Enabling USB on AppleTV 2.3.1

[ayale99]

I mistakenly let my AppleTV update itself to 2.3.1 and lost my USB access. I've since re-installed ATV bootloader and gotten back all the goodies...except USB.

I've done plenty of google searches and can't quite find what I'm looking for. It seems as though all the modification conversations went quiet around March.

Has anyone re-enabled USB access after 2.3.1? If so, what is your solution?

Thanks

[kadeschs]

Some have told me that I must roll back to 2.3.0. Others say 2.3.1 has no issues. Not sure which is true.

[tom1971]

There is no probem ith the USB enabling on 2.3.1 - you don't need to roll back to 2.3

[ayale99]

There is no probem ith the USB enabling on 2.3.1 - you don't need to roll back to 2.3

Care to elaborate on your solution? That's kinda what I was looking for.

[tom1971]

Care to elaborate on your solution? That's kinda what I was looking for.

We offer a commercial solution - I did not want to do any advertisement here

[gaztov]

Okay, I've just done this again on 2.3.1. For years I've searched around the internet for a step by step guide to enabling usb and setting it as internal storage. Not sure if that is what you want but anyway....

1) Run the free patchstick (http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/)

2) From software menu install NitoTV

3) From NitoTV go to settings and install software, and then smart installer. No need to copy the files over, it will download them now, takes 20 mins or so.

4) make sure the HDD is formatted.

5) Restart the appletv and when the movie plays plug the HDD in.

6) I'm doing this in windows but commands are the same in terminal;

Open putty (terminal)

sudo defaults write \

then

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount \

then

Automountdiskswithoutuserlogin -bool true

then

sudo reboot

this should automount USB at startup

If you want the next bit to get it seen as internal storage let me know and I'll copy that out.

Hope this helps.

Gaztov

[ayale99]

Thanks Gastov. I'll give this a try tonight.

[kadeschs]

If you want the next bit to get it

Yes please. :-)

[kadeschs]

Thanks Gastov. I'll give this a try tonight.

Let me know how it goes. Thanks.

[ayale99]

Let me know how it goes. Thanks.

Works perfectly! Thanks Gastov.

If I turn the AppleTV off or restart it, will I have to enter the Terminal commands again? Or is this change permanent?

[gaztov]

Nope thats it. It will automount from now on. If you want it to be recognised as internal space so you can sync to it from itunes....

From the terminal...

cp -R /mnt/Media/* /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/(NAME OF YOUR DRIVE)

sudo mv /mnt/Media /mnt/Media.old

sudo ln -s /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/(NAME OF YOUR DRIVE) /mnt/Media

sudo chown -h frontrow:frontrow /mnt/Media

sudo chown -R frontrow:frontrow /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/(NAME OF YOUR DRIVE)

sudo reboot

bear in mind you lose your 40gb space foritunes use, but I still copy stuff to it and use Nito to access the files. Glad it helped.

[raymoreno]

Thanks for these awesome instructions.I am having a problem with teh next to last step...

I do want my external drive "WD500GB_2" it be recognized as internal space.

When I type this command:

sudo chown -R frontrow:frontrow /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/WD500GB_2

I'm getting this error

: Operation not permittedes//WD500GB_2/.HFS+ Private Directory Data

Any thoughts????

[macsonny]

Thanks for these awesome instructions.I am having a problem with teh next to last step...

I do want my external drive "WD500GB_2" it be recognized as internal space.

When I type this command:

sudo chown -R frontrow:frontrow /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/WD500GB_2

I'm getting this error

: Operation not permittedes//WD500GB_2/.HFS+ Private Directory Data

Any thoughts????

I get the exact same error and can't work out why. I've tried EVERYTHING I can think of.

Did you work it out?

Cheers

Sonny

[raymoreno]

Macsonny -

As best I can tell, that error seems to deal with only that particular file/ folder named ".HFS+ Private Directory Data". At one point, I just decided to ignore the error message and skip forward to "sudo reboot" Guess what - It worked! It seems to have set the automount correctly anyway. I can boot/reboot without problem.

