appleTV keeps asking for appleID, password and authentication code circularly

Apparently the new Apple TVs will work as expected. The older ones are not designed for two-factor; but Apple should fix this via a software update (will they?).... but the work-around works.

Do not turn two-factor off because of this, just go to your iphone and get a fresh code after you type-in the password on the Apple TV and before you append two-factor code. Do this by....

(On iphone or ipad)

• going to settings, iCloud
• click on your iCloud ID at top of screen
• click on "Password & Security"
• click on "Get Verification code"

... then just type that code in the password field after your ATV password.

It works, I've done it on three older Apple TVs.

The method described multiple times on previous pages in this thread does work - but it is a PITA. If you do have a reasonable password, and have to use the little remote that came with your apple TV - you aren't going to get it in in time. Period.

I have a 22 character camelCase + specials password. Normally entered via an application, which, of course, does not run on the second or third gen Apple TV (I have one of each). Trying to flip between multiple keyboards using the remote is just too difficult. Add to that, I have multiple apple devices (the whole infrastructure - laptop, iPad, iPhone, etc.) so when I entered the password the first time around, I got the 2nd factor request on all of my devices. Including the iPhone i was using as my remote. There are three ways to get that 2nd factor request in:

1) You are the ghod of the appleTV keyboard, and can use that to type as fast as you do on a standard keyboard. Yeah not me either.

2) Change your appleID password to something stupid easy for the AppleTV remote, authenticate, don't save the password when asked, log out. Change appleID password again, and log in again. Swear and curse as you now

have to update your password on every device you own that used the old one.

3) Use some variant of the method mentioned here

4) (nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!) Turn off 2 factor, log in, then turn it back on (also mentioned in this thread, but not something I did not want to do, even for a short time.)

The sequence of steps I wound up using:

1) prepare yourself for doing this a couple of times, doing lots of swearing, and possibly testing the throw-ability of the device you are holding when it tells you there is a problem with your password for the 27th time in a row. The timeout used clearly assumes a functional keyboard. I'm not sure what it is, but I suspect less than the 30 seconds mentioned. I'm a touch typist - around 125WPM, but I sure has heck can't type that fast using anything but a decent keyboard.

2) If you have a bluetooth keyboard, pair it. Then it should be fairly simple. *IF* you have one. I don't.

3) For the rest of us - I still have to assume you have an iPhone, iPad, or other device that can be used to enter the password quickly using the remote app.

4) Take a deep, calming, breath. Prepare to work as fast as you can. Ready? Begin:

-- Enter your normal appleID password using the remote App on your iphone or iPad.

-- When the 2 factor popup shows up on the AppleTV DON"T ACKNOWLEDGE IT YET.

-- Then when your iPhone, iPad, or laptop phone or whatever also gets the 2 factor pop up, allow the device. That will give you a 6 digit code. Yay, you have a code - junk it, as it is worthless. Those aren't the numbers you are looking for, move along.

-- *NOW* acknowledge the appleTV using the Remote app. Which will give you a *new* code on a popup, invalidating the one you got when you did the mandatory acknowledgement on your phone (or whatever). If you memorize fast, great, otherwise write it down.

-- dismiss that popup

-- go back around the login circle to the password screen.

-- enter your password (yes, again) but append the 6 digit code the appleTV displayed and you just wrote down. You did write it down, right? NO SPACES. if your password is "foo" enter "foo123456". Yes, I did that.. 'foo 123456', 'foo123 456', and 'foo 123 456'. The gap in the 6 digits isn't a gap. It's based on the fallacy that most people can remember 2 3digit numbers easily. Or maybe it's true. I definitely am in the other half of "most" and can't.

-- Yay, you logged in, right? Yeah, I didn't either.

-- Next time, really write down those numbers - your memory isn't as good as you thought, and frustration is going to make it harder and harder to remember as the day wears on.

-- Try and calm down your significant other that is getting increasingly ****** off because this is taking too long.

-- Try and calm yourself down. Yes I know you are frustrated, even more so because your SO is sitting there looking at you like you are an idiot, and if you don't calm yourself down that will just make you make a mistake in the password. Extending the agony.

-- Repeat until you *DO* authenticate. It will happen. Sooner or later. Probably later. But happen it will. Took me almost 30 minutes of trying until I finally got it to work. [Does not include the hours I spent before finding this thread. oh, and searching for that darn remote after I threw it. Fortunately I missed the TV]

-- Go get yourself an adult beverage to celebrate.

