Apple TV hacked for use with MacBooks and USB drives

It seems like some folks (including us) just can't let their Apple TVs sit quietly next to their televisions, with the temptation for modification overcoming any thoughts of preserving the warranty. Now, those in need of a little inspiration have a pair of new hacks to choose from, neither of which involve minor surgery on the device. While it sort of defeats the purpose of the device, the first mod will let you hook up an Apple TV to your MacBook for a little small screen viewing, requiring only a patch to Apple TV's Finder.app and copying a couple of framework files from the Apple TV to the MacBook. Of course, the necessary patch isn't exactly readily available, with the folks at the appropriately-named Apple TV Hacks saying they're "evaluating the legalities" of releasing it. Also coming to us from the same site is a somewhat simpler mod for booting the Apple TV from a USB drive, which simply requires installing a duplicate copy of the Apple TV OS on the drive, hooking it up, and pressing a button combination on the remote while it boots. As Apple TV Hacks points out, that should open up the possibility of making modifications to the Apple TV without actually having to crack it open and remove the drive.

Read - Apple TV Hacks, "Apple TV running on a Macbook"
Read - Apple TV Hacks, "Booting the Apple TV from a USB drive"

[Andrew Jones @ Mar 27th 2007 12:03PM]

"Also coming to us from the same site is a somewhat simpler mod for booting the Apple TV from a USB drive, which simply requires installing a duplicate copy of the Apple TV OS on the drive, hooking it up, and pressing a button combination on the remote while it boots."

Ooooh, that's right - talk DIRTY to me!

[Josh* @ Mar 27th 2007 12:12PM]

So... it sends media from your MacBook, TO your MacBook...

[Johnny @ Mar 27th 2007 12:20PM]

I could see the advantage to booting from an external USB drive (to expand the HDD). Why on earth would you want to install an OS made for a $299 device on a $1100+ MacBook that already has a much better one?

[John @ Mar 27th 2007 12:52PM]

When will the Apple TV work on my Dell 2407?

[Siva @ Mar 27th 2007 4:15PM]

Doesn't the Dell 2407 have both DVI and Component. Try the DVI (HDMI to DVI cable). If the HDCP in AppleTV is preventing you from seeing anything on the Dell, then try the component video cables. I am pretty sure it will work since component does not have any built-in DRM (like HDMI). You should setup the AppleTV to output 1080i. That is 1920x1080i, the Dell is 1920x1200.

[KC @ Mar 27th 2007 1:02PM]

Useless. Why not just hook the external HDD to the MacBook and view the content from there? Sure it's fun to tinker around, but why not contribute that time and effort to developing a better open media center platform that works with multiple OSes?

[Argot @ Mar 27th 2007 1:11PM]

If they modify it a little bit more they will end up with a Mac mini...

[Kev50027 @ Mar 27th 2007 1:18PM]

It's easy to modify something so simple and (dare I say) useless.

[corgilabsG @ Mar 27th 2007 1:21PM]

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it. Engadget helps with the word 'hacked' jump the shark

-- Developing...

[Bill Jobs @ Mar 27th 2007 3:41PM]

Does the apple TV software(OS) actually optimize some kind of transcoding over the network? This is the only reason I could think of that would make running Apple TV on a Macbook cool.

I actually just got a Macbook to use as a home theatre pc and i played my first video last night. I had to copy the divx movie over to my Macbooks desktop as playing it over the network resulted in studdering. I tried a few formats but so far the only stuff i can play over the network is low res or AVC encoded stuff. I need to experiment more, but a regular ol divx movie gives studder, so another solution is pretty much needed.

So, Does the Apple TV do some kind of fancy transcoding over the network to optimize playback? Also what is the difference of Apple TV vs "Front Row" on a Macbook?

[Erik Josowitz @ Mar 27th 2007 5:40PM]

Doesnt the USB boot effectively allow you to expand the disk capacity without opening up the box? In other words, can't I load the image on a 300GB drive and boot from there and just ignore the (throwaway) internal 40GB drive?

[Galley @ Mar 28th 2007 9:44AM]

I wold like to be able to use my MacBook like a portable Apple TV when I travel. All of my content is on a 500GB external drive that I don't want to take with me.

[Rahim Virani @ Apr 7th 2007 6:56PM]

http://applehacks.blogspot.com/ has some good stuff on hacks too.