I now have exactly what I wanted - the default media file storage moved to an external 500GB drive. When I click "about" either in itunes or on the apple tv itself, it shows 460ish GB, and looks as if I've simply replaced the internal drive with a 500GB one. The best part is I repurposed an external USB drive at no cost. I'm using the default Apple TV interface and everything is nicely placed within "My movies," "My Music" etc....

Thanks Gastov!

Ray

[Jim82]

Okay, I've just done this again on 2.3.1. For years I've searched around the internet for a step by step guide to enabling usb and setting it as internal storage. Not sure if that is what you want but anyway....

1) Run the free patchstick (http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/)

2) From software menu install NitoTV

3) From NitoTV go to settings and install software, and then smart installer. No need to copy the files over, it will download them now, takes 20 mins or so.

4) make sure the HDD is formatted.

5) Restart the appletv and when the movie plays plug the HDD in.

6) I'm doing this in windows but commands are the same in terminal;

Open putty (terminal)

sudo defaults write \

then

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount \

then

Automountdiskswithoutuserlogin -bool true

then

sudo reboot

this should automount USB at startup

If you want the next bit to get it seen as internal storage let me know and I'll copy that out.

Hope this helps.

Gaztov

Is that typed in on Terminal on my MAC or a terminal app on the appletv?

[CarlsonCustoms]

That's done from the terminal from your computer. I did it as a paragraph.. not doing it line by line..

[CarlsonCustoms]

Just a heads up for people having problems.. I tried this on TWO different atv's and i could get through all commands just fine but when i rebooted the atv would crash and not reboot properly. Turns out it was my usb enclosure was causing problems. I tested it out with a 4gb flash drive instead of the 500gig drive and it was fine. I just went to the store and bought a different hd enclosure and I'm syncing right now as we speak !

[keeneverett]

Okay, I've just done this again on 2.3.1. For years I've searched around the internet for a step by step guide to enabling usb and setting it as internal storage. Not sure if that is what you want but anyway....

1) Run the free patchstick (http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/) Done!

2) From software menu install NitoTV Done!

3) From NitoTV go to settings and install software, and then smart installer. No need to copy the files over, it will download them now, takes 20 mins or so. Done!

4) make sure the HDD is formatted. WHAT FORMAT STEP BY STEP

5) Restart the appletv and when the movie plays plug the HDD in. Should I be seeing something at this point

6) I'm doing this in windows but commands are the same in terminal; Terminal on the computer, How does the computer affect the apple tv do i hook the hdd back up to the computer?

Open putty (terminal)

sudo defaults write \

then

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount \

then

Automountdiskswithoutuserlogin -bool true

then

sudo reboot

this should automount USB at startup

If you want the next bit to get it seen as internal storage let me know and I'll copy that out.

Hope this helps.

Gaztov


This gets me started and THANK YOU SO MUCH I just need some more help Like I said I am new to apple tv hack and terminal,

[CarlsonCustoms]

Okay, I've just done this again on 2.3.1. For years I've searched around the internet for a step by step guide to enabling usb and setting it as internal storage. Not sure if that is what you want but anyway....

1) Run the free patchstick (http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/) Done!

2) From software menu install NitoTV Done!

3) From NitoTV go to settings and install software, and then smart installer. No need to copy the files over, it will download them now, takes 20 mins or so. Done!

4) make sure the HDD is formatted. WHAT FORMAT STEP BY STEP Generally its easiest to format the drive with your computer, HFS not journaled is what I did mine and it worked fine.

5) Restart the appletv and when the movie plays plug the HDD in. Should I be seeing something at this point I just left mine plugged in when I rebooted, dont see anything. You can use the plugin "ATV files" and if you can see the drive in that program then you know its working

6) I'm doing this in windows but commands are the same in terminal; Terminal on the computer, How does the computer affect the apple tv do i hook the hdd back up to the computer?

