Apple TV 2 has big problems homesharing - fixes? firmware update needed!

Thanks, I just turned off all the WiFi Sync options on all my devices. Hey presto, my AppleTV gave me the "turn on home sharing option" and everything works.

Hi,

I've got similar issues with Apple TV (2nd Gen) and my two PCs (Win7 laptop, WinXP tower). Both are using Home Sharing, and I find the connection drops out regularly. Playing an album might get only two songs in before no more can be streamed. The only solution I've found is either restarting iTunes on the PC, or turning Home Sharing off then on again, but this is a huge pain. Turning the Apple TV off then on (pulling power) doesn't help, so the problem appears to be in iTunes on the PC?

I've spent ages diagnosing and trying to tweak my home WiFi network. Everything has fixed IP addresses, Firewalls are off, Virus Checker is paused, port forwarding is permitted, WiFi channel set to first auto then fixed to avoid any interference (although according to inSSIDer 2.0 there are no conflicts in my environment). Nothing helps. I have a TP-Link router, and I've already tried a BT voyager, but both show similar symptoms so it's not my router. And given I have two PCs exhibiting the same problem I guess the only common denominator is iTunes, or the Apple TV unit.

I've also tried resetting this Bonjour service under Windows, which seems to be a dependency for iTunes Home Sharing, but that doesn't help either.

I hope this is simply a bug in iTunes and that Apple Corp can sort this with an update soon. It's really REALLY disappointing.

Apple TV2 kept losing the iTunes Library. only way to reconnect was restart iTunes. ATV would then see the library straight away but could lose the connection again after a few minutes, if i was lucky the whole film would work.

after lots of fault finding the fix was:

1 - uninstall iTunes.

2 - uninstall Bonjour through control panel.

3 - reinstall iTunes (which reinstalls Bonjour)

it seems bonjour mDNS had knackered itself and ATV couldn't find iTunes, or if it didi it couldnt keep it.

my setup.

ATV2

WIn 7 x64

wired network

Hi Ianmcp,

I tried your suggestion, but no luck. AppleTV 2 still loses the home share library after a few minutes.

I'm getting very fed up with this now, I just want to slideshow my photographs, how difficult can that be!? :-(

ThoricCLA - whats your setup ?

Hi again.

Apple TV 2, WinXP on desktop with iTunes all up to date. Also Win7 Pro on Toshiba Tecra laptop, all up to date. All devices are wireless and have fixed IP addresses. Router is a TP Link, which is problem free.

Odd thing for me is the connection only drops put when browsing (Home share movies, photos etc.), but not during playback. For example, I can play a full 2hr movie and the connection only drops out after playback. Similarly, if I'm listening to music, I can choose a playlist and the connection is only lost between songs, never during. I don't know if this down to the fact that the unit buffers data or is a coincidence. Restarting iTunes always fixes it (or disabling and re-enabling Home Sharing on the PC), but power cycling the ATV unit doesn't, so I presume iTunes is at fault (or Bonjour?).

have you tried iTunes on the laptop ? ATV can see 2 libraries with the same homeshare.

your setup sounds ok.

what steps have you taken ? (shoudl have asked that before!)

it really sounds like Bonjour DNS not working right. it drops out only after you have watched something as ATV caches and downloads the file once you click play. but once wacthed you (try) and go back to the library it's gone again. only a restart of iTunes will bring it back, right ?

try again.

uninstall iTunes, remove Bonjour through install/remove programes control panel. then reinstall latest iTunes.

you dont need to delete anything from the libraries etc for iTunes, all will be there once you reinstall.

Hi Ian,

I have used iTunes on both the tower and the laptop. The two iTunes can see each other's Home Share reliably, it's just the Apple TV that drops out its connection.

Yes, you are right. To restore the Apple TV's visibility I have to restart iTunes, which brings it right back.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling as you described, but no luck. Bonjour version is reporting as 3.0.0.10, which is presumably the latest release? The steps I've taken are about 7 posts up ^

Having similar issues with my two as well. I am running a MacBook Pro and 2 ATV. Since the last update I have had homesharing drop out every 20 minutes then I have to shutdown iTunes and start it back up. This works but it is a temporary solution to the problem. Otherwise, I have never had an issue.

Try some of the hundreds of workarounds that doesn't seem to work on this thread. You never know, one might work for you.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2776955?tstart=30

I, like many others, tried everything in multiple threads but what FINALLY worked was going into iTunes and unsyncing all of my devices that "sync over wi-fi".

Wow what a lot of people having problems. I have 2 Apple TV 2s and a second PC with i tunes. I get the same issues on all devices and we now hardly use the apple TVs at all. I wish i hadn't bought them.

The problem is they cant see the i tunes library. Both the apple TV's, my apple with the library and the PC can connect to the internet via the same hub but can't see ecch other. I had a talk talk hum then changed to a BT home hub after changing my ISp. lately I have bought a more expensive net gear hub. All the same problems. Apple can't help and reading these threads no one really knows what the problem is or has a solution. i suspect apple do know what the problem is but can't resolve it.

Yesterday i tried to put a movie on for my 5 year old it took my over an hour. How frustrating.

The solution. Switch off home sharing. Re boot all devices including the hub. Switch home sharing on. Keep trying until it works. If you don't re start the hub it will never work.

Come on APPLE we are all loyal multiple product purchasers if we are buying Apple TV. Get it sorted.

I resolved this issue by enabling multicast routing in the LAN routing featues of my home router/WiFi access point.

I already have multi-casting turned on, it still doesn't work.

I downloaded the new update for my Apple TV with high hopes, and at first I thought Apple had fixed the problem! I was playing music from my PC via Home Sharing for about half an hour, then silence. Halfway through a song it lost connection with my PC, and then to my horror the Apple TV unit crashed and rebooted itself! This is so much worse it's unbelievable! Very disappointed with Apple :-(

If multicast is already enabled on the network hosting the Home Sharing service yet does not fix it, then you probably have a multicast storm disrupting the service. In order to resolve that, you need a router that provides storm control options. The disruption of service seems to happen more often for iTunes libraries with Home Sharing enabled on a machine primarily using a WiFi network connection. This image shows a router product which offers these options: