after update to version 4.4 optical out not working

OK - I have been tracking and reading a couple posts for about a week or so. I resolved my issues by doing the following:

1. After attempting to restart the atv2 several times, I unplugged it, purchased a micro-USB cable, and plugged it directly to my iMac. The iMac saw it immediately. It continued to rapidly blink.

2. I Restored it from within iTunes. It went through the Restore process and gave a 1604 Error, which is a USB Timing Error. I thought that there was no further resolution to be had...until I read on the apple site to simply restart iTunes after the error appeard. I did this, and...the atv did not show back up in iTunes. I was about to throw in the towel until I noticed that my light was a solid LED and was no longer blinking.

3. Rather than mess around with trying to resolve the error, I disconnected from my iMac and replugged to my AV system, which consisted of HDMI plasma TV and Optical out to my stereo. I set the atv up again, checked the About and found it running v. 4.4...tested everything from both my iMac and PowerBook Pro, and all was working well.

I do not see (nor have I ever seen) the Apple TV device show up within iTunes on either machine. I was not aware it was supposed to, but after reading through the posts, I am wondering if I am supposed to. In any event, all is back and working as it should.

Hope this helps.

Same problem here. Apple pleasse fix this!!

Hello all,

If you are not getting optical audio output after updating to Apple TV 4.4, please post the answers to these questions:

1. Do you hear the beeps and bonks for the user interface?

2. What is your setting in Settings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital?

3. Does changing that setting have any effect?

4. Is your Apple TV plugged via HDMI directly into a TV?

4a. If so, what is the manufaturer and model of the TV?

4b. If not, what is the manufacturer and model of the device the Apple TV is connected to via HDMI?

Thanks, everyone.

1. No, I hear nothing but hissing

2. Auto

3. No. No effect.

4. Nothing is connected to the HDMI port whatsoever

edit: and thank you for chiming in! I REALLY appreciate that you're taking the time to help us!

Yes I hear the beeps

Dolby when set to No Outputs Stereo. When Dolby is Auto or yes no sound comes through form non itunes m4v movies although itunes tv series do output Dolby

HDMI port is connected to Onkyo NR807 receiver which in turn is connected via HDMI to Samsung television

This all worked fine with Dolby coming through loud and clear until i updated to Ios 4.4

Would appreciate any guidance here...

1. No.

2. Auto

3. No.

4. Nothing is connected to HDMI. Only Optical is connected to HK receiver.

I'm also having this issue. Some content that I've purchased from iTunes DOES output AC3 audio. Not all of it, however. And none of the content I've authored myself works any longer. I followed the official apple KB located at:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1755

Before 4.4, this all worked perfectly. Now, with 4.4 and 4.4.1 the Apple TV seems to always select the two-channel AAC track instead of the AC3 track. The only way I've been able to get AC3 audio with content I author myself is to NOT include an AAC track at all, only an AC3 track. Of course, this does not follow the official spec and these files fail to play on the iPhone/iPad due to the missing AAC track.

To answer the questions:

1. Do you hear the beeps and bonks for the user interface?

Yes

2. What is your setting in Settings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital?

I've tried 'auto' and 'on', same result.

3. Does changing that setting have any effect?

Unfortunately, no.

4. Is your Apple TV plugged via HDMI directly into a TV?

Yes

4a. If so, what is the manufaturer and model of the TV?

Sony XBR4

4b. If not, what is the manufacturer and model of the device the Apple TV is connected to via HDMI?

My receiver does not have HDMI switching capability, so in my case the Apple TV is connected to the TV via HDMI and to my receiver via a digital optical cable (toslink).

Again, this all worked fine before 4.4. :-( Any help would be *greatly* appreciated. Missing my 5.1 audio!!!

Roy B wrote:

Hello all,

If you are not getting optical audio output after updating to Apple TV 4.4, please post the answers to these questions:

1. Do you hear the beeps and bonks for the user interface?

2. What is your setting in Settings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital?

3. Does changing that setting have any effect?

4. Is your Apple TV plugged via HDMI directly into a TV?

4a. If so, what is the manufaturer and model of the TV?

4b. If not, what is the manufacturer and model of the device the Apple TV is connected to via HDMI?

Thanks, everyone.

My AppleTV is hooked up to a DAC via optical and has been working fine for the last 8 months or so. All I do is stream audio from my 4th gen Touch to it. The 4.4 update effectively bricked it.

