[mythtv-users] AppleTV with Linux

Wed Feb 20 19:54:33 UTC 2008

It is actually quite easy to do with the application loader from
awkwardtv.org. Then download the macos binarys linked on the wiki and add a
menu item to the application menu.

between the mythtv wiki and the awkwardtv wiki you can get it working in
under 30 minutes.  I don't have HD recording equipment yet, but it already
stutters a time or two when the OSD slides up or down. So I don't think
you'll get to HD this way.

The other issue I have is that the newer builds you have to select to
connect to the back end or not when you start mythtv - you can't get to the
button witht he appletv remote.  So I open a vnc connection click the button
and close vnc. I rarely exit out of mythtv frontend so it isn't a huge
problem for me, but it might be for some.

On Feb 20, 2008 1:33 PM, Josh White <jaw1959 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've seen videos on youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHP0Llu1AH0 )
> of a guy running mythtv right from the Apple TV interface (it takes 10
> seconds or so to load) but it looks to me like he's launching mythtv from a
> menu called "applications" or something like that (I can't read the
> menus...maybe others can).  I'm not sure if that's simply restarting the
> entire machine, loading Linux and loading mythtv on startup, or if its
> running on the Apple TV version of Mac OS.  If it's booting Linux, it's
> doing it awful fast.
>
> Anyway, if it works as well as he makes it look, I'd like to have that
> setup some day.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Gerald Brandt <gbr at majentis.com> wrote:
>
> > Has anybody tried an AppleTV with OSX and a myth frontend?
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Scott D. Davilla" <davilla at 4pi.com>
> > To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:10:39 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada
> > Central
> > Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] AppleTV with Linux
> >
> > >This is great news.  A low cost, small, low-noise HD capable
> > >frontend is like the holy grail.  Out of curiousity, how extensive
> > >are the changes you made to a base kernel in order to get to this
> > >point?  Meaning can someone with reasonable linux experience be able
> > >to get a box to the point you have?
> > >
> >
> > I'm currently backing out kernel changes that were made over the past
> > few months in trying to resolve the glitch. I might drop that path
> > and jump straight to the current MythBuntu distro kernel and restart
> > with that.
> >
> > With my new bootloader, kernel changes are minimal and are isolated to;
> > 1) imacfb (for console support)
> > 2) realtek (for analog audio support)
> > 3) IR support (there are two methods and I need to figure out which)
> >
> > If I do it correctly, I might not have to rebuild the kernel, just
> > two or three kernel modules.
> >
> > nvidia driver is currently the current 169.09 but I think the
> > previous versions will be ok. My gpu/vram clock adjustments using
> > nvidia-settings can be done after the nvidia driver is loaded so it's
> > just a script somewhere.
> >
> > Given reasonable linux experience, it's pretty easy once you get past
> > the point of creating the proper gpt GUID partitions. There are rules
> > and required gpt GUID formats which can only be created by a patched
> > parted under Linux or under OSX.
> >
> > You do have to make a decision of A) using the original internal HD
> > and resizing the last partition to add an ext3 root filesystem or B)
> > replace the internal and install linux to the new drive. If you
> > choose A) then backing up the original partitions is highly
> > recommended.
> >
> > Since the AppleTV boots linux using a secondary bootloader that looks
> > like a darwin mach_kernel, you have to keep the first three partition
> > GUIDs intact to get boot.efi to load the mach_kernel loaded. In the
> > past, one needed a bunch of OSX bits but I've eliminated that
> > dependency. You don't actually need two of the three original GUID
> > partitions but it seems to boot faster if they are present.
> >
> > For testing, I boot on a USB pen drive which has my rescue tools and
> > sshd. From that, I have a script that does a kexec to the kernel on
> > the internal drive. That way if I hose the internal kernel, I can
> > recover quickly.
> >
> > My current internal drive has three gpt partitions formatted the way
> > the appletv firmware expects. Then an ext2 for /boot and ext3 for
> > root and swap. This is "old style" to make the two flavors of older
> > bootloaders happy. The new bootloader will not require a separate
> > ext2 /boot and everything can live under root. It should also be
> > possible to boot using an external USB HD using the new bootloader.
> > Then you would not even have to crack the box (which is pretty easy).
> >
> > The real easy way to install is to create the partitions using the
> > patched parted and install a linux distro using an existing Linux
> > box. Then add the bootloader bits to correct partitions and grap a
> > copy of boot.efi from the appletv 1.1 update on the web. boot.efi is
> > the only file that cannot be distributed. chroot into this rootfile
> > system and rebuilt the kernel/initrd. Stick it in (or attach via USB)
> > and go.
> >
> >
> > Scott
> > --
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Scott D. Davilla                       Phone: 919 489-1757 ext 13 (tel)
> > 4pi Analysis, Inc.                            Fax:   919 489-1487 (fax)
> > 3500 Westgate Drive, Suite 403                email: davilla at 4pi.com
> > Durham, North Carolina  27707-2534            web: http://www.4pi.com
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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> >
> >
>
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