Yes. That's what we're trying to say here. You do not enter Apple ID and password and wait to receive a code. You do

- enter Apple ID

- enter password and stop

- use Settings on your phone to request a code, see this link: Get a verification code and sign in with two-factor authentication - Apple Support halfway down

- add the code to your password and send it.

The only time-critical part is from when you receive the code and when you complete entering the code. Please try to do it like this.

The solution above as described by Gundog600 DOES work, you just need to follow the instructions step by step. Type in your ID and your password on the remote as usual but DO NOT click enter because as you said, 30 seconds is not enough time. What you need to do now is use your iPhone or other device to generate the password. On your iPhone, go to settings and at the top of the screen you will see your name and "Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes & App Store". Click on that and then click on "Password & Security" then click at the bottom where it says "Get Verification Code". You will be immediately shown on the phone screen a 6 digit code. Now AFTER THE PASSWORD on your Apple TV type this number after your password. So if your password is "Michael" and the code is 123456 then you should already have "Michael" typed and just add the passcode so it reads "Michael123456" THEN click enter. It is easy to add the passcode within 30 seconds. You're done.

PLEASE READ MY POST - NOBODY SHOULD DESPAIR AS THERE IS HELP AVAILABLE:

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HERE ARE THE DETAILED STEPS THAT I DID TO RESOLVE MY (YOUR ?) PROBLEM ON MY APPLE TV 3rd GENERATION.

This comes from talking with Apple through the "getsupport.apple.com" site and speaking (not chatting) to Apple.

(Note that I had updated the software to the latest version before and it did not help.)

1 - Power off the Apple TV by unplugging it from the power receptacle.

2 - Wait at least 30 seconds and replug it. Wait for the device to power on.

3 - Go to Settings, iTunes Store, Apple ID, then SIGNOUT. This was the key for me. (The suggestions above did not work for me because of that missing step)

4 - Then do sign in, by entering first your Apple ID email address, and then here is what to do for the password:

5 - First type in your password, but DO NOT SUBMIT IT YET as you need to supply, in the same field as the password, a 6-digit code that you will append right after your password (no space)

6 - To get the 6 digit code, you can use another device such as the iPhone:

6a) I use a French iPhone interface, so I will translate that into English for you, but it may be slightly different from what you see on the English interface.

So on the iPhone or equivalent, choose "Settings", your Apple Identifier (on the top), "Password & Security", then Get a Validation Code. A 6-digit validation then code appears that you can use on the Apple TV to append to your password. Then you can submit the combined password_code.

Not sure for how long that 6-digit code was valid, but since I use a bluetooth keyboard to control my Apple TV, it went real fast for me. People above do talk about a 30-second period for which the code is valid.

7 - Voilà. It did work for me. I really hope it does work for you.

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IF THAT DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, HERE IS WHAT TO DO:

Go to "getsupport.apple.com", choose Apple TV, "Troubleshooting Apple TV", choose "The Topic is not listed" and continue.

(Do not loose time with chatting (as after they tried to transfer my chat to a higher level support, nothing happened for hours). In my case, I did wait for 35 minutes for a callbask even if the interface said I would receive the call in 2 minutes. And after it rings, I had to wait for another 3 minutes perhaps. Then you will talk to someone who will likely resolve your problem.

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IF INTERESTED THESE WERE MY SYMPTOMS BEFORE RESOLUTION:

- I have an Apple TV 3rd generation

- I would choose "TV Shows" and try without success to access my bought content because I would always come back to the "iTunes Store Sign-in page" even after entering countless times my Apple ID, my password, and after the Apple TV asked for it, the 6-digit code received on my iPhone.

- I did use a BlueTooth keyboard and I did enter the verification code well within the 30-seconds period and I would still always come back to the same Sign-in page.

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Ok this is how I managed to solve this.

1) In your apple TV , try to go back to the Settings Menu. Sometimes you need to press menu several times but eventually you will be able to go to the Settings menu.

2) Go to the iCloud menu, press Sign Out

3) Sign in to your iCloud account

4) It will ask for your normal icloud password, input password.

5) It will ask you to authorize the login from your other device, click ok or authorise. It will give you the 6 digit number.

5) Then on the apple tv it go to a different page where it will ask for you to input the 6 digit code. (this is the step that’s missing for most of us that causes us to keep on looping to the icloud password)

6) Input the 6 digit (within 30s), and then you’re good to go!

