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XBMC now installable on jailbroken AppleTV2
- Thread starter spencers
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Not far now...
Looks davilla has enabled the webserver (and fixed ISO playback) within the last week. Presumably they'll both show up in the next release (unless you want to try and do your own builds. https://github.com/xbmc/atv2/commits/atv2
He's pretty active in the ATV2 forums so he seems well aware of what issues most people are running into. Other than the webserver I don't need much else. A copy of vi/vim would be nice but Cyberduck, MacVim and Command+K meets the need until I feel like installing something on the ATV2.
Looks davilla has enabled the webserver (and fixed ISO playback) within the last week. Presumably they'll both show up in the next release (unless you want to try and do your own builds. https://github.com/xbmc/atv2/commits/atv2
He's pretty active in the ATV2 forums so he seems well aware of what issues most people are running into. Other than the webserver I don't need much else. A copy of vi/vim would be nice but Cyberduck, MacVim and Command+K meets the need until I feel like installing something on the ATV2.
Cyberduck for editing
Not sure if this will save you a little time (maybe this is how you're doing it), but Command+K or right-click "Edit with" in Cyberduck will edit the file in one step using an external editor (see Prefs). All the downloading/uploading is done automatically. MacVim works well as an external editor.
Not sure if this will save you a little time (maybe this is how you're doing it), but Command+K or right-click "Edit with" in Cyberduck will edit the file in one step using an external editor (see Prefs). All the downloading/uploading is done automatically. MacVim works well as an external editor.
Does XBMC on the ATV2 have an option for "continuous play"? Like if i start an episode of SpongeBob and want the rest of the season to automatically play afterwards, is there a way to do this or would i have to put it on in a playlist? is there a way to randomize and continuously random episodes?
do you have any experience in making your own builds? I'm about to have a go at it but have no experience whatsoever Mainly because librtmp has now been added to the repo and I'm hoping this will fix the iPlayer and TV Catchup plugins.
will post back about how I got on!
Guys & Gals - let's get this thread back on track. The history of Plex vs XBMC has no place here - we're just very fortunate that we now have a choice. The personal attacks are also unwarranted and not tolerated on MacRumors.
I just resurrected my JB
TV 2 after seeing all the positive reviews of the plex client v 0.66. It's good but the playback is a bit choppy to my mind thus
I've finished my install of XBMC and have the tv shows and movies sources set up. I'm just now scraping the tv shows and it is VERY slow! I'm looking forward to seeing how the video quality compares to Plex.
Having been through theTV 1st gen setup and v8.0 of Plex this is all old hat to me, but, that said, after using v9.0 of Plex I do appreciate the simplicity of the PMS.
I just resurrected my JB
TV 2 after seeing all the positive reviews of the plex client v 0.66. It's good but the playback is a bit choppy to my mind thusI've finished my install of XBMC and have the tv shows and movies sources set up. I'm just now scraping the tv shows and it is VERY slow! I'm looking forward to seeing how the video quality compares to Plex.
Having been through the
TV 1st gen setup and v8.0 of Plex this is all old hat to me, but, that said, after using v9.0 of Plex I do appreciate the simplicity of the PMS.Just trying to set this up and have come to jailbreak the Apple TV2 for the first time. Now my TV where the ATV2 will reside is in the front room and my iMac is in the office.
I used SeasOnPass to jailbreak, all seemed fine. Problem I have is this 10 second 'tethered' approach. I select 'Boot Tethered' with the USB and power cables in then when it says it is done I am running to the lounge where the TV is and plugging the power cable back in to the wall and then the HDMI cable, hopefully within the 10 seconds but when I look on the screen everything is just black and the unit itself has the white light blinking. If I hold down enter and play at the same time then I just get the apple logo on screen and nothing else.
Not sure what I did wrong? Will I need to take the imac to the TV and try it that way. I don't intend to unplug it again, just put it into sleep mode.
I used SeasOnPass to jailbreak, all seemed fine. Problem I have is this 10 second 'tethered' approach. I select 'Boot Tethered' with the USB and power cables in then when it says it is done I am running to the lounge where the TV is and plugging the power cable back in to the wall and then the HDMI cable, hopefully within the 10 seconds but when I look on the screen everything is just black and the unit itself has the white light blinking. If I hold down enter and play at the same time then I just get the apple logo on screen and nothing else.
