Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple TV hacks for 3.0.1

A

amnichols10

macrumors regular
Original poster
I'm looking for an easy way to hack my :apple:tv so that I can run an external hard drive through the USB port in the back. Also if it's possible I would like to make it so that my apple tv can play avi files. I have isquint so that's not a big problem.

Was hoping there is a program or way that I can do it that doesn't envolve to much tech work. Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah I have a MacBook Pro and I'm running snow leopard. Hope this helps
 
I've just gone through this process myself. theres atv-usb which requires some tech bs or theres atv flash with is 50 bucks but simple and great
 
I hate that people pay for this stuff ($patchstick.ca$, $ATVFlash$) that's readily available for free with a little leg work.

I'll post up the patchstick I use to hack my AppleTV. It works on 3.0.1. It will do four things:

- Enable SSH
- Install Perian's codecs (XviD, DivX, AC3, etc)
- Enable USB Storage
- Install ATVFiles (allows you to browse to and play any avi, mov, mpg, m4v, etc via an AppleTV menu)

This works as of 3.0.1. I make no claims otherwise and won't be supporting this beyond this post. If something goes awry, try a factory reset. That said:

Download and create an ATVUSB Creator USB stick. Select "ssh tools" and "bin utils". Do not select "XBMC" or "Boxee". When it is finished, mount the patchstick on your desktop. Download my packages. Unzip the file and replace the PATCHSTICK/payloads/patchstick/packages/ directory on the USB patchstick with the one from the zip file.

Plug the USB patchstick into the back of your AppleTV. Unplug the power cord and plug it back in. Linux will boot on your AppleTV and patch the files on the hard drive. When done, unplug the patchstick then unplug/replug in the power cord. It should now reboot.

At the main AppleTV menu you will now see a Files menu that will allow you to browse and play files on an external drive plugged into the USB port. You may now also play any avi files that were synced from your iTunes library after being made into an mov with the atvfooler script.

Good Luck. Merry Xmas. Happy Birthday.
 
xbmc (xbox media center) works really nicely on my apple tv and allows me to stream media from a windows home server. I don't have to keep any media on the apple tv.

For 3.01 you do have to ssh into the apple tv and download a newer launcher program and then download the latest xbmc.
 
I dont keep any media on the ATV either. I stream everything to the two household ATVs with iTunes. No extra software needed.
 
Here's a question. Would patchstick allow the :apple:tv to play Blu-Ray or HD rips above 720p? I notice that Blu-Ray rips don't play on the :apple:tv when I just drap and drop content to it.
 
i have just upgraded to 3.0.1 and use itunes 9. i have atv flash installed and perian installed.

...however non of my video files have sound (all have been encoded on handbrake or apple tv fooler script) everything else has sound ie purchased movies from itunes store but my encoded stuff no sound. All worked fine on old setup but now doesn't. if i play movie files direct from itunes on my mac works fine, apple tv not giving sound though.

is there something i have not done????
 
FAO: mcdermd

Hi dude, I followed your advice for the patchstick but my ftp client won't connect to Atv?
I have used the ip address with login and pass as 'frontrow'?

is there something else that i should be doing????

thanks for any help. . . anyone.
 
mcdermd said:
I hate that people pay for this stuff ($patchstick.ca$, $ATVFlash$) that's readily available for free with a little leg work.

I'll post up the patchstick I use to hack my AppleTV. It works on 3.0.1. It will do four things:

Download and create an ATVUSB Creator USB stick. Select "ssh tools" and "bin utils". Do not select "XBMC" or "Boxee". When it is finished, mount the patchstick on your desktop. Download
Click to expand...
mcdermd said:
Two questions for you mcdermd

1. what do you mean that some of the paid patchsticks are available with a little work? Available via torrents or just that they're a "slick" way to script some of the existing patch processes?

2. Will your patchstick support Boxee?

Thx
Click to expand...
 
chopper72 said:
Hi dude, I followed your advice for the patchstick but my ftp client won't connect to Atv?
I have used the ip address with login and pass as 'frontrow'?

is there something else that i should be doing????
Click to expand...

Use ssh in Terminal for a command prompt. If you have an aversion to the command line, use SFTP in your FTP client.

gator.the.dog said:
1. what do you mean that some of the paid patchsticks are available with a little work? Available via torrents or just that they're a "slick" way to script some of the existing patch processes?
Click to expand...

I mean that you can create your own patchstick with very little research. What those guys are selling is all based on free tools that others in the community have developed.

gator.the.dog said:
2. Will your patchstick support Boxee?
Click to expand...

If you look at the instructions for ATVUSB creator, it has the option to install Boxee. You should research if it's compatible with the 3.0.1 software. I can't comment on it as when I tried Boxee it was painfully slow and didn't "just work". The only functionality I saw gained in Boxee (and only compelling reason to give it a try) was Hulu. That functionality no longer exists. Maybe it's different if you're running any Windows boxes. I don't know.
 
dolce said:
i have just upgraded to 3.0.1 and use itunes 9. i have atv flash installed and perian installed.

...however non of my video files have sound (all have been encoded on handbrake or apple tv fooler script) everything else has sound ie purchased movies from itunes store but my encoded stuff no sound. All worked fine on old setup but now doesn't. if i play movie files direct from itunes on my mac works fine, apple tv not giving sound though.

is there something i have not done????
Click to expand...

I am having the same exact problem here. I checked that the aac track added to my mov files to fool the ATV is in a different language... and it is (german).

Any more ideas on how to solve this?

Movies encoded using handbrake work fine though.

Cheers,

Dado
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back