NOTE: You do this at your own risk. This is not a step by step and it assumes you have some knowledge of Linux and that you have made an image of your ATV hard disk before proceeding. This is only intended to be a guide to help those having issues with Ubuntu/XBMCBuntu/Mint on ATV1. If you can not get through this, we can sell you a preinstalled thumb drive. Contact us for current pricing and information. Also if this guide is helpful, consider donating using the paypal link on the left column.

I used XBMCBuntu Frodo beta. It has been downgraded to Eden 11, and updated to Frodo 12, and now 12.1 . It is based on Ubuntu 12.04 Precise so this pretty much applies to installing precise as well. If installing Ubuntu or Mint you may need to also install the generic kernel instead of the PAE kernel. You should do this upon initial ATV1 boot to linux.

Here are the tricks I learned while refining an installation of xbmcbuntu on Apple TV

IMPORTANT: first connect Apple TV 1 to HDMI TV, Update ATV1 to Apple OS latest. Then go to settings and set HDMI output to RGB High. If not connected to HDMI TV this can not be done.

I will not go into detail of the ATV Bootloader installation here that is well documented everywhere however most of the Linux distros referenced in those posts are older. My goal is to cover Xbmcbuntu/UbuntuPrecise12.04

I found the easiest way to make the apple TV bootloader to work is to leave it in “auto” and use an old style Grub menu.lst (grub 1) .

You should first test the ATV bootloader once you have created it, and see if the apple TV starts a boot sequence. You can then connect the USB or Hard disk to a USB or IDE port on a PC and proceed with the installation on a PC. if booting from USB thumb drive or USB hard disk it is important to understand that SOME ATV units will not boot to a thumb drive if no hard drive is installed. I have never figured out why but some will also not boot to USB at all , even with Hard Disk installed. If you can not boot to a thumb drive or USB disk, you can get a USB to PATA (IDE) adapter and do the install by removing the ATV drive.

Installation of Linux
Because the ATV 1 is quirky it is easiest to do the install on a desktop PC I strongly recommend disconnecting all hard disks other that the ATV hard disk before proceeding.

Boot your PC to XBMCBuntu, Ubuntu or Linux Mint CD or DVD. Perform a custom partition install to ATV Hard disk or USB thumb drive, and install to an EXT3 type filesystem, without erasing the ATV Bootloader partition (THIS MUST BE GPT PARTITION!). I dont think the ATV bootloader is compatible with EXT4 or at least it never worked for me. During the install you should also create a 500Meg swap space, and after the install note the UUIDs of swap and system volume. You can use “sudo blkid” or get them, or by running Gparted.

After the install is complete, create /boot/grub/menu.lst and put the following in the file. Make sure the owner is root, and that you change <UUID>  to the UUID of your disk that you got while running the live CD/installer. Note the processor.max_cstate=2 that is important and must be added if you already have a Grub1 menu.lst

title        XBMCBuntu, kernel 3.2.0-34-generic
uuid        <UUID>
kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-34-generic root=UUID=59b56a95-de9c-4c04-ba25-21c057b090dd ro quiet nosplash processor.max_cstate=2
initrd        /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-34-generic

now we will edit /etc/fstab so it looks like this using your UUID and your SwapUUID. You probably will not have to change thew UUIDs unless you have reformatted or changed partitions in some way. The important part is the last line that causes the ATV Bootloader partition to not mount. This prevents you from having to see it in file dialogues.
# / was on /dev/sde3 during installation
UUID=<UUID> /               ext3    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sde2 during installation
UUID=<SwapUUID> none            swap    sw              0       0
LABEL=Recovery  Recovery  hfsplus  noauto

You should now have an ATV bootable hard disk or thumb drive. Proceed to install on ATV1 and boot.

Post installation and first ATV boot. You can do this from ssh if you have ssh access.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install linux-sound-base alsa alsa-utils nvidia-common nvidia-current nvidia-current-updates nvidia-settings nvidia-settings-updates xbmc git-core libusb-dev pkg-config g++

sudo apt-get autoclean

edit /home/xbmc/.xbmc/userdata/advancedsettings.xml to be the following, removing any other content. You will probably have to create this file, It may not exist.