Open putty (terminal)

sudo defaults write \

then

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount \

then

Automountdiskswithoutuserlogin -bool true

then

sudo reboot

this should automount USB at startup

If you want the next bit to get it seen as internal storage let me know and I'll copy that out.

Hope this helps.

Gaztov


This gets me started and THANK YOU SO MUCH I just need some more help Like I said I am new to apple tv hack and terminal,

If you need more help let me know

[CarlsonCustoms]

Forgot to add.. you open up terminal on your mac and log into the appletv from it (SSH enabled when you hacked it) This way you can control the underbelly of the appletv.

You keep the usb drive plugged into the atv. You are doing all the commands on your mac's terminal window but its controlling the atv from there.

Does that make sense?

[keeneverett]

how do i open up ssh in terminal, i used the commands you have listed and when i get to the pass word it doesn't let me type

[CarlsonCustoms]

how do i open up ssh in terminal, i used the commands you have listed and when i get to the pass word it doesn't let me type

you really need to look at the various wiki's out there but to get you started i'll help a tad

type ssh frontrow@appletv.local into terminal

it'll prompt you for password.. the password is frontrow (when you type it it wont show on the screen for security)

just type frontrow and hit enter and i'll bet you get past it

[CarlsonCustoms]

forgot to add.. if you have more then 1 appletv on your network you gotta do ssh frontrow@IP ADDRESS OF ATV

i learned this the hard way when I couldnt get on my atv with appletv.local

[keeneverett]

can you help me a little bit with the hdd I dont think its seeing it or im not looking on the right place

[CarlsonCustoms]

You have already installed Nito and then from nitos settings menu you installed the "smart installer" and it did the "10.4.9 combo update" right?

and you rebooted after that right?

[keeneverett]

was i supposed to have the hdd plugged in when i installed smart installer

[CarlsonCustoms]

I didnt but I'm not sure if it harms anything.

There are tons of wiki's out there that detail this process pretty well. You should seek them out

[keeneverett]

yeah, they are just overwhelming me ! lol I JUST WANNA ADD MY 2TB DRIVE AS AN INTERNAL!

[CarlsonCustoms]

depending on how bad you want to get it pm me and we might be able to work something out

[gaztov]

Dear Kenny (keen)

4) make sure the HDD is formatted. WHAT FORMAT STEP BY STEP

HFS+ use macdrive on pc or just format on a mac

5) Restart the appletv and when the movie plays plug the HDD in. Should I be seeing something at this point

nope, just the flickering of your hdd

6) I'm doing this in windows but commands are the same in terminal; Terminal on the computer, How does the computer affect the apple tv do i hook the hdd back up to the computer?

just type them in terminal once you've completed step 5.

let me know if you need more help. Give me step by step details of what you have done though!

[phillipjfry]

Thanks for these awesome instructions.I am having a problem with teh next to last step...

I do want my external drive "WD500GB_2" it be recognized as internal space.

When I type this command:

sudo chown -R frontrow:frontrow /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/WD500GB_2

I'm getting this error

: Operation not permittedes//WD500GB_2/.HFS+ Private Directory Data

Any thoughts????

Mind you all, you might get this error because you are trying to add folder permissions to an external drive (typically which are already) formatted FAT32, which does not know how to add settings like chown changes. At least this is what I think. So the next best thing is what was suggested in the last few posts, to format the drive as HFS+ because HFS+ will like having chown frontrow:frontrow being set on the files.

Just a thought

[CarlsonCustoms]

I was actually getting this error on a HFS drive. It seems to be something to do with Timemachine putting hidden files on the drive. I formatted it FAT32 and it worked fine but the problem is alot of my movies are mutligig files that wont work .

