digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Apple TV Hacks

appletvhacks.net — This certainly didn't take long.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • richlizard24, on 10/12/2007, -47/+7Kevin Rose is straight.
    • AlanCayce, on 10/12/2007, -28/+2what?
    • Sagags, on 10/12/2007, -5/+21Humm everyday the apple tv seems to be looking more and more like a mac mini without a DVD drive

      I think they should have just added the extra connections and stuff that come with the apple TV to the Mac Mini and some DVR software, now thats something I would buy!
    • Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16It's OSX in a tiny box, what's the shock?
    • nreynolds, on 10/12/2007, -12/+5Is Elton John less gay elsewhere?
    • LemmingJesus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2"I think they should have just added the extra connections and stuff that come with the apple TV to the Mac Mini and some DVR software, now thats something I would buy!"

      That's exactly what they did.
    • tracydanger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe this is already done, but when I see the hack that makes it like the regular OS X with wireless keyboard and mouse, I'd want one because that translates into a VERY cheap apple computer. Sure, not a speed demon, but still...
    • AegisGFX, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Keep the mac ***** news to the mac ***** forum so we don't have to see it.
  • ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -17/+8This certainly didn't take long...

    ... to registar a domain....


    Wake me when you get some really nice hacks
    • saggygrandma, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10There is a fair bit of information there mate, pretty much all the current news for apple tv hacks.... so shut your trap!
    • drlog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14This has potential to make the apple tv very good!

      I think they just left the door open on purpose to help people hack this up and make it decent!
    • pinfu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Slightly more information on the awkward tv wiki: http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/
  • interrelate, on 10/12/2007, -11/+15Who has an Apple TV, anyways?
    • Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Not many... right now. But I damn well might get one after seeing how much potential these things have.
  • putnam, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7If anyone wants to get involved in hacking the Apple TV, please be sure to present your findings at http://wiki.awkwardtv.org -- there is already a lot of information here and it could use more eyes on it as things develop. It'd suck if every little discovery was scattered off to 100 different small blogs and we missed something big.
  • mikev, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6All we need is a tutorial on how to boot into the Apple TV OS on a regular mac :)
    • ThirdPrize, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, because you really want to replace a full version of OSX with a cut down version. ?!?!?
  • h3ndrix, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2The words Apple and Hack is an oxymoron.
  • Sargasso_C, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4How about this URL.

    www.HowtoInvalidateMyAppleWarranty.net

  • ShaunOlsen, on 10/12/2007, -20/+3How about we get the tutorial on building a media center PC for half the price and half the wanky-ness now?
    • Quix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Yes please, we'd all love to see this magical $150 PC of yours. Oh wait, how much is Vista with Media Center again?
  • wilhoitm, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2Apple hackers are smarter! Lets see the native xbox os support ssh logins. One of the letters in ssh stands for secure by the way. And even if you could ssh into an xbox you would drop into dos after you login? Does the xbox natively even have command line support?
    • interrelate, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3That's because macs are easier to hack.
    • nstern2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Someone explain the importance of ssh on the apple tv. I don't seem to have it on my XBMC as this guy points out, and have apparently missed something. Are haxors targeting apple tv?
    • AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah, because copying sshd and editing a config file is difficult.

      Thanks for the jargon lesson by the way, I'm sure none of us knew that.

      You're comparing apples and oranges, one is a media centre and one is a games console, the xbox took a lot of hacking, reverse engineering hardware, etc which the apple did not.

      What I'm wondering is if apple made it easy to hack to get more sales from enthusiasts? After all a sale is a sale and they could have easily stopped *MOST* of this or at least made it harder with something such as checksum comparisons.
    • AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The importance at the moment is command line access, which makes hacking a million times easier.

      SSH is *MUCH* more secure than telnet, but for something like this it doesn't matter unless they plan on allowing traffic from outside the LAN.

