aTV: plug and play Apple TV hacking
If you have an Apple TV and are interested in some of the exciting things you can do by hacking it (e.g. adding additional video codec support like divx, etc.) but have been too chicken to try it yourself, you may be interested in the aTV Flash from Apple Core. Basically the aTV Flash is a patchstick -- a USB flash drive preloaded with software to modify the Apple TV OS. You just plug it in to your Apple TV and it automatically hacks your Apple TV to add multiple codec support, SSH access, the Couch Surfer browser, and much more.
The aTV Flash is compatible with the current Apple TV Take Two and they offer free updates for a year. However, all this convenience will cost you -- $59.95 to be precise. It's also worth keeping in mind that all of this can be done for little or no cost if you want to get your hands dirty. But if the convenience of a plug and play option is worth it to you the aTV Flash may be worth checking out.
[via MacMerc]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 11:25AM on 5-23-2008
Pretty sweet that you no longer have to crack it open.
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phil said 11:29AM on 5-23-2008
Does anyone know if this will allow you to enable external hard drives as storage, and use one of the rgb connections as an rca connection?
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Grahame said 12:23PM on 5-23-2008
The iclarified.com website has a tutorial for allowing external storage (USB).
Actually cracking open the appletv hasn't been necessary for a while.
Here are some resources for doing it yourself and another method for someone to put together the hacks on a memory card.
wiki.awkwardtv.com - how to information on AppleTV software
Beginners Guide to Take 2 - how to install software on Apple TV Take 2 (latest OS version of AppleTV wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Beginners_Guide2
Tutorials (well written for updating AppleTV with various hacks)
iclarified.com/entries/index.php?caid=2&scid=6
Windows oriented hacks ($15 donation for access)
www.atv4windows.com/
For pay hack of Take2 put onto USB memory card $50 includes shipping -
www.atv4windows.com/patchstick.html
Steve said 11:46AM on 5-23-2008
Keep in mind that the reason that Patchsticks haven't been sold before now is because they contain Apple's copyrighted and proprietary code.
In other words, this is crazy illegal for them to sell.
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Mat said 1:13PM on 5-23-2008
Indeed.
Also it's trivial to make your own, you can find the image on torrent sites, and all it takes is a simple DD command and a 2gb+ thumbdrive and you are done.
Steve said 1:28PM on 5-23-2008
I've seen torrents for images of the Patchstick, but heard that they wouldn't work. Maybe I'll give that a shot instead of the Patchstick dance.
punkassjim said 7:32PM on 5-23-2008
Not to mention these folks named their company "Apple Core, LLC?" I mean, seriously? I'd be less concerned about Apple Inc. suing them, and more concerned about Apple Corps taking them to the cleaners. And THEN Apple Inc. can get a piece of what's left. I don't get people sometimes. It's like they just showed up on Earth, and they just so happen to have a product for sale.
Thomas De Groote said 11:52AM on 5-23-2008
Also keep in mind that the original programmers of all plugings and the patchstick system do not get a single $ for their work. AppleCore LLC just copies their work and distributes it as their own.
Just make the stick yourself. With the supplied tutorials on the AwkwardTV wiki it only takes a few minutes and it costs nothing.
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Den said 12:04PM on 5-23-2008
I completely agree...
$60 is pretty expensive for illegal stuff.
potentials DIYers should also know that ATV is a great thing to hack by oneself - but be aware that getting all the tutorials at AwkwardTV done could take more than two minutes ;o)
THJ said 12:49PM on 5-23-2008
@ Den
You obviously have never bought drugs before ;)
[disclaimer: neither have I... drugs are bad, mmkay]
Quine said 12:17PM on 5-23-2008
To all the commenters so far (and everyone else): Can the patchstick created by using a documented hack actually work WITHOUT opening the aTV in any way? I really want an apple tv but I don't want to void the warranty by cracking open the case (and I don't have the hardware to do the case cracking hack).
