Messed up my new Apple TV and now Voice OVer will not start

By Barefooted Ray, 26 November, 2014

Forum
tvOS and Apple TV Apps

Hi, Just got my brand new Apple TV today. I selected the proper HDMI input and plugged in my Apple TV. sure enough, Voice Over came on and instructed me to press the small button on the bottom right of my remote. My remote was oriented so that the navigation was at the top and the two individual buttons were just below it. So, I pressed the right bottom button but all I heard was the window boundery sound. So, I unplugged it all and tried again. Now, even it I leave it unplugged for half a minute or more, and keep trying, Voice over will not come on. Is there any way to rescue myself from this impossible situation? Is there any way I can force the unit back in to the condition it was when I first plugged it in? Was I pressing the right button in the first place? What the heck is going on?

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Comments

By Jakob Rosin on Sunday, November 23, 2014 - 05:37

Are you shure that the TV didn't switch the HDMI input automatically?
Could you OCR the screen to make shure it doesn't display any error message?
Does the apple tv make navigation sounds if you press the arrow keys on the remote?
If yes, then try holding down the home/back (bottom left) button for few seconds, then pressing the OK button in the center.
Holding down the home button opens some kind of quick menu, I unfortunately don't remember if it was on by default or not.

By sockhopsinger on Sunday, November 23, 2014 - 05:37

Once you get the AppleTV plugged back in and it is turned on, make sure your audio device is turned on. If Voiceover still does not start speaking after a minute or two, hold down the small button on the bottom left of the remote, the one below the circle, for about two seconds, then hit the okay button which is the center of the circle. That should turn Voiceover on. If that doesn't work, follow same steps as above by hitting the small button on the left for two seconds, but then click the bottom part of the circle, also known as the down arrow, one time and hit the okay button. If either one of those don't work, I am not sure what to tell you. Good luck.

Yes, I do get navigation noises when I press the keys on the remote. I tried to hold down the home button for about three seconds then pressed the okay key in the middle. No luck. So, I tried again and this time, pressed the down arrow key then the okay key and still nothing. I should note that when I pressed the home key on the bottom left and then heard the boundery sound, I could press the left and right arrow keys and heard indications that I was moving between two selections but no voice. Doesn't matter when I leave unit plugged in or not. May have to get sighted help because I am stuck and don't know what further to do.

By Barefooted Ray on Sunday, November 23, 2014 - 05:37

In reply to by sockhopsinger

Hi, Tried all that just like you said. I did attempt the OCR of the screen and all I got was the single word "computers". I think I may need to get sighted help because it should not have gone this way.

By Barefooted Ray on Sunday, November 23, 2014 - 05:37

Hi there. I'd like to thank all y'all for your suggestions. I worked out how to solve the problem. Turns out that, if you consult the latest Apple Vis podcast on Apple TV, the fellow from Australia, (can't remember his name now) provides the answer. By going through the menus in detail, he shows where the accessibility menu is and where Voice over on and off are. Turns out that, if you ever get stuck where I was, just go to the right boundery window, and that's the main menu. Carefully follow along with where he's taking you and voice over will speak in no time flat. There did happen to be an update to Apple TV which I loaded in just now. So, again, many kind thanks for y'all's help and suggestions. Now, if i can just figure out how to make some custom albums appear on my Apple TV. Right now, it's just showing my purchased albums, but, I put severle custom albums in my iTunes library and I know they are tagged correctly and I turned sharing on in iTunes but cannot see them. Maybe different topic though. So, again, many thanks.

By Roxann Pollard on Sunday, November 23, 2014 - 05:37

In case you haven't figured it out yet... In order to see your iTunes based albums you must have the iTunes program active on your PC. Then, , on the AppleTV, go to computers, which is the last item on the right of the top row where it shows movies, TV shows, etc. Press the enter key or the middle of the circle at the top on the remote to open the Computers area. Allow iTunes and AppleTV to communicate for a bit then you will see your customized albums.

Glad you got the VoiceOver thing fixed.