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AppleTV Becomes OSX Workstation
An anonymous reader writes "AppleTVhacks published a full howto install guide with 12 easy steps to turn your AppleTV into a full blown OSX workstation. With a processor emulation, hacker Semthex of hackint0sh.org, managed to get full blown OSX working on a AppleTV. The kernel for this hack is freely available under APSL and opens the legal way to a really cheap Mac Nano. With 300$ difference to the Mac Mini, this is becoming a fairly interesting deal." April Fool's, btw.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
It is April 2nd now right? *pinches self* Weird... this all seems so real. He even posted videos!
Funnypics
They've gone quite far in a short amount of time opening up the hardware to more use. Now if they can get it to dual boot OSX and the ATV version. Or better yet some sorta mashup retaining the ATV interface so you can browse samba shares and stream any media format you want via the remote. A better (more informational/snazzy looking) music player would be nice too.
Hopefully Apple won't try too hard to prevent this from happening in future revisions of the hardware. Though I doubt the content providers are all that excited about the news. But then again... the amount of hacked ATVs vs. every other multimedia capable device is rater insignificant.
I'm sure this will be a hit with the I need a pretty little file server on a shelf crowd.
Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
What processor does the Apple-TV ship with? Pentium -m or Core Solo? Seems like apache crashed on the linked site already.
NT
Sent from my iPhone
Trying to RTFA, but dark gray text on a black background?!?!? Why stop there? Why not #010101 on #000000?
Oh, and the site is now dead.
The first link is no longer there, it's a 404.
Anyone get a mirror up?
...a great thing for Apples market share, considering they now have something out there at a dell like price point. If they truly get the geeks, then everyone else will eventually follow.
It was posted on April 1st. On April 2nd it was slashdotted.
The webpage doesn't exist and the home page is an Apache webserver running on CentOS (linux). What are the chances?
Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
...
AppleTV is an interesting case, because it is an "Apple-labeled" product, which is what the Mac OS X license agreement stipulates. And that's the key.
The license agreement specifies that Mac OS X can only be run on an Apple-labeled computer. And that is Apple's right. Now, you can ignore it, or ignore legal frameworks that may (or may not) enforce license agreements within certain countries/jurisdictions, and so on, but that's why running Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware is "illegal". There are NO prohibitions to doing things like hacking the kernel, etc. It's open source, and you can do with it what you wish regardless.
But there are still some interesting considerations:
- There is no way to legally get a standalone, retail copy of Mac OS X (Intel) for AppleTV, unless you make arguments about transferring an abandoned license from another Intel-based Mac. (And no, there is no conventional Mac OS X license that comes with AppleTV, either explicitly or implicitly.)
- Technically, you could purchase and run Mac OS X Server 10.4.x (Universal) and legally run it on AppleTV - there would be no prohibitions to this.
- Mac OS X 10.5.x (Leopard) will be the first version of Mac OS X to have a legally purchasable standalone retail Intel version (actually, Leopard will be Universal).
But there are some other things to think about:
- Even when Leopard ships, at retail pricing, it's still $299 + $129 for AppleTV + Mac OS X. It's $171 more for a much more capable Mac mini. However, $171 may be enough to get people to consider this.
- This will really be interesting if Leopard can run unmodified on AppleTV (i.e., without a hacked kernel).
- This will still be relegated to the hobbyist/experimenter/hacker crowd, as you need to disassemble AppleTV in order to do this, image drives, have another Mac handy, and so on, not to mention that the warranty is likely void while OS X is installed on the machine (which of course is reversible, etc.)
So while this is all very interesting, please consider the fact that there are no legal ways to get Mac OS X for it currently.
This post is obviously not for people who think EULAs are BS, or that since it's an Apple product "it's okay", or that since it has some stripped down OS X on it already, "it's okay" to also install OS X from their friend's iMac, etc.
I'm simply raising the legitimate concerns surrounding licensing on AppleTV, some of which get interesting with Leopard since it is, indeed, and Apple-labeled computer, and Leopard will be available standalone.
There are also no prohibitions on using a modified kernel, but one very interesting question might be, does Apple consider AppleTV a "computer", since that is what the Mac OS X license agreement explicitly states?
the 600 dollar mac mini comes with a core duo 1.66 Ghz processor (maybe soon even a core 2 duo)... so how exactly is turning a 300 dollar machine with less than 1/3 the speed make sense economically? especially since you'll still have to somehow acquire OSX by some means.
granted the apple tv is tiny and cool, but if you're looking for a super cheap PC, you might as well go ahead and grab a mini for a little extra for the total package. Besides I'm sure you can find them for 500 bucks or so since they've been around for so long...
Posting April fools a day late deserves a rating of at least 4.2 points.
I don't think these will get slashdotted anytime soon
0 015549546
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3qvJSMojBQ
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=184042799
-- Boycott Shell
> so how exactly is turning a 300 dollar machine with less than 1/3 the speed make sense economically?
