External DVD drive on AppleTV is it possible

[franklebel]

i just got a gift card for christmas and was thinking of buying myself an apple tv. i'd like to be able to watch dvd's without having to use my computer to rip it and add it to itunes all the time so i thought that the loose usb port on the apple tv could be hacked to good use. so my question is. IS IT POSSIBLE TO PLUG IN AN EXTERNAL DVD DRIVE ON AN APPLE TV TO WATCH A MOVIE??? if so, please point me in the right direction. i'd like to get rid of my old dvd player and only have one remote for media playback and plug myself in hdmi!!!

 

[tamasvarga67]

It is not possible without hacking it. The hack is just software hack so you don't have to open up the device. There are free options and you can make a patchstick by yourself or buy atvflash (http://atvflash.com/) precomplied software fo $49.95
When I bought my aTV almost two years ago I wasn't too confident compiling patchstick by myself so I went with atvflash. I am satisfied with it they are updating the software frequently and adding more functions to it. With the hack you can connect external HDD to the aTVs USB port or to your home network.
But as I said I don't want to promote atvflash everything is available for free check out http://www.appletvhacks.net/.

 

[tamasvarga67]

Sorry i missed the point of your question and I answered to something other than you asked. To connect an external DVD drive to aTV is possible if the hacks I mentioned in my previous post are installed - nitoTV particulary - and the drive has its own power supply.

Check it out here.