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2022 setting up external hard drive for movies, tv shows, and music for a MacBook Air on the Apple TV APP.

Okay I have a 2015 macbook air 4gb ram 128gb internal hard drive space. I set up both my iTunes and apple tv app to download all movies, tv shows, and music to my external hard drive 8TB. I own/purchsased 2TB of entertainment it took me a whole week to download everything and I made sure they would play from my external hard drive too. My issue that I have yet again is the APPLE TV APP will sometimes let me play the shows and sometimes it will not. So I remove my download show Then the APPLE TV APP will allow me to play it, I've already went into setting and told the app to go through my external hard drive so sometimes it works and a lot of the time it doesn't. It just has the colored Death wheel that spins and spins and spins. Does anyone know how to correct this issue that I am having. Now if I remove the download and play the movie when I have an internet connection it will play. But I would like to play my shows and music without an internet connections, is their anyone that can make a new detail video of how to set this up correctly where everything works well in harmony with no issues. I've seen so many videos from 3 to 13 years ago and they all worked well but it's 2022 and things aren't working so well with this Apple TV app. Thanks if anyone answers with a detailed how to video for 2022. Peace

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.2

Posted on Feb 17, 2022 5:11 PM

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Posted on Apr 2, 2022 10:57 AM

update April 2, 2022, wow after all this time I've been going nuts hardly anyone from apple wants to text talk to me or even figure it out, Well here's the update if anyone is having the same issues!


So you purchased your tv show or movie from apple tv/ iTunes you've done everything right with watching videos on youth tube and getting your external hard drive set up all that is working correctly. And you even see the show/movie or music album download to your external hard drive. Okay next set is to check to see if your signed in to your account while the apple tv app is open and you can see that on your laptop, okay you click on the play button to see if the movies play. it doesn't? Why


Here's the thing if your not signed into your account while you click play or download it it might not play. So here's what you do.


  1. Make sure your signed in and make sure the laptop or desktop is authorized too. Then and only then you can click play and the show should start, also you can do this if you do not have your external hard drive plugged into your computer.


Hopefully that helps if anyone else is having this issue. I finally get to watch all my 5 TB worth of movies and Tv shows. Thank God!


Apple Techs if you're seeing this I think you guys might have to take a look at the disconnection of the apple tv app disconnecting itself while opening the app. Because sometimes it doesn't disconnect and sometimes it does. But people will have to sign into their account after opening the apple tv app and have to re-authorize their computer too.

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Apr 2, 2022 10:57 AM in response to gh0stb72

update April 2, 2022, wow after all this time I've been going nuts hardly anyone from apple wants to text talk to me or even figure it out, Well here's the update if anyone is having the same issues!


So you purchased your tv show or movie from apple tv/ iTunes you've done everything right with watching videos on youth tube and getting your external hard drive set up all that is working correctly. And you even see the show/movie or music album download to your external hard drive. Okay next set is to check to see if your signed in to your account while the apple tv app is open and you can see that on your laptop, okay you click on the play button to see if the movies play. it doesn't? Why


Here's the thing if your not signed into your account while you click play or download it it might not play. So here's what you do.


  1. Make sure your signed in and make sure the laptop or desktop is authorized too. Then and only then you can click play and the show should start, also you can do this if you do not have your external hard drive plugged into your computer.


Hopefully that helps if anyone else is having this issue. I finally get to watch all my 5 TB worth of movies and Tv shows. Thank God!


Apple Techs if you're seeing this I think you guys might have to take a look at the disconnection of the apple tv app disconnecting itself while opening the app. Because sometimes it doesn't disconnect and sometimes it does. But people will have to sign into their account after opening the apple tv app and have to re-authorize their computer too.

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Feb 17, 2022 7:36 PM in response to gh0stb72

So, summary: Your purchased, downloaded movies on the external drive do not play in your Apple TV library on the Mac.


Are the items all in your library in Apple TV app?

Do you receive an error that the item cannot be located?

Open TV

Preferences > Files

Ensure that the correct location is displayed on your external drive


File > Library

Organize Library


There should be no issue if you have all of your files externally and access the files through the Apple TV App Library.


You can, of course, also double-click the file on your external drive to open it in Apple TV app.

