appleTV keeps asking for appleID, password and authentication code circularly

See link: Re: appleTV keeps asking for appleID, password and authentication code circularly

You can no longer turn it off once you have turned it on, now. I found out the hard way

Hope this helps? No. It doesn't.

This is Apple TV, not the next release of The Room.

Instructions should be clear and easy to follow and not rely on undisclosed hacks like some of you have laid out. Apple is losing customers because they can't deliver a product that should be simple to use.

To follow up on this ... the firewall on my Xfinity router is off ... no port forwarding of any kind. Apple TV Gen 4 and Apple TV 4K have zero issues. My Apple TV 3rd Gen absolutely will not sign into the iTunes Store (so pretty useless). If I put the AppleTV 3rd Gen on my phone’s hotspot WiFi, boom no issues signing in. W.T.F

Did you follow the instructions above to do it at Settings/Sign-In?

I know it's frustrating, but it does work as can be seen by the many here for whom it has.

If you continue to be frustrated, you can take your device to an Apple Store and they may be able to help you.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

This is insanity. 3 years, and there's still no proper solution to this, doubtlessly because it forces people to upgrade hardware that would otherwise be perfectly functional. Apple creating extra waste. Nice work guys.

I am having this problem now too (despite having moved to 2-factor ages ago). On my 3rd Gen ATV it started refusing to log-in to home sharing. Because I use 1password my Apple ID pw is a 32 digit random string, and I realized that there might have been a problem with what dash the screen on the ATV was using (seemed dubious but worth trying), so I reset my password to only letters/numbers.

Still couldn't get it to log-in, so logged out of apple everywhere (iPhone, PC, ATV) and tried again. No problems logging in on the phone or PC, but the ATV still wouldn't go. So I restored the ATV and downloaded the newest software. Still wouldn't log-in. Discovered this "hack" of adding the verification code from my phone, carefully inputted the pw then generated a new code and added it then clicked submit, but still nothing. Very strangely, my ATV logs into iTunes just using my ID, pw, and then 2-factor code that it asks for (and my phone automatically shows). So without using the password hack, I can log the ATV into iTunes, but nothing else (with just the normal pw or with the fresh verification code added to the end). I thought I would disable 2-factor, but Apple won't let you do that, which is also pretty troubling.

People claim that the 2nd and 3rd gen ATVs can't handle 2-factor authentication, but they obviously are somewhat able to, as it works perfectly logging in to iTunes. Just not home sharing or iCloud for some strange reason.

I am at a complete loss here. Everything I find when I search this either explains generating a code on your phone and adding it to the password, or else clarifying that when doing that you need to generate a fresh code to add once you've inputted the pw but before you click submit, so that it hasn't expired. But none of that is helping. I'm beginning to think the obvious choice here is to replace the ATV, but obviously it won't be with an Apple product, as I couldn't care less about the actual Apple software; it's really just an easy way to watch Netflix/Prime/YouTube on my not-smart TV.

Any other suggestions?

I was having this same issue with an older (likely first generation, ca. 2012?) Apple TV: I was able to log into iTunes okay but couldn't get into iCloud as it kept rejecting my password and the 6-digit verification code. This issue seems to have cropped up over the past couple of months so I presume there was perhaps a software update issue...(??) After reading about the workaround to beat the 30 second timeout for the verification code, I was poised and ready, BUT...this time it worked without any further input! So thanks Apple, for apparently fixing this bug and allowing me to steam music and photos once again through the Home Network!

It took multiple attempts for me to get my 1st generation Apple TV to work properly again at home in BC but it ultimately resolved itself. It was thus with some trepidation that I Initiated the software update on my other 1st generation Apple TV at our seasonal home in California but it went off without a hitch; I suspect that perhaps there was a bug in the initial software update that might have now been squashed so maybe anyone who is having difficulties might try reinstalling the original as-delivered software, then update it after that...(??)

Hi Guys,

I know this is a really late response, but I too have been tearing my hair out on this one.

I have an Apple TV Gen 1. It is brilliant, but owing to difficulties with our internet, we had not used it for ages. I now have very fast and unlimited 4G and thought I would resurrect the device. It is updated etc etc and passes its own diagnostics. However, it WILL NOT, under any circumstances sign in. I have had over an hour on the phone with Apple, who concluded by telling me it was probably a hardware fault as the device was so old. However, I don't think so.

I've done all the business with the password + code and been sensitive over the timings, as per earlier posts in this article, but to no avail.

I then concluded that it is because my account has 2fa set up. I cannot switch this off on any of my devices. Undaunted, I thought I would set up a new Apple ID on a new device (spare iPhone, previously wiped) and try that. I find to my horror that even a new Apple ID comes with 2fa from the start, no option!

So, 2 questions please for Apple themselves and for the wider community here:

Can 2fa be in any way suspended for long enough to allow my old Gen 1 ATV to sign in to my account please?

If not, what fix/patch or otherwise is or can be applied to the Gen 1 ATV to make it function again please?

If the answer to these questions is "no" and "none" respectively, then I think Apple should refund me the price of the new ATV DH that I have since purchased. They have rendered their excellent piece of kit obsolete by this apparently know incompatibility and I think it is terrible!

Any help any of you can provide on this would be much appreciated, thank you.

The stated adjusted sign-in procedure is intended for Apple TV (2nd or 3rd generation).

Apple TV (1st generation) (the big 7.7" silver/white colored aluminum box) is obsolete, not able to connect to the iTunes Store anymore since May 2018, and not able to sync from computers using a recent version of iTunes anymore.

Because when they added this to the firmware of that generation AppleTV (2FA wasn't widely used then), it was already beyond its end of support date.

They could have just done nothing, but instead they did this.

Hi Perrin Toek. Does it fail even if you request the code on your phone just before adding it to the password, as already suggested several times in this thread?

Unfortunately I read that we can no longer get rid of 2-factor authentication if it has been there a while (perhaps at least 2 weeks).

Apple has effectively ended support for that generation of AppleTV, so the fact that there is a way to login using 2FA at all is kind of a bonus.

Turn off the two factor or 2 step feature:

Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support

Frequently asked questions about two-step verification for Apple ID - Apple Support

Others have reported problems with them when used with Apple TV.