Apple TV will not play my iTunes library movies?

This kind of thing is incredibly frustrating.

I had a similar issue last year - there was a problem with iTunes having too many open connections detailed on various threads.

Unfortunately what cured it for me was restarting my router which had been rock stable prior to that.

You've done this and tried an Express.

How are your devices connected? All wired, all wifi, mixture?

Single router? Extenders etc?

It could still be possible for your AppleTV to have good internet access via the router but a poor/slow overall connection via the router to other local LAN components. Anything changed?

AC

I just picked up my first Apple TV (Gen3) and have been experiencing the exact same thing as the OP. I too have tried the same solution attempts with no success.

The thing I don't understand is why I can stream web based content just fine, but local content (i.e. iTunes Library), just stops at the spinning wheel.

I've also double shecked my video content is encoded correctly. It plays fine on the local machine (Mac OS 10.8.2).

I've done a fair amount of Googling this and it doesn't seem to be a very common problem. Very frustrating.

Yep, I have it too. Hard to believe more people are not seeing this.

My iTunes mp4 files are on a NAS drive and linked to iTunes (version 11.0.3.42) in a home shared library on an XP PC. NAS files play on PC either through iTunes or directly using native QuickTime (version 7.7.4). However if I home share from another computer then I get exactly the same "no play" problem as on Apple TV whether using iTunes or QuickTime. Does this provide further clues?

I've been having this problem just in the past couple weeks on an Apple TV (gen 3). It's hit or miss with my itunes library movies. Some of my movies will buffer incredily well and others won't hard buffer at all, so I have constant stops while viewing. I agree with pior posts, frustrating that my internet based viewing is better than the media/content on my LAN.

Also, not sure if this is related but for a good 6 months my Apple TV has been trying to update and it always fails.

This is a problem a movie I have on library comes right up on computer. Will buffer forever on app,etch and not play. It did before now nothing plays. Excellent update apple!!!!

Latest update appletv POC

Cannot play anything it acts like it will then stalls. Looks like it has to buffer the whole movie before it plays. Do not know since not going to wait.

I have had this problem for 6+ months. I have a 2012 Mac Mini i7, 2012 Airport Extreme, 2nd Gen Apple TV, 3rd Gen Apple TV. If I fully close and restart iTunes I can play my movies. With in 5 minutes of opening iTunes (Not constently) I'll end up in the never ending cycle of buffering.

I just went through all of my devices and restored to orginal settings. I haven't had an oppority to really test things out yet.

I do have a question for everyone that has posted. Most of my library is ripped from my DVD collection using a ripper and Handbrake.

Part of me wonders if Apple is doing something to hinder usage since I did not purchase my movies direct from Apple.

Does anyone else have all or parts of their collections from their own ripped libraries? I wonder if this is our issue

Has anyone come up with a fix? We're having the same problem so frustrating, YouTube an sports work fine but not playing items in my library through home sharing. Just a spinning circle....

I am having this issue as well and it is very frustrating. I know it has to do with the network because I brought my computer and apple tv to the store and of course it worked fine there. I have tried resetting everything and nothing works. 😟 Apple please make an update that fixes this issue.

I finally solved the issue by going from a wireless connection on my mac to a wired connection to my airport extreme. My appletv is still connected wirelessly.

So for me it was my router.

I've been having this problem as well since the last AppleTV software update. Things won't buffer at all from my iTunes library, or they buffer exceptionally slowly. My iMac is connected via Ethernet to the router, and the AppleTV is connected wirelessly, maybe eight feet from the router.

The only solution I've found seems to be the simplest -- I reboot the AppleTV by unplugging it from the power cord for a few seconds. Once it reboots, it seems to work fine again, for a while, at least. I've done this several times, always successfully.

Actually I have fixed the issue for mine by updating the firmware for my router, has anyone else tried that?

That's what worked for me, Good luck!

I only update AppleTVs when I want to.

Most of mine were on 5.0/5.1, but one got inadvertently updated to 5.3 and the other I'd updated to see what Qello offered.

Since updating the AppleTV3 it constantly disconnects when starting playing a movie saying Home Sharing is not enabled. Within a few secs Home Sharing is back again, and I'll get a little further with the movie and it bombs out again. After 3-4 attempts it plays ok.

Very frustrating and does not seem to affect other services such as Netflix so seems unlikely it's a wifi dropout.

Router/iTunes restarted and doesn't really help.

AC

Don't know if this will help anyone, but I was having the same problem (movies from iTunes wouldn't seem to load on ATV and they just kept spinning) and just fast forwarding the movie a for a second allowed me to watch it. It looked like nothing had buffered and I just decided to try and fast forward it and the video began to appear, and then when I played it it worked perfectly.

Like I said, don't know if this will help anyone but it solved the problem for me. No restarts of anything required.

Cheers

I was having the same issue. My setup was NAS connected to an airport express extender. Apple TV connected to Airport Extreme Router. I upgraded my router software and also restarted (power cycled) apple TV as well as airport express. Worked like a charm after that.