[mythtv-users] AppleTV dumb questions...

Brad DerManouelian myth at dermanouelian.com
Sun Jun 8 18:23:07 UTC 2008


On Jun 8, 2008, at 9:52 AM, Sarah Katherine Hayes wrote:

> I've been poking around looking for a replacement for my deceased EPIA
> MII10K (the cap swap didn't help).  And the AppleTV units seem to be a
> runner, admittedly I've a composite/svideo/SCART SD TV so I've begun
> looking at the various hacks to bolt it to this (the softmod composite
> over green/chroma looks promising).
>
> I'm assuming MythTV can run as an application on the AppleTV, is this
> still the case?
>
> One thing I'm worried about is the initial setup of the device, I  
> assume
> it won't do anything odd when I wire it up to an SD TV just bring up a
> settings screen at some ubiquitus low resolution to allow for wifi
> configuration and such?
>
> Any advice from ATV users?  For warned of problems is for armed after
> all.

I spent a couple of days getting my AppleTV up and running with  
Mythbuntu. After some frustrations, I finally got it working this  
morning. It boils down to getting a USB drive and plugging it into  
your already working linux box. Rebuild parted so you have the right  
stuff to make a bootable ATV partition. Partition the USB drive into 2  
partitions. 1 to boot, 1 with a MythBuntu install iso copied onto it.  
Boot the ATV with the USB drive. Repartition/format the disk in the  
ATV. Install the ATV Bootloader onto it, then launch the MythBuntu  
disc from the USB drive and install. Then there are some post-install  
stuff you have to follow as well. It's sort of a lot of work and I  
nearly put everything back to the way it was, took the ATV back and  
picked up a Mac Mini in its place, but now that it's all working, I'm  
really happy. I don't think I ever would have gotten everything  
working if I wasn't already familiar with Linux and MythTV. (The lirc  
stuff and remapping the keys to use a remote with so few buttons was a  
pain at first.)

The other thing you need to consider is how you will hook up your  
Apple TV. It's only got HDMI and component outputs. I have an HDMI to  
DVI connector on mine and I'm outputting to a 20" Apple Cinema Display  
which looks beautiful in my bedroom. I'm not sure how you plan on  
getting video to your SD TV, but it is a consideration.



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