Cary B

Q: ATV4 Does Not See Home Sharing After It Sleeps

For the last two weeks or so, my Apple TV (4) will not see Home Sharing after I wake it up -- ever. I've had it since Christmas and have had no problems until now. My other ATV2 & 3s do not see this problem. Sometimes rebooting the ATV works, sometimes quitting and restarting iTunes works. Sometimes I have to do both. Both iTunes and the ATV4 are up to date. I'm running an Mac (21.5-inch, Late 2012) with my iTunes folder on an external software RAID. All of this has been setup since before I got the ATV4 in December. Nothing is new except the problem.

 

Please help. It is annoying to have to restart everything every time I want to watch something!

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on May 1, 2016 6:54 AM

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Q: ATV4 Does Not See Home Sharing After It Sleeps

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  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall May 1, 2016 7:11 AM in response to Cary B
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    May 1, 2016 7:11 AM in response to Cary B

    Have you recently updated the ATV tvOS to the current version 9.2? That update may have triggered the problem.

    When you wake ATV up, can you use other apps, say YouTube? This would confirm that it is connected to the network. Some users have reported that ATV loses its network connection after sleeping, but it works ok for most.

    Be sure the Apple ports are not blocked in your iMac firewall, see TCP and UDP ports used by Apple software products - Apple Support Since this was working, it may have been broken by an OS X update.

  • by Cary B,

    Cary B Cary B May 1, 2016 9:51 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    May 1, 2016 9:51 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    Thank you for your help. All other apps on the ATV work fine. I looked in settings, and my firewall is turned off.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall May 1, 2016 10:20 AM in response to Cary B
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    May 1, 2016 10:20 AM in response to Cary B

    Just to be certain, the firewall is turned off on your iMac computer?

    Other ATV apps work, so it does have a network connection when it wakes up. Good.

    Is Home Sharing enabled in the ATV settings when it wakes up? Assuming it is, ATV is supposed to broadcast a request for available services (bonjour protocol). Either it's not doing this, or the message isn't getting through.

    What does your network look like? Is it a simple setup with a single router, ATV and iMac connected by ethernet or WiFi (please say which)? Or does it include multiple routers, WiFi hotspots, switches, etc.? What is the make and model of the router? I'm trying to figure out if those broadcast messages may not be propagating from ATV to iMac.

  • by Rysz,

    Rysz Rysz May 3, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Cary B
    Level 7 (20,274 points)
    iTunes
    May 3, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Cary B

    Experiencing the same issue. Posted about it here: AppleTV 4 loosing connection to shared iTunes every time it turns off

     

    No solution yet.

  • by Poldy001,

    Poldy001 Poldy001 May 10, 2016 1:46 AM in response to Rysz
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    May 10, 2016 1:46 AM in response to Rysz

    Same here, i have to unplug it from power and restart it every day. i never had problems with atv 1-3.

     

    <Edited by Host>

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall May 10, 2016 3:47 AM in response to Poldy001
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    May 10, 2016 3:47 AM in response to Poldy001

    You should check the items here Get help with Home Sharing - Apple Support to be sure your setup is not the problem.

    Sometimes the necessary multicast packets are not routed between subnetworks. This is more likely if both devices are not on the same WiFi network. Please describe how your computer and ATV are connected to the main router.

    Finally, there is a restart item in the System menu which might be more convenient than pulling the plug.

  • by Poldy001,

    Poldy001 Poldy001 May 10, 2016 4:25 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    May 10, 2016 4:25 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    Its all in the same Network, wired. And the restart doesn't work, only unplug and plug again. 2 ATV2 and 2 ATV3 work without any problems, only the ATV4 has it and a lot of more things they should be changed

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall May 10, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Poldy001
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    May 10, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Poldy001

    Right. You should report this here https://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html just to add weight to the growing pile of problems.

  • by Cary B,

    Cary B Cary B May 10, 2016 3:30 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    May 10, 2016 3:30 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    I apologize for taking so long to get back with you. I'll try my best to answer your questions:

     

    Just to be certain, the firewall is turned off on your iMac computer? Yes

     

    Is Home Sharing enabled in the ATV settings when it wakes up? Yes

     

    What does your network look like? Is it a simple setup with a single router, ATV and iMac connected by ethernet or WiFi (please say which)? Or does it include multiple routers, WiFi hotspots, switches, etc.? What is the make and model of the router? I'm trying to figure out if those broadcast messages may not be propagating from ATV to iMac.  Apple Airport Extreme Model #: A1354. Single Router. iMac and ATV 4 are both wifi connected. It has my iMac, 3 ATV 2/3s, the ATV 4, and a various number of iPhones/iPads on it at any given time. I have a printer and a hard drive connected to the USB port. No switches. This setup has been the same for a good two years. Nothing has changed since I bought the ATV 4. It used to work fine.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall May 10, 2016 4:12 PM in response to Cary B
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    May 10, 2016 4:12 PM in response to Cary B

    As I said to Poldy001, looks like a problem. You need to report it to add to the stack of complaints piling up on the floor at Apple.