[Paul Alvarez]

I have a sync problem that I would like to run by Apple TV users:

I recently upgraded my computer so needed to re-sync it to my Apple TV (40GB). In doing so, I also decided to reduce the data being copied over since I was pushing the capacity.

I erased all Apple TV content and then re-established the connection to my computer. After this, I started the sync process only to find that the movies that I have in iTunes aren't being copied to the Apple TV but showing up as stream only for some reason. Music and pictures copy with no problem so I don't understand why my movies (mostly concert DVD's that I have ripped) are not copying.

Can anyone help me understand this?

Thanks,
Paul

[Cold Warrior]

Open up iTunes, find the Apple TV and its Movies list. Right-click Movies and choose Sync. See if that forces the sync.

[Paul Alvarez]

Thanks for the advice. I tried this and it did not work. There just seems to be some issue with the unit getting confused whether it should stream or sync content. It only affects movies. iPhoto and music in my iTunes library actually copy just fine.

I have done a full restore to factory settings and tried re-syncing from scratch and it continues to happen. The movies say they are syncing but move relatively quickly through the process and the capacity bar doesn't register any change. If I quit iTunes, AppleTV doesn't then see the content so it is not resident on the unit's HD.

I just don't get why this is occurring. I've discovered numerous threads on Apple's Support forum that all look to be sync related and similar to my issue.

If anyone knows the fix, please post.

Thanks,
Paul

[turtle777]

Reboot your AppleTV (hold menu and down for about 6 seconds)

I'm seriously disappointed in my ATV.

I have to constantly reboot my ATV because it loses connection. Sometimes I have to reboot twice in a row to make it work.

ATV's robustness is by far much suckier than I ever expected.

-t

[Cold Warrior]

That's unfortunate. Mine is reliable. iTunes always sees it, it syncs automatically and manually when invoked, and it reaches out to the Internet when it needs to. I have mine connected via ethernet, not over wifi.

Maybe you should try a restore instead of reset.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Reboot your AppleTV (hold menu and down for about 6 seconds)

I'm seriously disappointed in my ATV.

I have to constantly reboot my ATV because it loses connection. Sometimes I have to reboot twice in a row to make it work.

ATV's robustness is by far much suckier than I ever expected.

-t

I agree wholeheartedly. Steve's "hobby" is less than stellar. Everyone I know with one has the connection issues. I can never get through an entire movie without having to restart iTunes at least once. More recently I've been having to do a factory restore on the ATV to get it to reconnect to the iTunes shared library. It's amazing how Apple can put out crap and people will still buy it (I'm as guilty as anyone).

To get back on topic, I unfortunately don't have an answer for you as I don't sync my library to the ATV. I just have it set up for streaming. My media library is almost 400GB so it doesn't make sense for me to sync. Is there a particular reason why you don't want to stream to the ATV?

[Paul Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

That's unfortunate. Mine is reliable. iTunes always sees it, it syncs automatically and manually when invoked, and it reaches out to the Internet when it needs to. I have mine connected via ethernet, not over wifi.

Maybe you should try a restore instead of reset.

I did a full restore and then the software updates and this did not help.

[Paul Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

I agree wholeheartedly. Steve's "hobby" is less than stellar. Everyone I know with one has the connection issues. I can never get through an entire movie without having to restart iTunes at least once. More recently I've been having to do a factory restore on the ATV to get it to reconnect to the iTunes shared library. It's amazing how Apple can put out crap and people will still buy it (I'm as guilty as anyone).

To get back on topic, I unfortunately don't have an answer for you as I don't sync my library to the ATV. I just have it set up for streaming. My media library is almost 400GB so it doesn't make sense for me to sync. Is there a particular reason why you don't want to stream to the ATV?

I just like the idea of not having to have the computer running to get to some of the content. Also, I've noticed that streaming can sometimes have short interruptions when the movie needs to re-buffer. Not sure if this is a wireless network issue or the ATV.

[REVBCO]

I was having issues with my atv over wireless. I changed to a wired network and everything works like a charm. I have a ton of kids movies (that I own) that I ripped that I streamed with out problems.

I was having a few issues with streaming some movies that were encoded at a very high rate but I think that I have found the sweet spot for ripping and streaming without quality loss. Here is my process.

Handbrake (3000k, AC3 passthru + AAC) -> MetaX -> iTunes
File sizes are in the 2 to 3 GB size.

Movies that crash Handbrake this is the process that I use.
MacTheRipper -> VisualHub -> MetaX -> iTunes.

[Cold Warrior]

Interesting that wired from wifi fixed your issues. I also use it over ethernet and haven't had any problems. However, I have a small movie/tv library, which I convert to mp4 using iSquint, then upload the media right onto the ATV. So I guess I'm doing an end-run around any workflows or habits that would test ATV's and my network's streaming capability.

[Paul Alvarez]

Originally Posted by REVBCO 

I was having issues with my atv over wireless. I changed to a wired network and everything works like a charm. I have a ton of kids movies (that I own) that I ripped that I streamed with out problems.

I was having a few issues with streaming some movies that were encoded at a very high rate but I think that I have found the sweet spot for ripping and streaming without quality loss. Here is my process.

Handbrake (3000k, AC3 passthru + AAC) -> MetaX -> iTunes
File sizes are in the 2 to 3 GB size.

Movies that crash Handbrake this is the process that I use.
MacTheRipper -> VisualHub -> MetaX -> iTunes.

I'll try going wired to see what happens. I will post an update later today.

[turtle777]

I agree, WiFi is probably the culprit. I might have to use a ethernet powerline adapter with my ATV.

-t

[Paul Alvarez]

Well, good news to report. Hard wiring resolved this for my movies. They all copied over with no issue. Now I am copying pictures and music. I will leave it hard wired.

I don't know why this would work but wifi (which worked prior) does not.

[REVBCO]

Btw, there is an update for the apple tv that let's you control it with the iPod touch or the iphone.

[deminister]

The answer should be quite straightforward but it ain't. Normally you remove the apple TV from your I-tunes. You than set up a new TV (with the password) through the remote of your apple TV unit. As soon as you have typed in the password on your itunes, it should be able to rename the Unit. Something from Apple TV, to WORTHLESS UNIT or so. In practice however you could try numerous times before it let you rename the unit. As soon as you are able to rename you can opt for sync instead of streaming. But beware. If apple changes the version of I-tunes, you might end up with the streaming option again. By the way you need to update your Apple TV software the new version is available since a few days.

[Appleman]

Apple TV appeared on my PowerMac (Apple TV downstairs in living room, PowerMac upstairs, connected via Airport Extreme - wifi), but now suddenly (this is, PowerMac turned off, and on again) Apple TV does not appear anymore on iTunes.
It does appear on my MacBook Pro, old white iSight iMac, MacBook white...

I checked another user on PowerMac: nothing.
I did a reboot of Apple TV: nothing.
I did a reset on Apple TV: nothing.
I did a factory restore and now busy with updates.

Will report later tomorrow.

[turtle777]

Forget ATV via WLAN. It suxx.

Ethernet is much more reliable, but unfortunately, still not fail proof.

-t