<advancedsettings>
<loglevel>0</loglevel>
<useddsfanart>false</useddsfanart>
<videolibrary>
<cleanonupdate>false</cleanonupdate>
</videolibrary>
<gui>
<algorithmdirtyregions>1</algorithmdirtyregions>
<nofliptimeout>0</nofliptimeout>
</gui>
<network>
<disableipv6>true</disableipv6>
<cachemembuffersize>2621440</cachemembuffersize>
<curlclienttimeout>60</curlclienttimeout>
</network>
<video>
<fpsdetect>2</fpsdetect>
</video>
<latency>
<delay>0</delay>
</latency>
<cputempcommand>cputemp</cputempcommand>
<gputempcommand>gputemp</gputempcommand>
<samba>
<clienttimeout>30</clienttimeout>
</samba>
</advancedsettings>

Install ATVClient for support of Apple Remote and to make sense of the front panel LED. When LED lights when remoite button is pressed your battery is getting low. This also allows pairing whereas lirc does not.

git clone git://github.com/Evinyatar/atvclient.git
cd atvclient
./configure && make
sudo make install
sudo cp atvclient /etc/init.d/atvclient
sudo update-rc.d atvclient defaults
sudo /etc/init.d/atvclient start
cd ..

Analog and Optical audio fix (not necessary for HDMI only audio)

Edit
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

Comment out the last line and add the second line so that the last two lines showw as below

# options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=0 probe_mask=0xfff2
options snd-hda-intel model=imac24

For HDMI
edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and use the following removing all other entries.

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 295.40  (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-04.nvidia.com)  Thu Apr  5 22:33:07 PDT 2012

Section “Monitor”
Identifier     “Monitor0″
VendorName     “Unknown”
ModelName      “Unknown”
HorizSync       28.0 – 33.0
VertRefresh     43.0 – 72.0
Option         “DPMS”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Option      “HWCursor” “Off”
Identifier     “Screen0″
Device         “Device0″
Monitor        “Monitor0″
DefaultDepth    24
Option         “NoLogo” “True”
Option         “DynamicTwinView” “False”
Option         “FlatPanelProperties” “Scaling = Native”
SubSection “Display”
Depth       24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier     “Mouse0″
Driver         “mouse”
Option         “Protocol” “auto”
Option         “Device” “/dev/psaux”
Option         “Emulate3Buttons” “no”
Option         “ZAxisMapping” “4 5″
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier     “Keyboard0″
Driver         “kbd”
# generated from default
EndSection

Section “Extensions”
Option         “Composite” “Disable”
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier     “Layout0″
Screen      0  “Screen0″
InputDevice    “Keyboard0″ “CoreKeyboard”
InputDevice    “Mouse0″ “CorePointer”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier     “Device0″
Driver         “nvidia”
VendorName     “NVIDIA Corporation”
Option    ”NoLogo”    ”True”
Option “DynamicTwinView” “false”
Option “RegistryDwords” “RMDisableRenderToSysmem=1″
Option         “NoFlip” “false”
Option         “ConnectToAcpid” “0″
Option         “HWCursor” “false”
EndSection

For Component or composite out

http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php?title=AppleTV_Composite_%26_Component_Video

Optional (required for CrystalHD Support) Note: Results can be intermittent. It seems that on both the 70015 and 70012, the heat of the Apple TV is an issue. When the Apple TV heats up the CrystalHD stops working. A reboot will not fix it only allowing the Apple TV to cool down. Consider removing the rubber bottom and clearing glue from Aluminum holes and placing large rubber feet on the bottom. Also consider a solid state drive or removing the disk completely from the inside of the ATV1. I have placed hard disks in external USB cases and used as system drive.

