Apple releases syncing fix for Apple TV 3.0 [Archive]

AppleInsider

11-08-2009, 11:06 AM

An update for Apple TV was released Saturday which fixes problems with content disappearing from the system until re-syncing.

Apple suggests that users who have updated to the 3.0 version should immediately update to version 3.0.1 in order to prevent content from temporarily disappearing until re-syncing.

The Apple TV should be restarted and updated through the "update software" option under the Settings > General menu. If this does not resolve the issue, it is recommended that the Apple TV be disconnected and reconnected to the computer that it is networked with.

A final option if the above actions do not fix the issue is to perform a factory restore, update to 3.0.1, then re-sync.

Apple TV was updated Thursday to version 3.0 which added an entirely redesigned main menu, support for iTunes extras and LP, streaming Internet radio, and Genius Mixes. This was the first major update for Apple TV since early in 2008.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ] (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=12203)

Zoolook

11-08-2009, 11:33 AM

Foo2

11-08-2009, 11:45 AM

iPhoto photos still don't show up for me. I guess I'm going to have to reset the link to the server.

MacTel

11-08-2009, 11:58 AM

I didn't have any issues at all on 3.0, so not too sure under what circumstances they'd appear.

I like the 3.0 interface, but my ATV is now really laggy, I think the hardware is struggling with the new OS. Perhaps this indicates a newer more powerful ATV in the near future?

Whatever newer hardware will come out it will be introduced with the subscription services spoken of in the AI forums. The subscriptions would compete with cable providers and take the Apple TV from a hobby to a full blown business. :smokey:

caljomac

11-08-2009, 12:03 PM

Hahah...it's totally unlike apple to cock up a major firmware release http://1228server.co.cc/imgs/signature_smiley.jpg

solipsism

11-08-2009, 12:18 PM

I didn't have any issues at all on 3.0, so not too sure under what circumstances they'd appear.

I like the 3.0 interface, but my ATV is now really laggy, I think the hardware is struggling with the new OS. Perhaps this indicates a newer more powerful ATV in the near future?

I’d try going to factory settings and then a reinstall. Mine was faster than before.

sheff

11-08-2009, 12:37 PM

Whatever newer hardware will come out it will be introduced with the subscription services spoken of in the AI forums. The subscriptions would compete with cable providers and take the Apple TV from a hobby to a full blown business. :smokey:

I can't wait for that but it probably will come to xbox 720 before it comes to Apple TV unfortunately.

Zoolook

11-08-2009, 12:48 PM

Hahah...it's totally unlike apple to cock up a major firmware release http://1228server.co.cc/imgs/signature_smiley.jpg

It doesn't seem to affect everyone and the fix was pretty quick, which is the most important thing.

brucep

11-08-2009, 12:49 PM

Whatever newer hardware will come out it will be introduced with the subscription services spoken of in the AI forums. The subscriptions would compete with cable providers and take the Apple TV from a hobby to a full blown business. :smokey:

Agreed 
we are missing one or 2 pieces of the  world domination puzzle

my stupid dream is as follows

I say a larger 9x6  ipod-touch with full mac os grazing rights wiil be the  tablet >> including a new app store for all larger devices i.e. MB 

A scaled down 9/1/2 in MB white as the net book

And of course a
NANO PHONE called NANEITE that runs off the ipod touch style SW with MVNO SW and  as the GATEKEEPER CARRiER w/free SKYPE calls will be included across the lime up cept for iphone.

APPLE will then introduce the new ATV and the ATV mini SERVER
A 1TB scalable with FIVE/SEVEN INTERFACE's < movie/tv/music /photos /internet/games/2 app-store's/3 sep itunes stores/apple store >>

THIS APPLE TV will then tie all the blind together as one . Window users can even buy the TV and sync all their mini  devices to it . LEAVING out the mac's of course until the windows users are ready to switch ,except they already switched over with out knowing it. finally steve can sink that knife in bills back

THE  server farms will power>store and safeguard apple against carrier induced bottle necks.

Ad-mist all this steve will do a<< one more thing >> and
Say . APPLE CO WILL KNOW sell HD TV SETS with a build in mini's of course

go apple

peace 9

7Aces

11-08-2009, 12:53 PM

anantksundaram

11-08-2009, 02:00 PM

One day too late, AFTER I had to resync my 140 GBs of content... :no:

And what exactly will Apple do about the people who don't sync their Apple TV to a computer, whose content suddenly vanished due to Apple's negligence?

