XBMC on AppleTV & How To Easily Hack an AppleTV
I’m a big proponent of having some kind of “Media Center” device hooked up to home entertainment systems–being able to view digital photos, movies stored on computers & network attached storage (NAS) devices has been a big part of my digital lifestyle for a long time.
The problem is that all the existing solutions out there are deficient in some way–lets be honest, they all pretty much suck. I have been working a round-up review of about 10-15 so-called “Media Center” solutions that I’ve tried, and pretty much all have their flaws. Most of the vendor provided solutions were too locked-down, with limited codec or network protocol support. Most software-based solutions had overscan, UI and reliability issues. XMBC (Xbox Media Center) was by far the runaway best solution (excellent file format & codec support, great UI), but it only ran on first generation Xboxes–and only hacked ones (soldering required). Frankly I still use my original Xbox more than my 360 because XBMC is pure genius!
A while back they started working on a Windows/Mac/Linux port. Today they announced Atlantis Beta 2 version, which is a fantastic, if buggy, product.
Lets change gears for a second and talk about the AppleTV. The AppleTV is an interesting, but short-sighted and deeply flawed device. If you were to be perfectly honest, the right name for the device would be iTunesTV, and the right price would be about $100. It is essentially desiged to be a hardware interface to the content you view and purchase from the iTunes Store, period. If you want to watch a video you created on your Mac, you’re pretty much out of luck.
Come to find out that earlier this month some guys were able to get the XMBC running on the AppleTV, which converts essentialy converts an overpriced iTunes to TV adapter into a really slick Media Center (which is what Apple should have created from day one).
How To Install XBMC On AppleTV
The problem in the past with doing custom stuff on the AppleTV is that it is somewhat difficult to build a ‘patchstick’ that will unlock the device. Enter ATVUSB-Creator, a Mac application that takes all the difficulty out of making your own USB patchstick.
- Download AppleTV USB Creator
- Plug in USB Thubdrive/Memory Card
- Launch AppleTV USB Creator
- Select the additional software you’d like to install (SSH, bin tools, XBMC and Boxee)
- Select your USB Target Device (typically default).
- Click “Create Using”.
Took me 4:02 to do on my iMac. Now it is time to update your AppleTV:
- Plug the USB drive into the back of the Apple TV
- Reboot AppleTV
- Wait for patch to be applied
- Reboot AppleTV again
When AppleTV is booted back up, you should see an XBMC menu item–this is the XMBC/Boxee launcher. We need to update the launcher and then install XBMC
- Select the XBMC -> Update -> XBMC Launcher, which will download and install the latest version of the launcher tool. This enables the support of the Apple IR Remote.
- Select XBMC / Boxee -> Update -> XBMC to download and install XBMC onto your AppleTV.
You can also install Boxee if you’d like by
- Select XBMC / Boxee -> Update -> Boxee
Launch XBMC and go to Settings -> Apperance -> Screen to change the screen resolution. Once you pick your resolution (1280×1080 for me), go down to ‘test resolution’ to make sure it works. If it looks good (not to blurry or flickering), but looks like it is cropped–no big deal, just go to “Video Calibration” on same screen to adjust your overscan settings to match your TV.
That’s it. Whole process takes about 10 minutes.
Tags: Apple, appletv, media center, patchstick, usb, xbmc, XBox
