Unable to play rented content: "an error occurred loading this content"

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Level 1

8 points

Unable to play rented content: "an error occurred loading this content"

I noticed another thread with a similar title but it seemed to relate more so to people having difficulty trying to stream content from a Mac to an AppleTv.

I am having problems playing rented content directly from a second generation AppleTv. Well, not me personally, but my father is having difficulties.

My father has had an AppleTv since the second generation model came out. He has been happily renting movies and watching them without any issue. Last week when the latest software update was released (4.2 (2060)) he updated his device. Ever since then he is unable to play any rented content. I am helping him remotely so I haven't seen it with my own eyes but after he presses play he gets an error similar to "an error occurred while loading this content". It doesn't get far enough to register that he has started playing because the device still reports that he has 28 days left to watch the movie (rather than less than 48hours).

He has tried renting 2 more movies (because he thought that it was a problem with the movie) and all 3 have the same issue.

I got him to connect directly to his Time Capsule with an ethernet cable rather than wirelessly and that didn't make a difference.

I got him to reset the AppleTv back to factory settings and that didn't make a difference.

He is able to play internet radio from AppleTv as well as watch YouTube videos.

To the best of my knowledge, nothing else has changed in his setup. He isn't very computer savvy so any changes are made remotely by me and I haven't done anything but do some software updates (iTunes, safari, etc..) on his Macbook Pro the same day that I updated his AppleTv.

I have contacted Apple support via the iTunes "report a problem" link on one of his iTunes receipt emails. They have responded asking me to update to the latest software which is not possible because I am already at the latest version….so clearly they didn't understand the problem. I have replied with some clarifications so hopefully the next reply is more helpful.

I also own a second generation AppleTv and I do not have the same issue and I have also upgraded to 4.2 (2060).

Anyone have any thoughts on what this could be or what he could try?

He is connected to the Internet via a DSL modem connected to an Apple TimeCapsule and the TimeCapsule is providing the wireless network for the AppleTv and his Macbook Pro.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 18, 2011 6:10 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 19, 2011 5:32 AM in response to alegacy

Have you tried restarting the router

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Answer 2

alegacy Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 19, 2011 5:35 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Yes, I have restarted his DSL modem, his TimeCapsule, his AppleTv… even his Macbook Pro on the off-chance that it was contributing to the problem.

No luck.

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Answer 3

Mar 19, 2011 9:12 AM in response to alegacy

I know you said you have restarted the ATV, but I've also seen this problem with playing video content from my iTunes library after waking the ATV from standby. I've found that power-cycling the ATV by pulling the plug for a few seconds has temporarily solved the problem for me. Have your father try this and see if it helps.

Regards,
Michael

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Answer 4

Mar 19, 2011 10:57 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

I am having the same problem. Tried rented a movie and got the "an error occurred loading this content". Tried reseting everything - still no luck. Any other ideas?

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Answer 5

Peetza

Level 1

5 points

Mar 23, 2011 12:02 AM in response to smquinnrx

I'm having this problem. I've racked my brain, and now want to return the product.

1. Tried updates to ATV (generation 2)
2. Tried firmware updates to router
3. Tried turning off home sharing/then enabling it
4. Tried power cycling ATV
5. Tried resetting ATV
6. Tried restore factory defaults, then updating ATV again
7. Tried rebooting the PCs too with iTues
8. Tried rebooting the modem and the router

I am using the same iTunes account as my PCs on the ATV. I have two PCs in my network- 1 vista, 1 windows7. I also have an iPhone (recently purchased).

With all these troubles, and literally hours of reading forums and troubleshooting, I am frustrated.

What works on the ATV:
1. ATV radio
2. strangley, previews of movies on the ATV works
3. NetFlix streaming, once I entered my account
4. listening to my iTunes library

...but I can't play my rented movies- I get the same thing everyone else gets "an error occurred loading this content. try again later"...I've tried, and tried...no success.

😟

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Answer 6

alegacy Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 23, 2011 3:10 AM in response to Peetza

We upgraded our ATV2 to Apple's latest software release and the still is still occurring. The software version number is now 4.2.1 (2100).

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Answer 7

Mar 28, 2011 5:12 PM in response to alegacy

alegacy wrote:
We upgraded our ATV2 to Apple's latest software release and the still is still occurring. The software version number is now 4.2.1 (2100).

We noticed the same thing tonight when renting a movie, we got the "error occurred loading this content". Checked the settings / general / itunes store and nothing showed loading... no rentals found... checked the time zone setting and it was set to the default (cupertino) changed it to our timezone, rebooted the apple tv, and tried again. This worked when previous reboot attempts didn't help.

