# Apple TV Hacked?



## steveohan (Jun 25, 2004)

if you take a quick look over at digg you'll see some interesting news about the Apple TV.

1. the internal hard drive is upgradeable:
http://digg.com/mods/DIY_Apple_TV_Hard_Drive_Upgraded_to_120GB

2. some clever chaps have xvid working on the box!
http://digg.com/apple/XviD_fully_functional_on_Apple_TV

steve.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

That's quite a story. Very interesting reading.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2391956&perpage=40&pagenumber=1


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Seems like a lot of work to get DivX files on there when you can convert the file to AppleTV format using Quicktime or iTunes...


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## MacDaddy (Jul 16, 2001)

I just want somebody to hack it so I can:

1. Drop Video TS folders from my ripped DVDs on it and navigate to it from the Movies selection without having to do anything else

2. Surf the web (If its going to be on my TV, I want to surf it too!)


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

That method opens it right up though.

I think it's absolutely rediculous Apple didn't include support for the most popular video codec in the world.

What's the Apple TV for anyway, content bought exclusively through iTunes?? Pff. No thanks...


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

kloan said:


> What's the Apple TV for anyway, content bought exclusively through iTunes??


Well if you have to ask, the answer is _no!_


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## Garry (Jan 27, 2002)

wow.. I wish I had $350 to throw away to buy something just to rip it apart and spend a night hacking it to do play a video format I can load into quicktime and press "Export to apple tv" and stream it to the box.

Seems like a waste of time and effort to me. It isn't like it was a SURPRISE that it wasn't going to play xVid.. I knew that just by reading the Website, AND the 500 BAJILLION articles leading UP to the release.

Some people just have WAYY too much time on their hands.

Whats going to happen on the first update, and the hacks are disabled?


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## jicon (Jan 12, 2005)

VERY good news. I've had reservations on the quality of the video, as PC World wrote that an iTMS video didn't look so good... But, with the ability to start playing Divx and XVid on this puppy, suddenly, I'm pretty excited.

I'm sure you could convert any Divx/XVid files for hours on end, meanwhile a quicker method seems to involve 4 torx screws, loading the HDD on another machine, and updating a few files. 30 minutes max.


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## Garry (Jan 27, 2002)

I read a post somewhere that said apple Tv will be dictated by piracy, I laughed at it, but now.. Oh well.. to each their own. Good on people for having disposable income.

I don't really use bittorrent, so AppleTV would be a waste of time for me.


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## Theseus (Jun 6, 2006)

One really interesting thing about the AppleTV is that it's basically a stripped down Mac Mini, with a better video card. It runs a slim version of Mac OS X (10.4.7) and the only issues right now are that there's no keyboard/mouse input, and no way of quitting the FrontRow application.

Once that's done, you've got a really cheap Intel Mac.


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

MacDaddy said:


> I just want somebody to hack it so I can:
> 
> 1. Drop Video TS folders from my ripped DVDs on it and navigate to it from the Movies selection without having to do anything else
> 
> 2. Surf the web (If its going to be on my TV, I want to surf it too!)


So... basically you want a MacMini


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## bandersnatch (Dec 26, 2004)

jicon said:


> VERY good news. I've had reservations on the quality of the video, as PC World wrote that an iTMS video didn't look so good... But, with the ability to start playing Divx and XVid on this puppy, suddenly, I'm pretty excited.
> 
> I'm sure you could convert any Divx/XVid files for hours on end, meanwhile a quicker method seems to involve 4 torx screws, loading the HDD on another machine, and updating a few files. 30 minutes max.


Agreed. I was leaning towards the Slingcatcher yesterday. Now, it's Apple TV thanks to this news.


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## bandersnatch (Dec 26, 2004)

fyrefly said:


> So... basically you want a MacMini


For half the price.


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

I guess you got your wish. Apparently GrandParadiso (Firefox) and VLC are working. These boys work fast.. As someone says on that page, OS X for $300.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

dona83 said:


> Seems like a lot of work to get DivX files on there when you can convert the file to AppleTV format using Quicktime or iTunes...


Lets see, 2 hours of work hacking it once, or a lifetime of waiting for video to convert in QuickTime. Seems worth it to me. With a good guide, you can probably do this hack in under an hour. All you're doing is pulling the HD out, plugging it into an external enclosure, copying files to it, editing some configuration files (optional), then putting it back in the AppleTV. Why WOULDN'T you want to do this if you watch a lot of XVID/DIVX files? Also, when you convert the files, I think you lose the 5.1 AC3 audio, but I could be wrong.



kloan said:


> That method opens it right up though.
> 
> I think it's absolutely rediculous Apple didn't include support for the most popular video codec in the world.
> 
> What's the Apple TV for anyway, content bought exclusively through iTunes?? Pff. No thanks...


I thought it was pretty obvious that's EXACTLY what the AppleTV is for. Apple doesn't support DIVX or XVID in their OS, iPod, QuickTime or iTunes, so why would you expect it to be supported in AppleTV?

I'm surprised you aren't complaining that it doesn't have a DVD player in it either. I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous that Apple doesn't ship the AppleTV with a built-in DVD player, what with all the DVDs people own.


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## Garry (Jan 27, 2002)

I thought it was obvious what it was going to do as well, that was made pretty clear when Jobs did the demo at Macworld, then the billions of articles that came out after. Even if you READ the pages on Apple's website it was pretty clear what it would do.

