I recently purchased apple 4K tv and I did setup my apple tv. When I try some of the apps on the app store, it is asking to update tvOS to 11.x version. When I try to update the software available on the settings, the update process kicked off and after the preparing the update the process got failed and asked to try after restarting apple tv, but it didn't help. Please help me on this.
P.S.: I have connected my apple tv to internet via Wifi.
Apple TV 4K
I saw another comment about DNS. My ATV was connected to a WiFi network that’s on a VPN and has some special DNS settings. So perhaps this is a clue. As soon as I switched onto my direct WiFi the update succeeded.
Maybe try and change your DNS to 8.8.8.8 or if you are on a VPN of sort, disconnect somehow.
I saw another comment about DNS. My ATV was connected to a WiFi network that’s on a VPN and has some special DNS settings. So perhaps this is a clue. As soon as I switched onto my direct WiFi the update succeeded.
Maybe try and change your DNS to 8.8.8.8 or if you are on a VPN of sort, disconnect somehow.
Make sure DNS is set to auto (settings - network)
Try ethernet
To see a current status of the network get a report from istumbler, netstumbler or similar. Look for signal strength, noise, nearby networks
Test on another network
I bought an Apple TV 4K today as well and had the same issue. After 30 minutes on the phone with Apple Support and trying everything they could think of they suggested I take back to the store and exchange. I did that and I'm having the same issue with the 2nd device. I have a 4th Gen as well, no issues with updating that one.
This is what was tried to troubleshoot:
Restart device
Unplug device
Connect to ethernet
Disconnect other Apple TV from network
Reset device
Reset device and update.
For me it's not the download that is failing, it is the "preparing update" step 1 of 2 where the device is getting hung up and failing.
Check DNS
Test on another network or take to Apple
Take the unit to Apple and have them try the update.
DNS needs to be set to auto to use the one supplied by the ISP.
VPN'S are not supported by Apple TV
Took four tries, two restarts but eventually it updated with no changes to the DNS. Did not disconnect power or HDMI but did turn the unit off for two hours. Not sure if it made the difference. Good luck!
I am having the same issue updating appletv. I tried with an Ethernet connection and still not successful.
Should apple able to do this? I see many people reporting the same issue.
Or is this related to the recent tvOS release, did any one update the tvOS 11.x without any extra work?
Yes, Apple can definitely try the update and if it persists there then they can investigate
That’s good to hear, however the DNS setting is important and doesn’t just apply to this as having it set manually instead of auto can lead to all sorts of issues.
Understood. My DNS was set to auto .
If you are running macOS High Sierra on any Macs that are on the same network as the Apple TVs it may be the Content Cache interfering with update.
On a Mac running High Sierra go to, Apple menu > System Preferences > Sharing > Content Cache. If it is enabled, disable it and try the update on Apple TV again.
Apple 4K tvOS update is failing
