HT202716: Update the software on your Apple TV

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patsyannbell

Q: Help!!  First of all I am a senior and have no idea what I am doing.  Turned on the Apple TV and it said downloading the latest update.  It show the apple symbol and below a empty download line.  Nothing seems to be happening.  Is it downloading?

Help!!  First of all I am a senior and have no idea what I am doing.  Turned on the Apple tv and it said downloading the lastest -cannot remember the rest.

There was a Apple symbol and a dowmload space under it.  Nothing is happening.  It has been about 25 minutes.  What do I do??

Apple TV

Posted on Apr 29, 2014 11:56 AM

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Q: Help!!  First of all I am a senior and have no idea what I am doing.  Turned on the Apple TV and it said downloading the ... more

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  • by DL in DEN,

    DL in DEN DL in DEN Apr 29, 2014 12:41 PM in response to patsyannbell
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 29, 2014 12:41 PM in response to patsyannbell

    I am having the same situation.

     

    You can hit the Menu button to get out of the download. It will ask you to confirm. You should be able to use Apple TV. You can set your Apple TV to not do the updates automatically in Settings, General, Software Updates, and set Update Automatically to "Off".

     

    Now here's what I see when I try to do the update manually by selecting the Update Software menu item:

     

    I see the message "Estimating time remaining" message and an apparent progress bar. Nothing seems to be happening. No download progress.

     

    Suggestions are most welcome. I have done all the network troubleshooting, and I can watch Netflix movies if I exit the update, so I know the AppleTV is working. Is there a problem at Apple's end?

  • by DL in DEN,Solvedanswer

    DL in DEN DL in DEN Apr 29, 2014 12:55 PM in response to DL in DEN
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 29, 2014 12:55 PM in response to DL in DEN

    Okay, against intuition, I restarted the AppleTV and the problem cleared.

     

    Settings, General, Restart.

     

    Then after it comes back - Settings, General, Software update, Update software, then confirm. It first downloads, then does a 2-step update process. Took about 15 minutes for me.

     

    This also appears to have cleared some wonky behavior I have been seeing on Netflix - invisible thumbnails primarily.

  • by patsyannbell,

    patsyannbell patsyannbell Apr 29, 2014 2:04 PM in response to DL in DEN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 29, 2014 2:04 PM in response to DL in DEN

    The Apple TV turned itself off after two hours.  Went in and everytihing was still a mess.  Have no images of anything only outlines.  Netflex is the best.  Turned it back off.  Have now turned it back on and went to setting and am trying to download.  Time bar is doing nothing.  It as been about 20 min. so far.

  • by DL in DEN,Helpful

    DL in DEN DL in DEN Apr 29, 2014 2:39 PM in response to patsyannbell
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 29, 2014 2:39 PM in response to patsyannbell

    It probably did not turn itself off. It most likely went into "sleep".

     

    Did you try to restart the Apple TV? That is what solved the problem for me.

     

    Go to the main AppleTV menu - you might have to press the Menu button a couple of times to get there - select Settings, then Select General, scroll down to Restart and select that.

     

    As long as you don't have a "Do not unplug" message on your screen, unplugging the power cable, waiting a minute, then plugging it back in should accomplish the same thing. I always prefer using the menu method over unplugging.

     

    If that doesn't work, I fear you might have to contact Apple. They will likely tell you to restore your AppleTV to factory settings. That will be a pain in the neck since they will need to walk you through it. They might do that for you at an Apple store. I'm a senior citizen too, and it's easy for me to look helpless - even though I've worked in computers and networking for a very long time.

     

    Sorry I can't offer any better advice.

  • by patsyannbell,

    patsyannbell patsyannbell Apr 29, 2014 4:32 PM in response to DL in DEN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 29, 2014 4:32 PM in response to DL in DEN

    Thanks,  I will try what you said.  We do not have a apple store in our town so can not do that.  I guess as long as I can watch Netflex all is not lost.  Thanks again.