So when the first apple tv came out, I thought it was pretty cool.. But couldn't justify the cost.. Didn't feel at the time like it was something worth buying. 2nd gen came out, and again.. Pretty cool.. Though I didn't feel any urge to buy it.. About 2 months ago I put xbmc on my iPad, and was thrilled to have access to all my shows.. We ditched satellite/cable about 8 months ago, because $80/month just seemed like such a big expense.

So once I fell in love with xbmc, I found out it can be put on a jailbroken aTV.. And that alone made me want to get it.. So, with the 3rd gen being released, I started hunting around on kijiji and Craigslist, but anyone who was getting rid of a 2nd gen was trying g to charge $200+ for it.. Which is just craziness.. Especially when I know how easy it is to jailbreak.. They all tried to make it seem like some big amazing thing that only the elite could do, and thus tried justifying the $100 spike in the price.. And of course, all the stores were sold out of the 2nd gen because of the 3rd.. I was ok with getting a 2nd gen because it's already jailbreakable.. And my tv only does 720, so I didn't care about the 1080 addition to the 3rd generation.

But with them charging way to much for their used 2nd gens, I just decided to get a 3rd gen, and wait for the jailbreak..

I've had my apple tv for less than 24 hours, and I can't believe that I didn't buy one sooner.. Quick easy access to my Netflix, and home sharing is just awesome. In the past, if I wanted to watch Netflix, or if my son wanted to watch one of his shows, he could only do it if I was home, because I'd hook my iPhone or iPad up to the tv.. Having the aTV means the kids can watch their shows, even when I'm out.. Which my wife loves!!

In all honesty, after 45 minutes of owning an aTV I wanted a second one, for my other tv.. However, I found on mono price a hdmi extender through cat5.. And an hdmi amplified splitter.. So now I'll have both tvs hooked up to the aTV.. The tv upstairs won't work with the apple remote, as it's to far away, but I can control it with rowmote for the iPhone.. For the extender, splitter and 1 50' cat5 cable (it requires 2, but I already own 1 50').. It cost me $61 shipped... Should be here in a week or so, and I'll have aTV hooked up to 2 of my tvs.. Pretty pumped.. And even more pumped for when the jailbreak comes out, so I can get XBMC.

I've also heard that there is a way to run iOS apps on the aTV, so I'm going to install Justin.tv app on the aTV if it'll work, then I can even watch live tv!

All this to say.. If you are considering buying an aTV, stop thinking about it, and do it.. I was a skeptic, but I'm loving it!!!!


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Mayor reinstated my account t that got banned.. So I'm just posting here so any replies with go to my original account.


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Welcome to the AppleTV & XBMC fan club ;)

I just wish I bought this a long time ago!


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Maybe someone can enlighten me.. I've got homes haring turned on on my MacBook.. Connected to Internet.. I go to "computers" and sometimes the MacBook appears, sometimes it doesn't.. Even just now, I was watching a movie on my aTV using sharing, and then out of nowhere, it stopped working.. My MacBook doesn't go to sleep, as I have that turned off.. Literally nothing changes on my MacBook.. But for whatever reason, it disconnects.. And the only way to get it to work again is to quit iTunes, and restart it.

Any thoughts?


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could it be something with the wifi? I know with some routers the wifi connection will be "Rekey" (i forget the term) for security reasons. I know with my Buffalo routers there is a 'Rekey' interval that by default was set to 60 seconds. I change it to 0 to turn that feature off.

Are some of your devices connected by ethernet cable and some by Wifi? My Shaw wireless router somehow separates the two types of networks so they don't see each other, it's pretty annoying.

Are some of your devices connected by ethernet cable and some by Wifi? My Shaw wireless router somehow separates the two types of networks so they don't see each other, it's pretty annoying.

You need an AirPort Extreme.

Maybe someone can enlighten me.. I've got homes haring turned on on my MacBook.. Connected to Internet.. I go to "computers" and sometimes the MacBook appears, sometimes it doesn't.. Even just now, I was watching a movie on my aTV using sharing, and then out of nowhere, it stopped working.. My MacBook doesn't go to sleep, as I have that turned off.. Literally nothing changes on my MacBook.. But for whatever reason, it disconnects.. And the only way to get it to work again is to quit iTunes, and restart it.

Any thoughts?


