Apple TV 3 A 1469 can’t connect from my phone

GENIUS - the 3utools solution above worked for me. Unit activated and airplay is back & working. I searched high and low and never came up with this fix. Although the 3utools App looked a bit frightening & way more powerful than I need I decided to download it. Activation took a couple of seconds - so fast I was skeptical. But proof is in the outcome...unit activated and working perfect. Thanks for the solution.

don’t know if this could do the trick.

Haven’t tested it or anything.

https://pcmacstore.com/en/app/1037126344/apple-configurator-2

This solved my activation and airplay issue!! Had to restore first to get the activate option :)

I have exact same issue. I have done everything I’ve found on the internet including resetting, opening ports , firmware’s updates, updating through iTunes etc to no avail. Unit is connected to Wi-Fi as it access Apple TV+ No problem. Just activation issue and associated airplay issue. Help appreciated.

Thanks - I have tried both those solutions. Meaning port 123 is opened to Apple TV and I have tried resetting etc while connected through an ethernet cable. Still advises not authenticated. I have not tried another WIFI as the Apple TV doesn't seem to see when I turn on my iPhone hotspot. The Apple TV has updated to the latest firmware. Thx again.

Thx - DNS is on auto.  No other place to test unfortunately. Is there a way to try and force an activation as I am unsure at what stage it is failing as I don't get any errors. Also any idea why it doesn't see my iphone hotspot network? I've tried connecting to it through the wifi 'other' ATV network function to no avail.

So went to the Genius bar today - they connected it to their store network and reset it - all to no avail. Continues with activation failure. They could do nothing for me and essentially said solution was to purchase a new unit. Not worth it for just getting airplay as the access to Apple TV+ is fine.

Hello RKG61,

You saved my bacon! I had four bricked ATV3 devices following various Apple firmware and OS updates.

All four ATV3s worked fine with inbuilt ATV apps but showed 'activation failed' (Settings, General, About).

All of them had lost the ability to play nicely with other devices, in particular mirroring and Airplay function.

They are now all working as they should, so I can offload them and put some money towards a new ATV 4K!

Many thanks for your help.

LordMelchet.

RKG61, this didn’t work for me. I have a 2015 Mac mini, so can’t update to Catalina and the current Configurator 2 won’t run on an older MacOS. So I took it to a Genius Bar, and they tried Configurator 2 there but it wouldn’t let them manage it. It insisted that the TvOS (7.8) was too old and needed to be updated before it could manage the device. But that’s the latest firmware that runs on the A1469. Did you have to do anything special to get Configurator to work?

Awesome! Pulled my hair out yesterday trying to get AirPlay to appear after a restore, and finally found your solution. Worked in a matter of minutes, just long enough to download the app, connect up the ATV3, and activate it. I had to use a friend’s MacBook running the current macOS, but we’re back up and running. Thanks a million, RKG61.

Apple, take note.

I am unsure why moderator mark this as solved when its not.?

Ahwenww wrote:

I am unsure why moderator mark this as solved when its not.?

Only the original poster can mark posts as Solved.

Sounds like an elegant solution - if only I had a mac. There is no Apple (TV) configuration utility that runs on a Windows machine unfortunately.

👍

spread the word :-)