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Feb 17, 2022 8:11 PM in response to muguy

Okay that's weird, I just tried to transfer a photo to desktop then insert the photo and its somehow sideways sorry. oh I did have my phone vertical too not sideways. lol But this where the files are going too. I sometimes can watch them and other times I can't? but if i remove the movie download and hit play I can watch them of course its playing through wifi. Yeah I've tried to open the file on my external hard drive going exactly to the file itself and opening it up with apple tv app default and still the color wheel of death shows up. It just keeps spinning and spinning forever, so i have to force quit on it just to close the apple tv app to stop the action. Its crazy weird. I think its somehow not connecting I wonder if I can delete the Apple tv app and try to download it from the apple app store. SMH I'll probably see if there is a youth tube video on that first before i try it.

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Feb 18, 2022 1:03 PM in response to gh0stb72

APPLE TV APP for the Macbook air is by far the worst application i've ever worked with, I've tried everything, from reset it to changing my files pathway to my external hard drive for the apple tv app on the laptop. I've tried it off wifi nothing, I've tried off wifi with my external hard drive hook up, and by searching for the movie/tv show on the external hard drive itself trying to open it with apple tv app, or real player, and i even downloaded an app to try to open it, still nothing, What ****** me off the most is when I have to force quit it every time it will not play the shows then it ask me to report it, then seconds later it asks me to comment in the comment box. Which I do yes I've gone off in them and lately i've type what exactly what is going on with the apple tv app and what its doing. No it's just like typing to a brick wall. I just ignore it and then open the apple tv app look for the show that I want to watch then remove the download and back out of the apple tv app on the laptop then go back into it then I am able to open the movie/tv show that i've already purchased and download to my external hard drive to watch it after I've removed the download show from my hard drive. UGH If I could work on the app myself I would go into it and fix it. !


I'm getting pretty close to doing it myself if APPLE CAN"T! The old iTunes app was waaaaay better than this one, easier to switch back and forth from internal or the external hard drive for music or media. Obviously this apple tv app has issues. APPLE I'M Begging you guys please help! Here's a picture of the force quit and the Colored wheel of death! ???

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Feb 17, 2022 5:38 PM in response to gh0stb72

All of my media is downloaded to an external drive and played through my Apple TV. Open Apple TV, navigate to computers, and select your device.


Your computer and Apple TV must be on the same network. And, you must enable Media Sharing (System Preferences > Sharing).

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Feb 17, 2022 7:29 PM in response to muguy

Hello, Well they are on the same network But what I'm talking about is my MacBook which has on it the apple tv app icon, I have a external hard drive hooked up to the MacBook. So both my iTunes app and apple tv app preferences files setting location is just only going into my external hard drive which is just /8tb. Nothing else is in front of the /8tb for the location of the external hard drive, and everything was downloaded to that external hard drive. I've checked the m4v files for the movies, tv shows and music. Like I said before sometimes the apple tv app on my MacBook finds them and plays them and other times it doesn't, now if I remove the download m4v file (movie or tv show) from my external hard drive within the apple tv app has no problems playing it. Which is weird because i see them on the external hard drive itself. I've tried the system preferences and file location to the external hard drive media sharing but still nothing their both on the same network there's no other network to put them on. I just wanted to watch the shows without the wifi being on, it seems there's something else that i am not seeing, hopefully I won't have to start over what a nightmare. lol, Now if I go onto my fire stick 4k then go to the apple tv app icon, click it on the movies and tv shows play fine, but i have to have the wifi on to do that that works really well too. Also when it was just the old iTunes app on the MacBook what was it I think five years back I had no problems setting everything up and playing whatever I wanted to play either wifi or wifi off, everything played fine.

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Mar 11, 2022 12:51 PM in response to mdhowes

lIke I said up above When I set up my external hard drive for Apple Music App or the Apple TV app it asks which location do you want your downloads to go, then after a few seconds it also asks if you want them organized which it automatically does. MMM


Another issues the Apple TV app is doing is after I've set everything up to show the MacBook to show the Apple music and Apple TV app on where to look for the movies or shows that I purchased. It will say looking for shows with an window that says choose between Locate and cancel then when I hit location option it says it can't find them Sometimes and sometimes it finds the movie/shows and starts to play them. Then other times it freezes or closes the Apple TV app, I have to restart everything go back to try to find the movie/show and choose Cancel, which it will start to play because I'm on the internet but If I choose no wifi it either freezes or closes the Apple TV app. Mmm lose for words geez


I know this didn't happen two years ago everything was running fine, I even broke down and got an extra external hard drive to to see if it was the external hard drive causing the problems but nope it's the apple tv app causing the problems hopefully one of their technician sees this and does something about it. Running dL 100 uploads 11 on the internet so I know its not the internet either.

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2022 setting up external hard drive for movies, tv shows, and music for a MacBook Air on the Apple TV APP.

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