Back to AppleTV 2

Kind of funny how things go in a circle. After getting Netflix (finally!) we've ended up using the Apple TV much much more. The Netflix app on the Boxee Box is slower to load and is not as pretty as the other. While we enjoy streaming on the Boxee Box the fact that it doesn't have out of the box ir and is more coupled with the Netflix app, my family abandoned me with it.

So in order to make life simpler I've been making Apple compliant files of all our videos. The DVD's were no problem: Handbrake on the Apple TV 2 setting. Then there were my recordings from my HDPVR. Those were all at 720P and 60fps. The Apple TV 2 profile in Handbrake converts to 29.97 fps which caused stuttering on playback. I eventually realized this and adjusted the fps to same as source. We still have  an occasional playback audio synch issue or skipped frame, but letting the entire movie buffer up seems to help.

If I could have found a way to remux my files into mp4v easily I would've been happier. Mac's have a program called Subler that looks like it might've worked if I didn't live in a PC world.

Anyways, I followed the setup featured on the HTGuys.com website for the Apple TV movie server and now the family is happily watching their movies again.

Me, I'm eyeing one of those WDTV boxes to try out.

Plex and Firecore Installed

I bit the bullit and bought the $20 Firecore software when it went to the 5th beta version.  If you are looking for the best waf then their media player is for you.  They now have SAMBA working and you can easily get to your files.  It works just like searching for music and movies in your Itunes library and automatically downloads artwork from imdb.  Still, this is a beta and my hd files stuttered and the aspect ratio was off on some sd mkv's.

I decided to also try the Plex beta on the Apple TV 2.  I downloaded the software to my computer to act as the server and installed the client from the Firecore menu.  It easily found all my media and tagged it with artwork.  Unfortunately for me, the Apple TV kept bouncing back to the main menu without ever actually playing anything.  Your mileage may vary.  I don't plan on keeping it around for the main reason being I don't want to have to run a server for it.

The longer I wait for a working media player for non-Apple approved file formats for the Apple TV 2 the more I think about investing in the Boxee Box.  Still, the little $99 box from Jobs is a fun thing to play with.

Jailbroke Again, Plex, Firecore

After more reading in the ios section of the XBMC forums I read about how someone had rejailbroke their ATV2 and got all of their streaming problems solved.  So I began the futile process of doing that.  I used Tiny Umbrella to save my ssh's in case I needed to role back.  I then ended up using the new untethered version of Seasonpass from Firecore that upgraded me to ios 4.3.  Nightly version of XBMC has no Dolby Digital on this version and even in analog mode I had audio problems, which is what the wiki says is the current status of it.  So I went down to 4.2.1 and while standard def content played, 720p was still buffering.

I then began looking around for programs beside XBMC.  Plex on the Apple TV2 looks very promising, but it requires a computer to be running a server for it and I don't want to have to dedicate one when I already have a NAS to store my media.  I have contacted Firecore and gotten back quick replies on their media player.  They are expecting SAMBA support and improved hd playback with an update within the week.  I'm planning on trying it out as soon as that is available.

Chasing FTP

I began trying to set up an ftp server to go with my XBMC on an Apple TV 2, and ran into problems.  The better parts of two mornings were wasted while I crashed and burned with Filezilla and ports and more ports.  Finally, I decided that it simply was not worth the effort.  I bought a NAS so I would not need to have a computer running to use a media server.  Why should I change that plan now?

Over at the forums at XBMC.org there were a few people still had problems with 720p content even through an ftp server.  I finally decided to wait until this version was merged into the main trunk and see if the problems of samba were fixed.  Time and money can cure about anything I suppose.  If not, I think I may try the Boxee Box which can play hd content well and high def audio which this one cannot.

More XBMC On Apple TV 2

I'm still working on getting the Apple TV2 with XBMC going.  Standard def material plays great, but I still cannot get any HD content to play without stuttering.  From the forums there have been several issues with this and some of my problems may be related to using Samba to access shares.  My new plas is to try to set up a ftp server on my computer to see if that helps.

The good news is how well the box works.  Watching movies, and recently Austin City Limits via the PBS plugin, with XBMC is a great experience.  It is easy to operate and very smooth and intuitive.  My wife is really liking it for it and for the Apple side of the interface.

XBMC on Apple TV 2: The Good and Bad So Far

I decided to kick my Popcorn Hour to the curb for the sake of a fancy gui that might be easier for the family to operate.  With oogling eyes I picked up a new Apple TV and brought it home.  It took me about 4 times before I was able  to Jailbreak it with Green Poison.  I installed the anti Apple Update Nag program first and then tried to install XBMC, which failed twice.  With more internet searching I found out how to go in and install via ssh, which I did with one I covered in fear.  Presto, it worked.  XBMC was on the list of things I could choose from the main menu.  But I couldn't stream or find anything from my network because of  a bug in it causes you to restart first. 

Then I got the black screen.  Arghh!  I have this committed to memory:  login as root, password alpine, killall AppleTV.  And everything goes hunky dory again, remember that kids, you'll need it.  All my dvd backups as MKV or xvid or avi's all played great.  Yes, yes, yes.  But high def, hahaha that's another story.

Oh, you've read about how it will play 1080p content, etc, but that, in my experience, was a little short on substance.  It won't play my hd caps from HD PVR that I did buy at least without reencoding them.  Nightmare, let me tell you.  I finally had to hook up the Popcorn Hour that I luckily hadn't ebayed yet to see if I was going nuts.  I tried streaming from my NAS and two other computers until I reencoded for Apple TV 2 on Handbrake and on the Arcsoft software that comes with the HD PVR.  Now it works, 6 to 13 hours later on my 5 year old computer after reencoding. 

Is it cool, XBMC on the Apple TV 2?  Yes, very.  Is it underpowered?  Yes, very.