iTunes crashes when streaming attempted from ATV2

OK, every time that I try to stream the iTunes library to my ATV2 it crashes iTunes. This happens 100% of the time, and happens from every ATV in the household. All options on the Apple TV work fine, but when I scroll over to Computers it tries to load content and then after about 5 seconds it crashes iTunes. iTunes shows a crash report, but I can't seem to make heads or tails from it. If anyone has experience there I would be happy to post it up.

My setup has been the same for quite some time, and I have described it below. The only real change to the environment is the update to 10.7.3

i5 Mac Mini
iTunes library is stored on a Drobo
I have multiple libraries (all stored on Drobo) and they all crash

Thanks for any help..

Just for grins try creating a library on a Mac and add some content that is also on the Mac, see if it crashes. If not, add content that is on the Drobo and see if it crashes and so on.

baggss said:

Just for grins try creating a library on a Mac and add some content that is also on the Mac, see if it crashes. If not, add content that is on the Drobo and see if it crashes and so on.

Click to expand...

I have not created a library local to the machine, so I will do that and see if it acts any differently.

Thanks..

Creating a local library worked fine. I copied some media from the Drobo and played music and a movie. Went back and opened the library on the Drobo, and it didn't crash right away. I moved away from the Computers menu item and scrolled around and then came back to the Computers tab and it crashed.

Not sure what has changed or why, but I will have to dig further.

It sounds to me like the issue may be the Drobo itself, or at least how your ATV is interacting with it over the network.

What happens if you leave the Library on the Mac but all the media on the Drobo (without having the Library copy the media to the Mac)? I suspect the issue is the fact that the Library files themselves reside on the Drobo (The iTunes folder and the xml files contained therein) vice in the Music folder or are at least not on the Macs HDD and not the fact that the media is on the Drobo. I don't think this should technically be an issue but maybe it has to do with your network itself, although I'm not sure what it would be.

New library on the Mac and media on the Drobo worked fine. The Drobo has been in play for years, so it was confusing why it started acting up now.

I took a shot in the dark and ran Onyx maintenance including permissions repair and that seems to have fixed the issue for now. It had been a while since I ran it on this machine, so it seems that something was messed up there. Hopefully that's all it was.

Thanks!

Glad I was able to be of assistance. Enjoy!

If the issue arises again in the near future, I would recommend either setting up either an airport express as a network only between your Mac and the ATV (no Drobo), which would run you anywhere from 69.99 up to 99.99, depending on if it is used or not.

OR

My preferred Method (for those with larger iTunes Libraries Seeking to utilize the Home Sharing function moreso than Netflix) is to use an Extreme Base Station (fortunately we had an older model that wasn't connecting correctly to the internet) and set up a network, again for data transfer between the Mac and the ATV. The reason I prefer this method is because you may simply plug in any hard drive into the back and use it as a form of NAS; personally I am using the 1 TB Western Digital My Passport combined with the base station. I like this because other forms of NAS often have trouble when utilized in a setup where an ATV is involved, secondly you can use any of the files, be it media, software, whatever, all around the house using a password you've set. And best of all, after much hassle with so many other methods, this one has caused me absolutely no frustration whatsoever.

Which is an absolute plus in my book, but best of luck my friend.

Edit: Airport Extreme Base Station 5th Gen may cost anywhere between 129.99 - 179.99 (used/new - search amazon)