TWalkerPolk

Q: Apple TV HD Rental Streaming Problem

I wanted to create this topic to ask if others are running into the same issues I am with streaming rented HD movies. I go to play the rented HD movie and am transferred to a screen that says "Loading...." for about a minute or two. Then, that message is replaced with one that says "Ready to play in [xxx] minutes"...with horribly long times listed (my movie was rented last night, and as of this evening, it shows "Ready to play in 232 minutes").

This seems like a MAJOR flaw with the Apple TV. I have no problem viewing YouTube, HD Netflix movies, HD trailers, etc. I have even been able to watch an HD TV show rental within about 5 mins of selecting it. Seems like there may be a major flaw in the streaming process for HD Movie rentals over the Apple TV.

If you haven't tested this yet (or if you have no issues), please post what is happening with your HD movie rentals.

TWP

Note: I have rebooted everything, used my Airport Express with the ethernet cord directly into the Apple TV, over wiFi, adjusted the distance between my router and the Apple TV. Nothing has worked.

Dell Laptop m1330, Windows 7

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 9:05 PM

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Q: Apple TV HD Rental Streaming Problem

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  • by David Schachner,

    David Schachner David Schachner Nov 27, 2010 8:47 AM in response to Washy.25
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 8:47 AM in response to Washy.25
    I really doubt it's a port issue. I've never known Apple to intentionally make or change something so that the user needs to change a setting that many users do not even know how to change or what it is.

    I also don't know that it's a firmware update issue, as I had the problem just as bad prior to the software update.

    I've also noticed that rentals downloaded into iTunes on a computer take almost as long. Of course, when they're done, they play fine. You don't get the "okay to start watching," then ten minutes in, "ready in 4 days, 4356 minutes" message.

    I suggest everyone with a problem report it to Apple via the feedback form or iTunes support, as they are acknowledging it. I also reported to them that I unfortunately returned my Apple TV and got the Roku XDS instead. I do like Apple, but this is unacceptable, and they must do something to make it better. Until then, I don't want the hassle (same reason I no longer use Windows).
  • by Stephen Latimer,

    Stephen Latimer Stephen Latimer Nov 27, 2010 2:54 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Safari
    Nov 27, 2010 2:54 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    It has been a while since I posted to this thread (was giving apple time to sort it out....Im a patient man). Rented Nativity to watch tonight with family. Started the download this morning, said it would be ready to watch in 7 hours....perfect. Went to work, came back and it was ready to play, all working ok. Paused went to make pizza for film, and came back and it came up with error...new to me....HDCP not compatible, and before Im corrected, it was not DHCP not compatible. I have changed my setup recently, feeding apple tv through Sony receiver. I think we have ALL given apple enough time. Im calling for a refund on monday. Going for the lovefilm subscription on the PS3 or the Boxee streamer. REALLY REALLY dissappointed !!!!!
  • by sschwar4,

    sschwar4 sschwar4 Nov 27, 2010 3:48 PM in response to Stephen Latimer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 3:48 PM in response to Stephen Latimer
    This is one of those things that iTunes for it's copy protection. You must play all HD content through an HDMI connection to be compliant. Airplay from the iPad has the same issue.
  • by MightyMac,

    MightyMac MightyMac Nov 27, 2010 3:56 PM in response to Stephen Latimer
    Level 1 (55 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 3:56 PM in response to Stephen Latimer
    The HDCP error and how to fix it is covered in this Macworld article:
    http://www.macworld.com/article/156022/2010/11/bugsandfixes_112610.html

    My ongoing tests of the HD streaming problem continue to show me the long wait times only occur when my ISP throttles their network. Either I switch ISP or never rent a movie between 7pm-12pm 7 days a week. I still think that the Apple TV needs improvement in this area. My gen1 is more forgiving of slower speeds. It would be best if Apple let that 8gb flash drive save rentals. This way we have more control and can pre download as a workaround. I am not giving up yet though. Airplay is too awesome.
  • by Stephen Latimer,

    Stephen Latimer Stephen Latimer Nov 27, 2010 3:58 PM in response to sschwar4
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Safari
    Nov 27, 2010 3:58 PM in response to sschwar4
    Thanks sscharw4. Never got that HDCP message before. Definitely going through a HDMI connection. Cant take a bad service like this. I have patience...my wife and son do not. Thanks again
  • by JPay,

    JPay JPay Nov 27, 2010 5:26 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 5:26 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I also have had the Apple TV v.2 for over a little over a month and the streaming problem has actually gotten worse. I was able to watch one movie after 3 hours of buffering. Now the latest movie won't finish buffering and if you exit and come back later it restarts. I have clear internet with unlimited downloading speed and only 1 computer on my network. It's definitely a problem with Apple TV. I tried troubleshooting with tech support today but after about 40 minutes I had to hang up, I did not have time to deal with it any more. I have spent hours trying to resolve this so far to no avail. I hope the tech call on Monday goes well otherwise I will be requesting a refund or credit.
  • by iDSGB,

    iDSGB iDSGB Nov 27, 2010 8:48 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 8:48 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I found a way to get an Apple TV2 to stream rental movies again. I figured out that it has something to do with the update. So I just decided to reset the box and all its settings. But when you choose to reset it under settings, DO NOT choose the option to reset and look for updates, choose the regular ol' reset. Once it reboots enter your information again without doing an update and it works perfectly. I think this is just a minor fix til Apple does a update but hopefully one comes soon.
  • by Ptrotsky,