Because sometimes speed doesn't matter. Most desktop applications are not processor bound any more. Processor speed is not the only thing to consider when buying a computer. Sure, it's worth considering, but you make it sound like it is the only factor to consider when buying a computer.
> Besides I'm sure you can find them for 500 bucks or so since they've been around for so long...
Why are you comparing the price of buying a brand new Apple TV to buying a second-hand Mac Mini. You are comparing Apples and err.. older Apples. If you are going to state the price of both, either give the new price of both, or the second-hand price of both.
I think for the vast majority of ordinary users, getting a Mac Mini is worth the extra cost, but this would still a pretty cool hack if you don't need the extra computing power and you want to save some money. (Though it is probably an April Fool's joke).
I'll probably be modded down for this...
Oh I see, so the Apple Mac OS X license extends only to Apple Bagdad hardware?
Has anyone taken a good look at the (now /.ed) URI for TFA???
/mac-os-x-running-on-apple-tv/
www.appletvhacks.net/ 2007/04/01
Come on...
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
You should also note that while they may say that you are only allowed to run it on their hardware you bought the license for the software and you (at least here in Denmark) are pretty much in your own right to do damned well whatever pleases you with said license.
So far, nobody has bought a retail copy of OSX for Intel - it only comes bundled with hardware "for free", so everybody is running a 'stolen' copy on their non-Apple hardware. This will change when Leopard is released in a couple months and you can walk into any store and plunk down $129 for a boxed copy.
Unless they only sell 'upgrades'....
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
If this thing could do HD content with MythTV then it beats the pants off of the Hacked Xbox because the XB isnt know for HD ablities. I would think that people would be rejoicing to know that a small silent machine has been potentially identified for MythFrontending.
And while the main page Mirrordot page is all there.
Procrastinating life a way at a rapid rate of speed.
"The license agreement specifies that Mac OS X can only be run on an Apple-labeled computer. " What if Apple says its not a Computer?
I am personally looking forward to being able to use PhotoShop on my iPhone when it eventually comes out and has been hacked to death.
I have excellent Karma and I am not afraid to Troll it.
The license agreement specifies that Mac OS X can only be run on an Apple-labeled computer. " What if Apple says its not a Computer?
That's why the last sentence of my post says:
[...] one very interesting question might be, does Apple consider AppleTV a "computer", since that is what the Mac OS X license agreement explicitly states?
I know slashdot folks don't read the articles, but are we now also not reading the posts we reply to?
Because it is fun.
Bert
You should have put that warning at the beginning so I wouldn't have to read your rambling, asinine post. But since I did, maybe you can cite me a single case which upheld a click-through EULA "agreement" in a court of law.
The best thing is how many people commented about the price of a mac mini vs the price of an apple tv that got hacked, but they didn't even take the time to read the whole original post.
April fools? No we have them every month here at slashdot!!!!!!
Subject says it all
You are correct, it's a hoax. It's not even a very convincing hoax. The Dell monitor he used has two inputs so he could easily switch between video sources, and there's obviously a second Mac nearby since it's running other software from another system before the demo. Notice how the video cuts off part of the Mac screen (like the Dock) when he launches apps. And everybody knows how easy it is to fake the contents of the System Profiler screen. More evidence: notice how there are two disk drives mounted on the AppleTV.
Anyone know if you can run MythTV under OSX? This thing would make a great myth frontend.
You hit the nail on the head! This is the PERFECT Myth front-end and with a USB tuner maybe even a full on box. the problem I see with Myth right now is getting the damned thing configured for whatever silly hardware you dug out of your closet or buying all new hardware to match some recipe and then still finding out you have to swing a dead cat to get it running! XBMC on the old XBOX works great for a reason and that reaosn is that the damned platform is dead nutz STANDARD. Now per haps MythTV would work better on a Mini snice it's a good bit more powerful but this box is TINY, made to hook right to a TV, comes with a remote, and is low power. What's not to like?
:-( sadly the aTV doesn't look like it's going to be quite capable of 1080 either, if I'm proven wrong I'll buy one. For now though I've just bought an XBOX 360 that has turned out to have ancient firmware on it and am going to be priming it to boot Linux here soon. That platform looks even better for Myth but I think it's a far longer road before anyone gets there - right now it's not even sound capable :-( Whichever gets done I'm there, neither box exactly breaks the bank here...
To be honest running the aTV Os on a Mini has actually been more interesting to me than OSX on the aTV because what I want is a capable HTPC type thing that can play MY content just like XBMC has been doing for me forever. Where XBMC falls down is the old 733mhz Celeron and 256meg of RAM in the old XBOX. 1080HD content need not apply, especially since the video drivers aren't accelerated on that box
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
Brilliant rebuttal! Have you considered a career as a lawyer?
It works very smoothly. It's just a standard install of 10.4.8 on a 2.5" hard drive. All you have to change: swap out the kernel with semthex's kernel, copy over the boot.efi file from the original AppleTV drive, run the "bless command" for that efi, remove all the NV* kernel extensions (NVidia video drivers interfere with the new chipset), and boot up the drive in the AppleTV. It's also pretty snappy for a 256MB RAM machine. The Pentium M is a great little low-power processor.
