done everything. Bought an AEBS, installed every update, reset to factory settings several times, reinstalled iTunes, completely wiped the iMac, static IP's....trust me I've tried everything. To this day, the Apple TV is not reliable enough when using sync. It still drops out of iTunes for no reason. I consider having to restart iTunes routinely an unacceptable solution, and that's best case scenario for us. We also love routinely being told our content won't play, even though a restart of ATV and a little patience makes this message take a coffee break.

My wife finally had it. She no longer uses the Apple TV, opting to just use Netflix on the 360. Her comment was, "It never works for me so I stopped using it". Me, being a total tech...I mean crap that's my career...am also fed up. Here's the problem:

I don't want to go back, re-encode everything and buy $300 of the same video in another format. I considered the following:

  • XBOX 360 local storage (iTunes videos wouldn't play)
  • XBOX 360 via Connect360 (again...iTunes video wouldn't play)
  • Media Center & 360 (Don't know how well it works and I doubt all my iTunes videos will play)
  • Install USB hack, hook up external drives to ATV's and sync content local to ATV (Would like this, but it has to be easy and reliable and not require continuous hacking b/c I just don't have time w/ 2 kids)
Click to expand...

I was in the EXACT same situation as you, with 2 Apple TVs, a wife who loved to use it, and several kids so no time to deal with hacks that required a lot of time and effort. You can see several long threads I started dealing with the problems I had with my AppleTVs dropping out of iTunes and looking for a solution. All these problems were solved when I spent the $50 to purchase ATV Flash solely for the purpose of enabling me to hook up an external hard drive to my Apple TVs. I now have 2 Apple TVs, each with 1 TB in external storage. It works seemlessly and I no longer EVER have to worry about syncing my AppleTVs or even having iTunes open. Go with it (or one of the similar options that allow you to hook up an external hard drive) and you will never regret it. As someone without a lot of time on his hands, I went with ATV Flash just because it was so easy and idiot-proof to install. I haven't had a single problem with my AppleTVs since.
 
Oh boy, where to start. Well, 1st off thank you everyone for trying to help, I really appreciate it! There were several suggestions in this thread. Most of the troubleshooting steps I've already tried, trust me I've been dealing with this for a year. In my trials I found the 360 media center & zune interface is Flintstones compared to ATV. I will say, jersey10 you described exactly what I need. Yes, I can figure out the freeware stuff but I just don't have time for that stuff these days. I used to, and it was fun while lasted.

So here's the situation: My ATV's have been working great for the last 2 days since I put my iMac on the Airport Express and disabled the built in wireless. I'm guessing it's distance/interference. That being said, I've been lead to believe the problem was solved many, many times...so the 1st time this happens and I rule out the basics (iTunes not open etc), I will give the ATV Flash a shot. Again, thanks jersey. I needed a one time fix that would not require continual effort or workarounds to load content....especially to help my wife, as she likes to purchase videos and sync the ATV herself. I didn't want to be in a situation where I install some free hack to get usb connectivity and my wife goes to sync iTunes and everything gets messed up.

jersey10 said:
I was in the EXACT same situation as you, with 2 Apple TVs, a wife who loved to use it, and several kids so no time to deal with hacks that required a lot of time and effort. You can see several long threads I started dealing with the problems I had with my AppleTVs dropping out of iTunes and looking for a solution. All these problems were solved when I spent the $50 to purchase ATV Flash solely for the purpose of enabling me to hook up an external hard drive to my Apple TVs. I now have 2 Apple TVs, each with 1 TB in external storage. It works seemlessly and I no longer EVER have to worry about syncing my AppleTVs or even having iTunes open. Go with it (or one of the similar options that allow you to hook up an external hard drive) and you will never regret it. As someone without a lot of time on his hands, I went with ATV Flash just because it was so easy and idiot-proof to install. I haven't had a single problem with my AppleTVs since.
Click to expand...
 
hold the phone.... $50 is one thing but there is no way I'm paying an annual subcription fee. I'm not THAT desperate.

jersey10 said:
I was in the EXACT same situation as you, with 2 Apple TVs, a wife who loved to use it, and several kids so no time to deal with hacks that required a lot of time and effort. You can see several long threads I started dealing with the problems I had with my AppleTVs dropping out of iTunes and looking for a solution. All these problems were solved when I spent the $50 to purchase ATV Flash solely for the purpose of enabling me to hook up an external hard drive to my Apple TVs. I now have 2 Apple TVs, each with 1 TB in external storage. It works seemlessly and I no longer EVER have to worry about syncing my AppleTVs or even having iTunes open. Go with it (or one of the similar options that allow you to hook up an external hard drive) and you will never regret it. As someone without a lot of time on his hands, I went with ATV Flash just because it was so easy and idiot-proof to install. I haven't had a single problem with my AppleTVs since.
Click to expand...
 