    Ptrotsky Ptrotsky Nov 27, 2010 9:09 PM in response to iDSGB
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 9:09 PM in response to iDSGB
    Interesting!
  • by stevenforehand,

    stevenforehand stevenforehand Nov 27, 2010 9:39 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 9:39 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Same problem here. I have an Apple TV (2nd gen) and can not rent movies/tv shows. Netflix streaming works fine (even in HD) as well as do the movie trailers (also in HD). I have a DSL connection with speeds ranging between 5-8 mb. However, when I try to rent a movie, it states something like "ready to play in 7 hours". I've changed everything I know to do. I have a dual band Apple Airport wireless router as well. I love the Apple TV but have to admit the inability to stream rentals as advertised has rendered the device nearly useless for me.

    HELP APPLE!!!!!!
  • by iDSGB,

    iDSGB iDSGB Nov 27, 2010 9:46 PM in response to iDSGB
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2010 9:46 PM in response to iDSGB
    Solved!
  • by Robb Neumann,

    Robb Neumann Robb Neumann Nov 28, 2010 4:05 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2010 4:05 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I thought I would post a quick comment and add my Apple TV to the list of suddenly defective units.

    We have only rented a couple of movies since getting the Apple TV about a month ago. The first film we rented in HD seemed to download to the Apple TV and was available after several hours (we have a fairly slow DSL connection). Once it was downloaded to the Apple TV's temporary storage, we could play it without any problems, pause, rewind, etc. We could also restart the film later, during the same 24 hour viewing period, and again did not have any issues with it.

    Since applying the iOS 4.2.1 update on Tuesday, we again rented a movie in HD and ran into the "Ready to play in 6 hours 23 minutes" message. I let the Apple TV load the entire film last night (Apple TV reported that it was loading and I could see activity on my modem, via its lights, when no other computer was connected). In the morning, the film was ready to play, but because we weren't ready to watch it, I exited the film. Coming back to it, we're again confronted with the "Ready to play in 6 hours 23 minutes" message as the film was no longer held in the Apple TV's temporary storage.

    Aside from the painfully slow download times that many people are reporting, I believe the Apple TV is also no longer using its flash memory to temporarily store rental films. For those of us with slower DSL connections, this has basically made the Apple TV useless as a rental platform.

    Netflix continues to work and seems to have even better quality than before. I think I will try iDSGB's suggestion of Restoring the Apple TV to "Factory Settings," but am hesitant to rent another film, if it will not work.

    I have contacted Apple's iTunes Customer Service, but so far, have not been offered a refund for the film we will be unable to watch (it will expire before it can load again).

    This is very frustrating. I suppose the obvious work around, aside from stepping back to the previous OS version, is to rent films on my laptop and stream them wireless to the Apple TV, but that negates the purpose of the Apple TV.
  • by academytim,

    academytim academytim Nov 28, 2010 9:15 PM in response to siggibg
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Nov 28, 2010 9:15 PM in response to siggibg
    Updated to 4.1 and now none of the HD movies in my iTunes library will stream to either of my AppleTV2's. Prior to the update they all worked beautifully. Now, they won't even start.
  • by bradymac,

    bradymac bradymac Nov 28, 2010 9:53 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2010 9:53 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I've got this problem as well... Apple, please fix your product (ATV2). While my ATV2 says 10 hours to start a rented HD film I can pop over to Netflix on the ATV2 and kick off a film in about 10 seconds, boom, no problem. I know Netflix will scan bandwidth and lower the film quality a bit... but 10 hours? Sometimes 3 hours or 20 hours on the ATV2 for an Apple stream, etc. I can unplug and restart my ATV and it's like roulette, each time I get some new and exciting time that I can't possible wait for (too long regardless... 87 minutes then 10 hours then 20 hours then 11 hours, etc... this is for LOTR, Two Towers). Please either provide a firmware update or fix your server farm. I didn't have this problem with the ATV1.
  • by academytim,

    academytim academytim Nov 28, 2010 10:36 PM in response to academytim
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Nov 28, 2010 10:36 PM in response to academytim
    As an update. I restored the AppleTV to the 4.0 firmware and whadya know...all of my movies play perfectly fine now. I guess I'll be waiting until the next update before using AirPlay from my iPad or iPhone.
  • by academytim,

    academytim academytim Nov 29, 2010 7:10 AM in response to academytim
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Nov 29, 2010 7:10 AM in response to academytim
    Fantastic...my wife just called me to tell me that both AppleTVs updated themselves to 4.1 again automatically. Anyone know how to keep that from happening? I'm going to p1ssed if I have to carry my AppleTVs into the office to roll the firmware back every time I want to watch a freaking movie.
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