Because the Mini can't output 1080i over YPbPr Component Video. Many early HDTV adopters, like myself, are stuck with TVs that can't take ANY progressive scan inputs, and have no DVI, HDMI, or any other modern connector. My Zenith C34W23 falls into that catagory.
I'm working on getting MythFrontend running. That was actually the main driver behind me getting this working, as I'm a big MythTV user. My main backend has 500GB and 2 HDTV tuners. I'd love to get this box running in my bedroom with the 24" HD LCD I have on the wall (Dell). I'll post back when I have MythFrontend running....just need to configure my backend for remote frontend access and install the OS X MythFrontend which has already been compiled for Intel OS X. Oh yeah, I'm the guy in the video.
Who was the idiot editing the headline? It is NOT an april fool...
5 41
http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=
Odd, this 10.4.7 OS X Server DVD I'm holding here is Universal... Maybe I should go have a look at the client DVD as well...
m10
Go and test it yourself, it is not a joke :o
It would be great if Apple released the new OS X 10.5 on a bootable
high-speed USB 2.0 Flash Stick - Not on a DVD.
Then,
1. You could boot from your 10.5 flash drive as a rescue disk.
2. You could easily install it to the AppleTV, via the 1 USB port (+hub).
3. You could install OS X 10.5 on any computer that can boot to a USB Flash Drive.
That my friends, would be a Very, Very interesting day...
If Apple is already thinking ahead and
allows 10.5 to support AppleTV Natively,
then they have lobbed the first stealth computer
into Microsoft / Tivo / Game system Airspace.
AppleTV = The Nano Mac!
This hack runs fine here...
;)
The anonymous idiot that answered before me is a retard, and probably some well known enemy of semthex.
Why would someone be as stupid as that UGLY dude from over there I think I would sMash him if I knew who he was
A mini also doesn't have 802.11n, so streaming/copying gigabytes of video to it wirelessly is going to be a pain in the rear. An AppleTV isn't a mini, and a mini isn't an AppleTV.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Never mind, saw the post about 10.4.6 beeing PPC and checked the disc, it only mention PPC models so well then yes, it's not Intel version. Close enough for me thought ;D
I'm guessing you're one of the people that got screwed by Microsoft's DST update to Outlook and thus didn't realize that it's actually April 2nd, not April 1st.
Trust me. This is an inactive account. Regardless of what the
Ok, April 1st was retarded enough since the April Fools jokes weren't even funny. Now you have to tag REAL stories as "april fools" and "omgponies (what the hell?)".
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semthex: Seems like someone on Slashdot got drunk and marked the news of AppleTV as April fools. No it is not. Please read up on the forum, download the kernel, read the guide and test yourself. AppleTVHacks.net is currently down, possibly because of the monster traffic currently. I already contacted the owner about it but so far not got an answer. Once it is back [sic] again I will let you know.
from http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=
Okay, so I'll probably forget this by tomorrow morning. But I'm still not happy.
AppleTVHacks.net is back online and as you can read on the linked forum as well, it is NOT A APRIL FOOL. To sad that it seems to be really true that editors now not even read the storys anymore they write about, or before writting shit even check something about it.
When you purchase a gallon of paint, you own the paint and the container and you can do with them whatever you please. You want to use latex paint on vinyl siding? Want to use the paint can as a crude helmet? Nobody is going to stop you because you own the paint and you own the container.
When you "buy" a copyrighted work like a CD or computer software, you are not truly purchasing it at all. You are merely licensing it. What that means is that you are purchasing the right to use the software, not the software itself. And even then, you are only purchasing the right to use the software under the terms that you and the copyright holder agree to (although you may not feel as though it was an "agreement" since many of the terms of the EULA, you probably would not agree to, but I digress).
A better analogy is this: You fall in love with a girl, who in turn has fallen in love with my backyard. As a spot for a wedding. So, like it or not, your wedding is going to be in my backyard, assuming I agree to it.
You come up to me and ask me if you can license the use of my backyard for an afternoon to hold a wedding ceremony. I might allow this, but I may also place some additional stipulations. Perhaps I'd reply, "Yes, you may use my backyard for a fee of $2,000.00; however, there may not be an open bar. I am not comfortable with the added risk that your buddies will get overly drunk and may damage my home or get injured and sue me."
If you agree to the terms of the license, you pay me the $2k, have your wedding, and have no open bar. In the same way, when you license software, you agree to the terms of the license and need to abide by them if you want to stay on the right side of the law.
I'm not trying to lecture you on why you have to obey the finer points of every EULA you "agree to". Indeed, I have never read one, myself. I'm just trying to explain the difference between purchasing and licensing. Hopefully that made sense.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
The Apple TV could become the next great in-car computer system. It has a small form factor, WiFi, and now the ability to run OS X. All for the low price of $299.