My 1st Generation Apple TV will not sync content from iTunes 11.3.1

Hi Peter,

yes, you'rte basically right. But - in between - I found the solution. Very simple in fact but unnecessarily hidden:

In iTunes 12, go to File/Devices and choose Apple TV sync. That's it, really. Same thing, like it suddenly was with burning Playlists to CD...

Cheers,

Rainer

Why does apple constantly change everything for no good reason?

I liked the SYNC button where it was before!

I had the same problem: Apple tv 1st gen would not sync with iTunes 12 (Yosemite) over wifi. Drove myself crazy trying to figure it out. In the end it was a conflicting line in /etc/hosts (after changing ISPs). so I just deleted the file and now we're back in business.

mine ATV on iTunes only shows photos and no sync seems possible...

your solving the problem with "line in/etc/hosts" and deleting a file I did not quite understand - be more detailed please...

/etc/hosts is basic configuration file that registers some IP addresses with a machine.domain. Some apps will edit the file (like atvflash). In my case, I forgot that my Apple TV was registered in /etc/hosts after a failed experiment with atvflash. Changing ISPs can result in atv changing its IP address. So my suggestion was to check the file for defunct entry. If you don't see apple tv here, then your solution lies elsewhere.

You can use the Terminal program

$ less /etc/hosts

$ pico /etc/hosts (to edit and save)

walden2, where can you find this file? I'm having similar problems as hugo and peter, with one exception. my computer gives me an error message that it can't synch items b/c the ATV is full (although there is no content on it at all).

Peter, I have same problem. I've tried hard reseting, factory restore, unlinking from pc, re-linking to computer - all to no avail. don't know what else to try...

/etc/hosts

But this doesn't sound like the solution you are looking for. Try resetting the ATV to factory settings? Good luck.

I did the factory restore and it didn't work 😟

Just to add another voice, I am having the exact same issue. I purchased a brand new Macbook Pro that is running Yosemite and iTunes 12.01. My former Macbook Pro (2012) was running Mavericks and iTunes 11, and I had no problems syncing with my 1st generation ATV. When I set up the new laptop, I used the last Time Machine backup from my old computer, so all of my settings are the same. Now, when I purchase music from the iTunes Store on my new Macbook Pro, I can no longer transfer the files to the ATV. iTunes recognizes the Apple TV and gives me an icon. But when I click on the icon, all it shows in the left-hand column is "Settings" and "Photos". The Settings option shows the size of my Apple TV hard drive (144.63 gb) and serial number, for which it shows "n/a". There are no options for music or movies. There is no sync option either. When I go to File and select "Devices", the Sync and Transfer Purchases options are greyed out.

There is no Utilities icon at the bottom of the page. I have tried everything I've found mentioned in these forums: unlinked the ATV from the computer and then re-linked it, turned family sharing on and off, messed with a variety of different Sharing configurations in iTunes and System Preferences, restarted the ATV, disconnected and reconnected my wireless connection, changed ATV from wireless to ethernet then back to wireless, rebooted router. Nothing. Please, please help. If I lose the ability to sync with my 1st Gen ATV my quality of life will be substantially diminished.😟

JRD-3, you've chosen 'Custom Sync' in ATVs settings menu? 'Automatic sync' - the default setting - removes all sync options except photos.

Perhaps you have tried this, and many other things. Your frustration is shared by many. My new "nuclear option" for ATV connectivity with Yosemite is to reboot the wifi router (an airport extreme).

The good news is that Apple is working on wifi connectivity issues in Yosemite, so watch for updates.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/14/12/22/follows.third.developer.beta/

Walden2 - thanks for the tip. I did not know that. Unfortunately, unchecking the box doesn't change anything for me. I assume you are referring to the option in iTunes Preferences, under Apple TV, that says "Prevent Apple TVs from syncing automatically"? I have tried it with the box checked and without the box checked, and nothing changes. iTunes still only shows Settings and Photos in the left-hand column. The fact that it shows the disk space on my Apple TV (144 gb) but says n/a for the serial number is weird. How is it able to read the disk space, but not the serial number? Under the speaker option I can select the Apple TV and stream music from my laptop through my A/V system, so it definitely has some kind of connection, but not one that allows me to sync files. When I click on Photos, and then check the Share Photos box and manually select a photo folder to sync, then hit Apply, nothing happens. It just goes back to an unchecked Share Photos box. I feel like there must be something simple I am missing.

Click the device icon in the top part of the iTunes window (between the 3 dots and 'my music' - underneath the volume slider). If you have other devices synced with iTunes (iPod, iPhone, etc), then click the icon that looks like an iPod to find the ATV icon underneath. This is an interesting new feature of iTunes 12.

Then click Settings in the left panel under Apple TV. There you should see the options for automatic sync and custom sync. It's custom sync that you want.

If nothing works, then you could then try a factory restore of your apple tv. It will take time to update the software and sync 144GB of content but it might work. Perhaps there was something in your Time Machine backup that was specific to your old mac that now conflicts with your new mac.

Hmm, not sure what I'm missing. Here's a screen shot of the upper left quadrant of the iTunes pane with the Apple TV icon selected.

There's nothing else there. Am I missing something?

I am having the same exact issue. I used to sync all my photos to ATV 1g, and now none of them (or my other content) are syncing. I went under the photos tab and saw this:

I noticed it only says "Share Photos," where it used to say "Sync." On my ATV I noticed that under each content section, a new entry appears at the bottom saying "Shared (photos/music/etc.)" This is the only way I can view my photos or listen to music now, which is frustrating because it takes forever to pull up. The ability to sync content to the ATV hard drive is the reason why I've never switched to any following generations.