The Ultimate Apple TV Hack On A Stick – Updated!

Posted May 30th, 2008 in Movies by Eddie V.

Update – Apparently the aTV is no longer available. If you head over to the Apple Core LLC website a message states that “Due to questions arising regarding the fair use of a particular file present on the aTV Flash, and conflicting opinions as to whether or not it falls under the fair use category, we have VOLUNTARILY discontinued offering the aTV Flash at this time.”

I happened to notice a posting on Twitter tonight by Leo Laporte, of TWIT fame, about a really easy hack he did to his Apple TV for $60. It’s called the aTV and it’s creators are Apple Core, LLC. According to the Apple Core website, aTV Flash is a USB flash drive that inserts into the AppleTV and will upgrade it to do all kinds of new things. Some features are the ability to play most video formats, play DVD without converting them, and browse the web with a Safari based web browser. All that and they claim that it will not void your warranty. So if your feeling brave, head on over to http://www.applecorellc.com and get your aTV flash drive.

Peter000

I tried this out and it was terrible. Really made the whole unit more unstable, and screwed up the sound (digitally dropped out every 2-3 seconds). Some of the apps it installed crashed all the time too. So I did a system restore and have been happy ever since.
ajay

Are you using v2.0.2 of tv?
Are you using v2.2 of aTV flash?
Have you been experiencing any problems with your tv before the flash install?

Just trying to ascertain why things didn’t work out for you.
CHASH

Sadly ajay, but I am forced to at least partly agree with Peter000, having extensively tried to use aTV Flash with three of my AppleTV’s, two 40′s and one 160. The symptom is multiple resets to the AppleTV main screen, which I interpret as app crashes. And yes, they are all up to date and have been factory restored multiple times as a troubleshooting measure, but stability is a real problem. I am currently working the situation with AppleCore, although admittedly I had to put the whole mess aside (for a couple weeks) and restore since it was consuming just too much time.

I should point out for those that are curious, that aTV Flash clearly takes AppleTV in the opposing direction from the intuitive and simple to use approach intended by Apple. So, I caution those who think this sounds good… Assuming my issues get resolved, then aTV Flash is great for tech tinkerers, but not (IMO) for those who appreciate the straightforward simplicity of AppleTV 2+ and don’t care to complicate it in any way…
CHASH

BTW, I will be glad to report back on a resolution…
ajay

Thank you for your candor CHASH. And yes, I would appreciate knowing how (or if) your issues are resolved.
islanddreamer

When Apple Core cancelled my order for the aTV Flash, I hunted around and found the aTV4Windows site. They have a product called the Patchstick. It’s a little bit geekier to install and requires a pc, but I think the end result is the same. Best of all, it only costs $15 for a year-long subscription.

Version 2.3 offers the following:
SSH: So you can transfer files to the AppleTV
ATVFiles: So you can view downloaded content
Perian, A52, Flip4Mac, Mplayer Codec’s: So you can watch DIVX, AVI, MP4, FLACK, + Many More Formats
NitoTV: A plugins for Networking, MPlayer + Much More
Sapphire: A plugin for watching Movies with IMBD downloaded content
CouchSurfer: A web-browser built into the AppleTV with Flash Support
Media Cloud: A networking client server Plugin

Allows:

Play most video formats (DivX, Xvid, AVI, WMV, RMVB + more)
Play DVD files WITHOUT converting them
Sync, organize and watch non-iTunes video files
Browse the web with a Safari based web browser
Stream media from UPnP media servers
View local weather forecasts
View RSS Feeds
Enable SSH access
All original Apple TV features remain intact
And much, much more…

Upgrades:

Subtitle Content
USB Support
Flash Support for Web Browser

The Ultimate Apple TV Hack On A Stick – Updated!

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