This content requires HDCP for playback problem! Apple TV2

TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC: Yours is pretty dismissive attitude. This is a real issue that MANY people are experiencing. I'm an A/V installation pro... with ten years of experience with a big audio manufacturer before I started my business seeven years ago and I am experiencing the same issue on several jobs. While it is entirely possible for even a "professional" to make mistakes... I am searching for answers myself. When the ATV2 is connected directly to a modern TV with a "High Speed" HDMI 1.3a or 1.4 rated cable it should just work -- that's supposedly the whole point -- using a single cable.

The MPAA has saddled us with HDMI - so that they can have copy protection. There is no alternative when you want the highest resolution and the best audio. Do some research on the "Analog sunset." The problem is that each component manufacturer must follow the HDMI specification to the letter... and they don't. As a result, we have problems like this. It can be a simple timing sync error. More commonly it is a Voltage drop issue (poor quality cable, cables longer than the 5 meter spec, or connectors that come loose.)

My hope is that Apple does it correctly... but, my problems are with ATV2 and: Sony, Mitsubishi, Sharp, and Samsung. Are each of these TV manufacturers doing it incorrectly???? Is anyone out there going to tell me that i don't know how to plug in a HDMI cable correctly? Does Apple expect me to tell my clients that they need to unplug, power cycle, and replug the HDMI connector each time they want to rent a movie?

Rediculous... but, for all of my negativity, it is a beautiful product. Apple just needs to own this problem... or, like i frequently have to do... fix someone else's problem and be the better person (company) to keep your clients happy.

-Matt in Ohio

Unbelievable!!! I have tried everything before. I just read this, swaped two HDMI cables around on the TV and WHAMO she works. Random fixes are not the solution Apple!

I can fix this for all of you.

Go to fred meyer and purchase the 2 pack hdmi cables from g.e there 29.99 they are high speed cables they will say.

1080p supported

3d ready or enabled

and ethernet compatible.

this will fix all problems with apple tv version 2 it fixed mine just great

Alphashot wrote:

This whole HDCP crap is only preventing paying customers from watching what they paid for, while pirates get what they want with no worry. This didn't prevent one movie from being copied, but left 1000 of upset legal customers. What idiots came up with this???

Completely agree with that. Where is the incentive for law abiding Citizens and supporters of the music & film industry to comply with copyrights when the content is so flaky? What makes me laugh is how it almost seems 'acceptable' for people to have to 'reboot' their AV systems in order to watch their iTunes content.

Rebooting ATV is a pain in the backside since you have to reinput the Wi-fi credentials, re-sign into iTunes, reset the Audio and General settings and all with that silly little remote control! It's a total bind.

I love the convenience of ATV but it's *still* a deeply flawed product. The ridiculous irony of iTunes and ATV is pirated content works a lot better than legitimately purchased content 😁

This is happening to me on a brand new MacBook Air. I watched the first 8 episodes of a TV show without difficulty and now have the error that won't let me watch anymore.

ugh.

Closing and reopening iTunes seems to solve this problem for me... that said I'll also try a higher-end HDMI cable.

"

Norcalgrl Wrote.....

Re: This content requires HDCP for playback problem! Apple TV2

I continued to have this problem and couldn't watch ANYTHING. I tried everything mentioned here except obviously the cable thing since it was happening on my laptop.

I took it to the Apple Store and they thought they were going to have to reload the operating system. They looked at it for over and hour and tried a whole bunch of other things without any resolution.

Awhile later I found that one of the episodes was only partially downloaded. Once I completed the download of that one episode, it never had that error again.

I can't explain it, but just suggest that you make sure that ALL downloads are complete - when just one episode was partially loaded it caused this error on ALL the episodes {even the ones I had previously watched} {even though that episode was partially loaded at that timeI had watched them}.

There is no explanation! Good luck.

johnodd4 wrote:

I can fix this for all of you.

Go to fred meyer and purchase the 2 pack hdmi cables from g.e there 29.99 they are high speed cables they will say.

1080p supported

3d ready or enabled

and ethernet compatible.

this will fix all problems with apple tv version 2 it fixed mine just great

This problem has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of HDMI cables. If the problem went away after changing cables, this isn't because the new cable is better, it's because you disconnected a cable and connected a new one, probably switching off the device(s) in the process. You would have got the same result if you had kept the same cable.

Vendors making claims for HDMI cables like "1080p and 3D compatible" are just misleading consumers. All HDMI cables are the same and support everything. What has changed over time with the different versions of HDMI is what the devices support. The cables have always remained the same.

An HDMI cable is a digital cable, it just sends 1s and 0s. A cheap HDMI cable will send exactly the same 1s and 0s as an expensive one. There is NO difference.

I've had the HDCP issue a few times with my ATV2 and I can always fix it by disconnecting the HDMI cable, powering off the ATV2 and the TV, connecting it all back up again and powering up. This shouldn't be necessary. It's a handshaking issue and it's an Apple bug.

Thanks for detailing your fix - I was having the same "the content requires hdcp for playback" error and your post guided me to a fix. I used a modified series of steps and it worked for me as follows: 1) power down the tv and the apple tv (they were plugged into the same surge supressor so I shut them down simultaneously). 2) Plug the appletv back in, confirm that it was connected to my wifi network by checking that I could control it with my iphone app. 3) power up the tv, browse to network and play my show.

To anyone looking this is the solution, I was about to throw my apple TV 2 away as is so frustrating.

Take out the hdmi cable from both tv and apple tv and wait 3 minutes whilst both are powered off.

Then reconnect and bingo worked first time.

Very frustrating again, apple is getting more complicated over time

yeah, that seems to work for me. Turn everthing off, unplug the HDMI cable, plug it back it and turn everything on. Great! But why should we have to do this stuff? Thankfully this error message only shows up about twice a month, but it shouldn't show up at all! Really annoying.

Just supid programming by Apple and Apple should be ashamed that this is still an issue even with the most recent software update!

I think a class action lawsuit against apple might get this fixed. They are selling a product that has an obvious software bug in it. Then they sell you movies and tv shows to watch that you pay for and then can't watch. I have had mine for a month and have yet to see a single Netflix or iTunes video play. I've put the device on two different HD TVs and tried three different cables. I've tried streaming from my iPhone and from my iTunes and from Netflix. My Wii doesn't have this problem on the same TV's, it allows my purchased Netflix to play just great. My Tivo does the same thing. All on the same TV's. Time to hit Apple in the nose with class action lawsuit representing everyone who has had a problem since they did the first upgrade to the software. Make them give everyone free video for a year and we'll see how fast they fix the software.

Make them give everyone free video for a year and we'll see how fast they fix the software.

Just buy the DVD, MUCH easier.

Blame Hollywood and your government, not Apple.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=40204088

If you think buying a DVD is easier than using the Apple TV you presumably don't have one, in which case I think you should reconsider whether you have any valuable advice on this topic.