HT205444: About Apple TV (4th generation) software updates

Learn about About Apple TV (4th generation) software updates
TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC

Q: Does Your 4th Generation Apple TV stutter and/or freeze in playback from your local iTunes library too?

There appears to be an inadequate cache, and the scrubber doesn't show caring while paused.... Same thing with ethernet or 802.11ac connection to my new 5K iMac (4GHz).... Movies are unwatchable...

Posted on Nov 18, 2015 9:34 PM

Close

Q: Does Your 4th Generation Apple TV stutter and/or freeze in playback from your local iTunes library too?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by joe_7399,

    joe_7399 joe_7399 Nov 20, 2015 8:01 AM in response to TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC
    Community Specialists
    Nov 20, 2015 8:01 AM in response to TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC

    Hi TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC,

     

    Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

     

    I understand that you are having an issue with video playback on your Apple TV and know how frustrating these type of situations can be. It sounds like you are using Home Sharing to view content from your iTunes library on your Apple TV and have tried to isolate the internet as the issue, but the issue remains. 

     

    To further troubleshoot, I would suggest reading over and working through the suggestions located in the following two articles. 

     

    Get help playing or streaming content on your Apple TV - Apple Support

     

    Get help with Home Sharing - Apple Support

     

    Best!

  • by TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC,

    TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC Nov 20, 2015 10:57 AM in response to joe_7399
    Level 1 (95 points)
    Nov 20, 2015 10:57 AM in response to joe_7399

    Thanks for responding Joe… appreciate it.  I did know all this. I write software for a living (non-linear cloud based virtual patient encounters for a medical school) and have been an Mac guy since my Apple IIe was brand new.

     

    Here is the tale: I am streaming locally (Home Sharing).  25 foot distance with 1 wall and the current gen Airport Extreme near the ceiling (yep we moved everything around even though the signal was pegged out strong). The library comes from my late 2014 5K iMac (32GB RAM, 4GHz quad i7, thunderbolt2) with nothing else running in the house or on the computer I have used Home sharing since the release of the first ATV… and actually shared libraries at home before that. I have a home LAN all running on 802.11ac, and have also tried the ATV4 on ethernet, but is only 10/100 ethernet… the problem occurs regardless. using 720p or 1080p… didn't try SD, because it is so inferior. It also happens wiFi or ethernet… but only with the ATV4.  SO…. yesterday i spent 4 hours on the phone with Apple support, including networkingg specialists… 4 people total on a single cal.  They tried everything, including both resetting and restoring. and multiple reboots of all equipment while monitoring speeds… which are excellent.  I even did computer sharing with one guy at Apple.. They then said this is a common problem and I could wait it out while Apple diagnostic specialists looked at my logs and data (10-14 days) or exchange the ATV4. I did the latter at my local Apple Store…. same thing.  This problem never happened on the ATV1 or ATV2 … in fact the problem doesn't happen since reverting to my ATV2 which only has 802.11n… No one can think of anything else to try and the problem variable is ATV4 on TVOS9.01… as long as it is out of the loop Home sharing works fine from 4 other computers at home

    I believe there is a software problem now and will await TVOS 9.1 to be released before trying the ATV4 again. If it does not work then, I will sadly sell the brick.

     

    Thanks again.

  • by Hedgewig,

    Hedgewig Hedgewig Nov 27, 2015 2:08 AM in response to TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 27, 2015 2:08 AM in response to TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC

    I am experiencing this same problem when trying to stream, via Airplay, a rented iTunes Store movie "Dark Places" from my latest Gen Macbook Pro i7 1GB SSD full spec machine to my new ATV4. I had no problems doing the same via my previous ATV3. I tried the ATV4 on 2 completely different and separate wireless networks (both 802.11ac  - one current gen Airport Extreme and the other current gen ASUS wireless router) at my country house and city house and experienced exactly the same issue. I am also a reasonably experienced technical guy with a fair amount of experience with Apple networking and video streaming (although clearly not to the level of TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC) . It appears that the ATV4 doesn't want to buffer the stream although it does to a small extent a little later in the movie. It seems like a TVOS update is urgently needed. I hope this feedback helps.

  • by TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC,

    TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC Dec 8, 2015 1:57 PM in response to Hedgewig
    Level 1 (95 points)
    Dec 8, 2015 1:57 PM in response to Hedgewig

    I will confirm that TVos 9.1 has apparently fixed all the stuttering problems.... I have watched the scrubber and when i start a movie it now caches about 1/5 of the scrubber length in 4-5 seconds on 802.11ac wireless LAN from my iMac.... full 1080p movies are cached on the ATV4 in about3-5 min for 4-6GB files. Handbrakes encodes just kind of "pop" on the nearly immediate... I am now a happy camper!  Thank you Apple and personal for listening and fixing the software