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chas0001

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2006
804
0
Alicante, SPAIN
Is the 250gb still the biggest internal drive that will fit in the AppleTV?

I have a Western Digital EIDE 250Gb (WD2500BEVE) drive in mine. I think that the problem is that most of the drives over 250Gb have SATA connections and so are not compatible with the AppleTV.
 

chas0001

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2006
804
0
Alicante, SPAIN
On ebay you can get Bidirectional IDE to SATA adaptors. The only problem is that the space in the AppleTV is limited.
 

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TuffLuffJimmy

macrumors G3
Apr 6, 2007
9,022
136
Portland, OR
Why would you need such a big drive if all of your media can stream over your network?

Maybe instead you should invest in things to make your network faster rather than opening up your :apple:TV
 

nittany

macrumors member
May 21, 2008
35
0
Streaming's usually fine for playback, but it sucks for ff/rew.

I've not had any stuttering, FF, REW or other problems while streaming from my wired network.

I went the extra inch and made sure that the server (a Mini), the cabling, jacks, switches and router were all gigabit capable. Sure, the aTV's ethernet port is limited to 100 megabits per second, but even with that as the weakest link, I've not had any problems with streaming content.

I think most of the problems I've read about others having with streaming occur when attempting to do so wirelessly. 802.11N is terrific and all, but when moving around large files and rock solid connections are needed, nothing today beats a wired network.
 

qwerty2k

macrumors regular
Dec 27, 2007
157
5
Mark, did you think about patching your ATV and just add an external USB harddrive ?

how difficult is it to do? if it is fairly easy and i could buy say a 1tb external drive and sync all my movies to that then it would be amazy.
 

dynaflash

macrumors 68020
Mar 27, 2003
2,119
8
Frankly, I a really cannot fathom hacking the software and all of that, when you can pop it open and do the eSata mod and be done with it. One time shot and all of the storage you are likely to need without an atv update breaking your mod. Just my .02 ;)
 

tom1971

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2007
670
0
how difficult is it to do? if it is fairly easy and i could buy say a 1tb external drive and sync all my movies to that then it would be amazy.

It is pretty easy with a patchstick. Patchsticks are available all over the place.
 

tom1971

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2007
670
0
Frankly, I a really cannot fathom hacking the software and all of that, when you can pop it open and do the eSata mod and be done with it. One time shot and all of the storage you are likely to need without an atv update breaking your mod. Just my .02 ;)

I see 3 problems with this approach

1) you void your guarantee
2) this is not for everyone - a software patch is much easier
3) you are still limited by 250 GB, so you gain a mere 90 GB in comparison to the original, whereas you are more or less unlimited by using an external hd
 

Cave Man

macrumors 604
I see 3 problems with this approach

1) you void your guarantee

It is completely reversible and can be done such that no one knows it was modded.

2) this is not for everyone - a software patch is much easier

I disagree. I found the patch more difficult, once dyna and I figured out how the eSATA mod works. In addition, every time Apple updates the ATV OS, the patch is broken and you have to start over (and usually wait for the patch to be developed). With eSATA, you just choose Software Update from the ATV menu and you're done. The only disadvantages with eSATA are an extra $30-$50 expense (eSATA enclosure, bridge and cable) and potential larger footprint. And eSATA is substantially faster than a USB drive.

3) you are still limited by 250 GB, so you gain a mere 90 GB in comparison to the original, whereas you are more or less unlimited by using an external hd

The largest is 1 TB, not 250 gb. When the 2 TB drives come available, that will be the largest.
 

tom1971

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2007
670
0
The biggest internal drive for the ATV without SATA is 250 gigs (PATA). External SATA can be whatever the largest drive available (currently 1 TB).

Ok, so I was right. Of course I was referring to internal hds.
 

Cave Man

macrumors 604
Ok, so I was right. Of course I was referring to internal hds.

Your response was to dynaflash's post about eSATA:

Frankly, I a really cannot fathom hacking the software and all of that, when you can pop it open and do the eSata mod and be done with it. One time shot and all of the storage you are likely to need without an atv update breaking your mod. Just my .02 ;)
I see 3 problems with this approach...

Clearly, dyna was talking about eSATA, not internal PATA.
 

dynaflash

macrumors 68020
Mar 27, 2003
2,119
8
Is the 250gb still the biggest internal drive that will fit in the AppleTV?

I do realize that the eSata mod is not internal. However neither is the usb drive solution. So its kind of a "Touche' " on that one. One only needs to spend some time on the #awkwardtv irc channel to see how many people are looking to either fix their broken atv software from using the patchstick, or trying to find/download a complete stock atv software image to restore their atv to stock form software wise to appreciate the damage that can be done with a patchstick application gone awry . At any rate I digress (as usual) and apologize to the OP for derailing discussion from the original question.

Yes, the biggest internal hdd that works with the atv is 250GB :)
 
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