FYI, this time we rebooted with the remote (menu + down arrow) instead of pulling the power. Just in case that mattered or made the difference.

also this was not the first rental since the most recent update... however the timezone _was set correctly_ the day we took it out of the box.

good luck with yours.

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Answer 8

Apr 2, 2011 1:59 PM in response to pocket8077

pocket8077 wrote:
FYI, this time we rebooted with the remote (menu + down arrow) instead of pulling the power.

What do you mean by "(menu + down arrow)"? I try menu+down arrow at the same time and nothing happens. I try them one after the other and it just moves whatever screen I'm on down one row. Are you talking about the thin silver hand-held remote that comes with the ATV?
I have changed my TZ from cupertino to Los Angeles (though they are both pacific...) and rebooted by pulling the power plug. Same thing. I am not trying to play rented content, but rather, content I ripped myself off blu-ray to 720p. All of the settings are correct for the movie, but it just displays "an error occurred loading this content"

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Answer 9

cjohns15

Level 1

5 points

Apr 5, 2011 9:28 AM in response to alegacy

The following message would be displayed whenever I tried playing rented content: "An error occurred loading this content. Try again later". *This seems to be a problem when renting content with your credentials previously saved in “Settings\General\iTunes Store” at checkout time.* I usually selected "No" when prompted to save my password. As a result, my credentials were saved to the Apple TV without complete login criteria.

What I found was:
1) Sign-out of iTunes if previously defined in Settings\General\iTunes Store.
2) Select desired content and press Rent button.
3) Enter AppleID and password, when prompted.
4) The rental will load and play successfully without issue.

This procedure does not correct the issue for previously rented material which is getting the error. For that, you will need to report the problem to Apple iTunes Support and they will grant a rental credit to your account. This procedure will, however, allow you to rent new content.

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Answer 10

Apr 24, 2011 4:09 AM in response to alegacy

Anyone have luck with apple technical support?

I have tried all of the suggestions listed on this thread and am still having the problem.

The strange thing is that I can play the previews and tv episodes, but for a full length movie, I always receive this error.

IIf anyone has more information on fixes to this issue, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

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Answer 11

Apr 26, 2011 6:36 PM in response to alegacy

I am on day 6 of trying to play the movie "Country Strong". I have done everything Alegcy on 3/18 has done and more, and with a brand new iMac, time capsule, blah blah blah.. I am fed up with support. I just want to watch movies.

HELP!

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Answer 12

TokYos

Level 1

0 points

Apr 29, 2011 8:51 AM in response to alegacy

Mine does the same thing and I've been doing a lot of research on this & like mine, it looks like your download speed from your DSL into your Apple TV is too slow to rent movies. One way that I've gotton around this is to rent the movie on my MacPro computer, wait for it to fully download and then stream it to my Apple TV. It's unfortunate that while it's downloading, it won't stream to the Apple TV at the same time.

Maybe Apple can fix the buffer to adjust to different download speeds?

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Answer 13

Cyan282

Level 1

9 points

Apr 29, 2011 11:50 AM in response to alegacy

Hi everybody,

I have the same problem of you all...

I rent a movie. But i can't download this. I can't playing my renting movie.

After 5 or 10 sec my AppleTV got the "an error occurred loading this content"

My hardware:

- AppleTV (generation 2)

- Logiciel AppleTV 4.2.1 (2100)

- OS version: 4.3 (8F2029

I live in Switzerland

HELP HELP HELP !!!

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Answer 14

alegacy Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 22, 2011 12:42 PM in response to alegacy

Well, it seems as though the problem is resolved; at least for my father. He has not been able to rent any movies since I posted the original question here in this forum. Yesterday, he upgraded his DSL connection from ~1.5Mbps to ~7Mbps. I suggested that he give his rented content another try now that he has a better Internet connection and low and behold it works just fine now.

So, this is sort of inconclusive. … maybe it is related to the connection speed, maybe it was something else that just started working again. Either way, my father is a happy AppleTV user again.

I hope the rest of you are able to find a resolution to your problems.

Allain

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Answer 15

Aug 21, 2011 7:58 PM in response to Peetza

I wonder of the latest software update for the ATV may have broken the copy protection handshake over hdmi with your TV. I am able to play my own 1080i movies made with my own camera over my ATV, but no movies that were purchased as "digital copy" with a Blu-ray movie. It would not be surprise me if the latest anti-piracy measures implemented aren't compatible with video displays more than just a couple of years old.

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