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Unable to turn on home sharing - have tried it all

Hi all,


As I pull the last remaining hairs out of my head trying to fix this, I throw it out to the Apple community to hopefully help me here.


I cannot for the life of me, get home sharing to work between my Mac Mini (late 2012 model) and any iOS devices on my wifi network (iPhone 4, 4s and iPad 2).


And when I say I've tried it all, I mean I've tried it all:


* made sure my router settings were set as per Apple's requirements (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4199?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US);

* made sure my router wasn't using ipv6;

* deauthorised/reauthorised my machine;

* reset network settings on my iOS device;

* a plethora of other fixes on these boards from people who have been more successful.


You name it, I've done it.


I've ensured all devices are on the same network.


I've even tinkered with NAT and Firewall settings in my router as experimentation.


The problem seems to be network related. It's only when I turn wifi off and then on again on my Mac Mini, that the sharing option will appear on my iPad.


However when I select it, (ie Mac Mini Library), it attempts to connect, the spinning circle stops half way and then alerts me "Unable to turn on home sharing".


It's like something is preventing the connection.


Help me Apple Community, you're my only hope.

Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Dec 29, 2013 2:46 AM

Reply
22 replies

Apr 15, 2017 11:49 PM in response to Dantha Fodder

Just had the same issue after changing the Home Shared library name. I tried the suggestion of turning off/resetting the router, but it didn't work. What did work was to turn off the apple devices (iPhone, iPad, etc.)? After turning them back on I made sure to verify they were on the same wifi network as the computer housing iTunes. Then I went into Apple Video app on my Apple devices and clicked on the Share tab. There I could see the iTunes Home Share name I assigned. I clicked on it and it began connecting. Done! I believe the issue does have something to do with resetting the network connection, but turning off/resetting the router didn't work for me. Turning off the device did. Hope this helps.

Dec 30, 2013 8:48 AM in response to Dantha Fodder

Please clarify the problem:



Where/what is the problem?

- Is the "turn on" process that fails?

- Or you can turn it on, but sharing the library fails?


"However when I select it"

> select what?


"It's only when I turn wifi off and then on again on my Mac Mini, that the sharing option will appear on my iPad."

If you have a sharing option, Home sharing should be already on



Please clarify where the failure is step by step:

- turn on home sharing in iTunes on Mac Mini

- turn on home sharing in Remote app on iPad

- Does the library show up in the remote app on iPad ?

- from iPad, select the Mac/iTunes library and attempt to connect

Dec 30, 2013 12:48 PM in response to LeCluz

Hi LeCluz,


Thanks for the reply!


Well if the dialogue/error window that says "Unable to turn on home sharing" on my iPad is to be believed, it's the "turning on" process that is failing. Here are the steps again:


(1) Turning on Home Sharing in iTunes on Mac Mini is succesful.


(2) In Music app on iPad under Settings > Music > Home Sharing I can enter Apple ID and password successfully.


(3) With the Sharing icon showing in the Music app on my iPad, I select it.


(4) The iPad then takes me to a screen with "Shared" as the heading and prompts me to select either "Dan's iPad" (obviously the local music on the iPad itself) or "Mac Mini" iTunes library. Success there. The iPad is detecting there is a Mac Mini/iTunes Home Sharing library. See first screenshot below.


(5) I select the Mac Mini/iTunes library. The spinning circle (loading circle I guess you'd call it?) then starts spinning indicating the iPad is attempting to connect/load the Mac Mini iTunes library.


(6) This spinning will stop exactly half way and remain half way for about 20 seconds. See screenshot below.


User uploaded file


(7) A dialogue window then pops up saying "Unable to turn on home sharing". See screenshot below. Sometimes the "Shared" screen on the iPad then closes when I hit ok.


User uploaded file


That's where the real failure is, at the point where on my iPad I select the Mac Mini/iTunes library and it attempts to connect/load whatever it's trying to do - but cannot.


