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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)
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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...
I don't think these will get slashdotted anytime soon
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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...
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?
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
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.
Otherwise it is a clear case of copyright infringement.
no, rather license violation.
Go and test it yourself, it is not a joke :o
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=