AfterDawn: Tech news

Apple TV is hacked

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Apr 2007 9:32 User comments (12)

Apple TV is hacked Just two weeks after the Apple TV began shipping, hackers have installed the Mac OSX onto the media box, turning it into the cheapest Mac ever sold.
"The breakthrough is done, OS X runs on Apple TV!" wrote "Semthex," the anonymous hacker responsible for the mod, at his website. "Now weve got (the) low-budget Mac we ever wanted."

The hack, although very difficult to perform for the casual user, has helped other hackers greatly.


"This hack seriously opens up the doors with what the Apple TV could be used for,"
said Tom Anthony, administrator of Apple TV Hacks, in an e-mail.

With the OS X installed, soon we should be able to see almost anything able to run on the TV, including Windows Media Center Edition or Linux.

The Apple TV has some powerful specs including a "Pentium M processor, as much RAM as Sony's PlayStation 3 and a faster graphics chip than a Nintendo Wii" and it was only a matter of time before hackers used that power to open up the TV to its full potential.



Apple so far has not made a statement openly about the hacks.

As of today, here are the hacks you can perform (and void your warranty with) on the Apple TV:

· Upgrade the hard drive

· Run Xvid movies.

· Attach a keyboard and mouse.

· Enable SSH.

· Install VNC remote desktop.

· Boot Apple TV from a USB drive.

· Turn it into a web server.

· Install OS X.

· Install the Asterisk open-source VOIP system.


You can learn how perform those hacks by following the source link below.

Source:
Wired

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12 user comments

18.4.2007 11:47
vinny13
Inactive

Sounds great, but too confusing for me. I don't have the time.

28.4.2007 11:54

modded xbox is waay better and cheaper.

38.4.2007 14:08

Intresting very, tho like to see if anyone got windaz, i know groan going on it yet.

Tho it does make u wounder when u can bild a pc with:

512mb memory/p4 3ghz 64bit/160gb sataII hard disk/PCI-E video card with component and dvi connectors for just over £200.

Ok its like compairing an apple and orange, hehe no pun intended, but still stands its a good price for a silent media center.

48.4.2007 19:48
theridges
Inactive

Originally posted by rihgt682:
modded xbox is waay better and cheaper.

better i dunno with the OS X Hack on it..kind of puts it ahead of XBMC....IMO
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 08 Apr 2007 @ 7:48

58.4.2007 20:24

all they can do is cry foul over this? dont they see the potential in it?

69.4.2007 00:08

Who cried foul?!?

Apple hasn't commented yet. I really doubt Apple is disabling any boxes... yet.

79.4.2007 00:39

Originally posted by FaJu:
Who cried foul?!?

Apple hasn't commented yet. I really doubt Apple is disabling any boxes... yet.
they have not yet but will I thought ti was a program its a top box oooo you know they will nip in in the bud somehow.

89.4.2007 06:20

Modded Xbox = cheaper and more versatile... indeed. If I had no idea I could mod my old xbox, then this Apple TV thing would be kinda cool.

99.4.2007 08:00

I am certain they knew and known the potential of people hacking their product like everything else. Almost all technology is hackable it only depends on how hackable it is.

109.4.2007 08:37

Umm, had an idea, lol but as ever someone was already way ahead... lol

One Apple TV + 5v Regulation Circuit + Car + Bellow TFT For Headunit.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/maccar/9...ead-unit-2.html

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7-TFT-IN-DASH-VGA-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Gives u a really nice car system that will need an external 2 or 4 channel amp to drive the speakers but hey thats pretty cool.

Would love 2 see window running on one, from the prespective of then running a supported gps key and maybe running satnav.

lol intresting...

119.4.2007 10:56
tabletpc
Inactive

It isn't as easy as you think

Apple tv hard drives contain dual partition formats one partition stores the os and the apple tv application and another partition stores movies so if you are unable to reproduce the partition correctly it will crash minus i can run apple tv on a external hard drive using a mac mini instead of apple tv but i would rather have the apple tv because i support apple more then stealing from them

1211.6.2009 17:00

help needed this is my first time to look for info on this forum.
I'm stuck, i have recently added a extreme airport card to my emac 2002
I have put it into the slot, and that is as far as it goes, I don't know what to do now, the card came on its own without instructions, I located instructions on a mac site. Does it need a driver? all help welcome.
I bought it on ebay.

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