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Apple TV Upgrades: Xvid (And More) Support, 120GB HD
- Thread starter jobutex
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Sounds hacky, but WAY less hacky than I thought it'd be. Cool! Might have to re-evaluate whether I'm interested or not. If they can get the thing to output 5.1 audio, I'll be all over it.
I just received mine today via Fedex about 30 minutes ago. I know what I am going to be busy doing this weekend! 
If this truly works, it will indeed strengthen the demand for the
TV.
I also hope this increases interest in future development of Perian! More information can be read about it here: http://perian.org/
If this truly works, it will indeed strengthen the demand for the
TV. I also hope this increases interest in future development of Perian! More information can be read about it here: http://perian.org/
This is very good, this means that Apple TV can be potentially hacked to view many other files formats.
On another note, somebody has upgraded the Apple TV hard drive to 120GB.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/diy-apple-tv-hard-drive-upgraded-to-120gb-246567.php
They say the guy will explain how he did it later today, but my guess is that he took the HD of the enclosure, hooked it up to a firewire or USB enclosure and mounted it in OS X and cloned it. He then reversed the process and put the image on the new HD.
Anyways, Apple TV is looking much more appealing to me, if it has been hacked this much in 1 day, I can't wait to see all the wacky and cool hacks people come out with in the future.
On another note, somebody has upgraded the Apple TV hard drive to 120GB.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/diy-apple-tv-hard-drive-upgraded-to-120gb-246567.php
They say the guy will explain how he did it later today, but my guess is that he took the HD of the enclosure, hooked it up to a firewire or USB enclosure and mounted it in OS X and cloned it. He then reversed the process and put the image on the new HD.
Anyways, Apple TV is looking much more appealing to me, if it has been hacked this much in 1 day, I can't wait to see all the wacky and cool hacks people come out with in the future.
It's hacky now, only because ATV just came out. But this is amazing news, and great work!!
In a week or so, there's going to be a nice freeware app that will automate everything and allow you to stream your non-iTunes movies.
I think odds are better than not that you won't have to remove the HD from ATV to load Perian (but what they describe is very simple anyways.)
In a week or so, there's going to be a nice freeware app that will automate everything and allow you to stream your non-iTunes movies.
I think odds are better than not that you won't have to remove the HD from ATV to load Perian (but what they describe is very simple anyways.)
Oh this is great news!!!! I'll definitely have to attempt that mod. Too bad the replacement drive I might order today wouldn't be here until Monday.
I've never hacked an Apple product before. Ever.
That is going to change.
I'm going to use it as-is for a while, but I think I need to do the SSH/firewall hack so I can log into it. Then... we'll see. It looks very, very interesting. The ability to open up my library of DVDs - without needing to Handbrake them all - seems doable now.
That is going to change.
I'm going to use it as-is for a while, but I think I need to do the SSH/firewall hack so I can log into it. Then... we'll see. It looks very, very interesting. The ability to open up my library of DVDs - without needing to Handbrake them all - seems doable now.
It also seems to open the possibility of sticking in a bigger HD. It's just a modified OS X install, so clone the HD onto a bigger 120 or 160GB one. I assume it's a SATA drive (like all the new Macs.)
EDIT- It's already been done-
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/diy-apple-tv-hard-drive-upgraded-to-120gb-246567.php
EDIT- It's already been done-
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/diy-apple-tv-hard-drive-upgraded-to-120gb-246567.php
I might do the same when I decide to mod it - clone the original, then mod the new one. That way, I can get it back to "shipped" condition at any point. I'm not interested in any hardware hacks, but, hey, this is a baby mini, and I want to play with it.
I only wish they'd've included BT. The ability to use this as a VNC/ARD client to all the attached systems would have been priceless - just carry in a wireless KB/mouse and go to work.
Of course, there is that USB port. Hmmm.
Actually, it looks like a 2.5" PATA drive from the pictures of the disassembly that was performed. 4200 RPM would (hopefully) be just fine for this application.
Apple TV Upgrades: Xvid (And More) Support, 120GB HD
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A Somethingawful.com forum post details how to play Xvid and other non-supported formats on the Apple TV.
The process essentially involves the addition of Perian plug-in into the /Library/Quicktime/ directory of the Apple TV's hard drive. Perian is a "a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats".
This confirms that the Apple TV is essentially running a version of Mac OS X. The process does require disassembly of the Apple TV unit to access the hard drive, but should pave the way for easier tutorials.
Meanwhile, Gizmodo posts a success story of upgrading the Apple TV's hard drive to a 120GB drive.
A Somethingawful.com forum post details how to play Xvid and other non-supported formats on the Apple TV.
The process essentially involves the addition of Perian plug-in into the /Library/Quicktime/ directory of the Apple TV's hard drive. Perian is a "a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats".
This confirms that the Apple TV is essentially running a version of Mac OS X. The process does require disassembly of the Apple TV unit to access the hard drive, but should pave the way for easier tutorials.
Meanwhile, Gizmodo posts a success story of upgrading the Apple TV's hard drive to a 120GB drive.
More info on the methods/tools used in the mod:
Dropbear SSH server: http://matt.ucc.asn.au/dropbear/dropbear.html
Digg Article: http://digg.com/apple/XviD_fully_functional_on_Apple_TV
Dropbear SSH server: http://matt.ucc.asn.au/dropbear/dropbear.html
Digg Article: http://digg.com/apple/XviD_fully_functional_on_Apple_TV
Well that certainly didn't take long. I'm surprised they didn't post more about the ATV OS itself. To me, that's a heck of a lot more interesting than a larger HDD or Xvid support. The ATV must be running some version of Leopard since it uses Core Animation, right? Could this be similar to the OS running on the iPhone? Some developer that knows his code needs to report back on this stuff please!
very nice!
be careful kitties, you accidentally erase or corrupt the TV HD; I dont think apple will send a restore disk
be careful kitties, you accidentally erase or corrupt the
TV HD; I dont think apple will send a restore disk 
This is good news. A lot of the stuff available at various sites for download is in XviD, and I use XviD for a lot of encoding also. I am still puzzled as to why such a small Hard disk was shipped with it though.
I was honestly surprised how easy it was to hack AppleTV. They made it rather simple given it's an OSX installation and the hard drive is reachable.
Hasn't someone figured out how to run linux on it yet?
I'm surprised it took this long for any hack in general
I'm surprised it took this long for any hack in general
This is exactly what I was waiting to see: Bigger HDD and the ability to play the movies I download, and I'm even more surprised it all happened as quickly as it did!!
Perhaps I'll have to cave and buy one of these, after all!
Perhaps I'll have to cave and buy one of these, after all!