Apple TV stuck on What's New or Verification Required screen after v5.1 update

This worked for me...

Getting a battery for my old remote ( been using the app ) and holding left arrow and menu for 6 seconds+ while ATV booted. It then got me in and running . Thanks flash7gordon

Update to my original post-- I also used the micro USB to restore the device through ITunes. This worked with no issues noted, plus it installed the 5.1 update as part of the restore process. Following the restore I did have to reconnect to my network and re enter my Aplle ID info. I conducted several restarts to ensure the problems did not return. As of this post all is working as advertised.

Fixed it.

Yes you can leave it and it will fix itself after a few minutes, but if you're using the remote app, select your media library to browse your content instead of using it as a touch controller. That cleared the screen immediately and it was back to normal operations.

BTW, it was my 11 year old son who figured this out.

I sent an email to Apple support on this and they still seem to be unaware of the problem - we should all continue to blog this - maybe they will get the hint and fix it soon?

I think I fixed mine without doing a restore. On mine, it seemed like I couldn't get past the menu and when I clicked "continue" on the What's New screen with the Apple Remote, nothing would happen except the Apple TV LED would blink. I was about to restore it, but wondered if the update unlinked my remote somehow. Since I was able to still connect to the Apple TV via the iPhone remote app, I used the app to click continue. Nothing happened immediately so I just kept using the app to keep clicking on "Continue". Eventually it loaded up to the Home Screen. However, the Apple remote was still not working but I could use the app to navigate.

With the app, I went to settings>general>remote and unpaired the apple remote. Then, I held the menu button and the right arrow on the apple remote for 6+ seconds. An icon of a remote appeared at the top left and an animation of two chains linking appeared...indicating the remote should be linked. I started using the remote and it finally worked. To see if this worked, I then held the menu button and the down arrow for 6+ seconds until the Apple TV LED started blinking. I let go of the buttons and Apple TV restarted and booted to the What's New screen again. I used the newly paired Apple Remote to click continue and it immediately loaded to the Home Screen without issue. Hopefully it's fixed for good.

So, if possible, try to unlink and relink your Apple Remote.

I'm having this issue too. Oddly the Apple Remote that came with the Apple TV will clear the message, but the Remote app will not, and like others on here I seemed to be able to navigate the screen underneath the message.

The screensaver seems to clear the message from the screen, so to anyone that doesn't use the included remote I'd suggest dropping the screensaver time down to 2 minutes. Should save the 5, 10 or 20 minute wait that some in this thread are experiencing at the moment!

Same problem here. After many tries and resets left it alone for a few minutes and it got past the What's New screen to the usual Icon screen and behaved normally then.

Same problem. Please let me know when you know of a fix.

I had to sit around and wait 10 minutes on the "what's new" screen. Now I see the main menu and the interface is not responding at all. The screen saver starts and I have to reset my remote by holding menu and left wheel button.

Seems to be working now.

Anyone found a fix for this yet? I'm starting to get ******!

Same problem here. This stupid screen.

sqlhjalp wrote:

This worked for me...

Getting a battery for my old remote ( been using the app ) and holding left arrow and menu for 6 seconds+ while ATV booted. It then got me in and running . Thanks flash7gordon

Today's update bricked my Apple TV, but your solution worked for me, after a few attempts. Thanks a bunch.

Wow. I ended up order Zero Dark Thirty because of this issue. No way am I going to spend $6 for an inferior quality experience when I could spend $1.50 at Redbox for Bluray. I'll be demanding a refund from Apple because of this.

Thanks for this. I was stuck in Vevo and pressed the menu and down button until light was flashing rapidly. The system restarted and brought me back to home menu. So far things are working as they should.