Can't get audio via optical port

I don't know what receiver you have, but I have three input modes for the Audio Input on mine, Auto, Analog and Digital. I need to have mine in either Auto or Digital mode for the optical to work. (For Analog, I can use Analog or Auto of course.)

If you can't get either Analog or Digital to work, your unit may be defective.

Mac OS X (10.4.9)

fp80,

Have you tried leaving the HDMI cable disconnected and only have the toslink cable connected, then tried playing music with the remote?

Regards,
Chris

I have a Monster toslink cable into the Apple HiFi.

I wanted to move the AppleTV, so I unplugged the cables. The Monster cable won't come out of the AppleTV. I didn't want to pull to hard.

Is it a hard pull out from the AppleTV?

most receivers have an advanced setup menu that allows you to configure each source for the appropriate input jacks. if you give me the make and model i might have more insight specific to your problem. for example, when you select "DVD", that source could be configured to look at any combination of physical RCA input jacks and coaxial / optical digital jacks, despite what the label says on the back of the unit. the "DVD" optical input might not actually be assigned to the DVD input, if that makes sense to you.

Maybe you already tried this, but if not, connect a CD player to the receiver, using the same input that you can't get to work with apple TV. If it works, the problem is propably on the apple TV side.

I am having the same issue. I am running the HDMI output to the TV and the optical audio output to the receiver (a Yamaha RX-V2500). No sound through the optical output (input modes are:analog, audio, and DTS). I've tried another cable - no effect, another optical source - ok there).

I think I've eliminate all but the following:
* Either the optical audio on the apple TV is bad, or
* My receiver cannot decode the signal (sounds implausible).

Anyone have experience with Yamaha receivers?

Brad

I hope you didn't plug the audio cable in upside down. It only fits one way and shouldn't be difficult to remove if it was plugged in correctly.

based on your troubleshooting... you hooked up another optical source and had success, it sounds like the optical output is bad on the Apple TV. no matter what bitrate the audio was encoded at, it the original source was PCM (standard stereo audio), then the output on the Apple TV will be "redbook" PCM 16-bit 44.1kHz, 100% compatible with your Yamaha or any other digital input equipped audio receiver.

1 thing to try, off the top of my head, is to reboot the Apple TV (put into standby, pull plug, restart) with the optical cable in the jack. perhaps it detects the presence of the cable at start up and otherwise mutes the output?

I had the same problem with HDMI and optical cables attached and have found a temporary fix. Don't plug the optical cable in all the way. Insert it into the optical out so that the light transmits, but don't push it in until you hear a click. Since I did that, I've had no problems. Obviously, there's some defect in the optical out jack, but this fixed the problem (for the time being) on my unit.

Thanks for your input and suggestion. The other Optical Source I tried was from an XBOX by the way.

I tried your reboot suggestion... didn't work out. Seems to narrow it down to a faulty optical audio port then. Too bad. No one likes to find out that their shiny new toy is broken.

Brad

As noted below, you may need to "address" the input to the optical port on your receiver. I have an Integra DTR-5.5 and I needed to go into the advanced setup and set the optical port and my component video ports to my video 3 input. Once I did that, voila Apple TV in all its glory!

Definitely a faulty Optical Audio port. I exchanged the unit this evening at the local Apple Store. The new unit works as advertised.

Thanks again for helping me narrow this one down.

Brad

One thing I would try to ensure that the Atv is sending a signal is simply to plug the optical cable to the Atv then look at the other end. Is it lit up? If so, then it's a receiver issue. If not, the Atv isn't sending a signal.

Bump.

I have the same issue as some of the people here. I am connecting video to my TV using a HDMI interface and using optical to my Bose 1-2-3, no worky-worky. I can see light at the and of the fiber that connects to my Bose but the Bose does not see any signal... I connected my XBox to the Bose and it works fine.

For now I am using the analog port, but I really want to use the optical...

Any ideas?

I'm having the same problem too. Speakers work fine when a MacBook is plugged in to the optical (with a 3.5mm lens adaptor) but plug the AppleTV into them and no sound. Using the analog until this is resolved.