Helmonder Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 So happy with my latest purchase that I just need to tell: I have been trying several media players over the years and the have always dissapointed me. I've had a pinnacle showcentre: functionality wise great but a lousy interface, also needed a backend program running on a server I've had an Xtreamer: could play ok but no way to sort and/or categorise movies so basically stuck with navigating shares. Latest was a popcorn hour (I figured: go for top of the bill), unfortuantely also only capable of navigating shares (at least without an HD tv). I have now hit the jackpot: purchased a 1st generation Apple TV (a product discontinued for some time) and flashed it with ATV flash (jailbreak), the ATV1 has component out so it will work without a problem on my old school tv. The jailbreak has made it possible to run XBMC.. This is what media playing on a tv is meant to be ! Quote Link to comment
mrow Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Problem is for HD playback you have to open it up and replace the wifi card with a CrystalHD card so you lose wifi capability. Quote Link to comment
BobPhoenix Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Problem is for HD playback you have to open it up and replace the wifi card with a CrystalHD card so you lose wifi capability. I wouldn't really recommend wireless for video playback anyway too many times I've had dropped packets that cause glitches in the playback especially HD. Maybe I'm just in a noisy environment but wired networking works best for me for video. I use wireless for my web browsing where I don't notice any problems with dropped packets. Quote Link to comment
Helmonder Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Problem is for HD playback you have to open it up and replace the wifi card with a CrystalHD card so you lose wifi capability. I don't use wifi for streaming.. Nice utp cable hidden away makes sure I never have any issues with playing.. Quote Link to comment
mrow Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Problem is for HD playback you have to open it up and replace the wifi card with a CrystalHD card so you lose wifi capability. I don't use wifi for streaming.. Nice utp cable hidden away makes sure I never have any issues with playing.. Guess you are all set then. I have two AppleTV 2s but I've thought about picking up a first gen on eBay to play with some time. Quote Link to comment
batt01 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I had one for a while running xbmc. I found that it had problems playing MKV smoothly. 720 was laggy and 1080 a no go. I bought a crystal hd for it and misplaced it. Its tiny. Never got a chance to install it. Sold it to a friend, and sold it. General conscience, is that the Crystal HD is required in the ATV1 if you plan on playing HD. I you are running something that transcodes on the server side, like PMS and you dont mind stepped on video. It works fine. Quote Link to comment
Helmonder Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 The crystal hd is already in the mail ofcourse :-) Also considering replacing the hd with an ssd. Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 What is right now the "better" buy? Apple TV1,2 or 3. Do I need it jailbroken? Quote Link to comment
BLKMGK Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I just picked up a Pivos box for $115 and flashed it with their distro of linux. Yet to give it a serious workout but I'm told it handles high bitrates fine. Worth looking at and brainless setup so far! Quote Link to comment
Helmonder Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 What is right now the "better" buy? Apple TV1,2 or 3. Do I need it jailbroken? All apple tv's can be jailbroken, I am going for the -1- because I need composite out (still have an old school tv). Jailbreaking it is as simple as plugging a usb drive with "ATV Flash", that will give you XBMC and other nice stuff. For me an AppleTV without jailbreak is worthless, you would need to put all video in itunes for it to work... But the box itself... Man.... smooth menu's, easy navigation... That's real apple... Quote Link to comment
Thomss Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Must admit, I have a Mac Mini, Acer Revo and a 1st gen aTV with CrystalHD and it's my favourite box out of them all for running XBMC on. Quote Link to comment
batt01 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Anyone gotten their hands on a Pivos XIOS. Offical support from xbmc. No hacking needed. I might get one of these for a customer. From Amazon: Enough about WDTV, AIOS is working flawlessly for me after firmware update to v.2.8.0.5. Tested with full BR rips with TrueHD and DTS-HD[MA] (leave default DTS-HD = 7.1) - works, no lip sync issues. 1080/24p works. The vendor is actively supporting the product. I like GUI simplicity, direct access to Audio, Subtitles, Zoom, GoTo (my favorite one), list mode navigation and etc. Unit offers rich functionality for very reasonably price point. I will continue to test it and post any findings later on. Overall the unit is a A+ rated job, cudos to folks who designed it. Links http://www.pivosgroup.com/xios.html Quote Link to comment
BLKMGK Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I just bought one! Flashed to Their Linux distro in about 5mins flat, easy as can be. Seems to respond well but I've not yet thrown much media at it. What do you want to know about it? Quote Link to comment
BobPhoenix Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 All apple tv's can be jailbroken, ...Are you sure because I read that the ATV3 hadn't been jail broken yet. I thought it was here but I could be wrong. Quote Link to comment
Helmonder Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 All apple tv's can be jailbroken, ...Are you sure because I read that the ATV3 hadn't been jail broken yet. I thought it was here but I could be wrong. You are right, the atv3 cannot be jailbroken yet, will happen eventually.. Things is that I do not think there is much advantage over atv2... There is more option in the software, but as long as you go the xbmc route you will never use them... It ofcourse also is a bit quicker, but even my atv1 is lightning fast so I do not think any speed difference between atv2 and 3 will really matter .. Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 If the ATV3 can be jailbroken isn't that the better deal. It can do 1080P out of the box. Or is ATV1 with crystalD nicer because it has a different archtecture and a 2.5 inch harddisk inside? Can it do 1080P too with crystalHD? Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 What software/firmware does the ATV1 need to be running to be jailbroken? Can the crystalHD run 24,50 and 60Hz screen refresh rates. Where can the crystalHD chip be bought? I see many crystalHD chips on ebay. Will any do? I see BCM 970010/12 and BCM970015. Do they only support 1080i or 1080p too? Quote Link to comment
