HDCP errors where there were no errors before

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Level 1

13 points

HDCP errors where there were no errors before

So we've had our Apple TV (4th gen) set up in our A/V rack happily streaming away for a couple years, but in the last couple of weeks, we're getting HDCP errors every single day when trying to watch on the Disney+ or CBS apps. Rebooting fixes it, but getting to the point of attempting playback only to realize the thing needs yet another reboot is getting very tiresome.

I swapped the cable between the receiver and the Apple TV two nights ago just in case something had gone wrong there, but today the error recurred on CBS.

Setup: Samsung TV, Pioneer receiver. The cable between the receiver and the TV goes through a wall conduit so we can't replace that one easily. We're running tvOS 14.0.2. Is there anything about 14.0.2 that would suddenly make this happen constantly?

Apple TV (4th generation)

Posted on Oct 11, 2020 9:04 PM

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Answer 1

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Oct 16, 2020 10:46 AM in response to mschlock

Hi mschlock,

We understand that you're seeing HDCP errors when watching your Apple TV. We want to do all we can to help get to the bottom of this with you.

To start, we'd like to have you unplug both ends of the HDMI cable. Then firmly plug them back in.

Turn off the TV and receiver. Unplug the Apple TV from power, then plug it back in. Turn the TV and receiver back on.

In the TV menu, make sure that you select the HDMI input that matches the HDMI port connected to the Apple TV. Check the TV manual for help.

Connect the Apple TV directly to the TV instead of a receiver or HDMI switch, since the issue may be with your receiver or switch.

You can also go to Settings > Video and Audio > Check Cable and select Check Cable on your Apple TV.

Let us know if this helps.

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Answer 2

Rudegar

Level 10

173,904 points

Oct 30, 2020 12:35 AM in response to mschlock

my troubleshooting path would be

cut out the middleman (receiver) connect the appletv directly to the tv and see if it goes away
as a connector in tv/receiver/appletv could be periodic defect then remove unknowns as in try another tv

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Answer 3

mschlock Author

Level 1

13 points

Oct 29, 2020 9:01 PM in response to brenden dv

Here's the thing: reseating the cable always fixes the problem, temporarily, because it renegotiates the HDCP connection. But it will fail again within a day or two, which has made troubleshooting this extremely tedious. The Apple TV is installed in an a/v rack and the TV is mounted to the wall, which makes it difficult to connect the unit directly to the TV, but I would not be surprised if the (relatively old) A/V receiver is the problem here. I will go see if my receiver has a firmware update available.

Is some recent flavor of tvOS now requiring a different flavor of HDCP that my receiver may not support, or is there anything else that might cause the connection to go flaky after a day?

I don't seem to have a "check HDMI connection" option in the Video and Audio settings area. Is that only on the 4K model? Ours is a 4th gen.

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HDCP errors where there were no errors before

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