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'Downright Microsoftian"

Cut the bullshit. Maybe a glitch ... I have zero problems downloading.

But whining like a baby .. "ohh, ohhh its Microsoftian" is too much.

Get real, and cut the crap.

@F - you sound like a complete twat

If anything, I have to give MDN some credit here. They didn't actually find a way to spin this positive for Apple. I love Apple, but believe it or not, they do have a few flaws...

May 14, 08 - 09:11 am Comment from: Brian Allen

It have to due with your poor taste in movies.

May 14, 08 - 09:13 am Comment from: Cire

I'm with F on this one! Report the problem and let them fix it. If you get charged and Apple doesn't resolve the problem to your satisfaction then call it Microsoftian. Its a bug...that's just software...and This is Spinal Tap isn't worth it anyway, so maybe its not a bug...but a feature

May 14, 08 - 09:15 am Comment from: MaLvado

ANY software that has a loop with no resolution but only repetition should be named "Microsoftian".

MDN's take is just fine, F (er).

To suggest it is 'Microsoftian' is to suggest Apple being culpable or surreptitiously trying to screw customers.

Grow the fsck up. That goes for asshat 'shutup'.

May 14, 08 - 09:18 am Comment from: Follower

MDN is right to complain, because this potentially involves being charged for something you did not receive. There's not more effective ways to piss people off than that.

However, to be truly Microsoftian, Apple would have to try to fix the problem with a software update that subsequently made your Apple TV reboot endlessly over and over.

I had that happen to me once. I unplugged the unit and rebooted it and it resumed normal function and my movie downloaded.

F,

Seeing as how MacDailyNews coined the term "Microsoftian," my guess is that they feel qualified in using it appropriately.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Microsoftian

How much do you want to bet that Apple now bumps this issue to the top of the list and fixes this ASAP?

Thanks, MDN, for valuing the users ahead of the company, as usual!

May 14, 08 - 09:28 am Comment from: ron

Brian Allen, "It have to due with your poor taste in movies."

No Brian, "It HAS to DO with your poor taste in WORDS.

"A smattering of MacDailyNews readers and a few more in an Apple.com Discussions thread are reporting the following infinite loop ..."

As an Apple partisan serve me right for laughing at Microsoft for putting people's PCs in an endless reboot with XP SP3.

It's not only MS that can have you going in circles.

May 14, 08 - 09:39 am Comment from: Winston

Maybe it would work better if the movie had been recorded in Dobly.

[/obligatory Spinal Tap reference]

May 14, 08 - 09:40 am Comment from: silverwarloc

No problems with my movie downloads. While the kids are downloading and watching the movie(s) all the time, I have not experienced this since renting movies became available. It's a minor glitch. Like others have mentioned before, it is software after all.

May 14, 08 - 09:45 am Comment from: AAPLguy

"as long as there's sex and drugs, I can live without the rock and roll"

May 14, 08 - 09:48 am Comment from: Fred Mertz

Fsck the napkin!

I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human than someone who doesn't believe anything.

May 14, 08 - 09:56 am Comment from: Demon

Got to go with F on this one.

If you reboot the Apple TV then do sets 3 & 4 it is likely to work. iTunes had this issue when the iTunes Store first started using One Click. With iTunes it had to do with a corrupt cookie the store writes on your system (in this case the Apple TV) That same cookie is also in memory uncorrupted but in memory it's flag is set to you've already started downloading the purchase. When you shutdown (or quit iTunes) and restart the cookie tries to be reloaded fails so it looks at what is in the downloaded list and looks at the queued downloads at the iTunes store and then it's available for download.

Of course the iTunes Store's Apple TV Download queue or the Apple TV content download manager could have a bug but that is less likely.

Basic 101 Computer Troubleshooting here people.. The Apple TV is a computer first and foremost apply the same troubleshooting steps that you'd do in troubleshooting any computer issue, prior to whining about an issue that may not be worth whining about.

Spinal Tap isn't even available on iTunes. That might explain your problem...

May 14, 08 - 10:30 am Comment from: Tired of Retards

BS,

Apple TV, not "iTunes," you retard.

May 14, 08 - 10:39 am Comment from: HMCIV

Maybe your Apple TV is trying to protect you from watching crappy movies? I which it had tried to stop me from watching 'Supernova'.

:-(

When I had this problem, I restarted the Apple TV and it worked just fine.

May 14, 08 - 10:45 am Comment from: papasmack

F - You need to chill out!. You should have a nice tall glass of Camels Milk.

@Tired Of Retards:

It's the same stuff. Don't be an asshole.

This isn't really Microsoftian, it's more Apple standard practice. Paid service, doesn't work right and no support avaialble? Yeah, that's Apple for ya.

Think .Mac, iTunes Store, etc.

--Rob

I had the same problem several days ago. But an Apple rep was very helpful. Turns out the problem was that one of the movies that I had rented was no longer available for rent ("The Verdict"). Apple then cleared my rental queue and the "Unable to Check for Downloads" message was gone.