      Don't listen to that fool, it really makes no difference to the average user and he's just showing off trying to show how 1337 he is :-)
  • Stumpy03, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3What major advantages does Apple TV have over my XBMC?? 300 bucks? No thanks.
    • nstern2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The only thing that I can see is that apple tv has an HDMI output and you can power it on from the remote. My only Gripe with XBMC is that you can't use the remote to turn the thing on.
    • AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm looking at getting one when there's a little more hacking going on and it's either A) Running linux or B) Got a semi decent interface for accessing other applications such as a web browser.

      The main advantages from my point of view are form factor, hide it behind the TV and it'd be convenient to use as a cheapo thin client or computer, Digital video and audio outputs.
    • justinlarsen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@nstern2

      there is a hardware hack that will allow you to do this.
    • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7* Power to do HD video decoding
      * 802.11n
      * Smaller size, less noise
      * HDMI
      * Ability to play iTunes Store content
    • AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"* Ability to play iTunes Store content"

      Yum, DRM, feed me up :-)
    • SpacedCowboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Well, it doesn't sound like a jet-engine under the TV...
    • Rekutyn, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3@re: AICkieran


      OSX is BSD. Why run Linux when BSD is already superior.
    • AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For a start, it's not BSD the kernel is mostly Mach (Fair enough the userland and SOME of the kernel is based on FreeBSD)

      It's also easier to run things such as MythTV on linux (Don't give me ***** about X on Mac) it's also easier to customize, less restrictive etc.

      OS X is a nice operating system don't get me wrong, but the whole "OS X is BSD" arguement annoys me, aye, bsd without half of the advantages of BSD.
    • kodek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@Rekutyn

      Because he feels like it, so shut the hell up and don't start another OS flame war.

      Edit: Too late!
    • AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I thank thee: Kodek
    • jues, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@nstern2:

      In regards to remote power on for the Xbox - you can buy one of those £5 ($5?) "Remote Control" plugs ( eg: http://tinyurl.com/2es8e2 ). Once you have that set, you just need to foce the power button on your Xbox to always be on (blue tack, sticky tape, etc). Now you can just power it off and on from the remote control plug.

      Team this solution up with a Logitech Harmony remote (which is way more responsive than the xbox remote) and the xbox becomes a bit more like a dedicated media center...

      ... apart from the bloody whine!
  • Rice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I hope some of the features of backrow make it into frontrow on Leopard.
  • theorem7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nor did it take long to go down. ; )

    Duggmirror caught it though:

    http://duggmirror.com/hardware/Apple_TV_Hacks_2/
  • HOTM, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Error establishing a database connection

    This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can't contact the database server at localhost. This could mean your host's database server is down."

    Yep, that didn't take long at all
  • ChicknBot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0When they digged the story of the Apple TV insides, I posted "NEXT: Apple hacks"

    Really I didn't think it was going to be so soon!!
  • colsandurz45, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2What's so great about the appleTV besides integration with the ipod. I just seems like a regular PVR to me. In fact, it looks pretty mediocre compared to Linux MCE.
    • Rekutyn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's the small footprint, low price, and BSD-ease-of-hacking fun times!
  • HairyPoter, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1MYTH BUSTED!
    The speed this hack was released is a proof to debunk that dumb Microsoft theory that MacOS X does not have many viruses and spywares because it has not as many users as windoze. When something is hackable (Apple TV case) or a crap (windoze) people find ways to exploit and destroy.

    Everything that happens to M$ or its products was not M$ faults, as for example:
    -- Vista do not sells = too much piracy;
    -- Windows has many viruses because it has many users;
    -- Leopard is not so original because Apple copied M$ ideas released ages ago;
    etc...

    So, MYTH BUSTED!
    • kodek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10If you can stick a screwdriver into a computer, it's hackable. It doesn't matter what OS it runs.
    • AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Firstly, i have to point out a flaw in your logic.

      Running sshd/apache/vlc/whatever != virus.

      Secondly, well done for contributing to the discussion, please crawl back into your hole.

      EDIT: Looks like you got me back kodek.
    • cjschmidt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Ye gods... what the hell are you talking about? We're using the term "hack" as in to modify, not some kind of virus or security crack. Basically, Apple left the thing open to user modification - which is great news for everybody.

