Apple TV running on a Macbook

PLEASE: Take the stickers off that doze laptop. Sorry, it just bothers me to look at them, and I always feel the need to peel them off... Thank you Apple for not putting stickers all over my MBP.

Yes, but how?

Now, where can we get these files? And a full tutorial would also be nice.

Guys, you're so great!
Can you share the file and a tutorial somewhere (e.g. over bittorrent)?

I feel a MacMini/AppleTV Hybrid coming! Woohoo!

Ok, we've updated the tutorial to be more comprehensive.

any idea where we can find the patched finder? help me at least a little bit:)

can you confirm if the keyboard and mouse are working?

i'm slightly confused by this hack. From what I understand, you have appletv running on normal OS X. can you use the rest of OS X as normal (ie is it just like an application)?

also are you not able to simply get it so the apple tv os works on a mac?

Apple tv os is tiger

me-

Yes the keyboard and mouse, and remote all work fine.

mhuk01-

The Apple TV uses a modified version of OS X, so this is as good as getting the 'Apple TV OS' to work.

We have replaced the Finder, which goes fullscreen to the front of the display, but other apps can still be run with some fiddling.

so the original os is a cloned version of Mac OS X as opposed to a cloned version of AppleTV OS X

Can find the app here http://www.twkmedia.co.uk/cgibin/Finder.zip

mhuk01 - Yes, I'll adjust the tutorial to make that clearer.

Some one upload a torrent to deminoid please. If you do not have an account I will you can email me at bribas@sbcglobal.net

sorry Tom but it still isnt clear. If appletv is running on an os which contains other applications, it has to be MacOSX right?

for this to be running a slightly modded AppleTV OSX (ie a copy of the appletv harddrive) then the startup logo would come up on boot and there would be no other applications on the OS.

the url http://www.twkmedia.co.uk/cgibin/Finder.zip doesn't work. Says it's a classic app when you add .app to it.

It is neat to turn a more expensive laptop into a less expensive Apple TV. I think a better way to do this would be to run the Apple TV OS in a virtual machine on a MAC OS X host. Best of both worlds that way.

What happens when you put a DVD in the drive (booted into [apple]TV)? Will it play?

This is perfect. I've got an old powerbook hooked upto a TV being a media server for the TV. If I can now load the AppleTV OS on it, it'll be a beauty. Especially if I Can switch back and forth on it.

Why is a patched Finder necessary in the first place?

What is incompatible about the AppleTV Finder that it won't run on a stock OS X install?

because it scans your hardward, when it realises that the hardware isn't appletv's, it simply doesn't load.

This looks all very good, but I don't exactly see the point at the same time, when you can do this in front row. Plus have to wait for a longer bootup...

I can verify ..... THIS IS BEAUTIFUL.

I have it running on an Intel Mac Mini - everything works beautifully. I can sync to iTunes, stream from iTunes. And best of all, I still have file sharing enabled, so I can modify the file system at will.

I now have the AppleTV, and my Mac Mini based version - this is great.

So where do I clone the copy of the new OS X? On a new partition?

The Apple TV finder does a hardware check.

THe patched finder above works fine. You don't even need a clean OSX for it, just make sure you have the two frameworks in the right place and launch it. (But you won't be able to quit it without logging in with ssh and killing it.)

from other hacks, it would appear that the appletv can run osx apps (e.g. people are running apache/ssh etc)

if this is the case, i would have thought the 'holy grail' would be to get eyeTV running on the appletv, so that the appletv can be used as a PVR. (essentially this is what most people expected of the appltv anyways)
does this run? does the USB port acknowledge USB hardware?

i guess this depends on how much is in the 'reduced osx' , otherwise this might require osx to be somehow installed on the appletv

Will this work on a MBP? What about a PBG4? Thanks, I'm really excited to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo Mac, and this will be one of the first things I try!

Has anyone come across any problems installing this on a macbook yet? When I launch the patched finder, it spits this error out:

Finder[367] *** +[QCPatch loadPlugInsInFolder:]: selector not recognized
Finder[367] *** Uncaught exception: *** +[QCPatch loadPlugInsInFolder:]: selector not recognized
Trace/BPT trap

Anyone know how this can be fixed?