By the way, they also issued a refund for the movie that was no longer available for rental.

I've had this happen to me in iTunes with "A Guy Thing". I started it, stopped it for a bit and then tried to finish it. I got the same message saying that I already had it. I'll contact Apple directly and see what they say.

May 14, 08 - 11:35 am Comment from: Tired of Retards

BS,

See here's the problem:

It's not the same stuff.

Apple TV and iTunes have different catalogs. For example, This Is Spinal Tap is available to Apple TV owners, but not to the lowly iTunes Store crowd.

So both of your horseshit statements are wrong, you retard.

May 14, 08 - 11:49 am Comment from: Macintosh

I had this problem last week, with Shaun of the Dead. I tried to rent it on Friday, May 9... I just tried to "check for downloads" and got the same "unable to check for downloads" message that I have been getting for the last five days.

I have posted on the Apple discussions board as well. People aren't going to be very happy with this, as it's an expensive toy to have malfunctioning, especially with the lack of content...

May 14, 08 - 11:53 am Comment from: Ray

"There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot" - Steven Wright

May 14, 08 - 12:07 pm Comment from: Jubei

Maybe they have Apple TV, but have Windows at home for their main computers. Theres your problem. Dump the Windows and get a Mac and everything will work. Thats my theory. hehe

May 14, 08 - 12:19 pm Comment from: balanced

maybe you should try to call AppleCare and express your concerns, instead of using your blog as a public out cry to get special attention of an issue that affects a small percentage of users. who do you think you are rush limbaugh.

"You know, several, you know, dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported."
- David St. Hubbins

this is somewhat related,... wondering if anyone else is having iTS issues? whenever I try to watch a trailer, iTunes crashes... tried a half a dozen times... took the 30 seconds to send reports to Apple.

May 14, 08 - 02:51 pm Comment from: Timbo

You're a naughty one...Saucy Jack.

My Apple TV "infinite loop" has disappeared. It now works for me, too!

Thanks, MDN!

smell the glove

May 14, 08 - 04:59 pm Comment from: Journo

What MDN wants, MDN gets, obviously.

And that benefits other users in the process.

A "win, win" situation. Good job, MDN!

It's such an interesting concept, mixing mime and food. - Marty DiBergi

It works for me now, too. Finally!

Thanks, MDN!

May 14, 08 - 05:23 pm Comment from: Shieldzee

I was able to rent Spinal Tap, but only after I turned up my Apple TV to eleven.

@MDN:

If your problem was truly Microsoftian, your AppleTV would have given you a blue screen, recited some cryptic syntax error or some other such message, and required a hard restart.

After the restart, you would have been advised by Software Update that a service pack was available, which once installed, would have promptly broken the ability to play movies (although you could still download and be charged, in points, not dollars).

C'mon MDN, let's get the analogies more accurate!

May 14, 08 - 06:51 pm Comment from: Jim - TIV

at least now we know who the Camels Milk Whatever's real handle is...

So there was a problem which Apple fixed in less than 24 hours. The fix doesn't require the user to download or install any patches. Yes, very Microsoftian indeed.

If I've told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!

Ok, check this out. I had a similar thing happen with music too. Here was my issue:

Just bought a Mac Pro (FULLY LOADED BABY). Apple TV wasn't showing up in Itunes, so I said to hell with it and restored it to factory settings and began the long task of syncing my library. EXCEPT, it stated that there were 100 songs that were "unable to be verified by Itunes", even though they were purchased through Itunes. Except in 1 case:

Portishead just recently released their new CD. I had a free version of it that they allowed for download in Mp3 format a week earlier. I bought the album anyway on Itunes when it was available. It was also the most recent thing I had purchased.

I looked in the music folder and noticed that the 'old' MP3's were there, followed by the Itunes version. I deleted the mp3's and voila, everything synced fine.

Evidently ATV looked at the most recently purchased album, saw Mp3's at the top of the list, couldn't verify, and kicked it out.

Don't know if there could be a similar connection to the movie thing or not given they are different file types. But I thought it was an interesting little bug. No harm done. I just did some troubleshooting and it sorted itself out.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought there might be a connection as the issue seemed very similar in nature.

Passerby,

Actually, the Apple.com Discussions thread started on May 10th. So, it got fixed in four days - or about 7 hours after MDN focused attention to the issue.

I think MDN helped to speed things up in this case.

"How much do you want to bet that Apple now bumps this issue to the top of the list and fixes this ASAP?"

Maybe they should fix the bug in Safari that allowed it to me hacked in 2 minutes first? After all Apple are so insecure because they spend all their time playing around with consumer electronics junk.

May 14, 08 - 07:52 pm Comment from: Jubei

@Go apple

Oh please. That hack wasn't even real world. He knew of the exploit and worked for several weeks to finally get a working hack. So he got to the show with code already in place and a site already up and running. Basically he cheated.

Go apple,

It was fixed in mid-April, you stupid fuck.