Apple TV Upgrades: Xvid (And More) Support, 120GB HD

jobutex · Mar 23, 2007, 11:47 AM

Check this link out!!!!

http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...readid=2391956

killmoms · Mar 23, 2007, 11:53 AM

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.

jobutex · Mar 23, 2007, 11:57 AM

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/

Laslo Panaflex · Mar 23, 2007, 11:59 AM

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-ente...0gb-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.

madmaxmedia · Mar 23, 2007, 12:00 PM

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.)

jobutex · Mar 23, 2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laslo Panaflex

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-ente...0gb-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.

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.

jsw · Mar 23, 2007, 12:05 PM

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.

madmaxmedia · Mar 23, 2007, 12:06 PM

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-ente...0gb-246567.php

jsw · Mar 23, 2007, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jobutex

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 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.

jobutex · Mar 23, 2007, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madmaxmedia

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-ente...0gb-246567.php

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.

MacRumors · Mar 23, 2007, 12:42 PM

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.

jobutex · Mar 23, 2007, 12:44 PM

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

robo74 · Mar 23, 2007, 12:44 PM

Now were talkin! Did not take long at all!

epicwelshman · Mar 23, 2007, 12:45 PM

wow, they certainly move fast!

justflie · Mar 23, 2007, 12:45 PM

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!

enda1 · Mar 23, 2007, 12:46 PM

That was quick!! Now someone hack the usb - external hard drive thingy!!

RichP · Mar 23, 2007, 12:46 PM

very nice!

be careful kitties, you accidentally erase or corrupt the

TV HD; I dont think apple will send a restore disk

milatchi · Mar 23, 2007, 12:48 PM

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.

Eidorian · Mar 23, 2007, 12:49 PM

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.

johnee · Mar 23, 2007, 12:50 PM

Hasn't someone figured out how to run linux on it yet?

I'm surprised it took this long for any hack in general

mixel · Mar 23, 2007, 12:54 PM

Ahahah. Brilliant.

I love it!

Now everyone can be happy about the device. A quick HD move/copy of files is a hell of a lot less hassle than re-encoding a library.

Xeem · Mar 23, 2007, 12:55 PM

This is great news. No longer is Apple TV incompatible with my entire movie library!

Novaoblivion · Mar 23, 2007, 12:59 PM

I might buy one now that it can play all my xvid stuff

. Too bad it cant do 1080p though.

johnee · Mar 23, 2007, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milatchi

.....I am still puzzled as to why such a small Hard disk was shipped with it though.

cost. the only thing that drives business decisions.

epochblue · Mar 23, 2007, 01:06 PM

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!

Mar 23, 2007, 11:47 AM	#1
jobutex macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arlington, TX	XVID Working on Apple TV!!!! Check this link out!!!! http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...readid=2391956

Mar 23, 2007, 11:53 AM	#2
killmoms macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Washington, DC	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. __________________ killmoms.com - Well, don't really. Goodbye Velocity and Yaseko, say hello to... Henrietta: 15" MacBook Pro, 2.33GHz C2D, 2GB RAM Kyoko: 8GB iPhone

Mar 23, 2007, 11:59 AM	#4
Laslo Panaflex macrumors 65816 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Kaliforniah	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-ente...0gb-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. __________________ Mac Pro 2.6ghz, 3GB RAM, ATI X1900xt

Mar 23, 2007, 12:00 PM	#5
madmaxmedia macrumors 68020 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA	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.) __________________ www.madmaxmedia.com

Mar 23, 2007, 12:05 PM	#7
jsw Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Andover, MA	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. __________________ You'll be the one moaning for me to give you some. - THC(taken out of context)

Mar 23, 2007, 11:57 AM	#3
jobutex Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arlington, TX	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/

Mar 23, 2007, 12:06 PM	#8
madmaxmedia macrumors 68020 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA	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-ente...0gb-246567.php __________________ www.madmaxmedia.com

Mar 23, 2007, 12:42 PM	#11
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	Apple TV Upgrades: Xvid (And More) Support, 120GB HD 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.

Mar 23, 2007, 12:44 PM	#12
jobutex Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arlington, TX	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

Mar 23, 2007, 12:44 PM	#13
robo74 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Near Chicago	Now were talkin! Did not take long at all!

Mar 23, 2007, 12:45 PM	#14
epicwelshman macrumors 6502a Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Nassau, Bahamas	wow, they certainly move fast! __________________ ashhenderson.com, epicwelshman \| photoblog and flickr MacBook (black) \| 8GB iPod Touch Nikon D40x, D90, 18-55mm, 50mm f1.8, 24-70mm f2.8, 70-200mm f2.8, SB-600 x2

Mar 23, 2007, 12:45 PM	#15
justflie macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Red Sox Nation	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! __________________ 2 x 2.66 GHz 2009 Mac Pro, 6 GB RAM, GTX 285 ; 32GB iPhone 3GS

Mar 23, 2007, 12:46 PM	#16
enda1 macrumors member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ireland	That was quick!! Now someone hack the usb - external hard drive thingy!!

Mar 23, 2007, 12:46 PM	#17
RichP macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Motor City	very nice! be careful kitties, you accidentally erase or corrupt the TV HD; I dont think apple will send a restore disk __________________ "My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant" – Elvis Costello

Mar 23, 2007, 12:48 PM	#18
milatchi macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: U.S.A.	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. __________________ "Waffle King, it's cheaper than the Huddle House and cleaner than the Huddle Whore." --milatchi

Mar 23, 2007, 12:49 PM	#19
Eidorian macrumors G3 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Indiana	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. __________________ MRoogle it! hikari T7500 2.2 GHz / 4 GB / 320 GB / GMA X3100 / 10.5.8 chobimaru Core i5 750 2.66 GHz / 4 GB / 640 GB / 4830 / Windows 7

Mar 23, 2007, 12:50 PM	#20
johnee macrumors 6502a Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: well, i'm not from the UK, but people will like me more if I say I am.	Hasn't someone figured out how to run linux on it yet? I'm surprised it took this long for any hack in general __________________ are you hypocritical? "Jesus..said..sell all thou has,and give to the poor.. hardly shall they who have riches enter the kingdom of God" i'm atheist

Mar 23, 2007, 12:54 PM	#21
mixel macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2006	Ahahah. Brilliant. I love it! Now everyone can be happy about the device. A quick HD move/copy of files is a hell of a lot less hassle than re-encoding a library.

Mar 23, 2007, 12:55 PM	#22
Xeem macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: North Branch, MN	This is great news. No longer is Apple TV incompatible with my entire movie library! __________________ Road Warriors: 12" iBook G4 1.33 GHz/1.5 GB RAM/Mobility Radeon 9550 Gaming PC: AMD Phenom 9600/4 GB RAM/Radeon 4850 Xbox Live Gamertag: Xeem

Mar 23, 2007, 12:59 PM	#23
Novaoblivion macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2006	Cool I might buy one now that it can play all my xvid stuff . Too bad it cant do 1080p though.

Mar 23, 2007, 01:06 PM	#25
epochblue macrumors 68000 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Nashville, TN	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! __________________ -- epochblue rolls with a 20" Rev. D Intel iMac, a 15" Rev. C PowerBook, an 80GB iPod classic, 2G shuffle, and a 4GB iPhone.

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