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Apple TV jail break

post #1 of 14
3/5/12 at 11:03pm
Thread Starter 
I'm going to get an ATV 2 and jailbreaking seems like a good way to go. Worth trying anyway. My question is: is it worth getting one of the "pre-broken" ATVs sold on ebay for $150 that have been broken and loaded up with aps.

I don't mind spending some extra money if it will save me some hassles, but I don't want to throw away money for something I could easily do myself.
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post #2 of 14
3/6/12 at 4:50am
Quote:


I don't want to throw away money for something I could easily do myself.

Only you know whether you're up to doing it yourself, so after you read up on what's involved and what your different options are with either the aTV1 or the aTV2, if the language and instructions seem to far out of your comfort zone, or if you just feel like saving time and/or frustration, it's certainly viable to pay something extra for someone else's expertise.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/...apple-tv-hack/

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=111197

http://support.firecore.com/entries/387605

http://www.stmlabs.com/projects/crystalhd-for-appletv/

http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Main_Page

I like my aTV2 just the way it is, and I'll buy an aTV3 the day it is released and use it exactly the way Apple intends. But I bought a jailbroken aTV1 with the Broadcom Crystal HD card, Crystalbuntu and XBMC already installed from a guy named Ned Scott on eBay and I'm so glad I did. He's a very active poster over on the XBMC forum, and in fact was someone I had already been reading to figure more out about XBMC and how to do it myself, and somehow when I was on eBay looking around for used Apple stuff, lo and behold there's a "nedscott" there:

http://myworld.ebay.com/nedscott

taking aTV1 units, opening them up, putting a Broadcom card in, and installing Crystalbuntu for you so you can play your blu ray rips at 1080p with a first gen Apple TV. He kicks back part of the purchase price to the XBMC and Crystalbuntu developers who made all that possible, which is a responsible thing to do and he provides great technical support via e-mail.

So, after you do your homework you most certainly can hack an aTV2 yourself, but there are other options that can save time and potential frustration.
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post #3 of 14
3/6/12 at 8:06am
Thread Starter 
Thanks,

Is there a reason you haven't jailbroken your aTV2? Would some of the functionality be lost?

A downside to buying the preloaded aTV would seem to be that you'd be stuck with it's current configuration & OS. I know some offer updates, but in the long term, as apple rolls out new firmware you'd have to give up the jailbreak & overwrite.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Only you know whether you're up to doing it yourself, so after you read up on what's involved and what your different options are with either the aTV1 or the aTV2, if the language and instructions seem to far out of your comfort zone, or if you just feel like saving time and/or frustration, it's certainly viable to pay something extra for someone else's expertise.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/...apple-tv-hack/

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=111197

http://support.firecore.com/entries/387605

http://www.stmlabs.com/projects/crystalhd-for-appletv/

http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Main_Page

I like my aTV2 just the way it is, and I'll buy an aTV3 the day it is released and use it exactly the way Apple intends. But I bought a jailbroken aTV1 with the Broadcom Crystal HD card, Crystalbuntu and XBMC already installed from a guy named Ned Scott on eBay and I'm so glad I did. He's a very active poster over on the XBMC forum, and in fact was someone I had already been reading to figure more out about XBMC and how to do it myself, and somehow when I was on eBay looking around for used Apple stuff, lo and behold there's a "nedscott" there:

http://myworld.ebay.com/nedscott

taking aTV1 units, opening them up, putting a Broadcom card in, and installing Crystalbuntu for you so you can play your blu ray rips at 1080p with a first gen Apple TV. He kicks back part of the purchase price to the XBMC and Crystalbuntu developers who made all that possible, which is a responsible thing to do and he provides great technical support via e-mail.

So, after you do your homework you most certainly can hack an aTV2 yourself, but there are other options that can save time and potential frustration.
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post #4 of 14
3/6/12 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by funkle View Post

I'm going to get an ATV 2...

Is there a compelling reason why you wouldn't just wait for the new version to come out before making that decision? ATV3 may be announced as soon as at tomorrow's Apple event.
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post #5 of 14
3/6/12 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by derek_m View Post

Is there a compelling reason why you wouldn't just wait for the new version to come out before making that decision? ATV3 may be announced as soon as at tomorrow's Apple event.

I had no idea aTV3 was coming out. I just got this aTV idea in my head this past weekend, so really hadn't paid much attention. I have been using a Mac Mini HTPC. I was doing a lot of ripping and using Plex to view, but we have really shifted away from that to where we are just watching netflix streaming and renting from iTunes. So aTV is starting to make more sense, especially since my wife (and pretty much everyone else) hates the interface of the HTPC. the aTV could be a much simpler & more effective solution. I still record some shows off the air, so I'd like to keep EYETV or some other DVR option.
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post #6 of 14
3/7/12 at 12:16pm
...and voila! New AppleTV. Though it appears there's still no app store, so we'll probably have to wait a while for a jailbreak to unlock its true potential. In the meantime, you could probably find an ATV2 relatively cheap and jailbreak it.
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post #7 of 14
3/7/12 at 12:37pm
My aTV2 is jail broken w/ FireCore. Mostly using the added services of internet browsing and streaming non-iTunes library movies. Only thing that does not work is wireless streaming of my HD recorded content. Have not set down to figure out set up of XMBC yet.

brettwf
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post #8 of 14
3/7/12 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by derek_m View Post

...and voila! New AppleTV. Though it appears there's still no app store, so we'll probably have to wait a while for a jailbreak to unlock its true potential. In the meantime, you could probably find an ATV2 relatively cheap and jailbreak it.

What great timing! I just ordered one - it's supposed to ship on the 16th.
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post #9 of 14
3/7/12 at 5:06pm
So the new ATV and iTunes 10.6 will do 1080p now but what about audio? My last local rental outlet will be gone by the end of the year so I need options to get bluray quality audio and video.
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post #10 of 14
3/7/12 at 9:04pm
Plex is definitely worth jailbreaking aTV2, and seas0npass makes it really easy to do.
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post #11 of 14
3/11/12 at 8:38am
I am also coming from the pc mce platform, at have thought that the atv might be a good alternative, when it will support 1080p. I wonder if plex will enable it to play mkv's?
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post #12 of 14
3/23/12 at 4:37pm
Thread Starter 
The new 1080p Apple TV 3 proves to be a tough cookie to crack according to appletvhacks
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post #13 of 14
3/25/12 at 7:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by funkle View Post

The new 1080p Apple TV 3 proves to be a tough cookie to crack according to appletvhacks

Wonder if anyone noticed this article from the same webpage:
http://www.appletvhacks.net/2012/03/...ced-tv-remote/

It should get some discussion going in here.
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post #14 of 14
4/6/12 at 11:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brettwf View Post

My aTV2 is jail broken w/ FireCore. Mostly using the added services of internet browsing and streaming non-iTunes library movies. Only thing that does not work is wireless streaming of my HD recorded content. Have not set down to figure out set up of XMBC yet.

brettwf

When you stream your non-iTunes library, do the movies show up in the same location as the one as your iTunes, or do you navigate to a different menu item?
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