[markw10]

I was excited to read about the new Apple TV software update last night so quickly went to do the update. I've done many and never had a problem until this time.
I started the update and the last time I looked at it the download had around 1 minute left. When I went back about a half our later I simply saw the Apple TV's lighting blinking at a quick pace. I don't get any sound or video at all.
The model that I have is the most recent Apple TV. When doing some Google research I found similar problems but people talked about plugging it in via USB to your computer and syncing with iTunes but I believe that's for the older model. I figured there must be some type of hardware reset but I don't see anything like this.
is there some way to get it to work again such as by doing a hardware reset or do I have to go to the Genius Bar?

Thanks,

Mark

[Wallace]

You might stand a better chance of a reply if you post in the right forum. This is for the rumours around the next Apple TV, the '4'.

Try Apple TV Forum.

HTH.

[kch50428]

[PJL500]

How to fix a bricked ATV2

The Oct 2012 update bricked my Apple TV-2, although the update went the same as previous updates and the unit worked for a few minutes. Then, next time I restarted it got stuck on "Whats New?" screen (the Continue button would not respond.) After about 7 minutes wait it went to the Home Screen but without response from the remote (I changed in a new battery too.) Then it went to the screensaver and stayed stuck on that. It refused to soft-reboot. I could not restore it either as iTunes (via Micro-USB cable) on my Macbook would not recognize the ATV2. (I tried all kinds of permutations and two Micro-USB cables.)

So I tried putting the ATV2 in DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode using iTunes in Windows 7 (Pro) on Parallels (7). This worked. If you have access to a Windows machine- even better.

Here is How to Put the Apple TV into DFU Mode: (I had to try variations on this to get iTunes to see the ATV2 in Devices.)

Note: You will need a Micro-USB cable to connect your AppleTV with iTunes-for-Windows running.

Step 1: Connect the ATV2 via Micro-USB to computer.

Step 2: Hold menu+down for 6 seconds to reboot. (As that did not work for me I had to disconnect/reconnect power instead.)

Step 3: Then immediately hold Menu+Play (on the ATV2 remote) to go into DFU mode. (Rapid flashing followed by less rapid flashing.)

It (eventually after restarting iTunes, Windows etc) showed up in iTunes/Devices just like an iPhone etc.

Click Restore.

I then had to babysit the update as there are a number of messages to be OK-ed, and, at one time, iTunes for Mac began starting up.)

Back to normal (for now.)

This process was tenuous and required patience - I almost gave up trying to get iTunes to see the device.

[There's probably a hardware issue on some devices (different vendors?). Apple should exchange these defective units for refurbished ones. After all it's their software update that broke the units.]

[Alli]

I had a similar issue after my last update. I simply unplugged, counted to ten, and plugged it in again. It started up normally.