No signal from Apple TV 4k unless I unplug power

If I don't use the Apple TV 4k for a while, when I turn my TV on the TV says there is no signal from the Apple TV. I have to unplug the Apple TV from power and plug it back in, and then everything works fine (including HDR 4k).


I thought it was related to the ATV going to sleep, so I set it to Never sleep, but no change in behavior. The light on the front of the Apple TV flickers when I press buttons on the remote, even though there's no picture. I have tried multiple HDMI cables and HDMI inputs on the TV. The TV is a Samsung that supports HDR and 4k. Did I get a bad ATV?

Posted on Oct 8, 2017 8:31 AM

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70 replies

Feb 22, 2018 7:42 PM in response to Keith Moreau

I have the Belkin cable and it did not help. Enabling the "Enhance 4K HDMI signal Format" setting and signing up for Beta updates has helped the need to unplug the device, however I still run into the "no video" problem while playing videos in apps after waking from sleep. This requires a reboot, but at least you don't have to unplug it. I agree with you on the interface...and it's a silly thing, but we like the screensaver that scrolls through my photo stream. We paid a pretty hefty premium to not deal with issues like this.

Feb 5, 2018 5:36 AM in response to jolejniczak

Post update...update. My ATV no longer flashes as it did before and I have not had to yank the power since updating to TVOS 11.3 (not sure if this is beta software or not as I signed up for those as well). One small issue remains...video playback doesn't work for any app after a sleep/wake cycle. Where the ATV would flash and the power would have to be pulled before now only requires a reboot via the remote. This is still very annoying, but one step closer to being fixed. At least I don't have to get off of the couch to fix it.

Mar 6, 2018 7:57 PM in response to Vigilante99

I have a Sony 940e TV. I am kind of a Home Theater enthusiast, expert, etc. I posted previously. The expensive high speed cable that Apple sells and recommend to resolve the problem (after I called support) didn't resolve the problem, though I'm not necessarily experiencing the intermittent HDMI problem. It seems that in addition to a HDMI problem there is a HDCP problem when trying to play most copyrighted content. Restarting the Apple TV seems to resolve it. I did develop a workaround, which was to put an inexpensive HDMI 4K high speed switch in between the Apple TV 4K and my Sony 4K TV. At the end of my viewing session, my Harmony Elite remote powers everything down (except the AppleTV which doesn't power down) including the HDMI switch. I believe when I restart the system, and the HDMI switch and the TV power up, this resets the buggy Apple TV HDMI port / state and things work well. This saves me a little time so I don't have to back out of what I was viewing and restart the AppleTV to get it to play content such as Netflix. Its a cludge but it makes this combo work better. It's not without problems and occasionally I still have to restart the AppleTV as it seems to get kind of stuck when going back to it's home screen with digital noise blanking out the top half of the image. However this is somewhat rare and turning the HDMI switch off and on seems to resolve this. I'm hoping that Apple can get it together and get this to work, unless it is just an inherent hardware problem with the AppleTV components, which I'm beginning to think it might be or Apple would have resolved it in firmware already. I'm pretty sure that Apple has reproduced this problem as it seems to be a widespread problem. I'd like to hear somebody in this thread say that they don't have the problem we are having, that would are refreshing.

Mar 18, 2018 10:59 AM in response to gfunkdave

Atv signal cutting out intermittently, I have it connected to a LG tv. It seems to only happen when the original signal is not a 4K signal, direct tv now for example with a show on ABC. ABC doesn’t broadcast in 4K so the signal Atv sends out is being up converted. The problem does not occur when watching amazon with a program that’s HDR. If I change the Atv format from any of the 4K options to the 1080p Dolby Vision, the problem goes away. Having to manu switch it back a forth is a bit of a pain, but it works.