Helmonder Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 The 15 is better.. Am now experimenting with crystalbuntu to make it even quicker .. Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 15? Is crystalbuntu a special ubuntu version? Where dis you get the crystalhd chip? What type/model? Quote Link to comment
Helmonder Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 The BCM970015 chip is better then the older one, so get that one. I found mine by sim[ly googling. I ordered at Logic Supply, needed component is Broadcom Hardware Decoder BCM970015 - PCIe Mini Card. It fits perfectly and the mod took me 5 minutes (make sure you have a TORX8 and 10 screwdriver to open up the case. I used the following very easy instruction: http://rufn.it/aTV/ Then I tried running AppleTV Flash, that works but it installs XBMC on top of the Apple system and there is a better way, if you install a linux based distribution that just overrides the complete apple system and just uses the appletv as hardware you get even more speed. I just installed crystalbuntu: http://stmlabs.com/projects/crystalhd-for-appletv/ And indeed it is faster, it also just loads up XBMC right away while with AppleTV Flash you get apples menu and then need to startup XBMC, since XBMC is all I will use there are a few redundant steps.. I am now testing crysytalbuntu and it looks fine sofar, install was fully automated, prepare usb stick using a windows gui (only 3 clicks), throw it in the appletv and boot it up. Also runs fully on the stick so destroys nothing on the appletv (if you like it you can then install towards the harddrive). I am now thinking of throwing in a small SSD to replace the harddisk. Quote Link to comment
BobPhoenix Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 What software/firmware does the ATV1 need to be running to be jailbroken? Can the crystalHD run 24,50 and 60Hz screen refresh rates. Where can the crystalHD chip be bought? I see many crystalHD chips on ebay. Will any do? I see BCM 970010/12 and BCM970015. Do they only support 1080i or 1080p too? Newegg. Although this is currently out of stock. Picture closeup shows BCM70015KFBG. Assuming I understood what you were looking for. Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 The BCM970015 chip is better then the older one, so get that one. I found mine by sim[ly googling. I ordered at Logic Supply, needed component is Broadcom Hardware Decoder BCM970015 - PCIe Mini Card. It fits perfectly and the mod took me 5 minutes (make sure you have a TORX8 and 10 screwdriver to open up the case. I used the following very easy instruction: http://rufn.it/aTV/ Then I tried running AppleTV Flash, that works but it installs XBMC on top of the Apple system and there is a better way, if you install a linux based distribution that just overrides the complete apple system and just uses the appletv as hardware you get even more speed. I just installed crystalbuntu: http://stmlabs.com/projects/crystalhd-for-appletv/ And indeed it is faster, it also just loads up XBMC right away while with AppleTV Flash you get apples menu and then need to startup XBMC, since XBMC is all I will use there are a few redundant steps.. I am now testing crysytalbuntu and it looks fine sofar, install was fully automated, prepare usb stick using a windows gui (only 3 clicks), throw it in the appletv and boot it up. Also runs fully on the stick so destroys nothing on the appletv (if you like it you can then install towards the harddrive). I am now thinking of throwing in a small SSD to replace the harddisk. What size harddisk is inside? Is it needed? Isn't is a PATA disk? Are there such SSDs? Quote Link to comment
Helmonder Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 There is a 40gig pata drive installed stock (160gig is also available as another version of the atv1). At the moment though I have crystalbuntu running off an a 16gig usb drive and performance is great really happy with it. 1080p not an issue. Xbmc is running fluently. This is undoubtely a better option then atv flash. I however expect that an internal ssd will be somewhat more quicker, a 32 gig pata (transcend) is 32 euro so I will probably go that route.. Really happy with this box. Xbmc remote app also rox.. Quote Link to comment
dikkiedirk Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 There is a 40gig pata drive installed stock (160gig is also available as another version of the atv1). At the moment though I have crystalbuntu running off an a 16gig usb drive and performance is great really happy with it. 1080p not an issue. Xbmc is running fluently. This is undoubtely a better option then atv flash. I however expect that an internal ssd will be somewhat more quicker, a 32 gig pata (transcend) is 32 euro so I will probably go that route.. Really happy with this box. Xbmc remote app also rox.. Where do I get that transcend drive for 32 Euro in Holland? Logic Supply? Quote Link to comment
NodNarb012 Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Here's the link to the card on Logic Supply's website: http://www.logicsupply.com/products/bcm970015 Use code "XBMC10" to save $10 during checkout. I just ordered one to replace my BCM970012, which will go to a co-worker. You only need a Torx T10 to open the ATV1, a T8 is only necessary if you want to swap the internal hard drive. I loaded OpenELEC 2.0 on mine. I've never seen XBMC run so efficiently on my ATV1. Unfortunately, it still struggles a bit with MKV Blu-ray rips streamed from my unRAID server. I've read that it could be a limitation of the Realtek 10/100 network card. I'm going to try the same file from a USB hard drive to see if it plays any better that way. http://xbmc.org/natethomas/2012/10/18/openelec-2-0-now-available-now-with-pvr-support/ Quote Link to comment
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