Not sure what I did wrong? Will I need to take the imac to the TV and try it that way. I don't intend to unplug it again, just put it into sleep mode.
Check the xbmc forum - there are some new atv builds going around already
gonna give em a go tomorrow...From your description it sounds as if you're unplugging the power during your dash to the lounge. The problem is that as soon as you unplug it (the power) you're re-booting so the Boot Tethered part resets. I discovered this myself the hard way and have to have my Macbook Pro right next to my
TV during that part to avoid it.
Check the xbmc forum - there are some new atv builds going around already
Awesome! Do you have a link to a discussion with the latest build? Saves me looking for it
Awesome! Do you have a link to a discussion with the latest build? Saves me looking for it
Here you go
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=91899
I get constant buffering problems on my ATV in XBMC and cannot figure out how to get rid of them. Don't get it why some people have smooth playback and some cannot play any files without buffering every 30 seconds
Are you Wired or Wireless? Bitrate on the media that is buffering? Not all wireless networks are the same. 2.4 ghz is a crowded spectrum now days. Also I have found that if your little box is busy doing other things (Like Scraping etc.) it can cause more buffering.
Tried it all: wired/wireless/different routers and changing to different skins (PM3 seems to be the best in performance), also stopped all scraping, changed video settings to audio clock etc. Top command in ssh reports 60-70% CPU taken by AppleTV process when playing a 720p file.
File formats are mostly 720p h.264/DTS with 5-10 Mbps but even lower bitrate files buffer as well. Some are h.264/Dolby Digital but they stutter too.
I am starting to think that the problem is with OS X and the fact that some of the shared folders are on HFS hard drives and others are on NTFS. I have 7 HDDs and 2 of them are NTFS. Bought two more HDDs today just to move everything on HFS file system and disconnect my windows drives.
Strange thing is, the files play better on the iPad from the same drives so maybe my ATV2 configuration is just wrong.
How do you turn off subtitles in XBMC? Whenever I'm playing mkv files, it automatically displays the subtitles. I can't figure out which buttons on the apple tv remote to use to bring up an OSD.
I think you press the middle button during playback and it brings up the top menu where you can switch off subtitles.
Help please
I jailbroke by AppleTV today for the first time using Seas0nPass and it all went through fine.
I manage to log into the AppleTV through terminal as well but when I copy the first command:
apt-get update
I get this error
The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong :S. I;ve had a read through this thread and some others but can't find anything
I jailbroke by AppleTV today for the first time using Seas0nPass and it all went through fine.
I manage to log into the AppleTV through terminal as well but when I copy the first command:
apt-get update
I get this error
The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong :S. I;ve had a read through this thread and some others but can't find anything
$ ssh root@<your ATV2 IP address>
Password: alpine
First command is actually the following:
$ echo "deb http://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/atv2 ./" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xbmc.list
$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2
Got mine working, awesome!!!
I am just appalled at all the complaining and fighting going on this forum.... But putting all that aside, I want to thank those who are posting and helping users out here, and I want to say something before posting my experience.
For those who are having problems, frustrated, angry, etc... Guess what? You are HACKING. No one ever said that HACKING was easy. HACKING requires patience, persistence, and donating your time to something which may or may not work out. Back in my teen years, I remember staying up all night for weeks at a time to figure out how to break into a certain voice mail system that had just been brought out on the market, in the end alerting businesses to the security loop holes in their voice mail systems and helping them become more secure... Those days for me are long gone, and now my new sense of hacking is buying a product like Apple or Nintendo and making it do things that people never thought possible.
With that said, this is my experience.
1st: Jailbreaking the Apple TV is a pain in the ass. Unlike the iPhone jailbreaks, there is a certain disconnect about the whole USB thing. While most forums I've read say to NOT have the power connected, for me, I *HAD* to have the power connected. I'm not sure if it's because the micro USB cable I bought at the Shack sucks, or if it's because I was using my Macbook Pro unplugged (on battery power) - maybe it doesn't provide enough power. So, for me, what worked was to have the power connected when following all the steps, and it now works great every time I need to reboot. Also, make sure you disable the remote on your Mac... If you don't you'll find that Frontrow pops up all the time when you're trying to do the command sequence on the remote to get the Jailbreak working.