Sometimes, for me to even try again (because the Shared screen is no longer selectable), I have to turn wifi off then on again on my Mac Mini because the "Shared" icon in the Music app on my iPad has now disappeared (following step 7). See below, the "Sharing" icon is no longer there.


User uploaded file


Does that make sense?


Hope you help.

Jan 4, 2014 4:13 PM in response to Dantha Fodder

I have the exact same thing.


But this time with Windows 7 PC and Iphone 4s.

Tried everything I can think of. Uninstall, re-boot, port opening, IpV6 disable, confirmed windows homegroup settings, Itunes homesharing on, correct name and password, run diagnostics through itunes, turned off firewall, changed router security settings, nothing changes.

Now still showing the exact same problem.
Shared library attempts to load, gets half way round the circle and stops, Unable to turn on home sharing.

Managed to get remote app working for five minutes the other day but hasnt worked since then, will only see the iphone when connected by cable.


The only thing I have left to try is a different router, unless someone has any other ideas.

Jan 4, 2014 9:38 PM in response to tommyp40

It has to be firewall related for both of you.


Tommy, how did you disable the windows Firewall. There is a trick.

Please read this entire post, I spent around 15 hours troubleshooting Home sharing issues on Windows 7: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5724380?answerId=24369445022#24369445022&ac_cid=op123456#24369445


Take also a look at: Solved: iTunes Home Sharing with Windows Firewall

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5402082?answerId=23283028022#23283028022



For Dantha, I would definitely look into the firewall / router too.

If possible, try a different router.

Try the Remote App on your iPad and see if you have same/different results.

Is Airplay working ?


Take a look here: Troubleshooting Home Sharing:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2972

> especially: 5. Check Firewall settings


For both of you, if it does not woirk, try to open the ports inbound/outbound manually. For Windows 7, make sure iTunes and Bonjour services are allowed for Private AND Public networks

Jan 5, 2014 1:11 AM in response to LeCluz

LeCluz, interesting will look into that later.

It gets more bizarre...

I popped into work this morning, where I have exactly the same router, same model number, shared folder visibale, click on it and it loads fully on to Iphone and am able to play from it with no problems.


Ive checked through all router settings and they are all exactly the same, except from the WAN settings which are unique to each internet connection.


Could there be something in the firewall that is applying to one wifi network and not another?

Jan 5, 2014 2:12 AM in response to tommyp40

Hi guys,


Just checking in to let you know that I solved the problem! (Apologies it's taken me a couple of days to jump back on here).


And yes it was indeed a router issue Lecruz!


To those experiencing the same problem, do what I did (a helpful Apple tech actually talked me through this on the phone so I can't take all the credit...I also can't believe I didn't think to do it myself).


Set up a wifi hotspot using your 3G phone/ios device and connect your PC/mac and all other devices to that network instead of the one being generated by your router. You basically need to remove the router from the whole situation to see if it actually is a router issue. Process of elimination!


I found that once my iPad, iPhone and Mac mini were all connected to the wifi hotspot being generated by my 3G iPhone, the home sharing worked like a breeze!


Now as per my first post, I tinkered with everything I could see relating to firewall settings in my router to no avail so I bit the bullet and performed a factory reset of my router and set it up, as if for the first time.


And what do you know? After doing so, I tried the home sharing again, this time with all devices using the wifi network being generated by the newly reset router and it worked immediately!


I jumped into the router settings to see what was different and all I noticed was a speed setting you could nominate for your network (a setting I hadn't even thought would make a difference!). I'd had it set to 300mbs before the reset and after resetting, it defaulted to 140mbs (or thereabouts).


Currently enjoying home sharing! Hope this helps others.


Cheers all


Dan

Jan 5, 2014 9:32 AM in response to Dantha Fodder

Ok. Ive spent the afternoon a bit like this...

Uninstalled and re-installed I tunes and all components.

Turned off windows firewall via control panel.

Factory reset of router.