Excellent question. Or if one were traveling for an extended period with the main computer that is synced to it, and the family wanted to use it?

This is shoddy software upgrading on Apple's part.

You could tell they were panicked because I received an email in three different accounts of mine from Apple alerting me to update (which has never happened before). When I turned on @TV, sure enough, all the music had disappeared (fortunately, I had transferred only 10GB worth of music on to my @TV since it has 40GB capacity). Photos were unaffected.

steviet02

11-08-2009, 02:15 PM

Agreed 
we are missing one or 2 pieces of the  world domination puzzle

my stupid dream is as follows

Say no more.... :no:

peace out from the 'hood wannabe.

steviet02

11-08-2009, 02:18 PM

One day too late, AFTER I had to resync my 140 GBs of content... :no:

And what exactly will Apple do about the people who don't sync their Apple TV to a computer, whose content suddenly vanished due to Apple's negligence?

Same exact situation here. I actually went to watch something the other night after my iMac was asleep and there wasn't any data on the atv. Embarrassing that a glitch like that could actually get out. This is solid proof that their quality control is not very good. And it's not because it's a 'hobby', anything they sell to a consumer cannot be considered a hobby, especially if they keep updating it and making money renting stuff via that device.

hillstones

11-08-2009, 02:26 PM

Whatever newer hardware will come out it will be introduced with the subscription services spoken of in the AI forums. The subscriptions would compete with cable providers and take the Apple TV from a hobby to a full blown business. :smokey:

You do know that most things on AppleInsider are not true. Nothing will compete with cable and satellite because subscription services will not offer local programming or sports.

kotatsu

11-08-2009, 02:29 PM

hillstones

11-08-2009, 02:31 PM

More lipstick on the pig.:no:

Interent TVs are selling like mad, You get a choice of Amazon, Netflix, and Blockbuster rentals- directly- wirelessly. Not just Samsung rentals or Sony rentals but real rentals from all of the big 3.
Not just itunes. AppleTv is done. Please pull the fork out- NOW.

What is an "Interent TV"? The streaming services suck. At least Amazon OnDemand through TiVo is downloaded for viewing. NetFlix streaming is lousy quality and it stops every 5-10 minutes to catch up, even on a 10Mb cable modem...because of many varieties of network traffic that can interrupt the stream. I also think the AppleTV is a useless box. Since people already have Cable or Satellite, why are they buying video content for the AppleTV when they are already paying for it through their provider?

hillstones

11-08-2009, 02:32 PM

I think the content disappeared from the AppleTV because it was embarrassed to be on an AppleTV.

kotatsu

11-08-2009, 02:32 PM

You do know that most things on AppleInsider are not true. Nothing will compete with cable and satellite because subscription services will not offer local programming or sports.

Satellite TV, which is obviously a non-locally broadcast offers local broadcasting and sports so there's no reason why the internet couldn't.

But I can't see it happening simply because the old school cable and satellite networks wouldn't let it. They will protect their business to the end. Look at the mess Sony are facing with the PSP Go for a good example of an old school business (bricks and mortar game retailers in this case) fighting to prevent a new model (downloads) from taking off.

Eideard

11-08-2009, 03:06 PM

Hahah...it's totally unlike apple to cock up a major firmware release http://1228server.co.cc/imgs/signature_smiley.jpg

HaHaHa...it's totally unlike the average geek-wimp to whine about a major firmware release.

caljomac

11-08-2009, 03:23 PM

HaHaHa...it's totally unlike the average geek-wimp to whine about a major firmware release.
Well...it really is if you arn't a geek-wimp. A geek-wimp who isnt a geek-wimp whining about a major fw release???

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 03:25 PM

Hahah...it's totally unlike apple to cock up a major firmware release http://1228server.co.cc/imgs/signature_smiley.jpgsoftware, not firmware.

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 03:28 PM

One day too late, AFTER I had to resync my 140 GBs of content... :no:

And what exactly will Apple do about the people who don't sync their Apple TV to a computer, whose content suddenly vanished due to Apple's negligence?Whine, whine, whine.