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I have always had this issue with mine. I have mine hardwired now, and it will still happen from time to time. It only happens with home sharing though. XBMC and the Firecore media player rarely ever have an issue though and always see my files. The problem is so completely random too. Sometimes restarting the ATV2 fixes it, sometimes it doesn't. It can be working fine, I will watch something and come back to the main menu, and home shares are gone again. It's a tough problem to deal with because it's hard to even diagnose.

I have tried dozens of tips I have found online to stabilize it, but can't seem to. There are no shortage of threads about this on the Apple Support forums though, and plenty of tips in them. One of those tips might help.

RE the tip above, I can tell you an Airport Extreme did not eliminate the problem for me.

Maybe someone can enlighten me.. I've got homes haring turned on on my MacBook.. Connected to Internet.. I go to "computers" and sometimes the MacBook appears, sometimes it doesn't.. Even just now, I was watching a movie on my aTV using sharing, and then out of nowhere, it stopped working.. My MacBook doesn't go to sleep, as I have that turned off.. Literally nothing changes on my MacBook.. But for whatever reason, it disconnects.. And the only way to get it to work again is to quit iTunes, and restart it.

Any thoughts?


Had a similar issue yesterday and found that I had “Apple TV “ selected through Airplay (I think) in iTunes. Once I deselected “Apple TV”, no more disconnects.

And even more pumped for when the jailbreak comes out, so I can get XBMC.


Any word on the progress of this for the latest iOS?
That may be the one thing that's holding me back.

There's a unreleased JB for the new iPad so I'm sure it will be available fairly soon.

As always hardwired ethernet is preferred over wireless. I used to get those same issues but haven't seen them in awhile now though i'm all wired though a gigabit switch.

You need an AirPort Extreme.

Maybe airport extreme makes it easier,, but you don't need airport extreme.. All you need is I all your devices to be on the same network


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Chris, I have an Airport Extreme and an ATV2 and it is NOT jailbroken (it was, but I went back to drinking the koolaid), and I still have that problem. I too, have learnt to stop complaining and just close iTunes and reopen, and everything's hunky-dory again!

Cheers

Chris, I have an Airport Extreme and an ATV2 and it is NOT jailbroken (it was, but I went back to drinking the koolaid), and I still have that problem. I too, have learnt to stop complaining and just close iTunes and reopen, and everything's hunky-dory again!

Cheers

I kinda figured that... What flavor kook aid

So I tell my wife today about the cables and adapters I purchased to send the apple tv signal up to the tv in our room.. Cost me about $60.. Her (very) shocking response was.. "I wish you had of talked to me about it first, because I was going to tell you today when I got home from work, that we really should but a second one for our room, because it's great to have the signal sent up to our room.. However, it means that if you are watching something upstairs, I have to watch it downstairs too.. It would have been nice to be able to have 2 different ones"...

I gotta say.. My jaw dropped.. My wife almost NEVER let's me buy tech stuff.. Let alone 2 of something.. But she too was hooked after playing with it for just a few hours! DOH! I think I still may end up getting a second one, because I. Think I know someone who will purchase the cat5 extender from me..

Question.. Is it just me.. Am I missing something... Does the aTV YouTube app lack a "new videos" button in the subscription? When I go to YouTube on my iPad or iPhone, I can click on new videos, and any of my subscribed to channels that have new videos all pop up in the same window. However, on aTV I have to scroll through each channel to see if there is a new video.. That seems like such a waste of time, and I'm totally shocked that apple wouldn't have kept the same form in the aTV version of YouTube... Or perhaps I'm missing something? I got the aTV so I could watch stuff without having to use my iPad too.. Bt without that new videos button, it's easier for me to just sit here with my iPad and play them with AirPlay, rather than accessing the actual aTV YouTube app?

Is there a button, and I'm must missing it.. Or did apple kind of fail on that one?

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Maybe airport extreme makes it easier,, but you don't need airport extreme.. All you need is I all your devices to be on the same network

They are on the same network, they don't see each other. Say I have a media server PC connected by ethernet and a laptop through Wifi. When the AppleTV is connected by Wifi, it sees the laptop and not the PC. Plug an ethernet cable in and I can see the PC but not the laptop. I didn't have this problem on a Telus router.

So I may follow Lars' advice and get an Airport Extreme. I've been contemplating it but that just sealed the deal. lol.

And my wife was a bit mad at first when she found out I bought a second Apple TV, and then seconds later was "ooo I can watch Netflix on this TV now" and all was good. :lmao: I have to get a 3rd gen AppleTV now. lol.

