Infinite loop of reseting after factory restore?

crhendo1 wrote:
...
I must be getting old but I was never fast enough to do your next step and plug in the cable at exactly the right time for the firmware upgrade. WELL DONE!
...

hm, I consider myself fast enough to plug it in and hit "Update Software", my problem was I could not find the right timing for it. Done too fast, it will not have realized it's got a connection and report "Apple could not check at this time" (or along that point..), and if I waited a second longer it would start it's bunny-hopping of menu-logo-menu-logo-.....

Wasn't a problem on my ATV, as the ATV could not connect to any of those WiFi SSIDs; thus, it could not get a DHCP address and connect to the network. YMMV

Message was edited by: Sharp-man

I just backed up my hard drive for the ATV and am upgrading it, so I'll get to run Factory Restore one more time. I'll see if I'm as skilled this time around. 😉

Mhmm... you guys got a point there with the WiFi network addresses not being handed out unless it can log on to them... I might just have to give it one more try later. And drink something calming beforehand.

Got a temporary Apple-Store appointment for tomorrow just in case it doesn't play out.. 🙂

This is getting interesting...
would be great to find out what exactly is happening and what's causing the issue. I think we can rule out iTunes 9 as in my test case right now, there was only the router/DSL modem and the AppleTV (and my beamer) connected...

In my WiFi, I limit access by MAC addresses, and previously my AppleTV was of course added to the allowed list of devices. After removing that MAC address, it does not see any WiFi network at the moment (neighbors might have switched their networks off right now).

Here's my last run:
- pressed MENU and "Minus" on the AppleTV remote to get to the reset menu.
- Chose English
- Ethernet cable is at this point plugged in to the AppleTV, no weird stuff happening.
- Chose "Run Diagnostics"
-> "Your Apple TV is working correctly."
- Chose "Done"
- Chose "Factory Restore"
- it does its thing, Apple TV restarts, shows Apple logo, I chose "English" ´, it says "connecting to the network", shows Apple logo, plays funky intro, shows "connect to iTunes Code" and starts popping between a new code and the logo again and again...
- pulling the network cable stops this madness with the "Connect to iTunes" Code window
- I press MENU to go to the main screen
- network settings are virgin
- I switch of all UPnP features in my router
- well, switching the ethernet cable back into the AppleTV (got to do it at some point, right?) brings back the menu-logo-menu-logo-fun.
- back inside the router settings, I switch off DHCP Server for LAN network
- verify that AppleTV network settings are still unchanged, which they are (N/A)
- when I now attach the network cable to the AppleTV, it assigns itself the default IP-address of 169....... and after about 5 seconds goes back to the menu-logo-samba.
- detaching the ethernet cable and manually entering the IP address etc. is pointless as it is not saved as soon as you attach/detach the cable and it goes back into its little samba-dance...

screw this.

You might try unplugging the network cable, and going down to Software Update (do not select yet). Then, plug the cable back in, and select the Software Update choice pretty quickly. See if that might work for you. It did for me.

Very interesting that it seems we've ruled out iTunes 9 and now DHCP as the causes now, though. The ATV is obviously pinging something with a message and not getting what it wants -- thus, the loop.

But this idea of "quickly" pluging in a cable and selecting Update Software can only work with DHCP enabled in the AppleTV, correct? Otherwise it "loses" the manual setting for Ethernet as soon as I pop out the cable? In any case, I believe I've tried all sorts of delays and quick clicking on that front (I tried - "immediately", "1 second", "2 seconds" - those short delays bring up a message that Apple could not find an update, try again later etc. (i.e. no network). Longer delays triggers the logo-menu-circus. Hmm... tricky.

You are correct that the manual settings are wiped when you plug in the network cable. The manual settings are for WiFi (unless the network cable is connected). So, I guess the "trick" is selecting Software Update between the time the DHCP request comes back and the time the loop starts.

Yeah, I know, that was really specific, right? 😟

Hopefully, tonight, I'll get my new hard drive back into my ATV (which requires another Factory Restore to re-do the partitions). Then, I'll be able to try this again on my end and maybe refine it more.

LOL! 🙂

I appreciate the thoughts though! 🙂

FYI: I got tired with this whole Wireless Problem in ATV (must be an internal airport card issue), so I took one of my Airport Express and connected via ethernet and volla!! No more worries. I'm done!!!

Tried a couple of click delay combinations and finally start the download. I think the key is to connect the ethernet cable while holding the remote on the other hand and when the port connect light on the router comes on then click the remote to start download. On my third try it went out well.
Good luck!

Well, I got my 250GB ATV upgrade finished tonight, and I was able to get the ATV updated to 2.4 after the required Factory Restore. +FYI -- I followed these instructions: http://guides.macrumors.com/AppleTV_250GB_Hard_DriveUpgrade .+

After booting into the loop, I did have to manually configure the TCP/IP settings with the network cable unplugged again. Before I did that, I tried getting the Update Software item to work but never could; it always went back into the loop. Once the TCP/IP settings were saved, I just went to Update Software in the menu, plugged the network cable back in, and selected Update Software. It told me there was no update at the current time, +but it did not loop to the Apple logo+. So, I pressed Menu (to go back to the menu) and selected Update Software again, quickly. This time, it found the update and allowed me to download and install it. Yea! 🙂

EDIT: The ATV also shows up in iTunes 8.2.1 and is able to sync to my computer.

Sharp-man wrote:
Well, I got my 250GB ATV upgrade finished tonight, and I was able to get the ATV updated to 2.4 after the required Factory Restore. +FYI -- I followed these instructions:

You do realise that your tv is now unsupported, any experiences you have with your tv should be viewed with some care by others, you no longer have a standard tv and it may not function the same as everyone elses.

All my tv's are standard unmodified units, if they weren't I wouldn't feel I could share my experiences and my advice with others in this forum.

Spidergin wrote:
Tried a couple of click delay combinations and finally start the download. I think the key is to connect the ethernet cable while holding the remote on the other hand and when the port connect light on the router comes on then click the remote to start download. On my third try it went out well.
Good luck!

--> "when the light on the router comes on" -> THANK YOU! That's a great idea actually!
I had previously simply clicked the ethernet cable into the Apple TV (and left it in the router). The Apple TV obviously does not have any external visual confirmation about the Ethernet status, but most routers do have a LED indicator.

On my second attempt I got it to recognize there was an Update available, and before I could click again to download the update it went back to the loop. The second time it DID WORK though... currently installing the update... fingers crossed!

For the record: I left all my Macs and WiFi networks on during this (as my ATV would go into loop mode even if it was the only thing connected to my router and regardless of whether or not I had a WiFi network going).

It's now working again - yay! 🙂

Thanks Spidergin!

same exact issue going here. I am considering purchasing a new atv since they just dropped the price. Can anyone else confirm that I will not have this issue with the new model?

Thanks for the troubleshooting tips!