The AppleTV is a syncing device, it has no content of it's own and the only way you'd ever lose any content is to use it in an un-prescribed fashion as you appear to be doing. You hacks your devices, you takes your chances. ;)

At the very least, it's *your* responsibility to back up content if you are eschewing the use of the built in services of the product itself.

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 03:29 PM

... Embarrassing that a glitch like that could actually get out. This is solid proof that their quality control is not very good. ...Actually the presence of a single error is *not* "solid proof that their quality isn't any good." I mean think about what you just wrote for a second. It's absolute nonsense.

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 03:41 PM

Can they do the same with the iPhone now please? Since the last firmware update the iPhone has had the 'no content' bug too... (check the official Apple support forum for lots of people complaining about this)This is actually a fairly rare and completely unrelated bug though. There is no connection between the two, and so no rational reason to expect the fix for one to be the fix for the other. The AppleTV bug is far more serious and affects everyone. The iPhone bug is more of a rare annoyance.

pt123

11-08-2009, 04:10 PM

ifail

11-08-2009, 04:24 PM

Apple seems to be adding this new disappearing data stuff into their devices, is this a new premium feature ive missed?

ChristophB

11-08-2009, 04:36 PM

I paid attention to the email a bit too late. My content got wiped but update and 100GB resync went smooth. What's this about a reinstall that made things faster? I use my iPhone to control and haven't noticed a slowdown.

Edit: Jeez, people whine about everything. Is this the first software release ending in a .0 that's had issues? If you can't manage the risk wait for a .1 version.

7Aces

11-08-2009, 04:58 PM

Whine, whine, whine.

The AppleTV is a syncing device, it has no content of it's own and the only way you'd ever lose any content is to use it in an un-prescribed fashion as you appear to be doing. You hacks your devices, you takes your chances. ;)

At the very least, it's *your* responsibility to back up content if you are eschewing the use of the built in services of the product itself.

If this vital piece of information had somehow miraculously passed by you before making such a statement, let me enlighten you:

One of the major selling points of the Apple TV Take 2 was that NO COMPUTER IS REQUIRED. Lucky for me I sync mine to a computer and as such I have not lost any content, and I have certainly not hacked my device (a conclusion you pulled out of I-don't-know-where).

However, for the people who acquire content directly from the iTunes Store on the Apple TV without ever connecting to a computer, they are far worse off should all their content have disappeared - which was my original point, something you would know had you actually read my post. ;)

anantksundaram

11-08-2009, 05:27 PM

The AppleTV is a syncing device, it has no content of it's own and the only way you'd ever lose any content is to use it in an un-prescribed fashion as you appear to be doing. You hacks your devices, you takes your chances. ;)

I realize you are trying to be funny, but you really should stick to commenting on things you know something about. Asserting/assuming 'facts' such as 'AppleTV is a syncing device with no content of its own,' 'using in un-prescribed fashion,' and 'hacking' make no sense.

No one is whining. People are, however, most certainly suggesting that Apple could have waited a couple of more weeks to roll this out, instead of imposing a major annoyance on its users. It is not as though there was some publicly announced deadline that the company was attempting to meet (as with, say, SL).

anantksundaram

11-08-2009, 05:28 PM

If this vital piece of information had somehow miraculously passed by you before making such a statement, let me enlighten you..... my original point, something you would know had you actually read my post. ;)

You're way too polite. Welcome.

Morky

11-08-2009, 05:32 PM

Since people already have Cable or Satellite, why are they buying video content for the AppleTV when they are already paying for it through their provider?

In NYC, I have Time Warner, and the video on demand choices are limited. The Apple TV has a much larger selection, and the list is growing. Plus I can rip my daughter's DVDs and put them on the Apple TV so she doesn't destroy them, as kids tend to do. Also, automatically syncing my music to the Apple TV means I can play my entire music collection through my stereo, controlled through the remote app on my iPhone or iPod Touch. It's about the ecosystem, if you buy into it.

steviet02

11-08-2009, 05:35 PM

Actually the presence of a single error is *not* "solid proof that their quality isn't any good." I mean think about what you just wrote for a second. It's absolute nonsense.

No, actually for a device who's 'sole' purpose is to accept data, store it on the drive, and then play it back, it's sole mechanism (as far as syncing goes) was broken. That's a horrible lack of testing and definitely points to a lack of QA.

lkrupp

11-08-2009, 06:35 PM

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 07:00 PM

No, actually for a device who's 'sole' purpose is to accept data, store it on the drive, and then play it back, it's sole mechanism (as far as syncing goes) was broken. That's a horrible lack of testing and definitely points to a lack of QA.It's a single failure. The first in multiple updates over several years. No data is lost, and they jumped right on it and issued a fix almost immediately after discovery.

