Patched AppleTV: Anyone using a multi-bay USB HDD Enclosure with one?
#1
I am very new to XBMC with AppleTV but getting up to speed slowly.

When I was first thinking about using it with a patched AppleTV, I was looking into 4 or 5 bay external USB HDD enclosures to pair with it. However, it seemed all of the units I looked at have a 2TB limit when using a spanning type mode so it didnt make much sense for me. (I wanted to use a SansDigital model)

I opted for 1 Exeternal USB enclosure instead but with a single 2TB drive. (Seagate model).

My question is for those who may actually be using a Multiple Bay External USB mini-tower type enclosure with a patched AppleTV. (4 or 5 bays)

What brand/model is working for you and how much storage can it handle?

Can you get more than 2TB of local hard disc storage with an AppleTV?
I dont mean streaming from a NAS or something like that. I mean a DEDICATED storage unit?

Thanks
Reply
#2
I'm using a Sans Digital TR4U, which is a 4-bay, in JBOD mode. There's 4-2tb drives, which all mount separately on my media server (Mac min), accessed by the ATV. I love the thing...quiet, solid build, looks good and seems fast enough. The only bottleneck can be copying files from one drive in the case to another drive in the case.
Reply
#3
Hi,

Yes, that Sans Digital you mentioned is one of the models I had been thinking of.

However, I read the specs and some reviews and it advised that you are limited to a total drive capacity of 2TB when in spanning mode I think?? (Something to do with the firmware).

Given that the AppleTV only has 1 USB port and the the volume label of the external storage has to be MYATV for the patched machine to recognize the external drive, I am not sure it would work if directly connected to the AppleTVHuh

Ideally, I would love to be able to use a unit like that and get 8TB of storage. They also have a 5 bay model I believe.
Reply
#4
CanadaPhil Wrote:Given that the AppleTV only has 1 USB port and the the volume label of the external storage has to be MYATV for the patched machine to recognize the external drive, I am not sure it would work if directly connected to the AppleTVHuh

Not true. Under atv(osx), once the AppleTV is patched to support USB devices and you what the correct filesystem drivers installed, it will see any USB disks. Under atv(linux), it's just a Linux box then and mounting of USB devices should just work unless you don't have the filesystem driver installed (hfsplus).
Reply
#5
Maybe not the best solution but figure I would share it...

I am running a Netgear Stora in JBOD mode. It is 2 bay and I have it 2 x 2TB.
I have USB externals that I used to use but got tired of having my computer running 7/24 as a server. I now use them for backup/archiving.
I now just leave my router on and the Stora can stream to my ATV with little power consumption. I just ran CAT5 cable to the ATV.
To the ATV, it looks as 1 drive with many directories.

Note: The Stora is very temperamental (according to many users on their forum), and I would suggest doing the research prior to purchasing. But, the price was right. $189.00 + cost of drives (it comes with a 1TB)
I must be one of the lucky one not having issues with mine. (knock on wood).
But it works quite well and gets the job done.

I run it using the ATV with linux using the USB stick, and also boot off of osx occasionally by pulling stick to see how development is going. I would prefer the linux option and am waiting for an updated image once Dharma is released.
Reply
#6
davilla Wrote:Not true. Under atv(osx), once the AppleTV is patched to support USB devices and you what the correct filesystem drivers installed, it will see any USB disks. Under atv(linux), it's just a Linux box then and mounting of USB devices should just work unless you don't have the filesystem driver installed (hfsplus).

Thanks for additional responses.

Interesting... So I suppose If I had gone that route with the Sans Digital multi-bay chasis, I could have just had all of the individual drives formatted FAT32, and all with the same "MYATV" volume label and tha ATV would have recognised them all... just with mutiple directory listings??

I will have to give that a try some day soon. Right now, I just want to make sure I understand all the issues with my simple setup... Then, I will make the effort to move on the something bigger and better. I am really interested about the possibilities with the Crystal HD mini-pci board. Nod
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Patched AppleTV: Anyone using a multi-bay USB HDD Enclosure with one?0