Store media on Apple TV?

[makismagoo99]

I was just given an Apple TV (yeah free stuff!), and I was wondering if it's possible to copy music/movies to the Apple TV without 'syncing' them. Ideally, I could rip a bunch of my DVDs to the ATV and not have to keep them on my MacBook's hard drive.

 

[tom1971]

No, but it is really easy to hack your ATV.
Just do that and then you can play your movies using aTVFiles.

 

[kadeschs]

You can't "out of the box". However, as tom1971 suggested, you can alter ATV software to allow for such things as SSH or FTP to transfer files to ATV's directories. Just make sure to encode the DVDs in the proper format for ATV. Otherwise, you'll also have to install additional codecs & players.

 

[switchrider]

What I do;
I have all my movie files on an external hard drive. I then add these to itunes without importing the files onto the macbook. Leaving the external hard drive attached I then copy the files manually across to ATV... (I think you need to turn off automatic syncing).
Disconnect the hard drive... You can now watch all the movies etc. which are on the ATV without having to have the macbook on.
Only bad thing is you're dependent on the ATV hard drive size (unless hacked). But means you don't have bulky files filling up your macbook. As far as I know you can't get files back off the ATV which is why you should keep them on the external hard drive.
Any better solutions please let me know...

 

[makismagoo99]

You can't "out of the box". However, as tom1971 suggested, you can alter ATV software to allow for such things as SSH or FTP to transfer files to ATV's directories. Just make sure to encode the DVDs in the proper format for ATV. Otherwise, you'll also have to install additional codecs & players.

Do you have any suggestions on which hacks to do? Boxee? something else?

What I do;
I have all my movie files on an external hard drive. I then add these to itunes without importing the files onto the macbook. Leaving the external hard drive attached I then copy the files manually across to ATV... (I think you need to turn off automatic syncing).
Disconnect the hard drive... You can now watch all the movies etc. which are on the ATV without having to have the macbook on.
Only bad thing is you're dependent on the ATV hard drive size (unless hacked). But means you don't have bulky files filling up your macbook. As far as I know you can't get files back off the ATV which is why you should keep them on the external hard drive.
Any better solutions please let me know...

So is the external hard drive connected directly to the ATV or is it connected to your macbook?

 

[tom1971]

Do you have any suggestions on which hacks to do? Boxee? something else?

Boxee is quite complex, complicated and buggy. I don't like it that much.
I personally use ATVFiles to play my files that are on the harddrive.
ATVFiles has a nice UI, is easy to use and just works.

 

[makismagoo99]

Boxee is quite complex, complicated and buggy. I don't like it that much.
I personally use ATVFiles to play my files that are on the harddrive.
ATVFiles has a nice UI, is easy to use and just works.

Does ATVFiles work like XBMC in that it's installed as an extra option on the AppleTV menu? Or does it completely wipe out the ATV OS?

Lastly, once I install ATVFiles, I'll be able to copy movies to the ATV hard drive and remove them from my MacBook?

 

[tom1971]

Does ATVFiles work like XBMC in that it's installed as an extra option on the AppleTV menu? Or does it completely wipe out the ATV OS?

there will be one additional menu entry "Files" - ATVFiles integrates nicely into the native AppleTV UI - the standard functions of your aTV are not affected at all.

Lastly, once I install ATVFiles, I'll be able to copy movies to the ATV hard drive and remove them from my MacBook?

Yes, you do not need to synchronize via iTunes anymore.