To translate that into ... "proof that their QA is bad" is just hyperbole.

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 07:02 PM

I realize you are trying to be funny, but you really should stick to commenting on things you know something about. Asserting/assuming 'facts' such as 'AppleTV is a syncing device with no content of its own,' 'using in un-prescribed fashion,' and 'hacking' make no sense.

No one is whining. People are, however, most certainly suggesting that Apple could have waited a couple of more weeks to roll this out, instead of imposing a major annoyance on its users. It is not as though there was some publicly announced deadline that the company was attempting to meet (as with, say, SL).I may have used some terms that were more colloquial, but the fact remains that this is a bug that does not result in any data loss at all. If you had data on the AppleTV that wasn't synced you are very much "not doing it right" (or using it in an unprescribed fashion as I said in a more mangled way earlier).

Your mistake, yet you blame Apple.
To me that's "whining."

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 07:10 PM

I... One of the major selling points of the Apple TV Take 2 was that NO COMPUTER IS REQUIRED. Lucky for me I sync mine to a computer and as such I have not lost any content, and I have certainly not hacked my device (a conclusion you pulled out of I-don't-know-where).... I did read the post, and the "hacking" comment was related to my assumption that if you had un-synced content then you must be using Boxee or Hulu or one of the other hacks. If you want to be fair you have to admit that this is the most likely conclusion anyone could come to.

You are right in that I forgot about the fact that it can be used without a computer though. An oversight on my part for sure. That must be a very small category of people however, one even you yourself admit you are not a part of. This bug probably would bite hardest then, for the low end "mom and pop" user that doesn't have a computer.

It's still not going to result in data loss though, because all the content in that case would be bought from the Apple store and could be re-downloaded without a problem. The very few users in that situation might not know that though.

Gazoobee

11-08-2009, 07:14 PM

Not only is your AppleTV not working for you, take a little ridicule with that. I guess that is classic adding insult to injury.Apologies if I came across that way. It was not my intention.

2992

11-08-2009, 07:18 PM

you mean the appletv is a total failure - a 3 year old "hobby" which only apple fanbois are buying. Appletv's technology is old and stale. Hdtvs and blu-ray players have basically all of its wireless features and then some built into them now. A sad failure for apple due to their itunes greed.

+1 ;)

anantksundaram

11-08-2009, 07:22 PM

You mean the AppleTV is a TOTAL Failure - a 3 year old "hobby" which only Apple fanbois are buying. AppleTV's technology is old and stale. HDTVs and Blu-ray players have basically all of its wireless features and then some built into them now. A sad failure for Apple due to their iTunes greed.

That's a ridiculous overstatement. I am an AppleTV consumer since Day 1, who -- except for this incident, which I consider to be a major screw-up -- has got exactly what he expected from it. If that's a 'fonboi', big deal. (Although, I'd expect, by now, for you to be slightly less of a cliche, unfortunately you always seem to revert to type. You just can't help it.)

If it's 'old and stale' and gets overtaken by others, so be it. That won't be because you say so or want it to be so. At the moment, there is isn't enough bandwidth in the pipes to stream Blu-ray and such, so it's wishful thinking. Even if there were the bandwidth, no one today offers the simplicity of UI that AppleTV does. If someone does, please tell us who, how much it costs, and where I can buy/download it on to my existing A/V set-up (which is reasonably fancy and current, so I don't want to spend $$$ buying a new one).

steviet02

11-08-2009, 07:25 PM

You're all wrong. It is that, but

:lol: I'm all wrong, but you agree with what I said?

steviet02

11-08-2009, 07:28 PM

It's a single failure. The first in multiple updates over several years. No data is lost, and they jumped right on it and issued a fix almost immediately after discovery.

To translate that into ... "proof that their QA is bad" is just hyperbole.

It's a single failure of the only real function it has, how blind can you be? And this hasn't been the only failure that the ATV has had, btw. Loss of sync'd items has occurred before, not only to me but others too, so to say this os the only time it's happened is not true.

