AppleTV2 jailbroken running 4.4.4 any reason to upgrade?

[MBM007]

I use to keep up with the scene and I jb'd my AppleTV when it 1st came out years ago and use to stay on the cutting edge (even dealing with tethering a couple times) but my 4 year-old has been loving the toons on Netflix and I fell out of the loop as a result.

What am I missing out on with the newest JB'd i0s?

What is the most up-to-date JB that doesn't require a tether? Is it still possible to update via CyberDuck ftp? Been so long since I've played around with it that I'm almost at n00b status.

Right now the only JB'd feature I'm using PLEX (don't really mess with XBMC much but if the streams have gotten better I may....my local over-the-air cable channels just got encrypted last week so I'd love a way to watch just basic big network live tv if its in decent quality....really hate the thought of getting an antenna)


Thanks in advance for anyone that can bring me back up to speed.

 

[dgalvan123]

I use to keep up with the scene and I jb'd my AppleTV when it 1st came out years ago and use to stay on the cutting edge (even dealing with tethering a couple times) but my 4 year-old has been loving the toons on Netflix and I fell out of the loop as a result.

What am I missing out on with the newest JB'd i0s?

What is the most up-to-date JB that doesn't require a tether? Is it still possible to update via CyberDuck ftp? Been so long since I've played around with it that I'm almost at n00b status.

Right now the only JB'd feature I'm using PLEX (don't really mess with XBMC much but if the streams have gotten better I may....my local over-the-air cable channels just got encrypted last week so I'd love a way to watch just basic big network live tv if its in decent quality....really hate the thought of getting an antenna)


Thanks in advance for anyone that can bring me back up to speed.

Can't help you with live streaming of local channels (I use an antenna and EyeTV. An antenna costs $20 at Home Depot or radio shack. Connect it to your TV and you are done. Not sure why you "really hate" the idea of getting one, but to each their own.)

But if you want regular Hulu without commercials, you can install XBMC and bluecop's Hulu plugin.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1305573/

My ATV2's are jailbroken, untethered, on firmware version 5.2. As I recall, the benefits over 4.44 include access to photo streams and an improved trailers app. (and maybe other benefits that I don't use)

I think there are newer firmware versions available, but not untethered.
http://seas0npass.com/

 

[MBM007]

Well I never really use the photo-stream or trailers so I'm hoping theres something else Im missing out on. What else are people putting on their jb'd boxes other than IceFilms, if thats even still around??

I don't wanna deal with giant rabbit ears and fear signal quality with my proximity to the mountains....does anyone have experience with the newer box-shaped rabbit-ear-less antennas? My wife is really missing the damn Today show and doesn't want rabbit-ears either. I cut the cord about 3 years ago when Comcrap refused to keep giving me the promo rate they had for the previous 3... hate the thought of getting back in bed with the devil even if they will give it to me for the intro rate.

 

[dgalvan123]

BTW: looks like 5.2 is the latest untethered, 5.3 is available tethered.
http://support.firecore.com/entries/387605-Jailbreaking-101-Seas0nPass

Well I never really use the photo-stream or trailers so I'm hoping theres something else Im missing out on. What else are people putting on their jb'd boxes other than IceFilms, if thats even still around??

You can see all the updates between 4.4.4 and 5.2 here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4448

In addition to photo streams and new trailers app, you also get support for bluetooth keyboard, iTunes in the Cloud, and some other minor features. If none of those sound interesting/useful to you, I suppose you need not bother. However, I'll note that the jailbreak process is about as easy as it has ever been nowadays: just run SeasonPass, run a little GUI on your mac to install XBMC and some other stuff (no command-line required!), and do some settings changes in XBMC. The macrumors thread linked in my previous comment provides step-by-step instructions.

