New Apple TV 2 stuck Activating setting date and time

It can be that your firewall blocks NTP (port 123). Even if your DHCP server has a NTP server option (option 43) set, atv will try his one NTP server. So it hangs because of your firewall setting.

Assuming this is not the first time you have used your Apple TV

• You might try restarting the Apple TV by removing ALL the cables for 30 seconds.
• Also try restarting the router.
• If the problem persists, try a restore, you may want to try the previous procedures several times before doing this.

If this is a new Apple TV, it may also be that your network router is not allowing access to the timeserver, check that your router allows access over port 123.

Not a very usefull answer...

You're a phsycic as well unhelpful then are you.

Eric,

I have seen this also on my apple tv's (2nd gen). Aventually it should quite but I have used the menu on the remote to back out of it. The problem is connecting to the time servers. The may not be a problem on your network or you would have noticed this on you computers clock especially if you have a mac. Macs by default use apple time servers. Sometimes they time out and it has nothing to do with your network. just reset it unpluc wait 30 sec, plug it back in. If its still stuck then use the remote to back out and stop it.

who knows by now its probably working since this was a while ago.

How do I change my firewall settings or router settings to apple tv can access the time sever properly??

Hi I had same problems and couldn't understand most of the solutions on offer as I'm a bit of a Luddite. The problem seems to be getting ATV to register your network time and date details following the upgrade of software. I use a wireless connection at home and my firewall was blocking the ATV from obtaining this information. Instead of changing router settings, firmware etc (which is beyond me) I solved it this way:

1. Rather than use my existing wireless connection I connected the ATV to my iPhone personal hotspot (iPhone has 3G connection). It may be another network could also be effective.

2. ATV connected via the iPhone no problem apparently got the network time and date settings ok.

3. The previous ATV functionality was restored.

3. I then disconnected from my iPhone hotspot and re-connected to my main wireless connection. All worked fine.

It seems what you need to do is side-step the router firewall problem. Hope it works for others.

I finally solved this problem on my Apple TV..........I bought a new Cable Modem and Router.......cost more than the Apple TV did, but everything works perfectly now and my download and upload speeds are much faster. I guess my old hardware was too out of date.

You are the MAN!!!!! Ive tried for days to make this work and yours is the only one...

You have no idea how many people have gone crazy over this

yup.... you da Man

Thanks!!!! I was having the same issue and it was driving me insane. I even went out and bought another Apple TV but experienced the same problem out of the box. Luckily the solution to use my iPhone for temporary access to the internet worked for both devices. They ar eboth now happily connected back on my main line and working perfectly.

Cheers!

Technophobe101: maybe you aren't such a Luddite after all...tried your solution with a 3G Ipad hotspot and also solved the problem. Thanks very much!

Still doesn't change the fact that while this is a great work-around, Apple should still come up with a permanent fix or guidance/instructions...

I want to chime in. I have an ATV3, and Technophobe101's solution worked for me.

Use iPhone Hotspot temporarily... after that, it seems to work normally.

Same issue. Tried many Internet forums for the answer but nothing worked. Took it to the "genius" bar and got a new one. Brought it home.... Same problem. I was ******. Read a few more Internet forum answers and finally tried using a pen to hit the "reset" button on my wireless router. That was it. Works fine now. Too bad I wasted a trip to the mall. At least I got a good reminder while I was there as to why I don't go to the mall...lol

Brilliant, technophobe....then after putting in the settings, the "activation: failed (skipped)" message just goes away...

I'd like to know though...how DO you open up port 123 on a router?

Anyone help here?

Cheers

Chris M