Apple TV 3 UI freezing and then rebooting after pausing a video on Youtube

Yes, I downgraded to v.7.5 myself yesterday and I plan never to upgrade again just because Apple asked me to.

AirPlay is not really a workaround, since you are running YouTube on a different device and you are using AppleTV simply as a wireless HDMI cable. You can also use your Xbox or PlayStation for YouTube and it wouldn't be a workaround either.

Problem solved with 7.6.2

Talked to Apple Support to inform them of the issue. Told them I had already tried resetting my Apple TV, clearing YouTube caches, etc. Mentioned this thread and the one on Google's YouTube support community as proof that the issue is pretty wide-spread and affecting many 3rd gen Apple TV owners. The rep I spoke with said he'd "pass along" the info. Re-crossing fingers!

Side note: now back on firmware version 7.5, though pausing a YouTube video works again, I am experiencing serious video quality issues - lots of digital "noise" and degradation. Specifically lots of little green "blocks" that appear and disappear throughout the video. Anyone else seeing this? I'm gonna go look for or start another thread about this issue. I know YouTube has been mucking around with their service a lot in the last couple of weeks, with 4k playback and picture-in-picture stuff. Wondering if that, or some combination of the YouTube app/firmware on our 3rd gen AppleTVs, is causing this new problem.

May be time for a new AppleTV device after all - this is getting annoying!

For what it's worth, I did the downgrade to 7.5 (even brought a new USB to micro USB cable to do it). Totally solved the problem and even made casting from my iPhone 5s to the appleTV more stable.

It was all working great until either my wife or I did something and the system updated (Grrr). However it went to 7.6.2 and it appears to be functioning ok with that release as well.

So doing the downgrade to 7.5 still gave us a couple of weeks sanity at least! No thanks to Apple for blaming everyone else when their engineers already knew they had messed something up.

All great workarounds. Unfortunately, this is not an Apple-sanctioned solution, an unofficial downgrade patch.

Talked to Apple Support yesterday after a week of no replies. They literally opened a web browser and googled a searched google.com for Apple TV 3. They want to wait on google to fix "their" app, which happens to be a locked component of the Apple TV 3 menu. As a customer, I want Apple to fix "their" broken device experience. Not exactly providing a motivator to upgrade to an Apple TV 4k.

Issue explained: https://tidbits.com/2020/09/28/third-generation-apple-tvs-suffering-from-apple-tv-software-update-7-6/

Example Video: https://youtu.be/4GZzWcHx6H0

Alternate Apple Thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251837222

Distraction Apple is leaning on Google for: https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/72724736?hl=en

You might do this stupid* procedure a tiny bit quicker: press two buttons on the remote simultaneously (menu&play/pause) for about 5-7 seconds until the lights on the Apple TV start flashing, then release the buttons, and the TV will restart by itself. It'll also start with the main screen but all in all it doesn't take much time. Just horribly irritating, that's all😒

I've also learned there aren't any problems pausing a YouTube video if I stream it to the TV from my iPhone.

These are the only 2 "options" I have now, bc neither my Windows PC, nor the iTunes sees the TV when I plug it in. Guess the problem may be due to a micro USB cable that doesn't support data transfer, and I can't buy a new cable least to say a newer Apple TV.

*sigh*

🙄

The new version 7.6.2 (8144) works on mine with normal YouTube pausing.

Strangely though, neither my wife nor I selected to do the upgrade. The ATV3 just chose to go ahead with the upgrade without requiring any input. And it changed the Auto Update to "Yes". If this happens to you, and you want to retain some control over updates, be sure to go into the Software Updates setting and turn it back to manual or "No".

Yeah, same problem. Though after it freezes, I don't unplug it – I press two buttons on the remote simultaneously (menu&play/pause buttons) for about 10 seconds, then the TV reboots by itself.

After updated my Apple TV 3rd gen Rev A (model A1469) to 7.6 (8130), it

freezes when pausing a YouTube video. After that, Apple TV will no

longer accept commands. To fix this problem I have to disconnect the

internet connection and after a while I get an error message that there

is no internet connection and commands are accepted again but I am

thrown back to the main screen.

I’ve had none of the ‘blocks of green’ issues you describe - or any other adverse symptoms since switching back to 7.5 - I’m using an Optoma projector running at 1080p (max res) connected to ATV thru a Sony STR-DN1040.

