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Apple TV hacking update: AirTunes Bonjour services, DFU mode

by Erica Sadun Oct 1st 2010 at 2:30PM

I decided to limit myself to just a couple of hours of Apple TV hacking this morning as I have books that need writing, children who need feeding, a house that needs cleaning and, lord almighty, you wouldn't believe the laundry. So again, this is going to be a quick update rather than an in-depth exploration of all things Apple TV.

As you know, the 2nd gen iOS Apple TV has already been jailbroken. While tools have not yet been released, you can watch a video posted earlier today showing command line access to the unit.

I do not have jb access so have limited my explorations to the tools I have available. I used Kevin Ballard's superb Bonjour Browser to scan for Apple TV services. At this time, there appear to be two. First, there is the standard AirTunes "raop" service. RAOP stands for the remote audio output protocol, which has been used for some time with Airport audio streaming. There's a nice discussion of the protocol over at CocoaDev.

Second is a new Apple TV service called _appletv-v2._tcp, which I am guessing offers video transport to augment the AirTunes audio elements. I'm not sure about any of the service details but was able this morning to connect to the Apple TV server using standard Bonjour calls. Beyond that, I'd have to communicate with the appropriate protocol, which apparently remains private at this time.

Over on the DFU/Jailbreak front, StealthBravo tweeted how to put your unit into DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode. He writes that you must first plug in a micro USB cable into the device and then hold Menu and the Down arrow for six seconds on the Apple remote. This reboots the device. Immediately upon rebooting, hold down Menu + Play.

David Martin, who I believe is currently over at Cult of Mac these days, pinged me this morning to ask if activating the device would prevent its use with PhoneView. I did find that working with the Apple TV did interrupt its ability to provide the AFC service that PhoneView relies on but a simple power cycle (unplug and plug, no need for hard rebooting) brought back the service just fine.

That's about it for now. Let me know if you have any specific test requests below in the comments!

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I decided to limit myself to just a couple of hours of Apple TV hacking this morning as I have books that need writing, children who need...
 

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pablou

Im overseas, I wonder if I have to activate the apple tv before leaving the states.

October 02 2010 at 5:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jon

Personally I am not sure why apps are wanted on the ATV, surely it is just an interface device between content and screen.

I think the real key here is AirPlay that will offer content streaming with 4.2. Now imagine if ultimately that content could also include gaming.

An iPhone/iPod/iPad has the on-device app, complete with gyro, multiplayer links etc, but Airplay allows you to stream the action onto the big screen.

Why would you need it on an inert device with no input tools or gyro etc?

October 01 2010 at 11:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LarryInAz

I wonder if I could stream Hulu+ thru the new gen AppleTV by using AirPlay?
Otherwise I may be forced to get the Roku XDS.

October 01 2010 at 6:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to LarryInAz's comment
Mike McKenzy

I think this was already all but confirmed. Something about, "Steve Jobs' being the sneaky awesome bastard that he is, bypassed all the silly network and movie studio BS by simply allowing content already available on the iPad and iPhone to be streamed to the Apple TV through AirPlay. Thus, squashing any need for studio and network agreements to offer content." BRILLIANT! No money made for Apple though, except the added sales of ATV units when folks realize that with Netflix, ABC, Hulu, etc. Apps, all they need is an iPad (or iPhone/iPod Touch for the most part) to get everything they need. So, for $600 bucks (iPad + ATV) Users could essentially drop their cable or satellite service! Apple makes money through iPad/iPhone/iPod/Apple TV sales... AND THEN, makes a s**t ton more money selling these new iOS users apps on the app store. Makes sense to me. $0.99 TV show rentals isn't much of a money maker for Apple... But, 30% of all the apps that the iOS users will inevitably buy over time? HUGE money. Smart, smart, smart...if you ask me.

October 01 2010 at 7:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Raj

Erica,
How do you envision apps would work on this thing if it was jailbroken?

ie, what input methods would it be like, keyboard/mouse?

October 01 2010 at 5:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tony

Would there be any way to upgrade the audio to 24bit/96kHz? together of course the ability to stream such files from my Mac...

October 01 2010 at 5:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Martin

I'm actually interested in an Apple TV now, depending on what comes in the future with this JB.

"David Martin, who I believe is currently over at Cult of Mac these days, pinged me this morning to ask if activating the device would prevent its use with PhoneView."

I'm confused, the ping wasn't to let you know of a cool new song that David's interested in? Please help.

October 01 2010 at 4:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mungler

Is there any chance of this thing ever:

- supporting USB mass storage (ie can i hook a big old USB disk to it)?

- playing back non-MP4 / H.264 video content?

If so, I will buy one today ;)

October 01 2010 at 4:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Quine

Thanks for the update Erica! Looks like I may be getting an AppleTV after all!

October 01 2010 at 3:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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