tomfromid

Q: iTunes will not sync with Gen 1 Apple TV now.

Writing in  hopes someone may have a workaround:

 

Now, my iTunes will not sync with my Gen 1 Apple TV.  A few months ago, it worked fine.  Now it doesn't.  Apple Tech Support was nice, but not helpful.  Had me disconnect and restart everything, but their statement is, "We do not support Gen 1 Apple TV."

 

I understand not supporting an old product.  I do NOT understand Apple changing iTunes so it wrecks an old product that we have bought, as customers.  To me that's obscene.

 

Specifically, when I start iTunes, there appears, briefly, at the top center, where the Apple logo is, the sentence, "Connecting to (my name) Apple TV."  Then the sentence disappears, but on the left, where it lists devices, the Apple TV no longer appears.  It lists only my iPhone.

 

When I go to iTunes->Preferences->Apple TV, it shows in the window, my Apple TV, by name, and shows it is "syncing."

 

So, Apple has made it impossible to change pictures or playlists, add songs, or make any other changes on the Apple TV.  I can burn CD's on my MacBook Pro, and make changes there in iTunes, but changes don't appear on the Apple TV.  

 

Anyone have a workaround?

VIN,Apple TV

Posted on Aug 14, 2016 1:45 PM

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Q: iTunes will not sync with Gen 1 Apple TV now.

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  • by Carolyn Samit,Helpful

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Aug 14, 2016 1:58 PM in response to tomfromid
    Level 10 (120,219 points)
    Apple Watch
    Aug 14, 2016 1:58 PM in response to tomfromid

    Try this support article >  Get help with Home Sharing

  • by tomfromid,

    tomfromid tomfromid Aug 14, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 14, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

    Thanks Carolyn, but does not work.  I did read the support article, checked settings, quit iTunes and restarted, as article suggests.  And so forth.  No change.  I don't think the problem is Home Sharing.  iTunes appears to be connected, as it shows it is "syncing" with my Apple TV, as I wrote in my post.  My Apple TV, however, is not listed as a device in the left column.  As it used to be.

     

    So, problem still is, there appears to be, so far, no way to "sync" with my Apple TV, in a way that updates it--with changes I've made in iTunes on my Mac.

     

    I've got all the latest updates, and THAT, seems to me, is the problem.

     

    Btw:   A few months ago, it worked fine, except that I went to add album art to a CD I'd added.  It used to be that if Apple didn't recognize some old album, you could find the CD cover on the internet somewhere, and "move" it into a space that then added the album art to your apple TV, so that when a song from that CD was playing, the TV screen showed the album cover.  Apple folks in the Apple store told me Apple changed that, and now there is no way to do that anymore.  I told them that stunk and they agreed with me.

     

    So now, Apple has apparently done more things to wreck/damage the Gen 1 Apple TV.

  • by Diana.McCall,Helpful

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Aug 14, 2016 5:28 PM in response to tomfromid
    Level 4 (2,915 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 14, 2016 5:28 PM in response to tomfromid

    I'm afraid you may be right. If you search here, you'll find a similar thread in the last few months, that reached the same conclusion. Updated iTunes may have forgotten how to manage the original ATV. Sorry, I cannot find the recent thread I had seen, but if you search for Apple tv sync itunes, there are some older threads with possibly useful tips.

  • by tomfromid,Solvedanswer

    tomfromid tomfromid Aug 14, 2016 5:23 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 14, 2016 5:23 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    NEWS!   Problem solved!  

     

    I searched, and found this: 

     

    iTunes 12 for Mac: Play items in your iTunes library using Apple TV (1st generation)

     

    Now, these instructions are not correct, because there is no "Apple TV button near the top left of the iTunes window."

     

    But it seems like at least Apple didn't forget about the Gen 1 Apple TV completely.

     

    In searching "near the top left . . ." of the iTunes screen, I did note an icon of an iPhone.  I clicked on it, and what do you know, there is a drop down list of devices, and my named Apple TV is on it, and I clicked on that, and wow, there it is, the same steps to sync that used to be there.  And they work!

     

    I was able to successfully sync the Apple TV, and my new music and playlists are now on the Apple TV!

     

    (I'm still mad, however, at Apple for deleting the easy and convenient way to add obscure CD album covers to iTunes, and replacing that process with NOTHING.  That still really stinks, imho.  I now have a bunch of album covers that look like two music notes and no way to put the album covers into iTunes.)

     

    Anyway, one CAN still sync iTunes with Gen 1 Apple TV, at least as of 14 August 2016.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Aug 15, 2016 4:41 AM in response to tomfromid
    Level 4 (2,915 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 15, 2016 4:41 AM in response to tomfromid

    Great! Glad to hear I was wrong. You should mark your post as Solved, to it will top the list when others look for it.

  • by tomfromid,

    tomfromid tomfromid Aug 19, 2016 12:16 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 19, 2016 12:16 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    Well I clicked (repeatedly) on the "This solved my question" button, but nothing happened.  I guess we'll see what Apple does with it.

  • by michael@vistaMS,

    michael@vistaMS michael@vistaMS Sep 7, 2016 8:53 AM in response to tomfromid
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 7, 2016 8:53 AM in response to tomfromid

    Still can't sync my iTunes with my AppleTV. It was working fine before the summer. now it's not.