Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Non Joggler related discussion.
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gegs
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Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by gegs »

Having been won over by XBMC on the Joggler I thought I'd like a similar experience on my TV. I couldn't afford a new laptop with HDMI output so I thought I'd try the Apple TV 2G.

The facilities on the UK box suck mightily when compared to the US one but there are plenty of Youtube videos showing how to jailbreak it and install XBMC. The trouble is, I've tried and can't get the box into DFU mode using either greenpois0n or Seas0nPass.

I'm trying to jailbreak using Windows software - has anybody found it easier on the Mac?
Sorry for the non-Joggler post but at least it's in the Off Topic area.
dave
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by dave »

Not sure if it is the any help but on the XBMC forum website there is an Apple TV section and it is a popular hardware choice for XBMC

http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?f=137
gegs
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by gegs »

Thanks for the link. I suspect my problem might just be a dodgy micro-USB connection (I had to use an adapter) but I've got a cable on order from eBay.

Honestly, for a company whose products usually improve with each new release, the Apple TV has gone from a 40 or 160 gig model that could run OSX to an 8 gig model that runs iOS and a micro-USB connection but no USB host capability - i.e. no external hard drives or any meaningful new hardware expansion. The only good thing in the stock model is the HDMI output (720 pixels only) which is why I'm desperate to hack it. Wish me luck!
dave
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by dave »

Good luck!!

Do love the look of the Apple TVs - very slick.

Got myself an Acer Revo 3610 about a year ago that runs XBMC. It is attached to the back of the TV via the screws you are meant to fix it to the wall with and use an MCE remote. With three apps running on it (CouchPotato, Sickbeard and SABNZBd) I just type in what TV series or film I want it to download and in what quality and away it goes; finds it, downloads it and adds it to the XBMC library read for me to view... simples!

The skin I have on my XBMC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tjT9vHzly8

Good luck with it, XBMC is fantastic!
gegs
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by gegs »

I managed to fix the issues I was having. I was trying to install with a mini-USB to micro-USB converter but the Apple TV wasn't recognised in iTunes. A soon as I got a proper micro-USB cable everything worked easily.

The Navi-X and Icefilms plugins work well but I can't get iPlayer, Wimp.com or Youtube to work. I suspect it's the lack of Flash support in iOS that's letting me down. If there's a workaround, I don't know it.
gegs
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by gegs »

For any forum members wanting to buy an Apple TV2 and hack it - it's very easy if you've got the right cable.

I now have Wimp.com, iPlayer and Youtube working in XBMC (the box has a Youtube client on the stock OS anyway). All I needed to do was update to one of the XBMC nightly builds. The current stable release didn't work with these plugins.
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BuZz
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by BuZz »

I run xbmc on the xbox1 still :-) Slightly bigger than the apple tv though, but very cheap to pick up and easy to softmod, and they are great for emulation too.
gegs
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by gegs »

The great thing about the ATV2 was that I'd had it for about a week sitting just behind the telly before my wife even noticed - it is so small... and silent. I would rather have run it off the Xbox1 because more functions are available but I wanted to stream wirelessly and it's all built into the ATV2... no network bridge or extra cables.

I have so many emulators running on the Wii that I didn't miss their loss on the ATV2.
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BuZz
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by BuZz »

yeh if you already emu on the wii, then apple tv was a good choice., also it can decode 1080p h264 etc unlike the xbox1 (although it's only 720p output afaik - hardware limitation?)
gegs
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by gegs »

My TV is a 37" Panasonic plasma (the smallest plasma commercially available) and it is 720p anyway, so not a problem resolution wise.

As an ex-photographer the image colour, tonality and dynamic range are far more important than overall resolution. Plasmas knock LCD panels into a cocked hat on all these fronts. At my normal viewing distance the difference between 1080p and 720 is not noticeable. I even watched 480p upscaled content the other night and didn't even notice - it was only when it stopped playing and XBMC displayed the file details that I knew.

I have to say that, after the Joggler, the Apple TV has been the best value and most useful bit of kit that I've bought. I would have preferred the Apple TV1 but used ones are going for double the price (or more) than a brand new Apple TV2 with a year's warranty. It's strange though that they've used infra-red on their rubbishy remote when the device can run Bluetooth. In order to use BT though you need to hack the device with BTStack which will then be able to recognise and pair with compatible BT devices. I got a brand new mini keyboard yesterday and it works really well for text input and navigation on the stock software and XBMC etc. The only button on the remote that isn't mapped to the keyboard is the 'menu' button but that's a small price for the extra convenience.

--------------EDIT----------------

The 'menu' button is mapped to the 'Esc' key on the keyboard. Mine is a mini keyboard so it's Fn + Esc ; I think I didn't push the function key down far enough when I first tried. The result is that all Apple remote functions plus 'qwerty' input are available on a small bluetooth device that doesn't rely on 'line of sight' to operate. Fantastic!
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BuZz
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Re: Anyone applied a jailbreak to Apple TV2?

Post by BuZz »

gegs wrote:My TV is a 37" Panasonic plasma (the smallest plasma commercially available) and it is 720p anyway, so not a problem resolution wise.

As an ex-photographer the image colour, tonality and dynamic range are far more important than overall resolution. Plasmas knock LCD panels into a cocked hat on all these fronts. At my normal viewing distance the difference between 1080p and 720 is not noticeable. I even watched 480p upscaled content the other night and didn't even notice - it was only when it stopped playing and XBMC displayed the file details that I knew.
I agree. plasma all the way, and certainly the difference between 720/1080p if you are sat a distance from the screen is less important than colours/black levels etc.
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