None of my iDevices can read my iTunes library after an hour of availibility. When I first start iTunes I can read the library, but after about 30 minutes my iPad's and iPhones can no longer access the library. I see it in the shared list, but no access.

Back to beginning too. Strangely removing IPv6 with the DOS command i mentionned early gave me one 12 hour idle without problem (overnight sleep that still responded). But it started to struggle after.

So same, im back to my little software that shutdown and restart iTune after 1 hour of idling. Too bad.

I wonder if its something to do with the size and location of the library?

Mine is on an external USB drive (RAID 5) and the total size (music, movies etc) is 1.7TB.

Maybe people with and without problems can let us know the size and location of their library?

No, I set up a separate user account to test this and shared off the local HD instead of my Drobo (added just a couple of movies). Stopped working after several hours in the same fashion.

So I have a co-worker that has two ATV's and shares from a central computer and doesn't have this issue. I would love to know why it happens to some and not others...

I am getting that info.

Hope this this true: http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/05/30/may.introduce.new.control.out.api. for.third.party.devices/

Maybe the updated OS will fix this issue.

Just wanted to bump this thread back nearer the top.

This is my #1 issue with my Mac systems right now.

Ok, this is bizarre. Mine has been working for about four days straight.

I have done NOTHING! I haven't restarted my computer, changed settings, etc. The last thing I did was the usual restarting of itunes, which I did every day. I'll keep you posted but obviously I am expecting this to stop working any day now.

As for the person I know that isn't experiencing any of these issues all I can say is he is up to date on everything so I can't make any sense of this problem. I'm more baffled now, especially with my present good fortune, than ever.

I'll add my voice to the list, as I'm having similar issues. First my set-up:

iMac - a bit long in the tooth (and hopefully being updated after WWDC!!), OS 10.7.4

2 x AppleTV (3rd gen), software 5.0.1 (4224)

Time Capsule, software 7.6.1

iTunes 10.6.1 (7), library file on iMac in usual home directory location, media all on RAID HDD, connected to iMac via FireWire (it was originally connected to the Time Capsule via USB, but this was getting complicated and the iMac is never switched off) ~ 1 Tb music, movies and TV shows

I also have an iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air - but not really used in this setup

Connections:

iMac to TC via Ethernet

TC to AppleTV number 1 via Ethernet and to number 2 via WiFi

And now the issue:

Generally works well

Occasionally requires me to restart iTunes in order to see my shared library on either AppleTV, generally works OK

After watching a show OFTEN requires restart of iTunes to access library and select next show

Normally playback is great, once running. Occasionally playback is very stuttering, until I restart iTunes

The same media is accessed visa Sonos system, with no problems whatsoever. Even if the computer is asleep.

The whole setup is quite new, so I can't say if it is related to software versions. The external HDD seems to switch on OK, the light goes on and I can hear it spin up. Waking the computer manually from sleep doesn't seem to help. Restarting the AppleTVs doesn't seem to help either. I have no idea about IP6 settings, but surely these shouldn't need to be altered, given that this is Apple's consumer oriented end of things!

I, like others, will await a solution

This was driving me nuts for a while, finally this weekend I decided to write a little ruby script to restart itunes if Home Sharing bugs out. I posted the details here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3844788?answerId=18560614022#18560614022

But in short, you can find the ruby here: http://djw.s3.amazonaws.com/homesharing-keepalive.rb

A quick way to download it for use, if you aren't comfortable on the command line: Launch a terminal (command-a; type terminal; hit enter). Copy/Paste the following into the terminal and hit enter:

curl http://djw.s3.amazonaws.com/homesharing-keepalive.rb > ~/Documents/homesharing-keepalive.rb && chmod +x ~/Documents/homesharing-keepalive.rb

Whenever you want to run the script, open a terminal (you can use the one you already have running from previous step) and copy/paste the following; hit enter:

~/Documents/homesharing-keepalive.rb

Closing the terminal or hitting control-c will kill the app. To delete it, copy/paste the following and hit enter:

rm -f ~/Documents/homesharing-keepalive.rb

This has been working well for me, just keep the terminal running and minimized. In theory, it should never interrupt you while you are using home sharing. This is an OSX-only solution. You can do something very similar under windows, if you have the know-how.