I have tried to install support for Crystal HD from many variants of ubuntu 12.04 (xbmcbuntu, linux Mint, etc) with not too much success . The best way is to install from source

sudo apt-get install checkinstall git-core autoconf build-essential subversion dpkg-dev fakeroot pbuilder build-essential dh-make debhelper devscripts patchutils quilt git-buildpackage pristine-tar git yasm zlib1g-dev zlib-bin libzip-dev libx11-dev libx11-dev libxv-dev vstream-client-dev libgtk2.0-dev libpulse-dev libxxf86dga-dev x11proto-xf86dga-dev git libgstreamermm-0.10-dev libgstreamer0.10-dev automake
git clone git://git.linuxtv.org/jarod/crystalhd.git
cd crystalhd/driver/linux
autoconf
./configure
make
sudo make install
cd ../../linux_lib/libcrystalhd/
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe crystalhd

Reboot

run “alsamixer” from the prompt turn up all volumes and unmute anything showing as MM. (use the M key)

Enjoy Linux on ATV1 with XBMC Frodo 12.1!

If you can not get through this, we can sell you a preinstalled thumb drive. Contact us using the links at the bottom of the page for current pricing and information. Also if this guide is helpful, consider donating using the paypal link on the left column.

Whether you use Linux, Windows, Mac OS X , Android or Apple TV 1, or Apple TV2 , with few exceptions, there is most certainly a version of XBMC that will run on your device. What is key to having a good XBMC set up is :

• Enough memory for XBMC and buffering of on – line videos
• Supported video card on your platform. This can be what is in your Apple TV or Android or for PC based systems, some of the newer ATI cards, Some of the newer Nvidia cards,  or CrystalHD, as well as a plethoraq of others if you only want standard Definition.Broadband connection for on-line streaming. Many first Generation Apple TVs can even be upgraded to decode HD in hardware.
• Hard disk space for files , whether via NAS, network share, or internal Hard Disk Drive

Of course there are a daunting number of adjustments and tweaks you can make some more necessary than others ,  Many tweaks are specific to hardware such as issues that can arise with Nvidia and DVD image playback on Linux, while installations using CrystalHD or ATI Video cards may have their own sets of issues.

The good news is that with XBMC and several key add ons,  you get more content than with Hulu and Netfix, and more content than Cable and much of the content is on demand with no monthly fees.

If you have tried to configure XBMC and just can not get some things right look for support on the XBMC forums or for unofficial add ons try the XBMCHub forums (Please register using this link!) .

If you find it overwhelming to build your own XBMC system, of course we can build and configure a complete, pre-configured  XBMC system and ship it globally to wherever you are in the world. Use the “contact us” links or “Call us now” Link at the bottom of each page. Of course our systems come with access to our private forms and private servers to get add-ons, updates and more often times before they are available elsewhere.

Once you have a working Home Theatre PC system, and can see how it all works together with add-ons and local media, you will never want to go without. It can play most any video audio and image format over most any kind of Network share whether Linux NFS, Windows SMB, or Mac OSX AFP. It can also connect to multiple web formats such as HTTP, FTP and much more.

It seems that many are looking for Apple remote support on XBMC and I too had looked. This may also work for Plex but is unconfirmed. It DOES Support long key presses out of the box.

First if you have a Mac or PC with no Apple IR sensor , see this post to get a real Apple IR hardware sensor on any system with a USB port.

Although it refers to a G4 Mac Mini , I have tested my Apple IR Receiver on a PC running Linux Mint 13 Maya Mate, and XBMC and the following.

After corresponding  with Cristoph a.k.a. Evenyatar back in late December 2011 about the ATVClient and whether it could be extended to all Mac IR sensors,  he did make some suggestions but was not inclined to update the code. It made sense to me that if the Apple TV 1 remote was supported , the same could be done on any Mac IR receiver.His leads were spot on target and in fact after months of doing nothing to test and after selling my G4 Mac Mini, I was looking for a remote for an XBMC system and came across my hacked Apple IR sensor, and Apple Remote.

Here is how I did it . It involves a couple of more steps than those for downloading and compiling the Git repository

Modified from http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Install_Ubuntu_and_XBMC_on_Apple_TV_1

but modified for your Apple, or Mac built in IR receiver.