Mazda 3s

11-08-2009, 07:29 PM

anantksundaram

11-08-2009, 07:43 PM

I still don't quite get the appeal of the Apple TV. I'm still trying to understand how it is any better than my PS3 which now has Netflix Instant Streaming capabilities.

Apart from the movies to rent/buy, with AppleTV, I like the fact that it can play my music, display my photos, and play my personal videos/movies all streamed directly from iTunes on any computer in the house (or with all of it stored in the AppleTV box), as well directly access Youtube and now, internet radio. And, with the ability to use my iPhone as a comprehensive remote.

Can your PS3 do all that? (It's a question, not an attempt to be snarky).

Mazda 3s

11-08-2009, 07:50 PM

Apart from the movies to rent/buy, with AppleTV, I like the fact that it can play my music, display my photos, and play my personal videos/movies all streamed directly from iTunes on any computer in the house (or with all of it stored in the AppleTV box), as well directly access Youtube and now, internet radio. And, with the ability to use my iPhone as a comprehensive remote.

Can your PS3 do all that? (It's a question, not an attempt to be snarky).

I can do all of that stuff with my PS3. It can stream music/movies/pictures from either my wife's Windows XP machine or my HP EX485 Windows Home Server (or I can store media on its 80GB HDD or I can use a thumb drive). I don't know if my PS3 can stream anything from my MacBook Pro, but I haven't bothered since all of my media is stored on the Windows Home Server anyway (all of my my pictures, music, and three seasons of Mad Men :) ).

As for remotes, I have a Logitech Harmony One which controls my TV, sound system, DVR/cable box, and my PS3.

Dorotea

11-08-2009, 07:51 PM

I still don't quite get the appeal of the Apple TV. I'm still trying to understand how it is any better than my PS3 which now has Netflix Instant Streaming capabilities.

And to the person that talked about Netflix streaming choking and buffering every 5-10 minutes, that's bull****. .

Apple TVs better if you don't want or need a PS3.

And btw, streaming may work if you don't get interference from any other source. I live in a large condo complex and I can see 10 wireless networks at any given time. I wonder how many I can't see but exist. So streaming does indeed stutter, choke .... So don't don't call names when you don't know the circumstances.

pt123

11-08-2009, 07:51 PM

Plus I can rip my daughter's DVDs and put them on the Apple TV so she doesn't destroy them, as kids tend to do.

Hey, I bought my AppleTV for pretty much the same reason but the picture quality is not as good as the DVD and I am out of disk space. Not as happy with the device anymore.

Mazda 3s

11-08-2009, 07:56 PM

And btw, streaming may work if you don't get interference from any other source. I live in a large condo complex and I can see 10 wireless networks at any given time. I wonder how many I can't see but exist. So streaming does indeed stutter, choke .... So don't don't call names when you don't know the circumstances.
How is that Netflix's problem? It's not their problem your wireless situation sucks or that you're bombarded with wireless signals.

That's like blaming Ferrari because your new sports car is stuck in a traffic jam.

brucep

11-08-2009, 08:07 PM

why is there so much bickering here all the time
does every topic have to get hijacked

the world is watching is this the best AI can do ??

have the mods gone fishing >>

no soup for anyone tonight

nano phone

anantksundaram

11-08-2009, 08:26 PM

I can do all of that stuff with my PS3. It can stream music/movies/pictures from either my wife's Windows XP machine or my HP EX485 Windows Home Server (or I can store media on its 80GB HDD or I can use a thumb drive). I don't know if my PS3 can stream anything from my MacBook Pro, but I haven't bothered since all of my media is stored on the Windows Home Server anyway (all of my my pictures, music, and three seasons of Mad Men :) ).

As for remotes, I have a Logitech Harmony One which controls my TV, sound system, DVR/cable box, and my PS3.

That's great! I am very impressed. Some of us don't do games, so AppleTV seemed like the more simple and logical choice. And, I am quite happy with it (as you, no doubt, are with your PS3). :)

anantksundaram

11-08-2009, 08:37 PM

Well then I feel sorry for you cause you got stuck with the 40GB version. I on the other hand waited 2 more months when it went up to 160 GB and bought from day 1 of the 160 GB.
The problem is you're extremely limited to iTunes content ONLY which I had no way of knowing at day 1- Did you?. Movie rentals and sales came a year later. Apple's choke hold grip has cause the failure on this device which could be used for so much more if it were only opened up. No netflix, No Amazon, No Blockbuster, No Hulu. It really should be renamed the iTunesTV. Safari anyone?

