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ATV Flash - any good?
- Thread starter ss957916
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It won't void your warranty because it is a patchstick hack, and doesn't require cracking open the case. Others who have gone the paid route can tell you whether they think it's worth it or not, but you can basically get all the same functionality for free by doing it yourself. Check out atvusb-creator and then take a look at Boxee as a place to start. There are other hacks you can do as well, but they all start with creating and applying a patchstick.
I don't think I would have kept the 
TV or ended up buying a second one if not for the ATV Flash. Having the ability to have external hard drives attached for storing movies in is what I find is the best thing about the program. I don't like streaming movies its just to dodgy in a multi-level townhouse. It had never worked at streaming music with itunes. I prefer having movies stored on hard drives connected directly to the TV's.
I liked the fact that all the work was done by ATV Flash. I am not to savy about things like this so having ready to go was perfect for me. The process was very easy to do and I have had no problems with the install and use of the program.
TV or ended up buying a second one if not for the ATV Flash. Having the ability to have external hard drives attached for storing movies in is what I find is the best thing about the program. I don't like streaming movies its just to dodgy in a multi-level townhouse. It had never worked at streaming music with itunes. I prefer having movies stored on hard drives connected directly to the TV's.I liked the fact that all the work was done by ATV Flash. I am not to savy about things like this so having ready to go was perfect for me. The process was very easy to do and I have had no problems with the install and use of the program.
ATVFlash IS worth the $$
...at least, for me it is. I like the fact the it's "good to go" as soon as you download it. The developer is quick to update it when a new ATV version is released. Customer support is fast and good - they seeem to respond to emails within 24 hours.
I guess that's enough reasons to fork over $49.
...at least, for me it is. I like the fact the it's "good to go" as soon as you download it. The developer is quick to update it when a new ATV version is released. Customer support is fast and good - they seeem to respond to emails within 24 hours.
I guess that's enough reasons to fork over $49.
That's kinda a slap in the face to all the plug-in dev's who make up a majority of what these patchsticks do, on top of the guy who created the Bootloader, which all these patchsticks have to use to work in the first place (who also happens to have created the best and FREE patchstick out there, ATVUSB-Creator)).
I've said this a thousand times, it amazes me that there's something out there which is the best patchstick available, AND is blessed by all the ATV plugin dev's, AND is from the creator of the Bootloader all patchsticks use, AND is from one of the main dev's working on the incredible XBMC (of which Boxee and Plex are forks) AND is FREE.
If there's something ATVFlash and Patchstick.ca can do that ATVUSB-Creator can't do, please let me know.
chill-out TuckBodi
People are allowed to have different opinions dude, relax and breath deeply. Different tastes and different flavors make life interesting.
From your perspective, going to the source makes total sense. That's cool, just know -- other people respond differently with different motivators.
peace out
People are allowed to have different opinions dude, relax and breath deeply. Different tastes and different flavors make life interesting.
From your perspective, going to the source makes total sense. That's cool, just know -- other people respond differently with different motivators.
peace out
So using atvusb-creator and a physical USB stick is all I need to allow my ATV to accept an external drive via the USB? Is that right?
Can I do this considering I have very little IT knowledge without completely screwing my ATV?
You're absolutely correct. Except I see this same kind of posting at least once a week and some times I suspect it's the other companies trying to sell their wares, which are built off of the sweat of these other open source developers, and are the exact same thing if not better, and are free.
Ummm, actually all these patchsticks do basically the same thing. So how does paying $50 justify it? Have you tried ATVUSB-Creator? Is there something wrong with how it hacks your ATV versus the others?
Just trying to keep the community honest is all and in these tight times saving my fellow ATV enthusiasts a little casholla.....
I think you are taking the original comment way out of context. I believe they meant they like that the patchstick does all the work for them (in a literal sense), as apposed to figuring out how to hack it them selves.
I'm from no company!
You say they're the exact same thing or better but, from the last 90mins of research, I still don't really understand what I need to do to get atvusb, nor how to make it work, nor if it'll give me the ability to use an external drive with my ATV.
$49 is sounding good at the moment considering I earn that in about 20mins and paying it may save me a lot of time.
Yeah, I kinda did. Sorry, my bad.
Guess I was just trying to point out the ATVUSB-Creator patchstick just does the same thing as these others and was built by the guy who did the Bootloader (with input by the ATV plugin dev's themselves) after they got tired of these other patchsticks (expressly by some patchsticks long gone) who were pretty obnoxious on making a profit off the others hard work (and in Cisco's case, even bragged about it). Too bad awkwardtv no longer exists as there was some great reading on the subject up in the forums.
Regardless, give ATVUSB-Creator a try. It's a piece of cake to hack the ATV with it!
<sigh> I didn't mean you.
Here's a step-by-step guide. If you find this too hard then go the ATVFlash route and power to yah. Wish I had $50 to waste on something free instead of using it on beer.
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=1959
<sigh> I didn't mean you.
Here's a step-by-step guide. If you find this too hard then go the ATVFlash route and power to yah. Wish I had $50 to waste on something free instead of using it on beer.
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=1959
I've tried using that iclarified thing and have got this far... Download failed.
Any help appreciated!
Attachments
Hopefully it's your usb thumbdrive; do you have any USB hard drives attached to your system?
The fact you're getting a 404 from the web server means the .dmg that was there when they last updated the patchstick is no longer present... assuming it pulls the image directly from Apple's servers, maybe they're updating to Take 3?
Assuming you're using the latest atvusb-creator, you may be out of luck for the time being. Did you try more than once and get the same error?
I do - I've formatted it to Mac OS Extended (journaled) and it's showing in Finder.
But I'm getting that error 404 and can't find any info on the web. Sigh!
The fact you're getting a 404 from the web server means the .dmg that was there when they last updated the patchstick is no longer present... assuming it pulls the image directly from Apple's servers, maybe they're updating to Take 3?
Assuming you're using the latest atvusb-creator, you may be out of luck for the time being. Did you try more than once and get the same error?
I see - so what it's trying to download is from Apple themselves?
I've tried several times including reinstalling atvusb creator and rebooting my Mac.
Ok, just be careful because that may be your external harddrive you're trying to format rather than the thumbdrive. If you're not sure, you may want to detach the external (assuming you're not booting off it) until you finish. But it sounds like it's not working anyway, so that 404 might have saved you.
I don't know that for sure, I'm speculating -- they may have been hosting a known image themselves or pulling it directly from Apple's servers. My guess is they were pulling from Apple and the image they were using has now been removed, but I'm not at home to try it myself so can't say for sure...
Ok - thanks for the help. I assumed that, when downloading the atvusb zip file, everything needed would be in there. Didn't realise it'd need to connect to the web and download MORE stuff.
I think I'll just buy ATV Flash as this 'free' route has already cost me more than three hours of my time and I've still got nowhere!
Thanks anyway.
I think I'll just buy ATV Flash as this 'free' route has already cost me more than three hours of my time and I've still got nowhere!
Thanks anyway.
It's all well and good that its free and I can understand your frustration but the thing is that people are willing to buy a product that is for "dummy's" which I am one of. Most sites are written up so that mostly only other geeks can understand. My point is that ATV Flash is packaged so that I could understand how its to be installed also on their site they had a step by step install video. So for me its better to pay for something that you can work rather than get something that you will get extremely frustrated trying to get installed as I see the original thread started ended up being.
Yeah, at that point $50 looks cheap. Like you I value my time highly. Did you buy ATVFlash and if so how easy was it to install? Are you happy with it?