LaszloMako

Q: Apple TV remote randomly turns on 4th Gen Apple TV

Hi Guys,

 

I've got a 4th gen Apple TV for Christmas at work. It's quite handy, but it does a very weird thing: The remote randomly sends signals when no one is touching it, in fact no one is around, everyone is meters away from the remote. Since the Apple TV is connected to my TV that is HDMI-CEC capable, it also turns on the TV. It happens without any pattern, sometimes when we sit in the opposite corner of the same room, or at random times of the day or even at night. Sometimes I come out in the middle of the night to check on our little baby girl and I see that the TV is on. The Apple TV goes to sleep after a while, but since it doesn't send OFF signal to the TV via CEC, the TV remains ON. Sometimes I stop the movie I'm watching to do something and when I come back, to movie is running and minutes have passed. This is causing me a real headache, not to mention that it also adds to the power bills, especially when we go away for a weekend and I come home that the TV is on...

 

Is this something anyone of you ever heard of, or it's a faulty remote with a contact issue around the buttons that needs to be replaced? If the former, how can I fix it, if the latter, will any Apple retailer change it for me? There is no dedicated Apple store in Christchurch, New Zealand. My employer ordered hundreds of Apple TVs online.

 

Thanks,

Laz

Posted on Jun 30, 2016 2:53 AM

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Q: Apple TV remote randomly turns on 4th Gen Apple TV

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  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jun 30, 2016 3:03 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 10 (103,845 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 3:03 AM in response to LaszloMako

    I don't suppose anyone else is using one of the older silver remotes in the vicinity of the Apple TV or whether someone might be playing a joke on you with an older remote or the Apple remote app on their phone.

     

    There have been a small number of reports relating to the buttons on the remote seemingly sticking and repeatedly sending the same command, but I don't believe I've seen any reports of it working on it's own intermittently.

     

    I've seen reports where network activity has woken earlier models, but never where this sort of activity has started a movie playing when it's paused.

     

    I think a good start in resolving what is happening here is to find out whether these rouge commands are coming via bluetooth, IR or wifi, you might start by covering the unit to rule out (or in) IR.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jun 30, 2016 3:17 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 4 (3,812 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 3:17 AM in response to LaszloMako

    Is there any chance you have a nearby neighbor (within Bluetooth range) with a similar setup, and their remote is affecting your unit? Pairing your remote might help, see Get help with your Apple Remote - Apple Support. Also, do you share your WiFi with anyone else?

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jun 30, 2016 3:37 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 10 (103,845 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 3:37 AM in response to LaszloMako

    The unit is paired with the remote by default, another bluetooth (siri) remote can't operate the unit unless it is specifically paired with it which requires it to be 3 or 4 inches from the unit. Even if it had been paired by holding it so close, the neighbours remote would no longer operate their Apple TV and your remote would no longer operate your Apple TV.

     

    A bluetooth pairing does not stop IR control of the unit via another remote. to stop other IR remotes working with your Apple TV, take the other remote and ...

     

    1. Hold it close to the Apple TV 4 and press the menu and rewind buttons for at least 6 seconds (you won't see anything happen while you do this)
    2. Then, hold menu and select (centre button) until the light on the Apple TV 4 flashes.
  • by LaszloMako,

    LaszloMako LaszloMako Jun 30, 2016 4:24 AM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 4:24 AM in response to Winston Churchill

    Thanks for the suggestions Guys! It's only my wife and I living in the house (and a baby) and we don't prank each-other with this We don't have Apple Remote app installed on our phones either. I was thinking about Wake-on-LAN as well, but restarting movie play from pause convinced me that it must be something else. Was also thinking that perhaps my neighbour has Samsung TV as well (just as we do) and their TV remote causes this. I mean not that it's controlling the Apple TV directly, but my TV instead, that over HDMI-CEC, sends commands to the Apple TV down the chain and eventually causes the video to continue playing. BUT this is also not possible, as TV remotes use IR and IR needs to be within visible range, it can't send signals through brick walls. So the only thing I could think of was Bluetooth, but as Winston Churchill has already mentioned above, you can only ever have one siri remote paired at a time. So here's how I got to the conclusion that perhaps the touch pad part or the play button has a contact problem and every now and then it sends a signal that wakes up the device/starts video play.

     

    Anyway, I'll try the above steps to stop all IR remotes to work, then wait. If it still happens, I'll try to hide the remote and see what happens. I'll report back with the results I really was just curious if anyone has ever heard anything like this, cause this is indeed a very weird problem...

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jun 30, 2016 4:36 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 10 (103,845 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 4:36 AM in response to LaszloMako

    You are likely aware but...

