Do you have more than one Apple TV in your house? Are you the techy in your community, forced to install and set up XBMC on Apple TVs for all those people you know and love? What if there were an easy way to simply clone the XBMC installation from one device to multiple others? Well, you can. This process can be used for a variety of reasons, but the most popular would absolutely be:

• Backing-up your current XBMC set up (allowing you to restore to it at any time)
• Building an XBMC template (if you will) to help setting up other Apple TV’s quicker & easier
• Creating a standard of XBMC, including add-ons, for installing on your other iDevices (iPad, iPhone, etc.)

Whatever your reasons, this is a worthwhile skill to have. For the sake of clarity, for those of you who do not know, the Apple TV 1 and the Apple TV 2 differ from each other in that they bother run on different operating systems. The Apple TV 1 was originally build on the OSX platform, same as the older MACs. The Apple TV 2 on the other hand is built on the iOS platform. Same as the iPad, iPhone, & iPods. These differences will cause the process of cloning your Apples to vary dependent on which devices you own. That said, grab your ATV, your computer and let’s go:

Requirements

If you are using a Windows Machine

• WinSCP – File Manager
• PuTTY – Terminal App

If you are using a MAC machine

• CyberDuck – File Manager
• Terminal App (preinstalled)

[Extract The Items Needed For Cloning]

Step 1: We first need to open your File Manager. You will be met with either an option to open a Connection, if so select this option, or a group of boxes requiring input. Fill out the boxes using following sample. Note yours may look different but the information will be the same.

• At the top you will likely see a drop down menu that says “File Transfer Protocol.” Here you will need to select the option that says “SFTP” or “SSH”
• Server: Here you need to enter the IP address of your Apple TV
• Apple TV 1 (SILVER BOX) = Username: frontrow & Password: frontrow
• Apple TV 2 (BLACK PUCK) = Username: root & Password: alpine

Step 2: Now we will need to navigate to the following file location, and save a copy of the folder titled “XBMC” to your desktop, or any other location that you will remember. This will take some time as this file contains EVERYTHING pertaining to your XBMC installation:

• Apple TV 1 (SILVER BOX) = /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/
• Apple TV 2 (or any iDevice) = /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/

[REMEMBER] this is your CLONED XBMC folder. It is important that you take good care of this item as this is what we will use on the next machine… or your current machine should you simply be making a backup. Once this is done, all following steps will take place on the device you want to install the CLONED FOLDER on.

Installing The CLONED XBMC Folder

Step 1: Start with a blank canvas:

• Factory restore your target device (making sure you don’t upgrade to an un-jailbroken firmware)
• Jailbreak the Apple TV again
• Do a fresh Install of XBMC on the device.

Step 2: Launch XBMC… THEN EXIT XBMC… on the same device.

Step 3: Connect to your to the Apple TV using the File Manager as we did in beginning of this guide.

Step 4: Navigate to the following file location:

• Apple TV 1 (SILVER BOX) = /Applications/XBMC.app/Contents/Resources/XBMC/
• Apple TV 2 (or any iDevice) = /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/

Step 5: Once you can see the XBMC folder on your current machine we need to do two things:

• Rename the XBMC folder, on the Apple TV, to “OLDXBMC”
• Upload the CLONED XBMC FOLDER, from your desktop, that we saved on your computer earlier in this guide. This may take some time to upload as this file contains EVERYTHING pertaining to your XBMC installation. So give it time

Step 6: Now we will need to connect to our device via the Terminal App, 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 7: Once connected we will input one command.

• chown -R mobile:mobile /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/

Step 8: Reboot and Enjoy

Congratulations! Not only do you have a safe backup of your XBMC installation, but you can now set up twice as many devices in a quarter of the time.

Read also: Top 10 best XBMC addons for Apple TV 1 and Apple TV 2.

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Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

For many of our reads, there is no question regarding what XBMC is or how to use it. That said, we never find a shortage of folks who don’t understand XBMC’s add-ons, plugins, tools, menus, skins, libraries, third party extras, etc. It was with this in mind that we have decided to dedicate a bit of time every month to breaking down ALL THINGS XBMC. Our goal is to give information that could greatly help new comers, and veterans, alike. I, personally, aim to bring tips and tricks to shed light on many items that have seemingly alluded many users of XBMC as a home multimedia solution. So, if you find yourself always helping fiends and family with their XBMC systems, bookmark this page, and stay tuned for the months to come! We are going to get the masses ready to use, and comfortable with, Xbox Media Center (XBMC).