1. N/A.

2. Whatever the default is (which is the same value it's always been)

3. Haven't tried because I have to ferry the Apple TV between my TV location and its real home.

4. HDMI is not plugged in at all.

I have 4 ATV2s. 3 are wireless with optical output into DAC and receivers (2 x 4.4, 1 x 4.3.5); the fourth is Ethernet/HDMI&Optical (4.4).

Before the upgrade, all units worked fine. After upgrade, the Ethernet/HDMI&Optical appears to work fine albeit with limited testing.

The results below are for the wireless/optical units used for audio

1. Do you hear the beeps andbonks for the user interface?

On the two units upgraded to 4.4 there is a loud hissing with the music barely audible in the background. It sounds like wireless interference but changing to Ethernet gives the same output.

The 4.3.5 unit has sound that is almost as expected. However,there are now intermittent pops that were not present before iTunes was updated. I guess it is possible this is some configuration changes that were made to this unit during testing.

2. What is your setting inSettings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital?

I've tried 'auto' and 'on',same result.

3. Does changing that setting have any effect?

No.

4. Is your Apple TV plugged via HDMI directly into a TV?

No. Into a DAC / Audio Receiver

4a. If so, what is the manufaturer and model of the TV?

N/A and not clear on the relevance of the TV as my understanding from an apple care call is that the "supported" configuration is optical through TV receiver and HDMI into the TV itself even though HDMI & optical through the receiver worked with 4.3.5. The problem appears to be with the optical output.

4b. If not, what is themanufacturer and model of the device the Apple TV is connected to via HDMI?

Units that are not functioning are connected via optical.

1. Do you hear the beeps and bonks for the user interface? NO

2. What is your setting in Settings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital? - ON

3. Does changing that setting have any effect? - NO

4. Is your Apple TV plugged via HDMI directly into a TV? - YES

4a. If so, what is the manufaturer and model of the TV? _ Panasonic TC-P50U1

4b. If not, what is the manufacturer and model of the device the Apple TV is connected to via HDMI?

Optical out is connected directly to a Pioneer amp.

Powering off the apple TV (Press and hold the play button on the remote for 4 seconds) and then turning it back on seems to fix the issue. this was not a problem before the updates last week.

If you haven't used the work arounds coming up for this, here's the simplest one that reliably works for me...

It only seems to work if Dolby Digital is "on" in settings and not if DD is set to auto. I had mostly silent movies after 4.4 update to ATV2. 2 hours with Apple suport and they could make it play a monolinear PCM stream audio (yuk!).

Start video content..... Don't pause the movie and Push the up button on the remote.... This brings up a dialog box and then push and hold the select button.... This brigs up a set of options. For me I see two choices, English and English. They are on above the other. The top on is DD and the bottom on is stereo. Toggle from the DD to Stereo and return to the movie... There should be sound now.... Press the up button again and repeat the push and hold of the select button.... When the two "English" options come up toggle back to the top one.... Go back to the movie... And viola' DD.... My ATV2 remembers for each movie I do this on.... But each file must be done separately.... At least it can be made to function. Hope this helps some folks out. Apple pulled the 4.4.1 update... So hopefully the real fix is coming.

I have two Apple TV2's. One is connected to a DAC for audio streaming and the other is connected by HDMI to my TV plus optical audio to my surround sound system. After the update the unit connected to the DAC had to be restored via iTunes and micro-usb cable. The unit connected to the TV updated in the normal manner. Because I have two units I was able to swap and test all aspects of effects of the update on optical audio. As mentioned here in the thread there is no optical audio output on either unit since the 4.4 update. Audio via HDMI works OK.

To answer your questions Roy:-

1. Do you hear the beeps and bonks for the user interface? via the HDMI Yes - via the optical out NO

2. What is your setting in Settings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital? - AUTO (but, tried both off and on)

3. Does changing that setting have any effect? - NO

4. Is your Apple TV plugged via HDMI directly into a TV? - YES for the first unit, NO for the second unit (DAC)

4a. If so, what is the manufaturer and model of the TV?The Prima TV audio via HDMI works as per normal.

4b. If not, what is the manufacturer and model of the device the Apple TV is connected to via HDMI. JVC amp.

From this thread and others it seems that the only thing affected "audio-wise" is the OPTICAL OUTPUT, so, I don't really understand the relevance of your 4a & 4b questions.

I appreciate your 'chiming-in' to assist with this issue. It would also be good to get an update on Apple's 'take" on this so far

Thank you Roy B for taking the time and be with us.