2nd: Installation of XBMC went flawless after the Jailbreak. Followed the steps in the guide on their site, and didn't have any issues....
3rd: Stability - not quite there yet. I've seen some crashes and lock ups. I was installing the Facebook photo app, and was entering my email address when the thing just locked up. Of course, this required a reboot of the AppleTV which then required the tethered boot again. For the most part, if I don't mess with add-ons, and don't overtax the system, it's stable but there are some glitches. Another thing, if you're on wi-fi, don't plug the ethernet cable in while in XBMC!! It will lock up! LOL... Duh!
4th: When I switched from Wi-Fi to Ethernet, and rebooted and re-tethered, for some reason XBMC kept telling me that my files were no longer there - do you wish to remove. I ended up closing and re-opening XBMC a few times and then it worked fine.
5th: Playback - I've thrown everything under the sun... VOB files, xVid, DivX, Avi, Mkv, h264, and haven't had any issues playing the file. I did have issues with a 1080p MKV file, it was skipping and stuttering. When I play it on my PC it does the same thing, so I'm assuming that these hi-def movies just aren't quite ready for prime time playback on your average device. I will adjust my download behavior accordingly and go for the 720p ones - I don't even have a 1080p TV anyway, so it's pointless. If anyone has tips on getting 1080p playback to work flawlessly, do tell.
6th: NAS Support - awesome. I'm using a ReadyNAS Duo from Netgear (amazing device BTW!!) - and all I did was add source - browse network, and it found the workgroup the NAS was in and the shared media folder. From there, I added various folders such as TV Shows, and movies. I'm amazed at how easy this is to setup, and also a bit perplexed why so many users are having issues. For those having issues, I would recommend trying to just browse for the folder on the network - this of course means that your NAS needs to be setup for NETBIOS file sharing.
7th: Scraping - ok this one is kind of random... I added IMDB, and also use built in moviedb (fallback is enabled)... It seems to work, but... Sometimes it doesn't scrape the files the first time, I have to close XBMC and reopen and then it finds some more files. I don't know why this is. But for the most part, it scrapes everything pretty well - the only ones I haven't gotten it to properly scrape are my VOB files. QUESTION: is there a way to FORCE scraping without having to quit and reopen the app?
8th: VOB files - playback works, but I am a little confused. It seems like it will only play one file at a time, and I have to open the next file when it's done playing each file, so in a given movie I have to be interrupted 4-5 times... I'm wondering if there is a way for it to just auto play the next VOB file? Also, for some reason, I can't see VOB files except in File Browsing mode, if I switch to Media Browsing, it doesn't show up - I'm assuming because the scraper didn't pick up the VOB file. Is there a secret trick to making it work (i.e. need to name the folder a certain way?? and enable that setting to read folders?)
Overall, I am very happy with XBMC... It does so much, and I'm looking forward to customizing and playing with it. I hope and pray that they come out with an untethered Jailbreak for AppleTV2 soon... Then I can just take it from room to room (it's such a small cute little device).. Right now I'm afraid to unplug it! LOL
I am just appalled at all the complaining and fighting going on this forum.... But putting all that aside, I want to thank those who are posting and helping users out here, and I want to say something before posting my experience.
For those who are having problems, frustrated, angry, etc... Guess what? You are HACKING. No one ever said that HACKING was easy. HACKING requires patience, persistence, and donating your time to something which may or may not work out. Back in my teen years, I remember staying up all night for weeks at a time to figure out how to break into a certain voice mail system that had just been brought out on the market, in the end alerting businesses to the security loop holes in their voice mail systems and helping them become more secure... Those days for me are long gone, and now my new sense of hacking is buying a product like Apple or Nintendo and making it do things that people never thought possible.
With that said, this is my experience.
1st: Jailbreaking the Apple TV is a pain in the ass. Unlike the iPhone jailbreaks, there is a certain disconnect about the whole USB thing. While most forums I've read say to NOT have the power connected, for me, I *HAD* to have the power connected. I'm not sure if it's because the micro USB cable I bought at the Shack sucks, or if it's because I was using my Macbook Pro unplugged (on battery power) - maybe it doesn't provide enough power. So, for me, what worked was to have the power connected when following all the steps, and it now works great every time I need to reboot. Also, make sure you disable the remote on your Mac... If you don't you'll find that Frontrow pops up all the time when you're trying to do the command sequence on the remote to get the Jailbreak working.