Feb 1, 2018 11:35 AM in response to txfeinbergs

@txfeinbergs - well I guess it's good to know I'm not alone (and good to know you have an LG - so I'm thinking this is something the ATV is causing). Misery loves company I guess!! So when you wake up your system, what do you typically get on the TV when it happens? So far I can get any of the following:


- flashing screen right away upon wake

- flashing screen but only after playing something - either SDR or HDR doesn't matter

- complete snow white screen (can't see any ATV screens)


I am in the process of switching cables again. The past day and a half I had a combo of Monoprice premium from ATV to Denon and Amazon Basics from Denon to Sony X930E. That was actually kind of stable. However, I just ordered two of the Belkin cables from the Apple Store (pricey, but worth it if they work). Just installed them this afternoon. I actually powered everything down when installing them (TV/AVR/ATV) - and then powered up the TV and AVR first and then the ATV. Of course right away the screen was flashing - not a good start. I pulled the TV power and everything came back stable. I was able to do SDR, HDR and Dolby Vision. Time will tell now if they made a difference.


Really not understanding why the ATV has become so unstable where the Roku seems to be stable again. I'll reply back with any results.

Feb 1, 2018 2:45 PM in response to netnothing

I either get the TV screen saver itself (because it thinks there is no signal), a screen of white snow (which is pretty strange for a digital signal), or just a blank black screen. Don't worry about the cables as I replaced all my cables with top of the line cables and that did nothing for this issue (although it did completely eliminate some data errors as seen by white sparkles on a dark screen) (and also greatly improved my Roku Ultimate experience by eliminating pesky HDCP errors and audio drop outs) (I will admit my cables hadn't been upgraded in years and were a mesh-mash of crap)


If you want some REALLY good cables for a cheap price: these work great and support 18 Gbps. (Amazon.com: HDMI Cable 6ft (2-Pack) - Atevon High Speed HDMI 2.0 Cable 18Gbps [Supports 4K HDR, 3D, 2160P, 1080P, Ethern…) My entire setup is now using these.


FYI, if you haven't, also make sure you update the firmware in your AVR to whatever is the latest.

Feb 15, 2018 7:08 PM in response to gfunkdave

My apple TV 4k cuts out as well. I already returned one and new one does the same. Plays fine for anywhere from a few minutes to and half hour but eventually cuts out and my TV indicates no signal. Sometime holding top two buttons on remove works and it restarts (though from front menu) other times I have to unplug. Apple TV 1 was working fine! with my set up. Must be the 4k HDR stuff. Have been on hold with apple for almost an hour! First call cut out after 30 minutes. HomePod launch must be going well......

Feb 22, 2018 3:34 PM in response to lester robbins

I have a Sony 940e TV - I am having exactly the same problems – it used to so go on and off as if the HDMI connection was intermittent – I updated the software to the latest as well as changing to a better cable and now it is a little bit better but it seems like I still have to restart the Apple TV to have it function normally – my latest problem is that if I pause Netflix and come back to it it will not play video – only audio – again a restart of the app appleTV resolves the issue for a a few hours to overnight but comes back – I have had the similar disconnect problem with two separate Apple TV 4K s – I do not think it is the television – nor the cables – however I am ordering a Belkin cable from the Apple store and see if that might help – however I believe it is something inherent to the Apple TV 4K Which is really disappointing as I love the Apple interface

Jan 11, 2018 6:48 AM in response to jolejniczak

Thanks for posting this GIF. I have my ATV running into a Denon X2400H and then into a Sony X930E. I randomly get issues like this when going to watch the ATV. Sometimes it's right away in the menus.....other times it's when I went to play a show. For me though, the only thing that will fix it is a hard reboot (pull the power) from the TV. Nothing else fixes it.


I have switched my ATV to be 4K SDR with Match Range ON, since most of what we watch is SDR content.....so trying to not have so many HDMI handshake issues as the TV switches between HDR and SDR constantly.


Let us know if you ever find a solution.

Jan 30, 2018 1:59 PM in response to netnothing

My ATV 4k was set to sleep after 1 hour and I changed it to never. Been working so far from last night. Hard to say if this corrected my issue since other changes I've made worked for a short time and then back to having to reset the devise. Couple other changes I made at the same time where, turned airplay off and kept my match content settings turned off.

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No signal from Apple TV 4k unless I unplug power

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