I got the new ATV3 firmware (5.1.1) to work... Interested? 😕
First off, I have both a Apple TV2 (M1378) and a Apple TV3 (M1427). The Apple TV2 updated just fine, The Apple TV3 I tried everything mentioned above, resetting, reloading etc... I even tried connecting the Apple TV3 directly to my Mac Mini (late 2012-10.8.2) via a USB to Micro USB cable (You do have one of those hanging around don't you?) When I follwed the Apple Tech Note # HT4367 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4367
When I click on restore it says it can't find the Apple TV. 😮
Here's how I got it to work: 😎
Get a copy of the latest and greatest firmware for the Apple TV3. As I write this it's 5.1.1(ATV3 Version, yes it has a different version than the ATV2 so make sure you get the right one!)
I found the firmware here:
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=970
Specifically:
http://appldnld.apple.com/AppleTV/041-7275.20121128.qw234/AppleTV2,1_5.1.1_10A83 1_Restore.ipsw
http://appldnld.apple.com/AppleTV/041-7274.20121228.Avt45/AppleTV3,1_5.1.1_10A83 1_Restore.ipsw
Now that you have downloaded the new firmware onto your local Mac you follow the exact same procedure listed in HT4367 except hold the "Control" key down while pressing the reload key. This will allow you to select a firmware file that you'd like to load, in this case, the one you just down loaded.
The file will load, verify and reboot.
Verify the new firmware by selecting settings:about in your Apple TV.
I hope this helps the next guy as it was quite frustrating making this work. Hopefully Apple will do a better job testing the update process in the future to help avoid this hassle for the "rest of us"...:-)
~e
Message was edited by: Odinsdad