Though this article may seem ‘to basic’ for the tech elite that frequent this pages, please note that this article is simply a launching point for our ALL THINGS XBMC series. We will not be breaking down any walls today, but rather shedding light on XBMC in general. We want to take a broad brush and give you all an idea of what XBMC is and does. We will then use this article as a guideline for the pieces to come.

What is XBMC?

XBMC is an award-winning FREE, open source (GPL), software media player and entertainment hub for digital media. XBMC is currently available for Linux, OSX, Windows, iOS, & even Android. XBMC has been designed to be the perfect companion for your Apple TV (1, 2, and someday your 3). Supporting an almost endless range of remote controls, and combined with its beautiful interface and powerful skinning engine, XBMC feels very natural to use from the couch and is the ideal solution for your home theater – multi media center.

Essentially, XBMC offers users the ability to watch personal content, as well as content found on the web, on their Television. It makes itself a central interface for thousands, if not millions, of playable content. It is built with the ability to install add-ons, skins, scripts, and more, all with the purpose of expanding its functionality. The software is, by far, the most feature rich solution on the market. XBMC is only limited by the lack of understanding of its users. This is a situation where the more you know, quickly equates to an unparallelled television experience!

Items We Intend To Cover:

- How to install on Apple TV
- How to navigate & understand XBMC’s menu options
- XBMC’s library: how to add, remove, & customize it’s content
- XBMC scripts? Yes, they are useful!
- How to stream content from the Web within XBMC
- How to install add-ons & repositories
- How to change & customize skins on XBMC
- Using AirPlay & mobile apps with XBMC
- Watching live television on XBMC
- Watching movies on XBMC
- Supercharging your current XBMC installation with XBMC Hub Wizard

Stay tuned for the next tutorial!  In the meantime, you can check out our list of Top 10 best XBMC addons for Apple TV 1 and Apple TV 2.

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Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

It now seems as if it has been years since we began the wait for an Apple TV 3 jailbreak! The truth is, I have grown tired of the wait and decided to look into what I could do with my existing Apple TV 1 & Apple TV 2. What I found was an tool known as OpenELEC 2.0! OpenELEC is one of the projects that aims to give users the ability to install XBMC as a standalone operating system for a wide variety of devices. What OpenELEC has done is build a stable version of XBMC using Linux and then create an installable package, integrated with a host of drivers, for a growing number of machines, including: old & new laptops, old & new desktop computers, raspberry pi boxes, and, yes, even your old Apple TV 1! Sadly, due to the software/hardware, the Apple TV 2 is not supported.

OpenELEC is not, necessarily, new to the Apple TV scene. What is new is that they have recently released OpenELEC 2.0, a stable version of their software based on XBMC Eden. This gives the Apple TV a strong and stable, standalone, XBMC experience. With it being an Eden build, it even offers your little silver box AirPlay! The team has added a few functionality increases to XBMC and even has a custom group of add ons and services that are made available to OpenELEC users only. These tools alone, make this a project worth looking at! If you are interested, you can find more specific information for this project at openelec.tv. To save you the visit, here are some of the key points made by their team:

What is OpenELEC?

Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center, or OpenELEC for short, is a small Linux distribution built from scratch as a platform to turn your computer into a complete XBMC media center. OpenELEC is designed to make your system boot as fast as possible and the install is so easy that anyone can turn a blank PC into a media machine in less than 15 minutes.

Key Features:

• It’s completely free
• Full install only 80-125MB
• Minimal hardware requirements
• Trivial install onto HDD, SSD, Compact Flash, SD card, pen drive etc
• Optimized builds for Atom, ION, Intel, Fusion etc
• Simple configuration via XBMC
• Plug and Play external storage
• File sharing out of the box

Required?

1. Mac, or Linux, computer
2. USB Stick,with at least 1 Gig of memory (to be on the safe side)
3. Apple TV 1
4. Remote Control
5. 10-20 minutes

STEP 1:
Connect the USB key to your machine, then open your Terminal app (For Mac it is located in /Applications/Utilities) and cut/paste the following commands to download the AppleTV SwissArmyKnife USB creator script for Mac OS X:

• curl -O http://chewitt.openelec.tv/atv_swissarmyknife_osx.sh
• chmod +x atv_swissarmyknife_osx.sh
• sudo ./atv_swissarmyknife_osx.sh

STEP 2:

The script will ask you confirm the /dev/disk# for the USB Drive. It runs with root privileges so please be careful with your selection! You will see a list of all current drives available on your machine… so simply look for the name and size of your thumb drive. Once the target device has been confirmed the script will repartition the USB Stick, download files needed to boot the AppleTV (11MB) and then install them to the thumb drive. It should take no more than a couple of minutes to complete, at best.