      Watching non-DRM video on an AppleTV right now. Installing Xvid and divx codecs tomorrow.
    • flag564, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2"which is great news for everybody"

      Everybody?


      You mean the .2% of people that would actually attempt "hacking" one of these to get some use out of it?

      300.00 for a hacking project, how incredible!

      Must be nice to have money to toss like that.

    • Quix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Must be nice to have money to toss like that." - flag564

      Hey flag, some of us actually have jobs.
  • zakintosh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0They'll get their C&D at start of business on Monday. Apple makes money selling hardware. Apple sells hardware by making good software for it. The software and features will improve... and I would be really surprised if a USB port is really for "service and maintenance" on something that's so easy to take apart.
  • MonsterMagnet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Now if only someone could figure out how to open the USB port so a HD USB tuner could be inserted , making this puppy a DVR. I shall not hold my breath though.
  • SharkyTech, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Guess who's going to be getting a call from Apple's lawyers...
  • krikoko, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Who needs Apple TV? Noone! I use http://www.lordoftv.com
  • MonsterMagnet, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Heres a hack that will save you time and effort and keep money in your wallet

    www.*****.com

    nuff said
    • mrkakka, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I would like to buy that device, but the name does not contain the word 'apple' or the letter 'i' in it.

      AppleTV sucks, I'd rather watch my sht flush down the toilet
  • MrViklund, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1LOL do they have to have a stupid website for this? :P
  • Topher06, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Did anybody actually think that AppleTV wouldn't be easy to hack? Just like people thought that it would be hard to get Windows running on an Intel based Mac.

    Apple prettty much has given up on proprietary technology. They realized that using standard off-the-shelf components that are already widely available makes more sense then developing custom proprietry hardware. So enter the Intel based Mac, and the AppleTV which has basic PC components. Its means they can get a product to market quicker and minimize R&D (i.e. they can make more profit on their overpriced hardware using cheaper common components rather then expensive proprietary or exclusive gear).

    Its not going to take rocket scientists to run Linux on it, or even hack its rudimentary OS to support other codecs. They can run Linux on some of the moust obscure devices, if it has a microprocessor in it, Linux will run on it. So something that is running a P3 generation Pentium with standard hard drives, ram, I/O bus, etc doesn't require a huge stretch of the imagination.

    People are making much ado about nothing. The bottom line is even after modding the heck out of AppleTV, its still just a media extender. Save some money and mod a DLink or Linksys media router. Heck, they even have hard drive enclosures for under $90 that can connect and play back multimedia on a TV, it even comes with a remote.

    What people don't seem to get is the only value of AppleTV is its slick and intuitive interface. Sure you can GET other OS'es on it, and support other file formats, but then you will lose the one thing the Apple excels at, really really good UI. If I bought an AppleTV, it would be because of its good interface, and I wouldn't want to ruin it running some lousy or "almost there but not quite" interface just because it supports more features and file formats.
  • OhYeahRules, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Here's another cool site: http://appletv.wetpaint.com/page/Apple+TV+Hacks - the hacks wiki.
  • ThirdPrize, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, it keeps the kids off the streets doing this stuff. Not that they were the sort that went out much anyway. ;)
  • akatsuki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I would buy one if it could attach an external drive and serve it like the Airport Extreme base station. But for the money, an XBMC slaughters it.
  • dominiccarr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I really hope apple improves the apple TV's out of the box functionality with its next release, because it has so much potential.
  • atvman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0check out http://applehacks.blogspot.com for good stuff too.
  • dugem1, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1That's great find
    http://www.nasavo.com
    http://www.nasavo.com/acne
    http://www.nasavo.com/forex
    http://car.nasavo.com
    http://www.jurugan.com
    http://health.jurugan.com
    http://www.vrid.net
    http://laptop.vrid.net
    http://projector.vrid.net
    http://tire.vrid.net
    http://hyip.ej.am
    http://car.ej.am
    http://health.bryansoft.com
    http://hyipnews.freehostia.com
    http://hyipnews.freehostia.com/hyip
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.