Home Sharing drop out with Apple TV2

Hi All-

I have been having similar problems on my AppleTV2 for the last few weeks. I read all of the suggestions here, but was having a lot of trouble tracking down the specific cause since the iOS was updated, iTunes was updated and Mac OSX had an update all around the same time.

My symptoms:
We use the AppleTV mostly to stream TV and Movies from my iMac iTunes library to the AppleTV. My problems started after returning from a vacation at the end of March. I know the iOS update came out during the last 10 days of March. Once back, the AppleTV kept dropping the connection to the iTunes library at random intervals, it might be an hour it might be less than a minute. Once the connection was dropped, the AppleTV would drop into the main Menu and would list my shared library under the Computers heading, but would not show recent items above the menu (pictures from videos or album art). When I would click on the shared library 1/2 the time it would say it was not connected, then quickly start loading the library (but that may just sit there and spin, so I'd hit menu and then it may or may not have made a solid connection to the library). When I finally navigated back to the program I was watching it might work for a minute, up to 10 before dropping again. I found no difference in behavior between ethernet and wifi. While this was not working the Netflix streaming service worked very well.

Solution:
I finally tracked my issue down to Intego VirusBarrierX6. I had been using VirusBarrier for several years, and have had issues in the past, but the newest version introduced an automated updater, so I didn't realize it had run a recent update. With version 6 they integrated the firewall (Barrier) into the Virus scanner (it used to be a separate app I think) and even though I had "No Restrictions" set in network traffic and had added my local network to the trusted sites I think their firewall is the problem. I noticed a new check box in this window I hadn't seen before that said something like allow AppleTV, so I tried checking this, no fix. So next step was I uninstalled the software and now I have had 24 hours of problem free AppleTV.

I hope this helps anyone else who is having similar issues.

I had been thinking that VirusBarrier had something to do with it, and I will try your suggestion and uninstall it. I'll report back on my results.

VirusBarrier has nothing to do with it.

I too thought that I had found that as a problem, and added my AppleTV as a trusted source, and the problem cleared for that day ... but it came back and my AppleTV STILL has the dropouts that are being described here.

It's a Home Sharing problem as others have attested.

Is there anyone with the dropout issue who does NOT have Firefox installed?

I do not have FF installed. I use Chromium nightly builds. I don't stream movies but stream a lot of music and after 20-45 minutes I lose my ATV2 Homeshare connection and my library no longer shows up on the TV and my Airplay to my iPhone 4 and ipad2 is also lost. I can however still stream Netflix flawlessly.

No Firefox here. I've been luck this past week, haven't dropped connections. However it is not reading homeshare movie listing correctly, dropping listings.

No firefox here, no virus barrier here, both win an mac libraries. Pathetic Ethernet since last atv2 update. Somewhat usable on wireless. Wireless dropout 1hr or more. Never drops netflix or apple rentals. Ethernet 2min or less drops on home share only. Atv classic still running pro.

One issue I noticed, which might be related, is that I began having problems with the Bonjour service immediately after the iTunes 10.2.1.1 update. In Windows 7, the Bonjour service often fails to start automatically. Sometimes iTunes warns me that Bonjour is not running. Apple TV will not connect to iTunes if the Bonjour service is disabled.

I'm sure that I have no answer to the problem, but I just came back to post my update: I uninstalled VirusBarrier and iTunes Homeshared from my iMac to my ATV2 has been working for two days now.

At this point, just an acknowledgement from Apple would be nice. Like most companies do when they have known bugs. The volume of complaints cannot be ignored.

I've posted a link to this thread over at the Mac News Network, hoping that this may generate some interest over there.

http://forums.macnn.com/82/applications/437476/itunes-and-homesharing/

Not all of us having problems are using VirusBarrier.

Are you reading this, Apple Support?
It is NOT a VirusBarrier issue.

GREAT idea ... I just posted a link to this thread over at MacWorld Forums, hoping to generate some interest over there!

http://forums.macworld.com/index.php?/topic/136557-home-sharing-drop-out-with-ap ple-tv2/

I thought it might be helpful if I summarized a list of the problems I've had with Apple TV 2 Home Sharing since the iTunes 10.2.1.1 update. These problems may or may not be related, but none of them occurred until the last iTunes update. My Apple TV 2 worked flawlessly on earlier versions.

1) The Bonjour service is often disabled. iTunes warns that Bonjour is not running.

2) Slow loading of library/album art/media files. The library often takes several minutes to appear. Movies from my library (NOT streaming from the internet) often take several minutes to begin playing.

3) Movies from my library that DO begin playing often won't cache more than five minutes of data. The movie will play for a few minutes and then stop.

4) When movies play, sometimes the connection breaks every five minutes, and sometimes the connection lasts an hour or more before dropping.

5) Likely unrelated, but some metadata information disappeared. Plot summaries are gone, and pressing UP twice on the remote no longer displays movie information during playback. I believe there is already an active thread going for this metadata bug.

As others have reported, internet streaming on the Apple TV 2 continues to work properly. YouTube and Netflix have no hiccups.

Message was edited by: shrmgs