Questions - Apple TV 2 & XBMC
#1
Hi,

Sorry if these questions have already been answered elsewhere, I have searched and not managed to find what I was after.

I'm thinking about buying a new Apple TV and installing XBMC, just need to know the following:

1. After jailbreaking, is it possible to attach an external hard drive to the micro USB connector and play movies from the drive, and would XBMC recognize the drive?

2. Would the XBMC function in the same way that the PS3 does in terms of streaming? i.e. would it see my computer and shared files as a media centre, without me having to run anything on my PC?

3. Lastly, does XBMC remove any original functionality of the Apple TV, or would AirPlay etc still work?

Many thanks for your help! And again sorry if these questions have obvious answers
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#2
1) No, the USB port can not be used for storage right now... who knows about the future though.
2) Yes, you can share files using Windows Networking (SMB) without any software required on your PC. Although the Apple TV only natively supports iTunes Home Sharing, XBMC shares from any source.
3) All of the regular ATV functionality is there... just that now there's also an XBMC option in the menus.
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#3
Edit*

I was beat to it.
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#4
I'm completely new to Apple TV, but running XBMC on it looks great.
I would like to know if Apple TV has a internal hard disk on it, and what is the size?
If yes, is it possible to upgrade to bigger HDs?
If yes (maybe I should indent my questions...), how do I put files on it, so XBMC can load and play them? Or do I need a NAS to store the files?

Thanx in advance for any help!
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#5
The ATV2 does not have an internal HD. It has about 8GB of flash storage.

The value in XBMC is it's ability to decode stream content stored elsewhere on the network. Your content can be stored on a central server somewhere in your house or even in multiple locations on your network. Many people either use their main computer or a NAS or both for serving their media files.

This way, you won't need to copy anything over to the ATV2 in order for it to play on your TV. XMBC can be set up to see those multiple sources and play it out to your TV as if it's residing locally on the device.

For operations where you do need to copy or place a file onto the device. i.e. a settings or plugin file that isn't accessible via the built in Add-ons repositories. You can simply use a SFTP capable client to access the jailbroken ATV2. i.e. Filezilla, WSCP, etc...

-Dazex
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#6
There is what appears to be a 30-pin dock connector pinouts
Image
Anyone with mad soldering skills?
(Apple camera connector anyone?)
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#7
Davilla Tried playing around with this. Don't think he had any luck using it as a USB host though. Not much info on it, but here's what he said in a post in another thread

http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=698...tcount=406
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#8
Hi,

I'm sorry if this question has already been asked/answered but I did not find it or not fully understood.

I was planning on getting a new Apple TV 2, the thing is I don't like to have my mac on just to play my videos and music.

So, if I installed xbmc, would I be able to stream my videos and music through and external HD that is connected to my router in my network?

Thanks! Big Grin
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#9
dnacid - As long as the external hard drive connectd to your router allows you to share files via SMB then you can use it. What they are saying is that there is no way to hook up an external hard drive directly to the apple tv. It has to be hooked up to another device or have its own NAS server built in.
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#10
@electricd7 thanks for your reply. how can I tell whether or not my router has smb (and by the way, what is smb?).

thanks!
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#11
smb (or cifs) is the same as Windows file sharing-- same thing different name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Message_Block
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#12
@Adam Z

I had looked it up on wikipedia, but to be honest, I didn't understand a thing.

I have this router: D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Gigabit Wireless Router and this HD connected to it Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive.

Would it work?
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#13
dnacid Wrote:@Adam Z

I had looked it up on wikipedia, but to be honest, I didn't understand a thing.

I have this router: D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Gigabit Wireless Router and this HD connected to it Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive.

Would it work?

if you can access the hard drive from your computers when it is connected to the router's USB port then I would bet money that it is using SMB. In other words, yes, it should work just fine.
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#14
Ned Scott Wrote:if you can access the hard drive from your computers when it is connected to the router's USB port then I would bet money that it is using SMB. In other words, yes, it should work just fine.

Thank you very much!! most helpful Laugh
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Questions - Apple TV 2 & XBMC0