Apple TV 1st Gen HELP!!

[AK1984]

Right, so I've been having an absolute nightmare with a 1st Gen Apple TV 1TB upgrade i bought today.
It comes 'jail-broken' and has XBMC and Boxee and Samba pre-installed.
The issues that I'm having and for which were the main reasons why I purchased this model in the first place are as follows.

1. Having looked through countless forums and google searches I just can't fathom how to transfer avi media files to ATV using an Ethernet cable. I want to transfer files from the external HD and my PC. I stress PC here, because there are places which describe transfer using a mac. I am aware of Nito to utilise the USB drive. But as a relevant solution to my current situation i'd like to be able to use the Ethernet cable as i've got a couple of hundred of GB to trasnfer to the ATV.

2. Once that is sorted though using either Boxee or XBMC, ATV is unable to connect to my PC through the wifi network. It is able to discover my macbook air and able to connect to this. However with the PC it states it is requiring a username and password to connect to the computer. Now i know for a fact that nothing of the sort is required to connect to the PC as i'm able to do this with ease via the Air...i know this is probs a Windows issue...and the more i deal with windows the more i hate it!
Currently the ATV is connected to my LCD in my office adjacent to the PC, but eventually needs to be moved to the lounge so i can stream various things from my PC to ATV...so it does need to be discoverable!! arrgghhh!

Oh and I'm really not very technical and hence not very au fait with SSH, FTP etc etc! so if you could keep it pretty simple, kudos!
really appreciate any input (aside from calling my a moronic half-wit!)

 

[Nightarchaon]

If you want it simple , convert the avi files using handbreak for the PC or some other video converter with an appleTV of iPhone setting and just sync all your video using iTunes.

I've over 4TB of movies and TV shows now, and that turned out to be the easiest way , xbmc etc is all well and good if your technical and want to faff around setting it up , but if you want simple , iTunes sync with video converted to a format that native to the device is the way to go.

 

[eTip]

My instinct is defend XBMC & give you some pointers to get what you want accomplished but after re-reading your post, I think Nightarchaon may be correct. I don't find XBMC to be that complicated but it did take me some time to get it configured the way I want it. And I tinker with it constantly. Not so much because it requires it - I just like that sort of thing. And that's the point I guess - if I didn't like it then I might have found the initial setup too cumbersome to bother with. Converting the movies to a native iTunes format might be the easier route for you to take. Particularly if you have other IOS devices that you may want to transfer content too.

That said, If you are determined to get XBMC working for you, I would suggest starting with an FTP/SFTP program for the PC, like Filezilla. That will allow you to connect to your AppleTV transfer movies etc. There are step by step instructions on how to do this out there.

On second thought, depending on how the USB drive is formatted - why not just hook it up to the computer that has the movies, transfer them & then re-attach the drive to the ATV? If the drive is formatted with FAT then it should be able to be seen by your ATV, Mac & ATV. If it's not and it is currently empty (I am assuming the ATV & XBMC software is all on the original internal ATV drive) you may want to consider reformatting it. At one time, I had a similar setup to yours & that's how I initially got all of my movies on the ATV. Then after that, I used Filezilla copy over any additional content.

In regards to your issue of being able to connect to the PC from the AppleTV, I have run across similar problems and resolved them by setting up an account for XBMC (with it's own userid/pass) on my PC, giving that account access to the *shared* folder on that same PC that has my media & then entering those credentials from XBMC. You should only have to enter them once.

 

[AK1984]

Thanks for your help, I do want to persist with XBMC as I think in the long run it'll pay dividend. I've managed to use what you said and download Filezilla and after some tortuous fiddling have managed to transfer files across from the PC to ATV!

In regards to your issue of being able to connect to the PC from the AppleTV, I have run across similar problems and resolved them by setting up an account for XBMC (with it's own userid/pass) on my PC, giving that account access to the *shared* folder on that same PC that has my media & then entering those credentials from XBMC. You should only have to enter them once.

I guess the next roadblock i've encountered is this streaming business...the whole purpose of ATV I guess!
I did create an account on XBMC but still am having no luck whatsoever in being able to access the PC's hard drive through the wireless connection.
Both my hard drives on the PC are set to as shared with full access to from anyone connected to my network...but ATV via Boxee or XBMC is not able to connect to it. It asks for a username and password, for which i am not sure is there a generic one??!!
Any suggestions on this aspect!?!?

cheers

 

[eTip]

Both my hard drives on the PC are set to as shared with full access to from anyone connected to my network...but ATV via Boxee or XBMC is not able to connect to it. It asks for a username and password, for which i am not sure is there a generic one??!!
Any suggestions on this aspect!?!?

cheers

You need to create an account *for* XBMC *on the PC* - with a password. Going from memory here, but: Contol Panel > User accounts > Create new account. I think that also requires that you put a password on your own account as well (the one you normally log in with) if you have not already done so. Once you have created the account for XBMC, give that account (still on the PC here) explicit share permission to the drives and/or folders. Make sure the necessary permissions are being inherited by right clicking on the files and folders that XMBC needs access to.

File sharing will not work properly on Windows unless you create an account with a password, even if you have given full acess to everyone to a drive or folder.

I can see if I can find a decent guide to Windows file sharing and post the link if the above is not clear. Good luck. You will still likely run across some difficulties with XBMC - some things are not that intuitive - but if you take the time to learn your way around, it's a pretty powerful & flexible media center.

 

[moichido]

First time poster

Ok I hope I am not asking something previously covered, with that said, I have a 1st gen Apple TV set up. I have used a patchstick to install boxee/xbmc now I also have boxee and xbmc on my mac mini (snow leaopard) i have an external terabyte drive plugged into the mac with all of my shows and movies. How do I get the Apple TV to stream all of these files without loading them onto the mac mini hard drive, as there is no room? Also Boxee on my desktop has a netflix app yet the apple tv version does not, is there a way to get it? Thank you for any help as I am not very tech savvy