"We are evaluating the legalities of releasing a patch file for the Finder, but currently we are too afraid of Apple Legal."

Well, can't you host it long enough for other sites to pick it up? Then once you get the C&D, you remove it and that's that..

So am I correct in my understanding that in addition to the patched finder you also need the two AppleTV framework files to get this going? If so, that means that you will need access to an AppleTV drive, correct?

It works on a MBP, but will not, and cannot work on a PBG4 or any PowerPC for that matter. Binary includes x86 version only.

While this seems like a novel thing; I hardly find it useful, or worthwhile to turn my $2500 computer into a $300 iTV...... I think I'd buy the Apple TV and leave this one alone..... I've got better things to do with my time.

Just my 2C

Z

is this patched Finder a universal binary? (would it run on PPC macs?)

Could someone make a automator action or an app for copying the files?

2 Joraff
I`ve got the same error on my clean install of OS X, however it is 10.4.4 only. On my latest install 10.4.9 it works fine. Isn`t that your case??

that's what i did too, but it wouldn't load the new finder for me.

Mar 27 12:23:49 computer FrontRow[580]: Message Handler Installation Failed: bootstrap_check_in(): 0x44c: Bootstrap not privileged\n
Mar 27 12:23:49 computer FrontRow[580]: No matching IR micro server found.
Mar 27 12:23:49 computer FrontRow[580]: VERS: failed to get ImageVersion for display
Mar 27 12:23:49 computer FrontRow[580]: VERS: failed to get BootImageVersion for display
Mar 27 12:23:49 computer FrontRow[580]: Unsupported hardware - Exiting

Can someone just patch a whole install of the OS (SSH, Remote Desktop, Xvid, DivX, etc.) that can just be torrented and then restored to a USB drive that i can then just plug into my MBP, hold down option when booting up, and use the Apple TV OS?

I don't understand how a fully patched version hasn't been done like this yet (or maybe it has and i just need a url) and the fact that you need to do a full install of OSX.......can it be done with leaving the existing install intact?

I can't get it to work at all. Tried copying the OSBoot from the torrent over onto the disk and starting, won't boot. Tried doing this and then doing the finder patch, won't boot. Have tried installing a new 10.4.4 and doing the finder patch, no finder loads at all, just the dock with Dashboard as the only open app. Tried copying an existing 10.4.9 onto the disk and then doing the finder patch, same as with 10.4.4. What gives? How can it be done? Can those that have actually done it share their exact steps?

Working like a charm on MacBook CD

Congrats. You turned a $1000 laptop into a single-purpose appliance. Sign me the fuck up...

Did the install on my iMac using Bootcamp to create the new partition and then I just followed the steps and it works great on my iMac (Intel). Here's a screencapture screencapture.

@grouch: it was just for testing and fun, i'm not going to use it :)

I am trying to test this, but I can not find the Finder.app file. The above site has removed the file.

done everything shown above (apart from manually dragging the files etc, as i didn't know the correct path). set the permissions also. The finder just won't launch! any ideas?

okay, i understand this chellange, but:

i have FRONT ROW with QUICKTIME with all codecs,
EYETV and a FULL PAL 768x576px resolution on my macbook or mac mini incl. file sharing ...

i can not understand this hype and appletv...???

Benefits of Apple TV: You can rent movies, buy music and shows from iTunes with the remote. Screensaver doesn't take paused movie out of full screen.
Better on Mini: Full codec support


Don't comment if you aren't interested.

Can someone PLEASE post a working link to the file downloads

Got it running on a seperate partition on the macbook. Runs beautifully. Synced some media with an old old old crappy PC in the house (no other macs) and my external drive.

Works fine, but I had the idea that "i can just share media between the two drives" or at least be able to copy from my main os x installation to the atv. Not so.

AppleTV acts as an iPod, keeping a Media folder with F01, F02, F03 etc folders and randomly assigned names for your music, photos and movies.

No big surprise, the surprise is...it keeps that folder on my other partition, not the partition that the appletv finder is installed on.

