Apple TV Special Report: iPhoto synchronization fails

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 1:16 a.m. PT

2 min read

Some readers have reported problems synchronizing photos stored in their iPhoto libraries directly to the Apple TV.

Photos are synchronized to the Apple TV via "Photos" tab in iTunes (with the Apple TV selected from the devices list). You can choose to synchronize from either the iPhoto library or a different folder by selecting an option in the "Sync Photos from:" menu. The problem is that some users are unable to synchronize photos when the "iPhoto" option is selected.

One simple solution is to move the photos out of your iPhoto Library (located at ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library) to a separate folder, then select that folder in the iTunes "Sync Photos from:" menu.

Further, it appears that the synchronization process may occasionally choke on movies and other file formats stored in your iPhoto library. Try temporarily removing any files that are not photos and re-attempt synchronization.

Crashes when syncing large number of/heavily nested photos Meanwhile, 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."

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