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iTunes 10.5.1 Home Sharing not working (Windows 7 64 Bit)

Looks like this is being reported by a fair few people on the forums - so just wanted to add my voice. Since iTunes 10.5 (same in iTunes 10.5.1) on Windows 7 64 Bit home sharing has stopped working. I have all firewalls disabled on my Windows machine, have tried all the normal suggestions of signing out and back into home sharing on all devices etc. iTunes Windows library does not show to other devices on the network including iPad, iPhone and Apple TV (all running latest firmware as of 19/11/2011). Not looking for any responses here from the community, as the problem clearly lies with iTunes on Windows. Apple please fix!


In the meantime the only way I can use my Apple TV is to sync purchases down to the iPad and then Airplay them to the Apple TV. Very annoying. Maybe time to look for an alternative for movie and TV downloads as Apple TV is pointless without it being able to connect to my Windows iTunes library and downloads..

AppleTV 2, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Nov 19, 2011 10:47 AM

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194 replies

Nov 30, 2011 7:12 AM in response to AJH205

I don't have a fix (as of yet), but I'm further down the road on it. Here's what I can tell you:

1. It is HIGHLY likely that it is a port issue on my home PC.

2. My laptop (also Win 7, with iTunes 10.5.1.42) IS visible from my AppleTVs on the same network (same router -- didn't change the wireless settings at all).

3. I tried the "Windows Firewall" fix suggested in another thread (removing the superfluous Bonjour entries), with no effect.

4. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes.


I'm going to try to uninstall my Norton 360 firewall (just disabling it doesn't seem to do the trick), to see if that's what's blocking the port.


I'm also interested to see if my laptop's library "disappears" after a while, like some have suggested.


Will let you know how it goes.

Nov 30, 2011 9:21 AM in response to AggieRob

OK. It is definitely related to my Norton 360 software. I uninstalled it, and Home Sharing works with no problems. The crazy thing is that I turned OFF the firewall in N360 before, but that didn't fix anything. I literally had to UNINSTALL it. I'll have to see if the Norton site has any fixes for this.


Bottom line for all having problems with this: it's all likely due to ports. Fix that, and you fix the problem.

Nov 30, 2011 11:17 AM in response to AJH205

Home shareing is now definitely not working on my iMac, Mac Book Pro and Apple TV2 after itunes 10.5.1 update. Turning home shareing off and on gets to the login window but as soon as I click "done" the share tab disapears from itunes. This happens on both Macs: iMac with snow leopard and new Macbook Pro with lion. Apple TV2 cannot find my media library, which renders it not fit for purpose as I cannot play films or music via main TV/hi-fi.


This problem appears to have been going on for some time so Apple, please extract digit and sort it!😠

Nov 30, 2011 8:37 PM in response to Sporan

I Had same problem after 10.5.1 update today, 11/30/11, on home computer which is Windows Vista, 64 bit. Computer 'saw' our iPads but wouldn't snyc with either of them via WiFi or even with the cable connection.

Kept getting error pop up "Apple Mobile Devices Not Started" on the iPads.


After searching and reading on forums, found solution that worked from last May and again on October 11, 2011- TS1567.


Close iTunes and click START- in Search, type SERVICES and click on that and after list loads select 'Apple Mobile Device'. After todays update mine was turned OFF, should be ON. Select 'turn on' or as the bullentin says, "turn off then turn back on" if indicates it is already on.


Worked for me, iPads connected again after iTunes restarted, both wired and wireless. In reading, this setting supposedly affects connecting just about everything to iTunes with Widows machines.

Hope it helps!! 🙂


iPod Nano 4G, iPod Touch 3G, 2-iPad2's, iPhone 3Gs, ATV-1, ATV-2

Dec 3, 2011 2:30 AM in response to topmanpaf

I recommend the following if you are experiencing issues with Home Sharing. These suggestions are for Win 7 / XP but should also apply to Mac OSs when using an equivalent utility to the one outlined below. Note that this post is based on my experience and investigation as to how Home Sharing works and is not guaranteed to address the issue you are experiencing. However hopefully it may be of some use!


On the Win 7/ XP PC hosting Itunes (the host) and your music library download and install Bonjour Browser from Hobbyist Software. Run Bonjour Browser and you will see a list of services if Itunes and Bonjour service are OK. Click on the refresh icon to update the list at any time. With Itunes running you should see the following services listed - _daap_tcp. (user's library) and _home-sharing._tcp. (user's library). You may also see entries starting _apple-mobdev._tcp. If you do not see these entries then there may be an issue with your installation of Itunes although I don't have any experience of this in my case. You could however try shutting down Bonjour Browser, Itunes, Bonjour Service and then restarting the Bonjour Service, Itunes and Bonjour Browser.


If you get the message "Seems like Bonjour isn't running" then there is either a problem with your Bonjour Service or port 5353 is being blocked by your firewall. Check that the Bonjour Service is running and disable all firewalls. I have seen reports on this forum of firewall software continuing to block traffic even if disabled so you should be aware of this.


If you do see the services above listed on the host PC then you should install the Bonjour Browser on another PC that has Itunes installed (if you have one!) and that is on your local network. If it does not run try the suggestion above as for the host PC. This PC will act as the client for the purpose of these tests. You should disable any firewall software on the client PC and ensure that you can ping the host from the client. When you run the Bonjour Browser on the client you should see the same services as outlined above. If you do not then there may be a problem with your network. In my case the problem was with my router which was not allowing mDNS packets through and was addressed by changing the security setting as per my previous post. How you proceed in this case depends on your network configuration however you should check your router configuration and ensure it is not configured to block any type of traffic between ports. Note that you should not change any configuration related to allowing traffic to be routed between the WAN and LAN interfaces of the router. Do not confuse WLAN (internal Wireless LAN) with WAN (Wide Area Network -your external broadband interface). If you do not have any success then you may want to try a different router, switch, hub or direct connection to interconnect the host and client PCs. If trying anything or than a router running DHCP then you will need to manually configure the IP addresses on both PCs.


If you do see the services listed on the Client PC Bonjour Browser then you should also see the shared library (user's library) listed in Itunes on the client PC under Home Sharing. Click on the shared library and wait for tracks to load. If tracks do not load or play then this suggests that port 3689 is being blocked at the host PC. Disable any firewalls at the host PC and try again. Once you can load the library tracks and play them you also should find that your mobile devices work too. If not ensure that the service Apple Mobile Device is running on the host.


If you are successful then you should consider re-enabling any disabled firewalls and configuring them accordingly so that Home Sharing works.


If anyone tries any of the above I would be interested in knowing the outcome and may be able to provide further suggestions. Comments also welcome. Good luck to all!

iTunes 10.5.1 Home Sharing not working (Windows 7 64 Bit)

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