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2010 Apple TV: Can't see "Computers" after iMac/ATV sleep

3-4 times now, I can't see my computer in the "Computers" menu after my iMac and/or Apple TV is in sleep mode. Home Sharing is on - on both my iMac and Apple TV - and my firewall is actually off. I have iTunes 10.0.1 and OS X 10.6.4. Each time I've had to quit and relaunch iTunes (I keep it and my iMac on all the time) or reset the Apple TV. When it works, it works great - I just keep losing the content from my iMac.

Thanks.

Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 2, 2010 2:35 PM

Reply
105 replies

Oct 2, 2010 5:58 PM in response to Joe P.

Just wanted to share one tip that seems to be working so far. Change the sleep setting on Apple TV to 15 mins under "Settings - General - Sleep after" and change your Mac sleep setting under "Preferences - Energy saver" to go to sleep a few mins after the Apple TV. This appears to prevent some of the issues like freezing and Home sharing disappearing when your Mac goes to sleep and so far appears to be waking up my Mac when waking AppleTV back up. I still need to test if this works overnight or over a longer period time though.

Oct 3, 2010 12:02 AM in response to Joe P.

On your Mac, go to system preferences --> energy saver --> and check the "wake for network access" box. This will allow your apple tv to still see your computer even when your computer is asleep. Basically the apple tv remembers your computer, and when you go to the "computers" menu on apple tv, your library will still be there. The apple tv has the ability to wake up your computer.

Oct 3, 2010 9:20 AM in response to Joe P.

My AppleTV keeps telling me to turn on Home Sharing after I re-start or even close and re-open iTunes. Home sharing IS on. My mini upstairs has no problems at all. Also, if I restore the AppleTV to factory settings it connects right up. Other than that no problems. NetFlix, MobileMe, and radio all work fine. My iPhone and my wife's iTouch also connect with no problem and I've tried the energy saving suggestions with no success. Oh yeah, I've also tried wireless and Ethernet.

The part that gets me is the main reason I bought this thing was to be able to control iTunes upstairs. Any assistance is welcome. Thanks.

Oct 4, 2010 8:34 AM in response to Joe P.

Mine does exactly the same thing. No problems with iPhone or 1st gen ATV, but I've just got the new one and it keeps asking me to turn on Home Sharing every time it wakes up after sleeping. Internet and streaming from iTunes works fine, it just can't see the computer. It must be a bug because sometimes it has icons for my films/music at the top of the screen, and even has the library name, but it's not listed under "Computers". If I switch off the power, then switch it back on again, the Library comes back up.

Hope this helps.
Bob.

Oct 4, 2010 10:27 AM in response to Joe P.

All I can say after being on the phone with Apple Support for an hour and a half is that mine will be going back to the store and I will hook up my 1st generation Apple TV and wait for Apple to fix the bugs in this one.

Why should we have to worry about "work arounds" because their issues. Mine is doing the same exact thing...not recognizing my library upon waking and having to enable Home Sharing each time. The Apple Tech said that in order for this 2nd generation Apple TV to work properly, your computer has to be awake at all times. There is no option in OS X 10.5.8 to wake upon network detection so that won't work and I won't be leaving my computer on all the time.

Oct 6, 2010 6:58 AM in response to Joe P.

I have been having similar issues with my Apple TV gen 2 not finding my iTunes library especially after the Apple TV has been asleep. I leave the iMac with the iTunes library running all the time. Like someone else here has suggested, it looks like there is a bug in iTunes when you turn on home sharing, there is a Done button on the bottom. When you click this button, the home sharing icon in the left hand pane in iTunes goes away and appears to actually turn it off and thats when I start having problems. When I don't click the done button, the Apple TV seems to function more normally in loading my library. Also to clarify, I never got a message asking me to turn off home sharing then turn it back on. I think the problem lies with not actually clicking the "Done" button in iTunes after turning home sharing on. If you are having a problem, try turning sharing off in iTunes, then turn it back on but don't click the done button on the bottom. Home sharing will stay in the left hand pane in iTunes.

Message was edited by: Bryan Brindeiro

Oct 6, 2010 6:56 AM in response to Joe P.

The same thing has happened to me twice. It occurs when I go to turn it on first thing in the morning. My iMac is set to "Wake for Ethernet Network Access" but the Apple TV has no computers listed. The solution, unfortunately, has been to unplug the Apple TV. (I have not been asked to turn on Home Sharing again as others have.) Fortunately this new Apple TV turns on quickly when I plug it back in, so it doesn't take too much time to fix the problem, but this shouldn't happen in the first place. I sent a bug report to Apple on their feedback page.

Oct 7, 2010 8:03 PM in response to Joe P.

I have had the same issueneveryone else has here. I come home from work and turn the tv on and the apple tv tells me to turn on home sharing. I have had some success just re-starting iTunes but what a hassle. To complicate matters I moved my original ATV to my bedroom and now it keeps having IP issues where neither my iMac or my ATV will work because it is the same IP. Now I have to manually re-find my network and enter the password for it to find a new IP. I'm pretty close to taking this new ATV back because I never had a single issue with the old one and now I have to do work-arounds on both just to watch my iTunes content.

Oct 9, 2010 9:02 AM in response to Joe P.

Ah... Since I am a knuckle head I've had this problem several times. For me it is as simple as I forgot to keep iTunes running. As soon as I start up iTunes on my iMac and / or MacBook the second generation Apple TV finds my computers. All is fine. I do agree with the other suggestions re the computers going to sleep and wake up on network assess. They work. Good luck fellow knuckle heads..

Oct 9, 2010 10:13 AM in response to tapout1947

In theory, you shouldn't need to keep iTunes running to use ATV2, but even with it running (or not), my ATV will refuse to find my library after it has been to sleep.
I've tried checking the IP addresses, and they're all o.k. Firewalls off........everything.
An unplug/replug will get it going again (so will a software reset).........but then if I switch ATV2 off for 30 seconds, then back on.......no library under "computers"

Come on Apple......sort it out, I want to start using the thing (now I've paid for it).

Bob.

Oct 10, 2010 7:01 AM in response to Robert Farthing

Has anyone else tried the method I mentioned above? My Apple TV has absolutely not lost the ability to see my iTunes library after what I detailed above... I was having all the problems people have mentioned prior to this. In short, turn off Home Sharing within iTunes. Turn it back on, then on the screen that says home sharing is on with the "Done" button at the bottom, DO NOT CLICK DONE. Just click out of this area into anything else within iTunes. You will notice that the Home Sharing icon will remain in the left hand pane of iTunes. This has worked for me. I believe this is an iTunes bug in which clicking the done button actually turns home sharing off....

2010 Apple TV: Can't see "Computers" after iMac/ATV sleep

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