No need to be condescending and feel sorry for me - I'll repeat what said, in case you missed it the first time: I am, overall, quite happy with it. :) The 40GB was much cheaper than the 160 GB when I got mine, and it serves my needs. For instance, I store about 15 GB of content (music and photos, mostly), and leave the extra for two to three movies to reside (incl. the possibility of one or two 720p HD).

I did not expect much more than iTunes and Youtube content. So, for example, I view the internet radio available now as a nice bonus actually. It would be great if there were more, but I did not expect it. You are confusing your price/value ratio of a product (relative to your expectations) to be the same for everyone else. That is never the case.

Incidentally, on the topic of 'iTunes TV', it is interesting that the email with the warning re. 3.0 came from the domain name "itunes.com."

LTMP

11-08-2009, 09:21 PM

One day too late, AFTER I had to resync my 140 GBs of content... :no:

And what exactly will Apple do about the people who don't sync their Apple TV to a computer, whose content suddenly vanished due to Apple's negligence?

This happened to a friend of mine after a previous update. Apple re-downloaded all of her previous purchases and gave her a store credit for $100.00.

It was just enough to cover the extra bandwidth usage for the month.

wattsup

11-08-2009, 10:03 PM

It's a single failure. The first in multiple updates over several years. No data is lost, and they jumped right on it and issued a fix almost immediately after discovery.

To translate that into ... "proof that their QA is bad" is just hyperbole.
You are overlooking a similar bug that existed in the v2.X Apple TV software for several months earlier this year. Probably a different cause but a similar effect (all purchased content deleted from the Apple TV). Here is a link to an article on MacWorld/MacCentral that documented this earlier problem.

http://www.macworld.com/article/141271/2009/06/appletv_files.html

I continue to like my Apple TV, but these types of serious synching and data loss bugs are getting a little hard to take.

extremeskater

11-08-2009, 10:20 PM

That's great! I am very impressed. Some of us don't do games, so AppleTV seemed like the more simple and logical choice. And, I am quite happy with it (as you, no doubt, are with your PS3). :)

The only real downside to the PS3 is you have to make sure your not one of the first to download their Firmware updates. There has been ore then a few PS3 that have gotten bricked after Sony released new firmware. The salt in the wound is they act like its your problem and want to change you to fix it.

Psych_guy

11-08-2009, 10:44 PM

No need to be condescending and feel sorry for me - I'll repeat what said, in case you missed it the first time: I am, overall, quite happy with it. :) The 40GB was much cheaper than the 160 GB when I got mine, and it serves my needs. For instance, I store about 15 GB of content (music and photos, mostly), and leave the extra for two to three movies to reside (incl. the possibility of one or two 720p HD).

I did not expect much more than iTunes and Youtube content. So, for example, I view the internet radio available now as a nice bonus actually. It would be great if there were more, but I did not expect it. You are confusing your price/value ratio of a product (relative to your expectations) to be the same for everyone else. That is never the case.

Incidentally, on the topic of 'iTunes TV', it is interesting that the email with the warning re. 3.0 came from the domain name "itunes.com."

I pretty much did the same thing. Bought the 40, sync only movies to it. Music comes out of the iMac. Cable bill is down to minimum. Haven't set foot in a video store in years (not since Blockbuster offered to take me to collections for a $10 late fee). Don't miss it that much. Since I'm fairly active with work and play, I don't have much time to geek around with kluged together setups. Apple TV serves our needs and we're happy with it.

As for the latest "crisis", I noticed my content was gone, got the e-mail an hour later. Applied the update and resynced my movies. Back up and running, and all in all it cost me what? Two hours or so?

Some posters/haters/trolls here lament the fact that this was a monumental failure of epic proportions and that surely it portends the end of Apple as we know it . . . dogs and cats sleeping together . . . Please. Show me one product of such complexity that didn't have at least one update or glitch.

Psych_guy

11-08-2009, 10:47 PM

You are overlooking a similar bug that existed in the v2.X Apple TV software for several months earlier this year. Probably a different cause but a similar effect (all purchased content deleted from the Apple TV). Here is a link to an article on MacWorld/MacCentral that documented this earlier problem.

http://www.macworld.com/article/141271/2009/06/appletv_files.html

I continue to like my Apple TV, but these types of serious synching and data loss bugs are getting a little hard to take.