2nd: Installation of XBMC went flawless after the Jailbreak. Followed the steps in the guide on their site, and didn't have any issues....
3rd: Stability - not quite there yet. I've seen some crashes and lock ups. I was installing the Facebook photo app, and was entering my email address when the thing just locked up. Of course, this required a reboot of the AppleTV which then required the tethered boot again. For the most part, if I don't mess with add-ons, and don't overtax the system, it's stable but there are some glitches. Another thing, if you're on wi-fi, don't plug the ethernet cable in while in XBMC!! It will lock up! LOL... Duh!
4th: When I switched from Wi-Fi to Ethernet, and rebooted and re-tethered, for some reason XBMC kept telling me that my files were no longer there - do you wish to remove. I ended up closing and re-opening XBMC a few times and then it worked fine.
5th: Playback - I've thrown everything under the sun... VOB files, xVid, DivX, Avi, Mkv, h264, and haven't had any issues playing the file. I did have issues with a 1080p MKV file, it was skipping and stuttering. When I play it on my PC it does the same thing, so I'm assuming that these hi-def movies just aren't quite ready for prime time playback on your average device. I will adjust my download behavior accordingly and go for the 720p ones - I don't even have a 1080p TV anyway, so it's pointless. If anyone has tips on getting 1080p playback to work flawlessly, do tell.
6th: NAS Support - awesome. I'm using a ReadyNAS Duo from Netgear (amazing device BTW!!) - and all I did was add source - browse network, and it found the workgroup the NAS was in and the shared media folder. From there, I added various folders such as TV Shows, and movies. I'm amazed at how easy this is to setup, and also a bit perplexed why so many users are having issues. For those having issues, I would recommend trying to just browse for the folder on the network - this of course means that your NAS needs to be setup for NETBIOS file sharing.
7th: Scraping - ok this one is kind of random... I added IMDB, and also use built in moviedb (fallback is enabled)... It seems to work, but... Sometimes it doesn't scrape the files the first time, I have to close XBMC and reopen and then it finds some more files. I don't know why this is. But for the most part, it scrapes everything pretty well - the only ones I haven't gotten it to properly scrape are my VOB files. QUESTION: is there a way to FORCE scraping without having to quit and reopen the app?
8th: VOB files - playback works, but I am a little confused. It seems like it will only play one file at a time, and I have to open the next file when it's done playing each file, so in a given movie I have to be interrupted 4-5 times... I'm wondering if there is a way for it to just auto play the next VOB file? Also, for some reason, I can't see VOB files except in File Browsing mode, if I switch to Media Browsing, it doesn't show up - I'm assuming because the scraper didn't pick up the VOB file. Is there a secret trick to making it work (i.e. need to name the folder a certain way?? and enable that setting to read folders?)
Overall, I am very happy with XBMC... It does so much, and I'm looking forward to customizing and playing with it. I hope and pray that they come out with an untethered Jailbreak for AppleTV2 soon... Then I can just take it from room to room (it's such a small cute little device).. Right now I'm afraid to unplug it! LOL
Bring up a contextual menu (Tkotm said: hold menu button for 2/3 seconds) on the share of your choosing, when you're browsing the Video section and go to "scan for new content" (or whatever it's called, I forget off-hand).
Glad you're enjoying it! I love it as well.
thanks! I tried it now, unfortunately BBC iPlayer still doesn't work. Haven't had much time to tinker with it much yet though...
Just got the TV catchup plugin to work, except the aspect ratio is off.
NOW THIS IS HUGE NEWS:
BBC iPlayer WORKS!!!!!!
NOW THIS IS HUGE NEWS:
BBC iPlayer WORKS!!!!!!
Yep and then in the audio options box, check the bottom option "set as default for all files" so it turns subtitles off. You can always manually turn them on.
Wierd, tried Thelma and Louise 720p x264 file - no problem. Also tried Office Space 1080p x264 file.. No problem. For me, I'm accessing the shares via BROWSING for the share rather then adding it, and I think I'm using WINDOWS sharing... On my ReadyNAS Duo.
The only time I've had problems playing back the files is when it's scraping or doing other tasks.