The Apple TV is designed to be an appliance, sitting next to your television and serving media. However, under the beautiful interface it’s also a full-fledged computer. And although the underlying Mac OS X is a very stable operating system, it’s not immune to glitches.
This chapter is meant as a springboard for further troubleshooting in the event that something goes awry with your Apple TV. If you don’t find an answer in these pages, go to Apple’s Apple TV support site at www.apple.com/support/appletv/, which contains the most recent issues and answers.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way—the things we often skip because they’re too basic.
Check all your cables and connections to make sure they’re seated tightly on the Apple TV, the television, and your stereo (if one is hooked up).
Make sure the television is turned on and that it’s set to the correct input. Often this is just a matter of pressing a Video/TV button on the remote several times until you see the Apple TV’s screen.
Make sure you’re running the latest version of iTunes as well as the Apple TV’s software. From the Settings screen, choose Update Software to connect to the Internet and search for updates.
If a synced Apple TV isn’t showing up in iTunes or you can’t view media sources from the Apple TV, check to make sure you’re connected to the network. From the main screen, choose Settings. Next, choose About from the menu. At the bottom of the screen, look to see if the Apple TV has an IP address.
If not, and you’re using a wireless connection, make sure your network is listed next to Wireless Network and the Signal Strength indicator displays two or more bars (FIGURE 10.1). Go back to the Network settings screen and reconfigure the connection, or move the Apple TV so that its signal isn’t blocked.
For wired connections, try replacing the Ethernet cable. If it runs to a router or network switch, plug it into a different port.
A lack of response may have nothing to do with the Apple TV and everything to do with the Apple Remote. Most likely, the battery is dead (after those long movie-watching weekends). Using a small screwdriver or other object—a headphone plug works nicely—push the small round button at the bottom of the remote to release the battery mount. Buy a new CR2032 coin battery and put it into the mount, then push it back into the remote.
A quick way to check to see if the remote is working is to point it at a digital camera or camcorder (such as the iSight built in to recent Macs); the sensor picks up the infrared light and makes it visible.
If the Apple TV still doesn’t appear to be behaving as you’d expect, try restarting the unit:
Press and hold the Menu and Scroll Down buttons for several seconds to put the Apple TV into recovery mode. The light on the front of the device turns amber, the screen goes blank, and after a minute or so you’ll see the language selection screen.
Choose your language. The Apple TV Recovery screen appears (FIGURE 10.2).
Select Restart to reboot the machine from the beginning; this will not erase your media or settings. After a short wait, you should see the opening animation and then the main navigation screen.
If restarting the Apple TV doesn’t solve the issue, try putting it into its diagnostic mode:
Press and hold the Menu and Scroll Down buttons for several seconds to put the Apple TV into recovery mode.
Choose your language.
On the Apple TV Recovery screen, choose Run Diagnostics.
The Apple TV reads “Running Diagnostics” while it works. If an error message appears when the check is finished, you need to contact Apple or your local Mac dealer to send the Apple TV in for repair.
If everything checks out, you’ll receive a message that the Apple TV is working properly. Choose Done to go back to the Apple TV Recovery screen.
Choose Restart to start up the machine again and go back to the main screen.
If nothing else seems to be working, try restoring the Apple TV to the state it was in when you pulled it out of the box:
Press and hold the Menu and Scroll Down buttons for several seconds to put the Apple TV into recovery mode.
Choose your language.
On the Apple TV Recovery screen, choose Factory Restore.
Factory Restore erases all of your network settings and media. If you’re sure you want to do that, choose Restore on the screen that appears (FIGURE 10.3). Otherwise, press Cancel to go back to the Apple TV Recovery screen.
When the Apple TV restarts, configure it according to the directions in Chapter 1.
