iTunes Airplaying to an Apple TV has problems with random songs

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iTunes Airplaying to an Apple TV has problems with random songs

I can find no rhyme or reason for why my iTunes (11.0.4) sometimes glitches out when pushing songs to my brand new Apple TV (5.3) via Airplay.

Sometimes it quits playing a song with two seconds left in the track and refuses to play the rest. Sometimes it refuses to play a song at all. Sometimes it'll be shuffling a playlist and when I skip forward, it refuses to play the next song, but if I skip forward again, it likes that song and will play it on the Apple TV. It won't play song A at all, it'll play song B but quit playing two seconds from the end, and yet I can't find any technical differences between the two files that would account for it.

I have no problems when controlling music via the Apple TV itself (i.e. pulling music), only when my MacBook Pro is playing the music and using Airplay (i.e. pushing) the music to the Apple TV. I can't find any commonalities between the tracks; so far as I can tell, it's random (though it may not actually be). When I use my iPhone 5 to push the music instead—the same music that it just synced from iTunes—it'll play and work just like I expect it to.

Anybody have any ideas? I'd super-appreciate it! I'm loving everything about my set-up except for this glitching. Thanks in advance for any help!

- fourthords

Message was edited by: pd_THOR

Posted on Aug 11, 2013 12:05 PM

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Answer 1

sheila_m.

Community Specialist

Aug 13, 2013 11:13 AM in response to pd_THOR

Hello pd_THOR,

Thank you for providing all the details regarding the playback issue you are experiencing with your Apple TV. I found an article with some steps you can take to troubleshoot an issue like this.

I recommend reviewing the section titled "If you are unable to access or play content while connected to a Wi-Fi network" in the following article:

Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation): Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4546

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Best,

Sheila M.

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Answer 2

pd_THOR Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 13, 2013 1:00 PM in response to sheila_m.

Thanks Sheila!

I ran through the networking recommendations, but didn't find that altering anything affected whether I could or couldn't play certain songs. I know the signal strength's not dropping because my Time Capsule is within reach when I'm at my laptop (as my apartment is temporarily set up), and because it'll immediately play another song if I try.

Thanks for your help! I wish that'd been the problem.

- fourthords

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Answer 3

sheila_m.

Community Specialist

Aug 14, 2013 1:54 PM in response to pd_THOR

Hi fourthords,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your issue or question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

All the best,

Sheila M.

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Answer 4

pd_THOR Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 19, 2013 4:11 PM in response to sheila_m.

Thank you for pointing me in that direction! I've momentarily stumped them as well, though they're on the case and will get back to me soon. Thanks for the help!

- fourthords

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Answer 5

Sep 18, 2013 9:57 AM in response to pd_THOR

Hi fourthords,

I am having the same problem. Did you manage to get any solution to the issue?

-BLad

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Answer 6

pd_THOR Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 18, 2013 10:23 AM in response to BarraORuairc

BLad, I unfortunately never did. I worked with Apple phone support for almost a whole week (off and on) to try and figure it out, but we couldn't nail down the culprit. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

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Answer 7

Dec 22, 2013 8:19 AM in response to pd_THOR

im by no means an expert in any of these issues - i only got my mac tv yesterday and my air a few weeks ago.

It looks like both the mac and itunes have the ability to air play individually but not at the same time i.e. when your itunes is connected to air then you can play music but cant share your screen / when your mac is connected you can share your screen but cant play itunes.

theres an easy way around this - use a third party media player - this way you can share screen by connecting your mac to air and music froma third party player such as VLC will play through your TV and connected speakers.

its surprising the guys at apple couldnt help with this / couldnt identify the issue - ive had tremendous support over the past few weeks getting all my devices working together (reinforcing my point earlier that im no expert, but found a solution to this quite easily).

hope this helps, if ive missed the point of the post entirely then i apologise!

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