Here's what I did..

while in terminal logged into ssh in the appletv use the diskutil command line tool


diskutil eraseVolume HFS+ UntitledHFS /Volumes/SomeDisk

UntitiledHFS is the new volume name
SomeDisk is the current volume

That worked great from me and after that i went back into ssh (frugi which is graphical frontend) and double checked the new volume to make sure it was 100% free of files.

Zack

[petecity]

hello everyone, Im a total noob to all this and I would like to add my 250gb WD external. My atv has software 2.0, I created the patch stick and installed with no problem, I just dont get the terminal part, do I copy all those comands into a paragraph or do I type them in one by one pressing enter after each one? Thanks in advance.

[tvick47]

So i know this thread is a little old... but i was able to successfully automount and recognize my maxtor one touch mini 250gb and what not. It all works great EXCEPT for the fact that there is a noticeable amount of lag especially when watching videos. i understand that because it is going over usb the data might be slower but is this normal for you? even after watching 5 minutes of video there is about a 5 second delay every 30 seconds or so.

Please tell me if there is a way to fix it, and if this is normal, id like to know how to reverse the commands used to make my original atv hard drive used as its primary once again. Thanks.

PS id like to add that as a 2.5" hard drive, it requires two usb ports for power as well, although i only plugged one in the hard drive still mounted correctly, could this cause an issue if it is being under powered? and if so i could use a usb wall charger for the other usb port possibly. Please tell me what could work. Thanks again.

[jesterselv]

Okay, I've just done this again on 2.3.1. For years I've searched around the internet for a step by step guide to enabling usb and setting it as internal storage. Not sure if that is what you want but anyway....

1) Run the free patchstick (http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/)

2) From software menu install NitoTV

3) From NitoTV go to settings and install software, and then smart installer. No need to copy the files over, it will download them now, takes 20 mins or so.

4) make sure the HDD is formatted.

5) Restart the appletv and when the movie plays plug the HDD in.

6) I'm doing this in windows but commands are the same in terminal;

Open putty (terminal)

sudo defaults write \

then

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount \

then

Automountdiskswithoutuserlogin -bool true

then

sudo reboot

this should automount USB at startup

If you want the next bit to get it seen as internal storage let me know and I'll copy that out.

Hope this helps.

Gaztov

Ok, I installed boxee, nitoTV, XBMC, ive also updated the software and set NitoTV to the smart install. I reformatted my external 500gb drive in HFS+ (466gb's).

When I type the commands into putty, it doesnt seem to recognize the drive via usb.

Im not sure what Im doing wrong. I tried typing line by line like the format you posted it in, and also as one long paragraph, but then I get "Unexpected argument sudo; leaving defaults unchanged."

Im hoping that when this is done, my itunes will show an apple tv with 466gb's and sync everything automatically. Can someone help me?

[kadeschs]

I'd like to know the answer to this as well before I go through all this trouble. Any additional information would be helpful as to the AppleTV seeing the hard drive as it's own internal drive. May as well provide the "complete" solution here.

Thanks.

[tom1971]

I'd like to know the answer to this as well before I go through all this trouble. Any additional information would be helpful as to the AppleTV seeing the hard drive as it's own internal drive. May as well provide the "complete" solution here.

Thanks.

Here (http://patchstick.wikispaces.com/Use+USB+hard+drive+as+primary+storage) is is.

[jesterselv]

Here[/URL] is is.

Tried that just now. Putty doesnt respond to my commands

Im using Windows XP.

I just tried to reinstall the NitoTV smart install, and after the "It's Thinking" screencap, it has a list of actions done. the last couple say that it couldnt find the frontrow patch thing. perhaps this is my issue to begin with.

[rjb1970]

First off, my First post.

THANKS to all the guys who post solutions like this on here, Apple TV is now the device I always wanted it to be.

However, Im keen to get the new 3.0 update, and wondered if after enabling the USB, and making the ATV to look at my external drive, would the update kill it? Or am I going to have to re-patchstick, and then transfer everything over again?