Q: Airplay mirroring broke in 10.9.2

Not to say it isn't a good idea, but I don't believe users are ever officially instructed to restart their AppleTVs after a host has undergone a major update/upgrade. I don't believe I have personally ever had to, and I have multiple AppleTVs with something like ten Apple devices in my house. So if it is proper to restart, I'm sure there are many people who havent (although after "hours of troubleshooting" I would think restarting the AppleTV may have come to mind...).

I agree that it is most likely caused by 3rd party conflicts. Here's a possible fix (not tested for this issue, as I am not having it) that can resolve 3rd party software conflicts:

1. Navigate to the root library, located at /Library.

2. Look in the /Library/Launch Agents and /Library/Launch Daemons folders.

3. Look in /Library/Startup Items as well. There may not be anything in here, which is perfectly normal.

4. Create a folder on your desktop that corresponds to each of these folders. For example, I create an LA, LD, and SI folder on my desktop.

5. Move the contents of the folders to the corresponding folders created on your desktop.

6. Open System Preferences > Users and Groups ("Accounts" on older systems)

7. Remove all third party login items by clicking on them, then the minus sign.

8. Restart the computer and test to see if the issue persists.

Any Apple content in any of these folders can be left alone. To simplify this process, the contents of the /Library/Launch Agents, Launch Daemons, and Startup Items can be dragged to the trash can. This will not result in loss of any data, but will result in these programs not starting automatically when you start the computer.

I hope this helps, let me know if it works.

I spent an hour on the phone with Apple last night regarding this issue. They bounced me around to different departments a lot before putting me in touch with a senior advisor.

They tried having me look for my com.apple.airplay.plist file in Library/Preferences, but I had no such file. Not sure if that's part of the problem or not.

Apparently another senior advisor is going to get in touch with me today to resume assisting me with this issue.

(By the way, I'm running a new 21-inch iMac (about 2 months old), updated to 10.9.2 (which is when the problem started), and my Apple TV's software is also up to date. Restarting the ATV, iMac, router, modem, etc. didn't help at all. I'm having the issue where I can't select "Mirror iMac," and I just get audio with a black screen on my ATV when I try to AirPlay my iMac. I can still AirPlay my iPad and iPhone to the Apple TV though.)

They should test from a new user account first. If the issue still persists then they can skip steps 6&7 as this list is per user account.

Do not delete launch agent/daemon .plists unless they are verified as problematic or known as unwanted. Permanently deleting launch agents/daemons can require software to be reinstalled, specifically VMware Fusion.

By the way they also had me create a test user account, but I still had the same problem.

Yes so definitely system-wide, and the problem exists in either /Library or /System (or a hidden dir, however unlikely). The problem can't exist in /Applications, since the only way applications can be automatically called is through a daemon/agent/loginhook/etc. So efforts need to be focused in the locations MikeT3Com suggested, as well as /System/Library/Extensions. Extensions can also be audited in /Applications/Utilities/System Information, then scroll down in the left sidebar, find the subgroup "software" and click on "extensions". This will give information on currently installed .kext's and can help determine which one is problematic.

chaca13, regarding the iMac being "2 months old", did you migrate information over to it from an old Mac when you first got it? Because at that point, at least software-wise, we may be dealing with the equivalent of a many-years-old machine.

Yes, I did migrate from my previous iMac.

He or she tested in a new user, so it isn't a user specific (data related) issue.

Agreed.

mmm

when I restart my iMac in Safe Mode the airplay disappear ..

Is this a normal issue?

Rember: when I download 10.9.2 I try to use airplay but have the possibility only to use "extended monitor" no "duplication"

Safe Mode disables several features that would be available in normal mode, including some networking features, so this is expected behavior.

However

We have a problem: now my Airplay disappear from my menu and after a few second appear again. Try to connect to it and boom

"Impossible to connect to Apple Tv"

I hope that some people from Apple HQ can help us

This is likely caused by third party incompatibilites with the 10.9.2 update. Have you tried my steps above? You may also want to test the issue in a new user, as MyrkridianRhapsody stated. If the issue persists in the test user, you can skip removing login items, as these are user specific. I will repost them here for your convenience:

1. Navigate to the root library, located at /Library.

2. Look in the /Library/Launch Agents and /Library/Launch Daemons folders.

3. Look in /Library/Startup Items as well. There may not be anything in here, which is perfectly normal.

4. Create a folder on your desktop that corresponds to each of these folders. For example, I create an LA, LD, and SI folder on my desktop.

5. Move the contents of the folders to the corresponding folders created on your desktop.

6. Open System Preferences > Users and Groups ("Accounts" on older systems)

7. Remove all third party login items by clicking on them, then the minus sign.

8. Restart the computer and test to see if the issue persists.