Is there a way of connecting an External Hard Drive directly to an AppleTV so that it can pull my media off the external hard drive instead of my computer?
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Apple TV and External Hard Drive
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No - ATV will only stream from a computer, not an external (or networked) hard drive. Unfortunately
Thanks. Sorry for sounding dumb, but what's the USB port for then? Thanks
That's a darned good question. Apple say that it's for diagnostics and service, but I find myself wondering whether it might eventually become something useful - I know some folks have hacked it to add keyboards etc, so who knows?
It's Apple's insidious way of making sure people talk endlessly about the ATV's potential.
I assume if I have a pc with an external drive the apple tv can stream the movies off the external drive that way?
Will it stream from an external hd connected to the streaming computer? Or a server on a network?No - ATV will only stream from a computer, not an external (or networked) hard drive. Unfortunately
It actually streams from iTunes on the remote computer, so if iTunes is able to access the library the ATV can stream it (whether it be local on the computer where iTunes is running or mounted remotely doesn't matter, only that iTunes is running and can access it).
Thanks, I'm thinking of using two Time Capsules (or something similar) as a server/backup where I rotate and sync them so I have one off site as a backup.
No - ATV will only stream from a computer, not an external (or networked) hard drive. Unfortunately
Wrong. Well, you are right in the sense that u can't do it straight outta the box. However, if you install Awkward TV and then install NitoTV you can stream from a NAS.
Don't worry, its not a dumb question. I am no expert, I just follow the tutorials as best as I can and I ask for help when I need it.
You should do the same. Happy Hacking!
So, then, you can rent from the ITMS?
And you're running Take 2?
Be careful when encouraging people to hack their Apple TVs. I couldn't care less if anyone hacks their own, just as long as they understand the limb they are walking out on.
Nope, running 1.1. But from my understanding, some of the hacks still work thanks to the efforts of many of the programmers that are keeping ontop of things.
I bricked my ATV, i jus simply did a restore and it was new again
With patchstick, no need to void warranty so its all good.Nope, running 1.1. But from my understanding, some of the hacks still work thanks to the efforts of many of the programmers that are keeping ontop of things.
I bricked my ATV, i jus simply did a restore and it was new again
That's great. But patchstick still requires 10.4, no?
(And seriously, I am not opposed in any way to hacking anything.)
So, is it possible? I'm Planning on buying an 
TV because I have more than 300GB in movies stored on my iMac but I would like to know if the following is possible:
1- Store everything in theTV so I don't need a computer to stream everything (which makes the Mac almost useless while watching the movie)
2- Connect and external HD to theTV and store everything there (have the Mac send once the movies to the TV and then be able to erase it from the Mac).
I would really appreciate it if somebody could help me out with this.
TV because I have more than 300GB in movies stored on my iMac but I would like to know if the following is possible:1- Store everything in the
TV so I don't need a computer to stream everything (which makes the Mac almost useless while watching the movie)2- Connect and external HD to the
TV and store everything there (have the Mac send once the movies to the TV and then be able to erase it from the Mac).I would really appreciate it if somebody could help me out with this.
Straight replacement would be the WD 320gb 2.5" PATA drive. Some have put in a 2.5" 9.5mm SATA drive using a SATA to PATA adapter and got it closed up with only a small amount of careful cutting. That would allow a 750 gb internal drive. Otherwise, eSATA mod or patchstick. All are describe on this forum.
AppleTV only looks for "Movies"?
Dumb question, but how do I access my external drive that is plugged into my iMac from my AppleTV? On the AppleTV menu, it seems to just want to look in my "Movies" folder on the iMac internal drive...
Dumb question, but how do I access my external drive that is plugged into my iMac from my AppleTV? On the AppleTV menu, it seems to just want to look in my "Movies" folder on the iMac internal drive...
Add the content from your external hd to your iTunes library. Then you can stream from both.
So, is it possible? I'm Planning on buying an
1- Store everything in the
2- Connect and external HD to the
I would really appreciate it if somebody could help me out with this.
Read the specs - quite clear you can't do what you are asking.
They don't have to be - from the Advanced tab in Preferences, make sure the "Copy files to iTunes Media Folder..." is unchecked, then import as usual. The files themselves will stay on the external drive. This is how I have my media server set up for my AppleTV, and it works great.
About needing a mac to access your stuff...
Accessing media files from a mac makes more sense if you have an iMac or a mac mini, since these are always in the same place, may be on all the time and be always connected to an external drive (if you need to).
Accessing a portable mac (in my case, my MBP) seems to me not very convenient. First my MBP only has about 80 GB of HDD space (the other 40 GB is shared with windows), 45GB of those are used by iphoto s library , 15Gb by itunes and the rest by programs and other files, so storing large video files is out of the question. Then your MBP has to be there (or within range), and turned on and connected to an external drive (if your are using one). I usually keep my MBP lid closed, I assume that the ATV wont be able to access my files if the mac is sleeping. I might still get one (anTV) but I feel that I will really use its potential when I get a bigger drive in a new imac.
This is why I wish the ATV had a hard drive or at least be able to connect to one.
Accessing media files from a mac makes more sense if you have an iMac or a mac mini, since these are always in the same place, may be on all the time and be always connected to an external drive (if you need to).
Accessing a portable mac (in my case, my MBP) seems to me not very convenient. First my MBP only has about 80 GB of HDD space (the other 40 GB is shared with windows), 45GB of those are used by iphoto s library , 15Gb by itunes and the rest by programs and other files, so storing large video files is out of the question. Then your MBP has to be there (or within range), and turned on and connected to an external drive (if your are using one). I usually keep my MBP lid closed, I assume that the ATV wont be able to access my files if the mac is sleeping. I might still get one (an
TV) but I feel that I will really use its potential when I get a bigger drive in a new imac.This is why I wish the ATV had a hard drive or at least be able to connect to one.
No - ATV will only stream from a computer, not an external (or networked) hard drive. Unfortunately
Gotta say this is untrue. I have a WD 640GB Passport Studio ($125) plugged into my Airport Extreme via the USB and it streams perfectly. A long time ago I decided to store all my iTunes movies on an external...bought the Passport Studio and....prior to purchasing the ATV2...I plugged it into my MacBook Pro to watch a movie. So all my iTunes movies are mapped to this external drive.
Once I got the ATV2 I wanted to free myself from having to have the drive plugged into my MacBook Pro. So I bought an AirPort Extreme plugged the external drive into the USB port and now I can stream all my iTunes movies effortlessly into the ATV2. Works great....
Note: Setting up the Passport Studio on the AirPort Extreme was a breeze. Plug and Play and it was in my home network. I couldn't get my DLink DIR-855 to recognize the PassPort Studio so I sh&t canned it and went with the AirPort Extreme. Everything "Apple" just works well together.