Apple TV (#3): Purchased media not playing: fixes; Crashes when syncing large number of/heavily nested photos; more

Purchased media not playing: fixes We continue to report on an issue where the Apple TV will not playback any media that is purchased from the iTunes Store (DRM-protected).

Users experiencing this error generally find an inability to synchronize or stream purchased media, sometimes accompanied by an error stating that the Apple TV could not contact the iTunes store to authorize. The same users can generally synchronize and/or stream all other non-DRM restricted media.

As previously noted, the Apple TV does not count as one of the 5 computers authorized to play your iTunes Store purchases. This precludes the possibility that users experiencing this problem do not have any authorizations left.

Potential fixes

Disable proxy servers It appears that the Apple TV has problems working through some proxy servers. If the network to which your Apple TV is connected goes through a proxy server, it may need to be disabled.

Also, note that your ISP may be using a proxy server to perform caching or "speed boost" functions. In some cases, these features (and hence the proxy servers) can be bypassed. For some satellite services, see these instructions at DSLReports.

Change Apple ID (iTunes account) to an e-mail address It appears that the Apple ID used for an iTunes account may need to use an e-mail address rather than a simple login name in order to operate properly with the Apple TV. In other words, you may need to use username@sample.com rather than simply username for your Apple ID login. You can change your Apple ID using Apple's MyInfo page.

MacFixIt reader Brian is one reader who experienced success with changing his Apple ID to an e-mail address:

"I can play all of my non DRM media, but if I try and either play or stream protected media, I get a message saying that it was unable to contact the Apple Store to authorize. If I sync protected media, I get a triangle icon next to the device, which lists 1 error for each protected file. [...] One thing I did notice, by reading the manuals and looking more closely at the setup screens, is that I have an Apple ID that is not an email address, and all the examples show an email address. Could it be that the back-end server only supports an Apple ID that is an email address? This is not a problem for my playing the same media on my Mac, accessing my developer account with Apple, etc. Eureka! I then tried to stream from my wife's laptop, which has an email address for an Apple ID, and bingo - it worked. I don't know whether to laugh or cry!"

Make sure host Mac/PC is logged in to iTunes account If you are receiving the lack of authorization message when streaming content from a host Mac or PC, make sure that the system in question is logged into your iTunes account before attempting to synchronize. You can accomplish this by going to the "Store" menu in iTunes and selecting "Sign In."

Open new iTunes account In some cases, this issue may be account-specific. After exhausting the aforementioned fixes, try creating a new iTunes account by going to the "Store" menu in iTunes and selecting "Create account."

Crashes when syncing large number of/heavily nested photos We've received reports indicating Apple TV crashes when attempting to synchronize a large number of photos, or a folder of photos that is heavily nested (consisting of many folders).

MacFixIt reader Greg writes:

"I received my Apple TV today. It's a beautiful machine! All went well except when I tried to sync my Apple TV's Photos with a folder on my Mac containing 450 subfolders, each containing around 60 JPG images (over 30,000 images in total). When I pressed the sync button in iTunes, my Apple TV crashed - completed dead, black screen. It had to be reset and was fine afterwards (though none of the images had synced). I'd be interested to hear whether anyone else has had this problem."

Problems syncing/recognizing Apple TV: firewall modification We previously noted an issue where the Mac OS X firewall needs to turned off before proper recognition of the Apple TV or synchronization can occur.

[In order to turn off the Mac OS X firewall, go the "Sharing" pane of System Preferences on your Mac, and click on the "Firewall" tab, then make sure the Firewall is turned off. Apple plans to implement a tunnel for the Apple TV that will allow the unit to work through a Firewall, though the option does not yet appear in Mac OS X 10.4.9.]

It now appears that you may need to turn off third-party firewall systems, such as Intego's NetBarrier, in order to achieve proper Apple TV recognition/synchronization.

One reader writes:

"In the battle to get Apple TV to sync properly, I kept reading advice about turning off the Firewall (which I don't use), completely forgetting that the reason I don't use it is that I use NetBarrier. You have to turn that off, too... Voila!"

UPDATE: Apple has now posted a Knowledge Base article #305287 addressing this issue, stating that users need only to make sure that the "iTunes Music Sharing" check box is checked under "Firewall" in the Sharing pane of System Preferences.

For third-party firewall software, TCP connections on port 3689 must be enabled.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

• Apple TV: Purchased videos not playing (cannot be authorized); Disappears from devices list in iTunes -- fix; Translating video so it plays on the Apple TV; more
• Slew of Apple TV Knowledge Base articles posted

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