Huh. I didn't have this happen to mine. This latest one was the first for me.

kotatsu

11-09-2009, 07:23 AM

More lipstick on the pig.:no:

Interent TVs are selling like mad, You get a choice of Amazon, Netflix, and Blockbuster rentals- directly- wirelessly. Not just Samsung rentals or Sony rentals but real rentals from all of the big 3.
Not just itunes. AppleTv is done. Please pull the fork out- NOW.

There is plenty of choice for streaming content over IP in the US, but outside it's a different story. In the UK for example the choice for streaming on an HDTV is iTunes (reasonable sized library of content) and the Xbox 360's Zune Video Marketplace (a tiny, microscopic amount of content).

So here in the UK, with such a small amount of choice, optical discs are still the king by a vast margin.

7Aces

11-09-2009, 08:04 AM

It's still not going to result in data loss though, because all the content in that case would be bought from the Apple store and could be re-downloaded without a problem. The very few users in that situation might not know that though.

Data was irretrievably lost from the Apple TV as an unintended result of the software update, that's why it's called data loss. The unconfirmed possibility of Apple maybe letting you re-download all your content that you have purchased doesn't change that fact, because, as per their usual TOS policy, they never let people download their content more than once.

For the people whom this data loss applies to, Apple should grant them redownloads, no questions asked. Contrary to what you may believe, this can't just be swept under the rug because "Oh, it's a .0 release, that's to be expected." It was a huge cock-up solely on Apple's part, that they need to make up for for those affected.

ukrunr

11-09-2009, 09:18 AM

The message from Apple was also too late for me.

I have 2 Apple TV's, one got hit, one didn't. All content is now on the 2nd day of re-syncing to a 320GB drive (99% full), expect it will complete by tomorrow.

Fortunately it didn't corrupt my 640GB unit.

Quite often with the new software, I'm pressing buttons and not getting immediate responses, then missing the selected option. It is noticeably slow, wonder if anything other than a hardware upgrade will ever improve this?

Also noticed that when sync'ing, the GUI now effectively stops completely, didn't think it used to be that bad (you could at least navigate menu's).

Guess it matches expectations for a hobby product.

Double0Diablo

11-09-2009, 05:02 PM

To the person above who suggested that we are not using the AppleTV properly if we are not syncing content back to the computer - YTF would I want to do that?

I bought the AppleTV nearly two years ago so I could watch iTunes HD and YouTube video content in my main home theater without futzing around with my other computers. The Apple TV was marketed as just such a device.

In regards to quality HD content, the Apple TV has pretty much been a failure. I do enjoy watching YouTube much more in the living room than at my desktop or on a MacBook, so it is useful in that regard.

I personally have found the killer app for the Apple TV has been as a music server. Full bitrate wav or Apple lossless streamed wirelessly from my main iTunes library with album artwork and much better sound quality than I expected. I use it mostly for that.

But it never occurred to me that I needed to sync purchased HD video content back to my main computer. I would never watch this content anywhere other than in my home theater on a large screen TV with full surround sound, which is why I purchased the Apple TV to begin with.

So other than for backup purposes, no good reason to do it - so enough with the snotty attitude.

I did lose a half dozen or so HD TV episodes I purchased due to the buggy 3.0 software. I will be contacting Apple to demand a refund for this content, or the ability to download it again.

Double0Diablo

11-09-2009, 05:17 PM

I also have found the new interface to be painfully slow and clumsy since the 3.0 upgrade. Always overshooting the mark or not responding quick enough to be useful. My preferred use of the ATV as a music server is not nearly as enjoyable as before.

So even with the content deletion bug fixed, the 3.0 release has been a disaster. Easily the biggest disappointment since I started using Apple products 4-5 years ago, and a royal PITA over the last week.

Since 3.0, I've already factory restored back to 2.0 once. After this latest update, will probably end up doing it again.

It is clear that Steve Jobs has not been paying attention to this overheated brick, as the buggy software with the ugly interface is so unlike what I'm used to from this company. Heads should roll over this crappy software.

In the meanwhile, is there an easy way to stream my existing iTunes library to a PS3 with artwork intact? I have one that is primarily being used as a Blu-Ray, might be a good opportunity to see what else it can do.