     

    To test if it's being caused over the network you'd need to disconnect via the wifi settings (or unplug the cable if it's ethernet) and to check if it's sticky buttons you'd need to unpair your remote. I'm not quite sure how you would test for interference over bluetooth, perhaps you'd need to disable the remote, cover up the IR receiver and disconnect from the network all at the same time.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jun 30, 2016 6:28 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 4 (3,812 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 6:28 AM in response to LaszloMako

    You could also check that the remote is fully charged, just to be sure.

  • by RollyForbes,

    RollyForbes RollyForbes Jun 30, 2016 2:36 PM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 2:36 PM in response to LaszloMako

    Did this just start in the last few days? Mine is doing the exact same thing. I'll be in another room and notice that the living room is lit up because the tv is back on again. I had to unplug the power bar last night to keep it off.

  • by LaszloMako,

    LaszloMako LaszloMako Jul 2, 2016 10:55 PM in response to RollyForbes
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 2, 2016 10:55 PM in response to RollyForbes

    @RollyForbes: No, it has been like this forever. Well, since last Christmas, when I got it.

    @Diana.McCall: Yep, checked, almost fully charged.

    @Winston Churchill: I wanted to do your suggestions, but I realized that there is no rewind button on the siri remote Anyway, I kept pressing menu + play for about 6 seconds instead, and the LED on the Apple TV started blinking. After that, my remote behaviour has changed, so I guess it's been reset. (I previously set volume buttons to control the home theatre system's volume.) It didn't do it since then, but I'll keep watching. If it happens, I will disconnect it from the network and see what happens.

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jul 3, 2016 1:25 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 10 (103,845 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 3, 2016 1:25 AM in response to LaszloMako

    The steps I provided were for use on the silver remote, off the top of my head I'm not sure what the command you entered into the Siri Remote does.

  • by RollyForbes,

    RollyForbes RollyForbes Jul 3, 2016 8:14 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 3, 2016 8:14 AM in response to LaszloMako

    I've found my answer, or at least, broadly. I noticed the Apple TV would turn on around the time I would unlock my Android phone. I removed the Plex app from both devices and it doesn't turn on anymore.

  • by FabrizioRizzo,

    FabrizioRizzo FabrizioRizzo Sep 12, 2016 9:05 PM in response to RollyForbes
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 12, 2016 9:05 PM in response to RollyForbes

    Same issue here!!!  It's been driving me nuts.  Every time my girlfriend plugs-in or unplugs her samsung phone from a charger, the appleTV wakes up!!!  Both have the Plex app installed...

     

    Will go hunt around the Plex boards... somebody's gotta know why this happens and how to fix it short of removing the Plex app!

     

    If anyone has more info, please, share...

  • by LaszloMako,

    LaszloMako LaszloMako Sep 15, 2016 10:32 PM in response to FabrizioRizzo
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 15, 2016 10:32 PM in response to FabrizioRizzo

    Just thought I'd follow-up with my experiences. I couldn't really get to the bottom of this, because one day the issue has "magically" solved itself and disappeared forever I could figure out though, that the wake-up signal/event came through my local network. I had WiFi turned off on the Apple TV and connected to my LAN network via Ethernet cable to make sure the only connection to the network is by wire. For weeks, we've unplugged the Apple TV overnight and it didn't happen at all, not even once. If it was a signal over IR or BT, it would have happened, but it didn't, so the signal certainly came over LAN. One day stopped unplugging it, but nothing happened and it's been good ever since.

     

    My two best possible guesses are:

    *  It's a sneaky little bug somewhere in the Plex Server, that only occurs in edge cases, within a certain set of circumstances. I have restarted my home PC once or twice and the Plex Server with it, maybe that did the trick.

    * OR perhaps resetting the remote fixed it - see my post from 2nd of July 2016 "I kept pressing menu + play for about 6 seconds instead, and the LED on the Apple TV started blinking. After that, my remote behaviour has changed, so I guess it's been reset."

     

    I hope this helps!

    L.

  • by FabrizioRizzo,

    FabrizioRizzo FabrizioRizzo Sep 16, 2016 4:38 AM in response to LaszloMako
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 16, 2016 4:38 AM in response to LaszloMako

    Interesting!

     

    Perhaps it was an app update that fixed it? 

    Do you have auto-updates enabled?

     

    The issue has stopped for me too, although, it stopped immediately after removing the plex app from all android devices.  I know there has been a plex app update and a tvos update as well.

    Now that things seem stable, am going to reinstall plex on one android phone and see what happens.

     

    Hopefully, things stay fixed.

  • by LaszloMako,

    LaszloMako LaszloMako Sep 16, 2016 7:32 PM in response to FabrizioRizzo
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 16, 2016 7:32 PM in response to FabrizioRizzo

    That's a very good point actually. The last update for the Plex Server came out in April, but the tvOS app has been updated a couple of times since my initial post.