We have had XBMC 11.0 Eden for 8 months now and, if you are anything like me, it is time to begin the process of upgrading our XBMC installations to the new & improved XBMC 12.0 Frodo. The process should be fairly straight forward and essentially identical to the process we used for install the previous version of XBMC. Before we get started let’s clear the air on a few points so that we are all on the same page:

• This is a BETA release and as such may result in some unexpected behaviors.
• This is the 1’st BETA XBMC has released, there will be more to come.
• XBMC Frodo can cause a good time and may be habit forming.
• To install Frodo to Apple TV 1 you will need to:

- Visit OpenElec.tv regarding their 2.0 project
- Visit Stnlabs.comregarding their 2.0 project

How to install XBMC 12.0 Frodo (beta 1) APPLE TV 2 (Running iOS 5+)

Requirements

• Jailbroken ATV2 running iOS 5+
• Mac Computer (use Terminal App)
• Windows PC (use PuTTY App)

Step 1: Launch the “Terminal” or “PuTTY” application.

Step 2: Ensure that your computer and your Apple TV are on the same network.

Step 3: Connect to your Apple TV via SSH using the following commands.

• ssh root@[Your Apple TV’s I.P. Address]

Example: ssh root@192.168.2.18
This can be found under General/Network on your ATV’s main menu

Note: Should you receive an “Authentication Error,” copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window and press Enter, then continue.

• rm ~/.ssh/known_hosts

Step 4: Agree to any Security Prompts by typing “yes” (without quotations), then press Enter.

Step 5: When prompted for a Password, type the word “alpine” (without quotations) then press Enter.

Step 6: Copy and Paste the Following Commands into your Terminal App, pressing the Enter key after each. It’s important that you wait for each one to finish before moving onto the next. Don’t worry… you will know when each line is finished.

1)      apt-get install wget

2)      wget -O- http://apt.awkwardtv.org/awkwardtv.pub | apt-key add -

3)      echo “deb http://apt.awkwardtv.org/ stable main” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/awkwardtv.list

4)      echo “deb http://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/atv2 ./” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xbmc.list

5)      apt-get update

6)      apt-get install org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2

7)      reboot

Step 7: Once the Apple TV menu reloads, Launch XBMC into XBMC Frodo!

Step 8: To ensure the new build fits your screen, let’s enter the “Settings” sub menu under the “SYSTEM” heading.

Step 9: Select the “Appearance” tab from the left menu bar.

Step 10: Under the “Skin” menu, you’ll now want to choose “-4%” for the “Zoom” field so that your XBMC configuration will properly fit your television display. Depending on the television, you might have to play around with this, but it should work flawlessly at the “-4%” setting. Press “MENU” on your Remote Control to return back one level once this is done.

Congratulations! Your second generation Apple TV running iOS 5+ now has XBMC Frodo installed on it, and fitting on your screen. Now that wasn’t so bad… was it?

• More on FRODO from Apple TV Hacks : XBMC 12.0 Frodo (beta 1) released: One media center to rule them all!
• More on FRODO from XBMC.ORG
• Installation on other platforms.

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

If a jailbroken Apple TV loaded with XBMC 11.0 “Eden” was not enough for you, we have some great news. XBMC has just released their first public BETA of XBMC 12.0 “Frodo”. The team has been hard at work pushing out one of their fastest, and most feature-rich, upgrades in history. As of the release of Eden, XBMC’s current stable build that is likely installed on all of your Apple TV’s, the team promised the beginning of a new monthly building plan that would hopefully expedite the process of fixing bugs and updated releases. As of this week, it would appear that this plan has, in fact, worked.

For those of you who have been following XBMC you will notice that the naming paradigm has shifted with this release. Up to now, XBMC has named all of their releases according fantastical points on the map, either real or imagined, such as Camelot, Babylon, and Eden. With the release of 12.0, now in the “F” category, the team did something special in naming it FRODO. Where I initially thought the name was chosen to pay homage to one of my favorite literary characters from a ‘certain collection’ of stories, I was surprised to learn that it was actually intended to honor a team member. I will let them explain:

Ten years ago, an individual with the username Frodo joined the Xbox Media Player team, bringing along his open source software project called YAMP. With the addition of Frodo’s project the three founders, Frodo, d7o3g4q, and RUNTiME, released the first non-beta version of the Xbox Media Player – XBMP 2.0 – as open source software. Frodo then spearheaded the move from XBMP to the more feature rich XBMC, including acting as the primary author for the initial UI engine.

XBMC FRODO FEATURES (that ATV owners will enjoy):

• HD audio support, including DTS-MA and Dolby True-HD, via the new XBMC Audio Engine
• Live TV and PVR support [this is awesome news!]
• h.264 10bit (aka Hi10P) video software decoding for anime
• 64bit support in OSX to match the 64bit support in Linux
• Improved image support, allowing the database to accommodate numerous image types
• Improved Airplay support across all platforms
• Advanced Filtering in the library
• Advanced UPnP sharing numerous JSON-RPC updates, including PVR support, optimizations, better conflict handling, and better webserver support by Montellese
• PVR timeshift support (if the backend supports timeshift)
• the CD ripper now works in the background thanks to Spiff
• panoramic photo panning support

PLEASE NOTE

In hopes to give you the best information possible, we felt it would be worth pointing out that, though this is exciting, this is a BETA release! This version has yet to be labeled STABLE for a reason. For many people these builds work out just fine, as XBMC is a fantastic team, but this can vary from machine to machine. So in the heart of full-disclosure, here are a few words of warning from XBMC Developers themselves:

Needless to say, this is beta software. You should absolutely expect problems to occasionally crop up. At present, we are anticipating a number of issues as we switch XBMC over from the Eden addon repository to a new Frodo repository, including partly broken skins and various scripting/scrapers errors. Please bear with us if these problems do crop up. Additionally, PVR users will not be able to switch channels via the channel up/down buttons using their remotes or CEC due to a slight change in the way PVR keymaps are being handled. We are aware of this issue and should have it fixed by Beta2.

For those of you who may be chomping at the bit to get a glimpse of the newest build, in action, on your Apple TV(1 or 2) simply check back with us shortly. We will be posting a complete guide on how to install Frodo on your Apple TV!

More news on FRODO from XBMC.ORG.

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!