If you have lirc installed, uninstall it first.

from the linux command shell type (If an external receiver is used connect it first)

lsusb

and note the line that identifies your Apple IR Receiver. It mat look like the same as my homebrew unit,

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 05ac:8242 Apple, Inc. IR Receiver [built-in]

or

iMac 24/2.16 Duo White
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 05ac:8240 Apple, Inc. IR Receiver [built-in]

Note the four digits AFTER the “05ac:”

Now type

sudo apt-get install git-core libusb-dev pkg-config

sudo apt-get install g++

git clone git://github.com/Evinyatar/atvclient.git

Now I recommend you use a text editor like Nano , Gedit, or Pluma and open the file  atvclient/src/atvclient.cpp, and search for  “8241″ without quotes, and change this to the digits you noted earlier after the “05ac:” Save the modified file.

then type each line below one at a time.

cd atvclient

./configure && make

sudo make install

sudo cp atvclient /etc/init.d/atvclient

sudo update-rc.d atvclient defaults

sudo /etc/init.d/atvclient start

cd ..

Now fire up XBMC and enjoy

Thanks Cristoph!

Often times I am asked about where to go for Cables connectors, electronic parts and the like in Puerto Vallarta.

After having been around the block a few times it is clear that there are limited sources, but the hands down winner is Electronica Limac (Limac Electronics) in the middle of the mall at Plaza Caracol. What these guys do not have they can often order or fabricate. The staff is always helpful and most always there is someone available that can speak English. They will even make custom length Network cables usually while you wait!

What kinds of things to they have?

• Cell phone, Camera and camcorder batteries
• Chargers for cell phones, Cameras and Camcorders
• Power supply adapters for auto and home
• Remote controls
• Cables, Connectors and adapters for TV, Computer, Video, Audio; USB, HDMI, RCA, Mini,
• Security Systems; Video surveillance, alarms
• Telephones
• Computer Accessories
• Networking Products; Wireless routers, switches, wireless adapters, network cables, IP cameras

Their phone number is 224 6040

If you find what you need there and need a professional installation, please call us or contact us with the information at the bottom of this page.

Although this was originally done to satisfy a remote on a Mac Mini G4 , it works under Linux and PC hardware or a Mac with no IR receiver built in. It will actually give you an Apple IR hardware sensor on any system with a USB port.

Also there is now a new post that explains how to get software support for XBMC and possibly Plex from this under linux with long key press support WITHOUT using Lirc!

______________________________________________________

If you have an older Mac Mini or any OSX based Mac without remote such as G5, and want a quick and cheap remote control…..

Here is what I did on a Mac G4 with no IR …

I bought an IR receiver for a Macbook Pro on ebay , connected it to a USB connector by matching up the colors on the wires with standard USB color coding (changing only yellow for white). See..  USB pin-out .

I believe what I bought on Ebay was for a Mac Book Pro and from what I have seen, you want to make sure it is from a MacBook PRO and not just a MacBook. If you buy one with the cable attached it will help you to identify the pin out of the IR receiver, and make it easier to solder as the board contacts are tiny.

It works great on XBMC on a G4 Mac Mini but I have never got it to work in Frontrow , using native Apple Drivers in OSX 10.4 or 10.5. I suspect Frontrow for PowerPC is not IR enabled.

Apple IR Sensor from MacBook Pro

Apple IR Sensor solder side

Welcome to the digital age.We all knew it was coming, a day when our video was all digital. We could escape the bounds of PAL and NTSC because all video could be transcoded on the fly, rescaled, downconverted, or upconverted.

The day has arrived however we still buy DVDs that are PAL or NTSC specific. Aside from Regions for Blue Ray and DVD which for the sake of this article we will avoid, as well as country specific transmission formats. I want to discuss ONLY the video encoded onto DVDs and pose the questions as to why it has not changed?