Come to think of it though: this setup has since day one occasionally exhibited some really unwatchable, ‘out of synch video’ blocks of green issues if the AVR doesn’t find the projector before some kind of time out period. I never did try a hard power off reset to fix this issue - but multiple powerdown restarts of everything except ATV NEVER fixed this issue... only waiting overnight (ATV sleep timeout, perhaps) fixed it: TV ain’t that important.

FWIW: After downgrading to 7.5, I discovered by hitting the Apple TV remote MENU button multiple times (i.e as you might to back-up to the Home Screen) just after start up is a great way to ensure the firmware is NOT updated inadvertently by hitting the (default) UPDATE NOW option.

Thanks for your efforts in trying to make contact with the advanced lifeforms at Apple. Fingers crossed Big A talks to Big G or vice versa and they sort it out like adults. I put dealing with customer support in the way too much hassle basket after the success of this workaround. 🍻

Same here. Just updated to v.7.6 today and noticed that if I pause a video for more than 2 minutes AppleTV crashes and reboots. This happens every time.

I posted a video on YouTube reproducing the crash. Please let me know when it is fixed so I can remove the video. Here is a link:

https://youtu.be/4GZzWcHx6H0

Has anyone tried the 7.6.2 update yet? There were some replies on the YouTube support forums saying that it indeed fixes the problem. Just wondering if anyone here had any luck? I'm probably going to give it a shot sometime this weekend, I'll report back on how it goes for me.

Good luck all!

Hi all, there is a quick fix. If your ATV is version 3.1, grab a copy of the previous firmware here https://ipsw.me/download/AppleTV3,1/12H885.

The idea is to downgrade you Apple TV to v7.5 (Check your current installed firmware version by opening Settings, General, About. Ifyou're experiencing the YT pause-freeze problem, chances are you have v7.6 loaded.

Once you've got a copy of 12H885 (firmware v7.5 for ATV3.1), follow the steps below.

• Download the IPSW firmware as outlined above. If you have ATV3.2, you'll need to find compatible firmware.
• Unplug all the wires from your Apple TV and connect it to your computer via Micro-USB cable.
• Connect the power cord to your Apple TV and turn it on.
• Launch iTunes on your computer and wait for it to detect your Apple TV.
• Click on the Apple TV icon that appears in iTunes top bar. You’ll see two options below the device name and details. Eject Apple TV and Restore Apple TV.
• If using Windows, hold down the Shift key and then click on Restore Apple TV. If using a Mac, hold down the Alt/Option key and then click on Restore Apple TV button.
• As soon as you do that, a pop-up window will appear. Browse to where you saved the firmware file and select it. (The IPSW file).
• A confirmation message will appear, click on Restore to proceed.
• After doing this, the restoration process will start. It will take a few minutes. Don't disconnect the Apple TV while the restoration is in progress.
• Once it’s done, a new message will appear, telling that your Apple TV has been restored to the factory settings. Disconnect the Apple TV from your computer and return it to service
• Once it is powered up, it will go through some initialisation steps such as selecting language. You may also need to manually set the time zone.
• The most important step is to go into the Apple TV settings for Software Update and turn off auto updates. Otherwise you'll have to repeat the above steps.

That’s it! Once you are done with all these steps, it means your Apple TV has been downgraded to the v7.5 (or whatever other IPSW you choose).

Just updated my 3rd gen AppleTV (A1469) to 7.6 today and am having the same exact issue. Notified YouTube through their "AppleTV Feedback" but I'm not holding my breath on anything coming out of that. Hate to go through the downgrade process - hoping Apple or the Community can come up with a fix or workaround.

Hi ripchord, thanks for the reply and the link to the firmware. I found the firmware for my/the AppleTV 3.2 (A1469) from the same place you found it for the 3.1 (A1427) - apparently it IS a different version than for the 3.1. Here's a link: htthttps://ipsw.me/download/AppleTV3,2/12H885

I know it isn't difficult to do, but as Bward71 pointed out, it is effectively a full reset and involves disconnecting/reconnecting everything from my entertainment setup - not the end of the world, just a pain. And with my luck they'll release a patch a day or two after I go through the trouble!

Anyway, I probably WILL do it later today anyway. I'll come back and post my results for the community. Thanks for the help!!