The griping going on now about apple TV would be like if I walked into a store and bought a PENCIL and then started COMPLAINING when I got home that it didn't write in BLUE and always had to be sharpened.

You KNOW what you're buying when you get an Apple TV.. if it doesn't do what you want, you obviously AREN'T the target audience.


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## Strimkind (Mar 31, 2005)

I wonder, if one installs full OSX on a HD and then puts the HD into the Apple TV, will it boot?


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## TheBat (Feb 11, 2005)

_I may have missed something, but has anybody considered using a DVD player to play DVD's?_

I am totally impressed with a newly acquired upconverting DVD player, with Faroudja chip, that has, so far, played all the DIVX I've tried. For those who want to know, it's an Oppo, widely regarded as a giant killer.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

TheBat said:


> _I may have missed something, but has anybody considered using a DVD player to play DVD's?_
> 
> I am totally impressed with a newly acquired upconverting DVD player, with Faroudja chip, that has, so far, played all the DIVX I've tried. For those who want to know, it's an Oppo, widely regarded as a giant killer.


Post a link or the model number when you get a chance. I'm curious, does it play HD clips and will it decode 5.1 AC3 encoded surround sound in AVIs?


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## TheBat (Feb 11, 2005)

madgunde said:


> Post a link or the model number when you get a chance. I'm curious, does it play HD clips and will it decode 5.1 AC3 encoded surround sound in AVIs?


Here is the link. Some reviews, review2, review3

I've only ever played AVI files less than 1GB - NO surround sound at this filesize. Therefore I cannot comment on whether it will, or won't decode AC-3 in AVI files. Sorry. 

I'm just happy to just go out and rent whatever movie I want to see. I expect to eventually get a PS3 purely as a Blu-Ray player. Off course my teenage son will think I'm the best when I make the purchase! Check this AV review.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

TheBat said:


> I've only ever played AVI files less than 1GB - NO surround sound at this filesize. Therefore I cannot comment on whether it will, or won't decode AC-3 in AVI files. Sorry.


Actually, all the 700MB AVIs I've seen that are of 1 hour TV shows are AC3 encoded, so if you download TV shows, chances are any of the ~700MB files are surround sound encoded.


TheBat said:


> I'm just happy to just go out and rent whatever movie I want to see. I expect to eventually get a PS3 purely as a Blu-Ray player. Off course my teenage son will think I'm the best when I make the purchase! Check this AV review.


Yes, I think your son will be very happy indeed! I've got a PS3 primarily for gaming, and it's awesome, and is a great Blu-Ray and DVD player to boot!


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## TheBat (Feb 11, 2005)

madgunde said:


> Actually, all the 700MB AVIs I've seen that are of 1 hour TV shows are AC3 encoded


The 700MB AVI files that I did play were movies. The Oppo player did not decode AC-3 in these files (if they were ever there). I just went back to renting the DVD's, and enjoy a great picture with superb sound.

I will try TV shows to see if it decodes AC-3 in them.


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## mikeinmontreal (Oct 13, 2005)

I have a Daenyx Divx player. It cost me $30. It takes 25 minutes to burn a DVD-RW loaded with content. And I save $350. However, as the kids grow and my home theatre grows, and the price drops, Apple TV will be definitely in my plans.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

Two little tidbits. Well, one's a BIGGIE.

First, the internal drive has two partitions. One is a restore partition, probably there to write over any hacks people might be pulling.

And TWO... people have hacked FULL OS X onto these devices!










Mac OS X running on Apple TV | Apple TV Hacks

Xbench score of 55.75

Here is a video of it booting up. UNIX appears without OS X's "blue screen of life" covering it.

Now, these are modest hardware specs to be sure. And, the "installation" aint easy. AND you're voiding Apple TV's warranty (DUH!). AND Apple will probably break the custom system kernel hacked to run on it... but imagine the possibilities...


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## da_jonesy (Jun 26, 2003)

This is awesome...

I need a few plug-ins for AppleTV to be complete. An RSS reader and a Safari/Web viewer. If I can browse the web on my phone, I should be able to Browse it on my TV.

Most importantly... a plug in to Browse YouTube and Google Video content.

I Just got back from the Apple Store and am plugging in my AppleTV this evening.

I Love it!


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## TheBat (Feb 11, 2005)

Apple TV review. I suspected this all along.


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## da_jonesy (Jun 26, 2003)

TheBat said:


> Apple TV review. I suspected this all along.


I think what people are missing is that this is a 1.0 product. I bought one... I see lots of potential.


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## mikeinmontreal (Oct 13, 2005)

I am waiting for the Slingcatcher to come out before thinking about AppleTV. $100 less, any codec supported, etc.


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## mcdermij (Oct 13, 2006)

There's an RSS feed hack which I find very interesting. As well as a rom emulation hack. But that is to be expected since OSX is up and running anything is now possible.


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## da_jonesy (Jun 26, 2003)

mcdermij said:


> There's an RSS feed hack which I find very interesting. As well as a rom emulation hack. But that is to be expected since OSX is up and running anything is now possible.


Where did yu hear about an RSS hack?


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## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

da_jonesy said:


> I think what people are missing is that this is a 1.0 product. I bought one... I see lots of potential.


The problem is that if a product doesn't resonate with the public in it's first incarnation, there may not be a 2.0 version.
I'm not sure what the sales are like with AppleTV, but lets hope Apple doesn't pull the plug on it, given the generally bad reviews out there.


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