PLEASE NOTE: If you choose the wrong drive, you could accidentally delete important content. Make sure you read the list of available devices carefully. Mine, for example was a 2 GIG drive that I named UMOUCH-ATVH. Once I knew the drive, I entered “/dev/disk2″ and hit Enter. You are then prompted to confirm the election… type in “Y” for yes. When complete, your output will match the image below:.STEP 3:
Power the AppleTV OFF and then connect the USB Stick to the single USB port, between the Ethernet port and the Power Cable on the back of your device.

STEP 4:
Power the AppleTV ON (Plug it in). After 10-15 seconds you should see the Grey/Blue OpenELEC logo on the screen, then the “SwissArmyKnife script” will start and confirm the current keyword function. The default keyword is “install”. This is where the device will download the OpenELEC software from the OpenELEC website.

STEP 5:
Before anything destructive is done, the installer will pause for roughly 30 seconds, and display a warning message; this ensures you enough time for you to power the AppleTV off (remove the power cable) before anything is changed. After the 30 second wait the installer continues. 

What is Happening  (advanced):

Once it completes, a message will be displayed telling you it is safe to remove the USB key and reboot.

That’s It! If you followed the steps correctly, you should have XBMC running as your standalone operating system! If you had any troubles with the process, openELEC has a great source for troubleshooting any, and all, issues: Troubleshooting USB Key Creation & Opperating System!

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Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

XBMC has finally been released for the new Apple TV. Here you have all the instructions you need to get it working on your device.

NOTE: the following HOW-TO requires you to have Jailbroken ATV2 version 4.1 or 4.2.1.

Here is how to jailbreak your ATV2:
How to jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.2.1 with Seas0nPass
How-To: Jailbreak Apple TV 2G on iOS 4.2.1 with PwnageTool

Installing XBMC

Step 1 (accessing the Apple TV): in the Terminal application on your Mac, enter the following:

ssh root@AppleTV.local

or

$ ssh root@<your ATV2 IP adress>

if AppleTV.local doesn’t work (find your atv IP address in Settings ->General -> Network).

Use “alpine” as your password if you haven’t changed it already.

• If you named your Apple TV something other than “AppleTV” then you need to replace the text above.
• The first time you do this, it might take a few moments to establish a connection.

Step 2: Paste the following code into Terminal (line by line; hit Enter after each line)

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

$ apt-get update

$ apt-get install org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2

After XBMC is successfully installed, Frontrow (ATV2 home screen) will restart and you will see XBMC in it.

Here is how to get XBMC if you have already installed aTV Flash or nitoTV:

• aTV Flash: download XBMC via Maintenance –> Manage Extras.
• nitoTV: install the latest nitoTV to auto-install XBMC

You may also want to read
XBMC for Apple TV 2 now available
How to Install Plex on Apple TV 2G
AirFlick Streams Non-iTunes Data to Apple TV 2 (video)

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!

XBMC, the fantastic media center you’ve been enjoying since it hit your old Apple TV in 2008, has finally been released for the second-generation Apple TV. XBMC supports a very complete spectrum of audio and video multimedia file formats and codecs right out-of-the-box. Today’s release is a full XBMC install, this is not a remote or thin client streamer. It features full hardware decode for 720p/1080p movies, network files sharing and “everything else you know and love about XBMC.”

In his conversation with TUAW’s Megan Lavey, Scott Davilla, the main developer behind the XBMC for iOS, said that XBMC’s add-ons and skins as well as Python scripting will work with XBMC for Apple TV. He also said that currently the built-in web server is disabled to focus on the base app and that there are plans to integrate AirPlay into all Apple-oriented (iOS, ATV2 and Mac OS X) versions of XBMC.

XBMC for ATV2 is available through an apt-get install and it requires the device to be already jailbroken. You can find all the instructions here.

You may also want to read
How to jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.2.1 with Seas0nPass
How-To: Jailbreak Apple TV 2G on iOS 4.2.1 with PwnageTool
AirFlick Streams Non-iTunes Data to Apple TV 2 (video

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!