6) After

It only just happened to me days ago, super frustrating, but the easiest solution I found to stop it was to physically sign out of apple box and sign back in. (Settings, Apple ID, sign out, add Apple ID ,yes it will look like the same loop but trust me it is not, enter info, add verification code) that is it, fixed the problem after days of trying to beat the ”loop”. I hope this eliminates everybody’s frustration. Good luck. 😳😡💩😱🙏-1F3FB; 🏻👍🖖 🏻

Encountered this same issue today. The fix that worked for me on my 2nd generation Apple TV:

1) log out of iCloud in the Apple TV

2) log back in. Will ask for code which will be sent to another decide. Enter code.

3) in Apple TV go into iTune movies. It will ask for login. you again will be sent a 6-digit code. When you enter the password, append the code to the password, no space in between the password and the code.

It is a pretty crazy solution. i actually guessed at just adding the code to the end of the password guessing that they have not updated the firmware in this older product to have a separate screen like EVERY OTHER device where you enter the Verification Code. the thing i didn't expect is that you can't use the one they pop up on your device and you must request a code. the Get a verification code link works like a charm.

clearly for a company that is world renowned for usability this is a fail

Good grief, this is ridiculous.. may have already been answered but what u have to do is enter the 6 digit code right AFTER ur password in the password field. Do not submit just password. It will give u an error when u do this but when u back out and go back in, voila u are back in iTunes. Nuts.

This is from a post by CorsairVelo:

Apparently the new Apple TVs will work as expected. The older ones are not designed for two-factor; but Apple should fix this via a software update (will they?).... but the work-around works.

Do not turn two-factor off because of this, just go to your iphone and get a fresh code after you type-in the password on the Apple TV and before you append two-factor code. Do this by....

(On iphone or ipad)

• going to settings, iCloud
• click on your iCloud ID at top of screen
• click on "Password & Security"
• click on "Get Verification code"

... then just type that code in the password field after your ATV password.

It works, I've done it on three older Apple TVs.

This has frustrated me for a while too. But... This method from CorsairVelo posted on September 21, 2018 worked for me. I used my iPhone 6 to get the verification code. The timing and sequence of events has to be done just right or the code will expire before you can use it. (It takes a while to enter your password using the apple remote that comes with that version of AppleTV)

1) Get to the login page on your apple TV and put in your apple id e-mail address but NOT your password.

2) Use your iPhone or iPad as described below to get to the screen where you request the verification code by clicking on "Get Verification Code" as mentioned below.

3) Go back to your AppleTV and enter your password followed by the verification code you just got on your iPhone or iPad.

4) Bask in the sweet success of making use of your existing tech that is perfectly good for what you want to do without having to buy new stuff just because. 👍-1F3FE;😃😎

This is from a post by CorsairVelo:

Apparently the new Apple TVs will work as expected. The older ones are not designed for two-factor; but Apple should fix this via a software update (will they?).... but the work-around works.

Do not turn two-factor off because of this, just go to your iphone and get a fresh code after you type-in the password on the Apple TV and before you append two-factor code. Do this by....

(On iphone or ipad)

• going to settings, iCloud
• click on your iCloud ID at top of screen
• click on "Password & Security"
• click on "Get Verification code"

... then just type that code in the password field after your ATV password.

As mentioned elsewhere, the trick is to enter your entire password, but do not click "Enter."

Ask for a Verification Code on your trusted device, then append the code to your password and click "enter."

Using this method, you only have to worry about entering the code and clicking "Enter" within the 30 second timeout.

I had the same issue with my old Apple TV when I transferred to bedroom to upgrade to new one in TV room.

This process still works. Thanks for sharing.

Note:

1. Need to first initiate the 2 factor authentication by trying to sign in first and it will fail
2. Wait for the message to pop up on your phone that ask you if you want to allow Apple TV access
3. Before clicking allow, make sure you’ve logged back into your Apple TV and entered your password but do not click submit on your Apple TV just yet
4. On your phone click allow to obtain the 6 code verification
5. Add this 6 digit verification code to the end of the password you entered already on your Apple TV.
6. When you click submit on your Apple TV you should be able to successful login.

If you follow the instructions precisely it will work unless you are entering information incorrectly.

This procedure works best for most:

1. From an iPhone or iPad, go into "Settings" => click on the top bar with your name and "Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes & App Store".
2. While still on iPhone or iPad, tap on "Password & Security", then tap on "Get Verification Code", LEAVE the supplied verification code visible.
3. Go to the iTunes login on your AppleTV settings and start logging in.
4. When it asks for your password, enter your password and add the verification code to the end of your password (no spaces: If your code is 123456 and your password is “ABC” you would enter “ABC123456”) BUT DO NOT HIT SUBMIT YET !!!
5. Go back to your iPhone/iPad and tap on "OK" on the verification code to make it go away.
6. Now go back to your AppleTV and submit the password.