Anyone know how to fix this home sharing issue.. It's getting really annoying having to restart my iTunes every 8 minutes


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Anyone know how to fix this home sharing issue.. It's getting really annoying having to restart my iTunes every 8 minutes


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If you have the issue, it's really tough to fix. As I mentioned earlier, all the known fixes are in the threads on the apple support forums. But as to whether they will work for you is another matter. They made things slightly better for me, but didn't eliminate the problem. I still randomly lose home sharing. I have posted about it before on this forum. There are way more discussions on it over at the apple support forums though.

Had a similar issue yesterday and found that I had “Apple TV “ selected through Airplay (I think) in iTunes. Once I deselected “Apple TV”, no more disconnects.

What do you mean you deselected apple tv???


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That little rectangle with the up-pointing arrow at the bottom right of my iTunes browser (iTunes 10.3.1). Left of the "Start Genius" icon. I think it basically turns external speakers on and off. Also accessible from the Window menu at the top of the iTunes browser.

I"ve noticed that when I select my ATV from this, the Apple TV turns on whether the TV is on or not. I'm wondering if iTunes (from my computer) does some kind of scan at intervals for the ATV which it finds and resets or something??? I don't know. All I know is when I deselected the Apple TV in this drop-down and left it selected to computer only, my Apple TV would behave as expected. Sorry, I'm having difficulty explaining.

That little rectangle with the up-pointing arrow at the bottom right of my iTunes browser (iTunes 10.3.1). Left of the "Start Genius" icon. I think it basically turns external speakers on and off. Also accessible from the Window menu at the top of the iTunes browser.

I"ve noticed that when I select my ATV from this, the Apple TV turns on whether the TV is on or not. I'm wondering if iTunes (from my computer) does some kind of scan at intervals for the ATV which it finds and resets or something??? I don't know. All I know is when I deselected the Apple TV in this drop-down and left it selected to computer only, my Apple TV would behave as expected. Sorry, I'm having difficulty explaining.

Yea. I tried that, to no avail


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So, are folks using XBMC on Apple TV with Lion Macs? Because it seems that Lion has broken the network sharing method that works best with XBMC. I've looked at some workarounds, but instead I have installed Plex and the corresponding media server on my iMac and the app on Apple TV.

It looks gorgeous, and works flawlessly (which I cannot say for the Firecore Media Player).

Anyone else using Plex?

So, are folks using XBMC on Apple TV with Lion Macs? Because it seems that Lion has broken the network sharing method that works best with XBMC. I've looked at some workarounds, but instead I have installed Plex and the corresponding media server on my iMac and the app on Apple TV.

It looks gorgeous, and works flawlessly (which I cannot say for the Firecore Media Player).

Anyone else using Plex?

This works for me: Download SMBUp for Mac - Reinstate and manage Samba on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. MacUpdate.com (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/41541/smbup) . Fixed samba issues with my WD Live and XBMC.

Firecore's media player works fantastic for me. It's not a replacement for XBMC by any means, but as far as a simple general video player that will play anything thrown at it it works great for me.

Firecore's media player works fantastic for me. It's not a replacement for XBMC by any means, but as far as a simple general video player that will play anything thrown at it it works great for me.

It works and plays everything I throw at it... but it reboots the Apple TV all the time.

Not sure if it's the media player, or seas0npass or what. But Plex hasn't done that yet.

Apple TV looks really cool and I'm happy the new one has some improvements, the only things stopping me from buying it is that I have a Wii which I mostly use to play Netflix, and Netflix is really all I'd be using it for mostly anyways. I don't have anything to stream music though, so I'm going to also look at the Airport Express and see which might be a better solution. Only have 1 TV in the house but I'd like to have a couple HIFIs with access to my digital music.

i truly think to get the "most" out of atv2 i would suggest investigating what getting a US vpn account would do to allow you access to legally broadcast but CRTC limited websites and truly add significant content.

i truly think to get the "most" out of atv2 i would suggest investigating what getting a US vpn account would do to allow you access to legally broadcast but CRTC limited websites and truly add significant content.

Yea, I already have on that I use onmy iPad.. Just haven't checked how to do it on aTV yet


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You need an AirPort Extreme.

I've officially followed your advice, picked up a used previous gen one (A1354) for $90. I'm not just happy because the network now plays nice, I used to be lucky to get maybe 2Mbps from my living room and now I get 10+. The AppleTV no longer skips and stutters when playing HD content.