If i had another mac or a PC worth its weight in anything other than shit, I'd just set my external up and use it as a media server for both my os x installation and my appletv install, but for now, that's a no go.

The idea here would be to have an application like one of the hundreds for the ipod that's able to decode that appletv craziness and enable you to add content to the appletv without being synced to an itunes library when you want to do it. same idea as "i dont want to use itunes to copy stuff to my ipod", "i don't want to have to fire up this crappy pc every time i want to throw something on appletv"

Great job guys. This is coming along great.

When I try to copy Backrow.framework, it says that sme items have special permissions and can't be copied. I am on an administrator account and have no restrictions. Please help!!!!

I was able to get it running on my MB CD without re-installing to another drive. I copied the Finder.app files to my Home directory and did the patching on that file. Then I double clicked on that patched copy of Finder and Apple TV worked. There are still some issues with not being able to quit without SSH and the volume control doesn't seem to work for me, but it does work. Maybe a few more patches and we'll be set.

Would this work on an "OSx86" PC and not an app as OS X will run with some mods.

Great guide. It is helpful to me.
Take a look at step-by-step guide to convert DVD, video files to Apple TV at
http://www.dvdtoappletv.net/

Wow I finally did it. Took all day though. Heres how I did it.


I used apples boot camp to split my drive into 2 partitions. I made my second partition 20g, but that its actually kind of large if you don't plan on storing media on your aTV. Then I used the disk utility from the mac OS X install disk to format my second partition to the MAC Journaled format. Then I downloaded a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner. Thats a free application that will exactly copy files from one drive to another regardless of permissions. Make sure you get the BETA version though, its much better. In the application, set the target drive as your main HD partition, and the source as the drive you want your files to be copied to. Now you dont need to copy your whole HD over to your other partition, chances are it wont even fit. So i picked certain things I could leave out such as movies, pictures, music, a whole bunch of applications and application support files located in the library, apple audio loops...and so on. You can decide what is important to copy and what is not. It is manditory that you keep everything in the system folder and all the frameworks. Anything that you suspect to be a system file needed to run the operating system, you should copy over. Then hit copy. I ran into some problems and I was getting an error message saying "Too many files open" If you get that, uncheck some items from the source an copy over a little at a time. This can be a time consuming process. Also, make sure the " Delete items that don't exist on the source" button is NOT checked. Once you have made a copy of your operating system, try booting into it by restarting and holding down command. When the drives pop up select the one labled EFI boot. It will take a little while, but if the new operating system loads without any problem then congratulations, your half way there. Restart and go back into your primary partition. So to make things a little less complex, I renamed my new drive partition "FreshOSX" which is the volume name used in all the code below. At this point you should make sure you have a patched finder.app file. I dont know where you can get one but I'm sure its floating around the net somewhere. The file is 6.6Mb in size and wont appear to have any extension. Dont try to give it one. Many people have been giving the file a .app extension and that will not work. Just leave it as is. Open the terminal and run the following code:

cd /Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/CoreServices/
sudo cp -pr ./Finder.app /Volume/FreshOSX/System/Library/CoreServices/.
cd /Volumes/FreshOSX/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/
sudo cp /path/to/patched/Finder .
sudo chown root:wheel Finder
sudo chmod 755 Finder

Next you must copy over 2 additional Frameworks from the Apple TV to the OS X install:

cd /Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/
sudo cp -pr ./iPhotoAccess.framework /Volumes/FreshOSX/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/.
sudo cp -pr ./BackRow.framework /Volumes/FreshOSX/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/.

I noticed a typo in the code from the appletvhacks.net site. Anytime you see "/Volume" it should be "/Volumes" with an S. Just a minor typo but the code wont run unless its correct. I have corrected it in the code above.

After you have done all that, reboot into your EFI partition. I will be just like logging into any other mac, type your username and password if needed. Then you should see a desktop and a dock, but only breifly. It will go away on its own and apple tv will boot up. ENJOY!

I hope this guide made sense. Its been a long day trying to get this to work.

I've also got a method where you don't need to reinstall at all. I just create a new user account and whenever you login to that account it launches AppleTV. I guess I could have just double-clicked on the .app, or replace front row, but that's what I came up with. You can try it out here: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopi...