PAL DVDs are typoically 720×576
NTSC DVDs are typically 720×480

In the NTSC world, content can be progressive or interlaced. Frame rates can be 23.97FPS (24P) or 29.97FPS (30 FPS)
In the PAL world, Content can be progressive or interlace2d. Frame rates can be 23.97FPS (24P) but are typically 25FPS

In the PAL world they almost do not bother with the “HD 720P format” because it offered so little improvement over PAL

Over 3 years ago I bought a new DVD player. Within a mattewr of hours I had it working “region free” and even played PAL DVDs. The DVD player itself had no issues with the PAL DVD and transcoded to NTSC. On that same DVD player I could select “PAL” output, or “Auto”, aside from the “NTSC” that it was set to. AT that time I had a stand alone TV tuner that connected to a VGA monitor. The VGA monitor and tuner were also “PAL compatible”. I was lucky. Recently while shopping for an LCD TV I came to realize that they were not making sets that were designed for 50/60 hz (25/30 FPS). Leaving my multi region DVD in “auto” mode would not work on a newer flat panel display! What? Why? Multisync monitors haver been around for a very long time and do not represent a substantial cost difference for such a small range of frequencies.

IN fact, My old DVD olayer would even output upscaled 24P via component or HDMI. I was then able to see a 24FPS DVD at 24FPS without pulldown. I now play all DVDs on XBMC anyway, however I still have the issue of the available frequencies on the monitor. With XBMC you can change the frame rate to match the source content , effectively replicating the “auto” mode on my old DVD and since all content is upscaled the frame size becomes a moot point.

So to make my point, why then are the DVD players not ALL capable of converting 24FPS to a 25FPS output? It would seem this is easy enough to attain as in NTSC the pulldown is often done in the DVD,. Even if a 24FPS DVD was played back at 25 FPS that  coule be attained on the player itself. Why do our new digital TVs not work with 25FPS when many work with 24 FPS and 30FPS they just skip past the 25FPS. Why you might ask, foirst because it is not that complicated. Second the same master coyuld be deployed in all regions offering the benefit of the higher PAL resolutions in NTSC regions. O)f course from a manufacturer standpoint this might be counterproductive from the sales pitch of HD.

Again we are permitting manufacturers to limit our abilities. It used to be that the consumer demand drove the manufacturers. Now we have allowed the manufacturers to beat us into our respective corners of the world with no compatibility between them.

I thought HD and digital was going to give us more universal video formats so the world was more unified. Instead manufacturers and movie studios are using it against us in the name of “content protection”

and denying uis the ability to have higher resolution SD while pitching HD that is sometimes only slightly better than SD PAL.

Manufacturers listen up….
I do not hesitate to buy PAL DVDs and play them on XBMC. I currently am playing a PAL DVD of “Stargate Universe” as I write this,  which never looked so good on NTSC If only I could buy retail what I have worked so hard to build!

As a former Video Systems Engineer, I submit that the entire HDMI concept is a SCAM. It is all about High Definition Content Protection, or HDCP!

Why carry a digital signal 2 feet to a flat panel display when good quality coaxial cables can carry analogue component or RGB several meters without degradation?

When HDMI came along we already had VGA, DVI, RGB and Broadcast component resolutions that exceeded current broadcast HD standards. Many of those same resolutions could easily apply to consumer Component video. Why was VGA or DVI not defined as the standard? Why did consumer electronics manufacturers never define a 1080P over component standard when it was feasible and already had been shown in the broadcast world years before?

Truth is that companies like Sony/Paramount only wanted a method to protect content at the expense of consumers. This kind of corporate slavery where consumers are the cash cows for “new technology” which not only is unnecessary, but provides benefit only to large corporations at the consumers’ expense should be dealt with severely by consumers. Not to mention then consumers fall victim to things like the HDMI cable scams, where a $100 Dollar is sold and claimed to be “better” than the $10 dollar cable.

So now we transcode all video to HDMI and that makes it “better”? It was all about protecting content and was forced on consumers by big corporations. It is the old slight of hand while they offer you something that they say is better, they really are slipping you something you were unaware of.