Hi all:

Is there a way to add extra codecs for watching avi, etc., that will allow me to treat videos in those codecs just like movies on an un-hacked ATV? That is, can I add the codecs to the ATV (perhaps by installing Perian) and then drop those types of videos into iTunes, have them synced to my ATV, and then play them from the native ATV "Movies" or "TV Shows" menus? That is, I want to treat the files just as MP4 movies I add to my iTunes library.

I want to be able to watch TV show torrents from tvRSS using Automatic and Transmission to download them. I don't want to convert to MP4 and I don't want to use Boxee, etc.

If so, are the steps to enable ssh then add the codecs to the appropriate places?

You can add codecs (Perian is the best). and be able to play your downloaded avi files. But not in the official menus. You'll play them thru a main menu option called "Files" (ATVFiles app). This is a simple app that has a Frontrow like file listing of your avi files. It doesn't have Album covers and sorting but the file listing is quite easy to navigate anyway.

To get these avi's in your ATV, you can't use iTunes. You use an SSH client like Fugu (mac) or WinSCP (Win) to throw the files wirelessly to your ATV. Just SSH into your ATV and drop the files in /Users/frontrow/Videos (make the directory if its not there).

Your steps would be (and I suggest Googling for more info):
1) Jailbreak your ATV using a patchstick (free)
2) Install ATVFiles from Software Menu
3) Install NitoTV from Software Menu
4) Install Perian from NitoTV's Settings Page

Reboot and you're all set. You're ATV is now ready to accept files thru ssh frontrow@appletv.local (Password: frontrow). Just drag and drop your avi's there and you'll be able to play them thru "Files" app.

Files isn't as obtrusive as XBMC or Boxee. It fits right in to the ATV's original software menu.

Originally Posted by isen

Hi all:

Is there a way to add extra codecs for watching avi, etc., that will allow me to treat videos in those codecs just like movies on an un-hacked ATV? That is, can I add the codecs to the ATV (perhaps by installing Perian) and then drop those types of videos into iTunes, have them synced to my ATV, and then play them from the native ATV "Movies" or "TV Shows" menus? That is, I want to treat the files just as MP4 movies I add to my iTunes library.

I want to be able to watch TV show torrents from tvRSS using Automatic and Transmission to download them. I don't want to convert to MP4 and I don't want to use Boxee, etc.

If so, are the steps to enable ssh then add the codecs to the appropriate places?

Thanks for the great response. I really appreciate it. That sounds easy enough. If something goes wrong, a patchstick created with the atv-usb standalone application can be used to reset the ATV to factory defaults right?

Originally Posted by isen

Thanks for the great response. I really appreciate it. That sounds easy enough. If something goes wrong, a patchstick created with the atv-usb standalone application can be used to reset the ATV to factory defaults right?

If anything goes wrong. DFU mode your ATV using the Remote and it will give you an option to do a factory restore. It will restore to the original firmware your ATV had. Just upgrade again.

You enter DFU mode by holding Menu and the "-" button on the remote.

Things get more complicated when you start enabling the USB port at the back. Tricky but worth it. I'm on a 250GB ATV now using an external USB as my primary media partition.

You don't really need the ATVFiles. You could

1- enable ssh and install nitoTV via the patchstick hosted on google
2- use nitoTV to install Perian (that seems to be the easiest way)
3- use VideoDrive, or a free equivalent, to turn xvid files into xvid files which live in a mov container but iTunes thinks the files are H.264 . This takes no time as no transcoding is involved ( 1 minute per gig roughly) and you can put metadata into the files. These files can be handled by iTunes just as though they were .mp4 files. So you can sync, stream, etc...It's a really nice way to deal with playing all sorts of files, including those with subtitles (srt or similar only), on an ATV. The key is Perian and the fooling iTunes trick.

ls