Sorry if I didn't read all the notes...

but I was having problems with my TV recently - I stream everything from my main computer server - it wasn't finding movies, they were 'unavailable' just a headache.

Don't know when they changes the iTunes media folder format but turned out my problem was I had a 'hybrid' - some movies stored in the old way, some in the new, and iTunes was totally confused.

What worked was goingn to the iTunes advanced option, making sure the new 'iTunes Media' folder was where I wanted it, make sure the 2 options below were checked.

Then I selected all the movies and right clicked on them getting the 'consolidate tracks…' option from the popup menu. It did much moving and copying but when it was done the movies worked again. Could find them all, no more lost movies, no more losing movies in mid play.

Hope that helps for any that have recently started having problems.
 
aced411 said:
hold the phone.... $50 is one thing but there is no way I'm paying an annual subcription fee. I'm not THAT desperate.
Click to expand...

What ayou referring to? There is no subscription fee as far as I know. ATV Flash is just a one-time $50 fee, with the ability to pay $10-$30 up front for 1, 2, or 3 years of software upgrades (which are only needed to the extent Apple upgrades the Apple TV software and you choose to install the upgrades). I don't think there is any subscription fee with ATv Flash at all.
 
jersey10 said:
What ayou referring to? There is no subscription fee as far as I know. ATV Flash is just a one-time $50 fee, with the ability to pay $10-$30 up front for 1, 2, or 3 years of software upgrades (which are only needed to the extent Apple upgrades the Apple TV software and you choose to install the upgrades). I don't think there is any subscription fee with ATv Flash at all.
Click to expand...

I just looked at the ATV Flash website. Actually $30 gets you a lifetime of software upgrades. Thus all you have to spend is $50 and the most you could spend would be $80. There is no subscription fee.

BTW, one thing I should mention is that although ATV Flash works incredibly well and easy for hooking up an external hard drive, it also comes with whole bunch of other features which many people find cool, but which I have found either too confusing to navigate or get working correctly or just not very useful. Not that I have devoted much time trying to figure them out. As a result, the only thing I use the ATV Flash for is the external drive capability. As mentioned, it works perfectly for that and is very easy to figure out. Watch the videos on the site which walk you thru the install process, and read the directions on the site. Well worth the $50 to me.
 
Oh I see, I checked back and see what you're talking about. So after watching the video it seems you have to load the external drive with content either by hand or via ftp and then use one of the plugins to watch the videos. Is there a way where you just point the ATV to the external so itunes just syncs to it? Which component did you install?

Update: I just read a review of the product and it looks fantastic! I'm fairly certain I'm buying it now :)

jersey10 said:
I just looked at the ATV Flash website. Actually $30 gets you a lifetime of software upgrades. Thus all you have to spend is $50 and the most you could spend would be $80. There is no subscription fee.

BTW, one thing I should mention is that although ATV Flash works incredibly well and easy for hooking up an external hard drive, it also comes with whole bunch of other features which many people find cool, but which I have found either too confusing to navigate or get working correctly or just not very useful. Not that I have devoted much time trying to figure them out. As a result, the only thing I use the ATV Flash for is the external drive capability. As mentioned, it works perfectly for that and is very easy to figure out. Watch the videos on the site which walk you thru the install process, and read the directions on the site. Well worth the $50 to me.
Click to expand...
 
aced411 said:
Oh I see, I checked back and see what you're talking about. So after watching the video it seems you have to load the external drive with content either by hand or via ftp and then use one of the plugins to watch the videos. Is there a way where you just point the ATV to the external so itunes just syncs to it? Which component did you install?

Update: I just read a review of the product and it looks fantastic! I'm fairly certain I'm buying it now :)
Click to expand...

I just installed whatever component it is that enables the USB so you can hook up an external drive (I don't remember what they call it). Once you have it installed, iTunes will just see your AppleTV as having increased capacity. Thus, iTunes sees my AppleTVs as having 1 TB of space each (it doesn't distinguish between internal and external drives, which is great). You then just sync everything you want to the AppleTV (it does take a while to sync hundreds of GBs of video). If you have a huge amount of video and can hook up a temporary ethernet cable just for this initial sync, it will probably go quicker than wireless, though either will work.
 
I *was going to grab an ATV until I started reading about many people having sync issues. Decided to get a used Airport Express w/ iTunes instead. I really need to stream music to my main system for now. Will wait for Apple to upgrade their very old hardware.
 
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