I generally try to at least keep it updated to the most recent major untethered jailbreak version. One reason to do that is to avoid any homesharing hiccups between iTunes (which I am always keeping updated) and the Apple TV. (I have no evidence to suggest that having a much older Apple TV firmware working with the newest iTunes via homesharing would cause problems, but I hypothesize that if the versions get too far removed from one another there could be. *shrug*)

One issue you might run into: I updated my two ATV2's to 5.2 untethered back in February. Apple might not be signing firmware version 5.2 anymore. . . google around to see if someone else has successfully done it more recently.

What else are people putting on their jb'd boxes other than IceFilms, if thats even still around??

Frankly it is getting less and less worthwhile to jailbreak as certain services become unusable. I never used Icefilms, but last I heard it was no longer working. (per this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1655211/ ). Also the Amazon Instant Streaming plugin for XBMC also stopped working earlier this year. People came up with a workaround so that XBMC would instead pop open a web browser, but that workaround only works on macs/pc's, not Apple TVs. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=108124&page=94 . Of course, nowadays you can just stream Amazon Instant Streaming to your iOS device and then airplay to your Apple TV, so this isn't too big a loss, but it's still one less reason to jailbreak.

The only plugins I've been using consistently have been Bluecop's Hulu plugin (mentioned earlier) and the "Free Cable" plugin. The latter just gives you access to those shows where the network posts a streaming version of their show on the network website. So, if CBS posts the most recent episode of "How I met your mother" on CBS.com to be viewed in browsers, that means the "Free Cable" plugin can stream that same episode directly via XBMC on your Apple TV.

With those two plugins, the jailbreak basically serves as a "backup" option for streaming shows that my EyeTV/Antenna system misses. If it's on Hulu or a network website, it's available to stream on my Apple TV. If you are interested in sports, there are some ESPN3 plugins that I'm told work pretty well, but I don't watch sports so I've never bothered trying those plugins.

I don't wanna deal with giant rabbit ears and fear signal quality with my proximity to the mountains....does anyone have experience with the newer box-shaped rabbit-ear-less antennas? My wife is really missing the damn Today show and doesn't want rabbit-ears either. I cut the cord about 3 years ago when Comcrap refused to keep giving me the promo rate they had for the previous 3... hate the thought of getting back in bed with the devil even if they will give it to me for the intro rate.

If you don't like the look of rabbit ears, you can get a flat indoor antenna. I used one of these (although the one I got didn't have an amplifier and was $20 at Home Depot). It worked ok but reception wasn't fantastic. But it's thin enough to fit behind the flatscreen so you can't see it.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1650F-...=8-1-spell&keywords=RCA+flatindoor+tv+antenna

Then I got one of these and mounted it in the attic: http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-FreeVision-FV-30BB-HDTV-Antenna/dp/B003L76BJS
Reception was significantly better, but the long cable-run to the TV reduced the signal power at the TV. So I got this amplifier:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PI09SE/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Now the reception at my TV is fantastic. Been using it for several weeks and have not seen one single pixelation.

All this depends on your location/reception, of course. Plug your address in here and get an estimate of how good your reception will be.
http://www.antennaweb.org

 

[MBM007]

Wow, thanks for that thorough response! Doesn't really sound like I have any big reason to upgrade, but curious if the Netflix app updated to allow continuous playing of episodes? Would love to be able to keep my daughter occupied for an hour somedays and most of the cartoons are only 20 minutes and I constantly end up having to start up the next ep for her.....operates the iPad/iphone like a champ since she was 6 months old but gets frustrated with the remote.

Good to hear that there is a gui for jb'ing instead of going into the terminal, but fear apple won't be signing it anymore.....use to be into jb'ing each iphone ios as well but fell out of that as well....

Sounds like I need to start looking into antennas too, how did you go about cleanly running a line from your attic? My splitter is in the basement so I'd have to somehow run it down 2 stories and I've unfortunately got a cookie-cutter house with just joists and insulation in my attic. Would the amplifier make the signal strong enough to work on the 4 flatscreens i've got throughout the house or would it be best to just push it to the one main tv in the living room?

Thanks for the help!