Build The Ultimate Mac Entertainment Center
Get Boxee and XBMC on the Apple TV
The Apple TV is a great device, even though Apple considers it a “side project” and hasn’t offered media buffs everything they’d really love in a digital entertainment hub. But while Apple hasn’t fully explored the Apple TV’s full potential, Boxee and other developers continue to expand the device’s features through a variety of hacks. In order to get Boxee and XMBC (Xbox Media Center, an open-source, cross-platform media player) features—which are, we should mention, unauthorized—you’re going to have to patch the device. Despite Apple’s clear commitment to keeping the Apple TV a “closed” system, the patching process is surprisingly simple.—Roberto Baldwin
1. Go to code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator and download the ATV USB Creator (atvusb-creator). Insert the USB drive into a free USB port on your Mac. Unzip the file (if it doesn’t do so on its own). Launch ATV USB Creator.
2. Choose ATV-Patchstick from the drop-down menu. Make sure Boxee For Mac and XBMC For Mac are both checked. The app will recognize the USB drive you plugged in prior to launching.
3. Click on Create Using, then wait for ATV USB Creator to do its thing, including erasing and then saving the necessary files to your USB thumb drive. Note: Some USB drives refuse to work with the ATV USB Creator. The final installed files require less than 30MB of space, so use a drive you know works, but don’t use one that you’re using to store data.
4. Unmount and unplug the USB thumb drive from your Mac. Power down the Apple TV and insert the USB drive into the USB port in the back of the device. We encountered some issues with Wi-Fi passwords not working correctly with the patchstick, so be sure to plug an Ethernet cable into the Apple TV. Onscreen you will see enough command line jargon to choke a tiny Unix-loving pony. Wait until the patchstick does its magic. The Command line will notify you when it is safe to unplug the Apple TV. Unplug it, remove the USB drive and then plug the power back in.
5. The Apple TV should launch as usual, but now with new options in the menu. Be sure to update Boxee, XBMC, and the Launcher to the latest versions to achieve maximum Hulu goodness. For the most part, you’re safe updating the Apple TV software when it becomes available without overriding the patch, but, just to be safe, you should check the Boxee blog (blog.boxee.tv) for up-to-date information.
A Few Notes: While Boxee does claim to work with Hulu, the ongoing battle among content providers means that sometimes Hulu will just stop working. The Boxee folks are pretty good about fixing these issues in a timely fashion, but be aware of the issue. Also, be sure to check out XBMC (xbmc.org). It’s the foundation on which Boxee is built and is more stable than the alpha version of Boxee available for the Apple TV at press time.