Apple TV: what's the hoopla about jailbreaking apple tv2

[gdeusthewhizkid]

I just did mines with seas0npass after a few tries it finally worked. But after i did it im like what's the point. I can't play any movies off my portable drives.. That's what i was really excited about. I threw XBMC on it and still im like what's the big deal..

Is there anyway to connect a usb drive to the appletv2 and play most media files. tha's really why i wanted the jailbreak for like the apple tv 1

[Intell]

There is and never will be a way to connect a USB hard drive to the Apple TV 2. It does not have to correct USB type, it needs a host type not a device type. Nor does it have a proper dock connector for the iPad Camera Connection Kit.

[fabian9]

Originally Posted by Intell

There is and never will be a way to connect a USB hard drive to the Apple TV 2. It does not have to correct USB type, it needs a host type not a device type. Nor does it have a proper dock connector for the iPad Camera Connection Kit.

It does have a space on the PCB for a dock connector, probably for debugging during its development - so it might be possible to retrofit a dock connector and attach the iPad camera connection kit. Nevertheless, that's a lot more trouble than most people would want to go through.

Jailbreaking opens the ATV up to a lot of good stuff, like streaming non-itunes movies using PLEX or XBMC, adding a web-browser, last.fm support, etc.

[gdeusthewhizkid]

Originally Posted by fabian9

It does have a space on the PCB for a dock connector, probably for debugging during its development - so it might be possible to retrofit a dock connector and attach the iPad camera connection kit. Nevertheless, that's a lot more trouble than most people would want to go through.

Jailbreaking opens the ATV up to a lot of good stuff, like streaming non-itunes movies using PLEX or XBMC, adding a web-browser, last.fm support, etc.

I was able to add xbmc to the apple tv but i dont see how to add movies to it.. Plex i dont see how to add to my apple tv. and last.fm would be great to have ...

how do i do all these things...

[kas23]

I would take it a step backwards and ask: what's the hoopla about a non-jailbreaking apple tv2?

People pay $99 to be able to watch iTunes content on their TV? It's like you're paying Apple $ to have the ability to give Apple more of your $. In fact, with the costs to actually make these, Apple should be sending one out to every mailbox in America (like razors). It would drive up iTunes revenue and expose more people to Apple products. People may be more likely to spend money on a new shiny Mac.

As for ATV, why not just hook-up your Mac to your HDTV? It would cost the price of a cable.

[milbournosphere]

For me, PLEX was the killer app. The video library management is WAY better than iTunes, and I can stream many more formats to the thing now, including MKVs (It will play 1080p files, but I think they're displayed at 720p). I upgraded from the original model, so Netflix support is well appreciated as well. If you've already jailbroken your new ATV, PLEX isn't that difficult to install.

Instructions are here: http://dillernet.com/apple/2011/01/0...2g-with-4-2-1/

Basically, you're just adding two repositories, then using apt-get to install nitoTV and PLEX. Less than 10 commands via ssh.

[Sedulous]

Some people just like to tinker, others find jailbreaking allows them options they want that Apple doesn't offer. As for me, I think it is great as-is, although I wish there were a way to access videos outside of the iTunes library. Unless you have a dedicated media server, it seems crazy to fill the HD with media.