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Ry said 12:30PM on 5-23-2008
Yes. I found everything I needed through the atv hacking wiki pages or through the links that are posted on the wiki pages. I bought my frist aTV a couple months back and it took me a week to compile my first USB patchstick but after you figure out everything you want done and find the information it takes no time at all and the patchstick does it's work in under a minute. I think it's cool that Apple Core is providing everything together, however the price seems steep for me considering you can compile the same patchstick yourself for free. I would think it's illegal for them to do so also since I believe it contains Apple source code for it to work. That's why it's hard to find a current pre-compiled patchstick until now. Keep in mind though that if you pay the $60 to Apple Core, any update that Apple pushes out to the aTV and you install could potentially break any hacks that the patchstick applies and you would have to roll back to previous firmware if it allows and re-apply the patchstick until Apple Core can make an update for the new firmware. Over all, I like the product but $60 for something that can be done for free is too steep for me.
Quine said 12:34PM on 5-23-2008
Thanks Ry!
I'll be buying an appletv soon then :)
THJ said 12:51PM on 5-23-2008
So can I stream avi files to an aTV with this product, or is XBMC on a mac mini still the only show in town?
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DistortedLoop said 2:07PM on 5-23-2008
Yes, you can do that. It's a little kludgy, though. You have to install the NitoTV plugin, and then map your network drives, and then monkey around with the use QuickTime or MPLAYER or MIXED mode menu item to get different file types to playback optimally.
If you're geeky enough to hack around with this stuff to begin with, probably not an issue, but for the non-geeks of the world, it will prove too much effort to bother with.
Also, many of the aTV hacks out there aren't quite stable with the latest aTV firmware. My aTV has the frontend interface crash fairly regularly since patchsticking it with all the latest stuff. It restarts itself after about a minute pause, so not a major issue, but annoying if you're in a hurry. This stability problem was not an issue in the 1.x versions of aTV firmware that were hacked.
DaveF said 2:16PM on 5-23-2008
Is there any hack yet to enable playing DVD rips (e.g. VIDEO_TS folders)? I keep hoping for mod that enables DVD rips located on external drives to be played by Apple TV as a normal DVD. That eliminates the time of re-encoding and also preserves all special features, sub-titles, etc.
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kristofer said 1:28PM on 5-23-2008
There is a interview with AppleCore here:
http://www.macvoices.com/wordpress/macvoices-878-james-abeler-on-expanding-your-apple-tvs-capabilities-with-atv-flash/
Here he says that it is not apple code but instead linux code which makes it perfectly legal.
Also this company does the same thing but cheaper:
http://appletvandmore.blogspot.com/index.html#6900332742907688946
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Cabbage said 1:33PM on 5-23-2008
I ordered my aTV Flash about a month ago. It's been at the USPS 20 miles from me for over 3 weeks. Apple Core sent me a second one that arrived yesterday. It had the latest 2.2 version on it which is not what I had ordered originally.
The AppleTV that was still in shrinkwrap for the last month I finally opened. I ran software update on it. Unplugged it. Put the aTV Flash in the USB port. Plugged it back in. A bunch of code flows on the screen like you're booting in single user mode on a Mac. Then I unplugged the thumb drive and power cycled once more. That was it. It literally did not even take 2 minutes to do. $60 for 2 minutes to get the Apple TV to actually be useable (sorry I don't buy into the iTunes and iTunes formats only) is worth it for me. I didn't have to read a damn thing or waste time making my own patchstick. Now I just have to figure out how to get a torrent client and TVShows.app to run on this thing and then I won't need my Mac Mini anymore.
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CiscoTM said 2:41PM on 5-23-2008
The ATV4Windows patchstick is better than Apple Cores, installs more and is only $15 toss it on any thumb drive and putt it on your AppleTV!
www.ATV4Windows.com/subscription.html
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anonymous coward said 2:59PM on 5-23-2008
Aren't you the proprietor of that? ;-)
It doesn't work on "any" USB stick - I had to try three brands to get it to work, but it is a pretty darn slick install package from atv4win.
You should clarify that the fee you're charging is for 5 years subscription access to your website, not for the patchstick themselves. Fine line type of distinction, but a difference worth noting.