My situation is as follows:

I m using my ATV2 headless, with only the SPDIF cable connected to it and it goes to an external Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) and that goes to my amplifier.

Until the recent update(s) of the iOS everything was working smooth and i was enjoying my music in my library at my HiFi system.

After the update, it has stopped working.

I have managed to make it work ONLY by having an HDMI connection with a monitor along with the SPDIF connection going to my DAC.

And now regarding your questins

1. No, with a cheap optical cable that was previously working (iOS4) i hear nothing, with an expensive audioquest optical cable i hear hisses and pops and the sound like coming from the depths of earth and the quality is 1 Kbps internet radio. But eitherway i wouldnt be listening to them since i use airplay via my iPad

2. Auto

3. Went through on off and auto. no changes at all

4. No connection to the HDMI out

My solution to AC3 via optical cable issue:

Ok, it appears Apple has pulled the 4.4 update as well, so 4.3 is the latest current release. Why is this a big deal? Because Apple only authenticates the *current* version of the firmware. This prevents downgrading to a previous release. However, since 4.3 is now the current version, it means we can FOR A VERY SHORT TIME downgrade from 4.4 or 4.4.1 to 4.3. The process involves booting your AppleTV into a recovery mode called DFU mode, then restoring the 4.3 firmware in iTunes. I have two AppleTVs, one was on 4.4 and the other one was on 4.4.1. Using this procedure, I have successfully downgraded them both to 4.3. My AC3 audio is now working via the optical cable again!!! My ears rejoice! 🙂

What you need:

• Your AppleTV (duh) and its power cable.
• A USB cable with a standard (type A) plug on one end and a micro-USB plug on the other end.
• Your computer and iTunes.
• The AppleTV 4.3 firmware file. The file is AppleTV2,1_4.3_8F455_Restore.ipsw and the MD5 hash of the file is 785f859b63edd329e9b5039324ebaf49. I will not provide a link, you should be able to figure out how to find the file. Check the MD5 checksum on the file using a checksum tool and verify it matches what I've listed here. This ensures you have the correct file and/or it is not corrupt.

Boot AppleTV in DFU mode:

1. Start iTunes on your computer, if it's not already running.
2. Unplug all cables from your AppleTV.
3. Plug in the power cable.
4. Plug in the USB cable between the AppleTV and your computer.
5. Wait for the AppleTV to "boot up" (LED on the front will stop blinking)
6. Using the AppleTV remote, hold down the menu and down buttons until the AppleTV reboots (LED on front will begin flashing).
7. As soon as you see the LED begin flashing, IMMEDIATELY release the menu and down buttons on the remote.
8. As soon as you release the menu and down buttons, IMMEDIATELY hold down the menu and play buttons on the remote. LED on the front will flash rapidly for a-bit, then flash more slowly. Keep holding the menu and play buttons until the LED goes solid.
9. Release the buttons on the remote. The LED on the front will begin flashing when you release the buttons and the AppleTV will be in DFU mode. The AppleTV should also now appear in iTunes.

Restore the 4.3 firmware using iTunes:

1. AppleTV must be in DFU mode (see above) and show up in iTunes
2. Hold the shift key on your keyboard, then click the "Restore" button in iTunes.
3. Browse and select the firmware file (ipsw file) for version 4.3.
4. The AppleTV should begin the firmware update process. Do not interrupt the process or unplug any cables.
5. When finished, your AppleTV firmware will be restored back to version 4.3.

Issues/caveats:

• When the firmware update completed, I did get a 1602 error (Apple KB says issue with the USB cable) but the restore worked perfectly on both of my AppleTVs.
• As with any firmware update procedure, there always is the possibility of failure. I take no responsibility if you brick your AppleTV using this procedure!
• If you're interested in downgrading to 4.3, you should do it ASAP. As soon as Apple releases the next firmware update (4.4.2??) this procedure will not work!

Good luck, hope this helps someone!

I also run an ATV2 headless for audio using the optical out, which broke after the update last week.

1. Do you hear the beeps and bonks for the user interface?

No

2. What is your setting in Settings > Audio & Video > Dolby Digital?

Auto

3. Does changing that setting have any effect?

No

4. Is your Apple TV plugged via HDMI directly into a TV?

No

4a. If so, what is the manufaturer and model of the TV?

N/A

4b. If not, what is the manufacturer and model of the device the Apple TV is connected to via HDMI?

None - optical audio plugged into a Yamaha receiver and no HDMI connection. Plugging an HDMI cable into the same receiver works fine.