A few comments. Got it working (quite easy) on a mac mini intel core solo. Everything seems to work great! A few issues I've noticed.

- Volume doesn't seem to work
- Would it be possible to produce a patch so that the appletv backrow could be quit to return back out to the finder?

I popped in a DVD to test and although appletv won't play it i hear the sound in the background. Would someone be able to hack it to enable an extra button "play dvd".

Just some thoughts -- looking forward to updates -- this rocks guys!

To who posted "What's the point?" messages:
The point is not to turn your expensive laptop into a $300 product. The point is that this is one of many steps in understanding how to further modify the Apple TV.

Sounds like the Apple TV OS will be the next version of Front Row in Leopard. Why else would it be so easy to perform this hack?

Could someone tell us how to use SSH to quit "Finder"? Thanks!

I was just reading some of the replies and and a comment on Demonoid from a guy who made the Finder patch but renamed the app and the .plist inside to "Front Row" then replaced the FrontRow from the CoreServices, repaired permissions and rebooted, so every time he called front row from his remote it will pop up...

And he seems to have the issue with not quitting the app, I was wondering if somebody tried to activate the hidden Finder option to add a "quit item" to the menu via tinkertool or something like that, so you could quit via command-q.


I'm dying to try it but I'm stuck with a MacMini PPC.

If this works I'm gonna make the change to intel...

Please notify if this could work.

*MUCH* more interesting would be the opposite: Getting a full, regular MacOS X to run on AppleTV. That would give us a *very* cheap Mac...

What's needed for that? Hardware drivers? USB driver?

Thanks! It works on my MacBook Pro.

I have a alternative way to do it.
Just copy the backrow and iphotoaccess to your privateframework of existing system.
and Copy the patched Finder.app to /Applications, you can also change the name. For example, I called it AppleTV.app.

and, just double-click on AppleTV, and you got your AppleTV up and running! :P

---
BTW, my MBP only gets 1280x800 res., it will switch to this mode before entering application, and System Preferences will stuck at the Loading Display... until reboot.
and the only way to shutdown Apple TV is using SSH from another computer and kill the process. ^^

Please ppl, link doesn't work.... (

Will it play the cool startup video that comes with the AppleTV?

you can find the Hacked files here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/23171265/AppleTVHac...

Or the AppleTV OS Image disk here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/23005920/OS.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23006031/OS.part2.rar

It work´s fine on my mac mini core solo!
But... it don´t play any Video Media like the trailers from the apple website...
Has anyone the same or a similar error and solved it already?

Please, use a stand or some books for your next video. Or use Valium, but keep that camera steady...

Creating .pkg ;) thanx Zero

No, It wont play the start up video. Im still trying to figure out how to use the ssh quit so could someone help?

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/986945/Apple_TV... ;)

Ton "quit" Finder through ssh, log into the AppleTV-thing-machine and enter "killall Finder", ENTER and done.

Try googling "kill finder command via SSH OSX" for your Finder woes.

Hello, where can I download the Finder file?

Can you get the elgato Digital TV Hybrid to work on the AppleTV USB port?

http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_e...

Full TiVo style recording.
pump video directly into AppleTV with eyeTV products.

eyeTV actually could make the AppleTV a USEFUL DVR product.

2 Fixed with Pkg's
New version -> http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/1002016/Apple_T...

Thanx

What is the passwords to the RAR files?

I tried the AppleTV 1.1 DMG and it doesn't do anything on a MBP

What am I doing wrong?

Hi, i'm not understanding how to use this Apple_TV_1.1.dmg, what must I do whit this package?
Must I install it on my mac os x disk? And then?
Sorry for my stupid questions but I'm not understanding...
Thanks.

Hey, if you don't have an idea of what the hell's going on here or you're too afraid to do something wrong, check out this easy step-by-step guide to turn your mac into an Apple TV

http://robles.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/semi-off...

I've posted a complete procedure on how to install Back Row on a Intel Mac and call it with the Apple remote.
You can also quit it without restarting and you keep your Original Finder.

http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?...