Turned off wifi via router and set up 3G hotsport via Iphone.

Just tried with iphone and wouldnt work, then thought, wonder if firewall settings have changed.

So on checking, noticed that iphone hotspot is public network and I hadnt switched that firewall off, so did that and

Eur-flipping-reka, is works.

So what is that telling me, router problem and firewall issue.

Mar 26, 2014 9:21 PM in response to tommyp40

Hey there - so I've had this problem in the past and it randomly one day just started working again.


Today for no reason, I'm having this problem again. When I try to get onto my home library via my iPad, the status circle hangs at various points - sometimes it gets about a quarter of the way, sometimes halfway, sometimes all the way to three-quarters, but then it just stops and I can't share my library.


I saw, Tommyp40, that you were able to fix the issue by "changing your router." I"m a complete computer moron so I have no idea what you mean by that or how you go about doing it. Would you mind helping me out and walking me through the steps of how to make the change you did in order to get your home sharing to work?


I'm using a PC with Windows 8 (but tweaked to "look" like Windows 7) and an iPad2 with with latest version of IOs (7.1).


Thank you.

Jun 11, 2014 10:19 AM in response to Dantha Fodder

I don't know when this problem started, but I cannot turn on iTunes sharing on any of my iOS devices. I can share my Library on both my AppleTV (3rd gen) and my wife's MacBook Pro, but not on my iPhone 5, iPad 3, or her iPhone 4s. Since I can share the Library with some devices, there is no way that I have something wrong on my Mac or my router-- the problem must lie on my iOS devices. I have logged out and back into my iTunes account to no avail. My computer uses Mavericks (10.9.3), while hers is running Mountain Lion (10.8.6). All iOS devices are running iOS 7.1.1.


I have looked at the Home Sharing Troubleshhoting info at http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2972, but it's no help. Anyone have any ideas??

Jul 18, 2014 11:53 PM in response to Thomas Hudson

After reading Dantha’s latest post to say that the problem has to do with the speed of the router, I have solved my own same problem.


For months I have trouble accessing the shared VIDEO located on my desktop Mac using my iPad Mini. But there was no problem accessing this shared video on my Apple TV. On my iPad Mini, the loading would stop exactly at the 6 o’clock position and stop there. This happens every time for as long as I have owned the iPad Mini.


I use Airport Extreme for my Router/WiFi.


After reading Dantha’s latest post to say that the problem has to do with the speed of the WiFi network, I go into my router >> Wireless (TAB). Open up wireless option. I put a checkmark on the 5GHz network name. The program suggests adding a suffix of 5GHz to my original WiFi network name. In my case, I chose to retain my original WiFi name (without the 5GHz tag). I saved this setup. I suppose my WiFi is now setup to run at 5GHz only instead of the original 2.4 Ghz/5 GHz automatic mode.


After setting this, my video on my desktop Mac is IMMEDIATELY available on my iPad Mini.


I guess the 2.4 GHz/5 GHz automatic mode is not so reliable if you must have the 5 GHz WiFi for the iPad Mini.

Sep 10, 2014 12:44 AM in response to Chikiko

I have to make a correction to my reply above which is not a solution to my problem after all.


I have McAfee internet security program on my computer. When I run this program and go to McAfee Internet Security >> Preference >> Firewall >> Internet Connection ..... and change my network setting from Public to Home/Office, the problem resolved.

Sep 16, 2014 1:30 PM in response to Chikiko

This is what worked for me:


Quit iTunes.

1. delete "iTunes Music Library.xml"

2. delete "iTunes Library.itl" (both files found in iTunes folder inside Music folder of user account)


Launch iTunes and allow it to rebuild library database. (if it fails to do so, quit iTunes and drag Music folder onto iTunes icon in dock to relaunch).

After iTunes has rebuilt the database, sign in to home sharing from the file menu.

After doing this, my music and video files showed up on my iPad.

Unable to turn on home sharing - have tried it all

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