Does Apple TV "Backup" My Itunes

[TXCraig]

I have a question for all the Apple TV owners out there. If I buy a 160 GB Apple TV and move ALL my iTunes content to it and something happens to the machine I run iTunes from- can i move content BACK from my Apple TV to my machine in the form of a restore?

Thanks.

 

[sJv]

I have a question for all the Apple TV owners out there. If I buy a 160 GB Apple TV and move ALL my iTunes content to it and something happens to the machine I run iTunes from- can i move content BACK from my Apple TV to my machine in the form of a restore?

Thanks.

No. That's not how it works. It's like an ipod - you can only 'sync' your media in one direction only (iTunes to ATV). There is no way to sync it back without some sort of hackery. I suppose if something happened to your original content, you could concievable pull out the ATV HD, put it in an external USB enclosure, and mount it to your Mac to get it back.

-steve

 

[Curtis72]

With Take 2

No. That's not how it works. It's like an ipod - you can only 'sync' your media in one direction only (iTunes to ATV). There is no way to sync it back without some sort of hackery. I suppose if something happened to your original content, you could concievable pull out the ATV HD, put it in an external USB enclosure, and mount it to your Mac to get it back.

-steve

When Take 2 comes out, you will be able to "back sync" to your computer. But not HD rentals.

 

[ipedro]

^ that sounds great but I was under the impression that you could only back sync purchases from the iTunes store on the TV

i.e. You buy a song on TV and it syncs back to your Mac. I'm not so sure you can sync back all your content if your iTunes machine is compromised.

I'm sure somebody out there will develop a hack to browse your TV's library like what was developed for iPod. I guess TV's adoption has been so low that nobody in the development community has bothered to write the app.

 

[CultHero]

just to dig up an old topic, I was wondering if there were any hacks out there for this? If my drobo takes a dump, would I theoretically be able to pull my music off the Apple TV? My iPhoto library is backed up to another drive in addition to my Drobo and burned to disc, but not my music.

 

[tom1971]

just to dig up an old topic, I was wondering if there were any hacks out there for this? If my drobo takes a dump, would I theoretically be able to pull my music off the Apple TV? My iPhoto library is backed up to another drive in addition to my Drobo and burned to disc, but not my music.

Yes, you can copy back from ATV to your computer. There is a software-only solution, not necessary to void your warranty.

PM me if you need more info on this.

 

[ant-macyourself]

If you're interested in dissecting your Apple TV (for fun), there's a new video tutorial on how to remove the hard drive and connect it to your Mac to recover the files. Then you'll be able to just copy and paste your media directly back into iTunes.

 

[cjdawson]

Yes, you can copy back from ATV to your computer. There is a software-only solution, not necessary to void your warranty.

PM me if you need more info on this.

I'm stuck with a dead hard drive in my iMac, just replaced, and an Apple TV full of music and pictures I would love to get back. I definitely need more info on this, and will try to private message you. Thanks!

 

[jpmccusker]

Same Problem

I have the same issue as cjdawson on Feb 3rd 2009. Can you help to restore both photos and media files? In the recovery process, will I get the photos back with the file quality as the original?

John