How to Install ATVFiles on a Take 2 AppleTV

POST

MAIL

Posted February 24, 2008 at 2:48pm by iClarified

These are detailed instructions on how to install ATVFiles on the new Take 2 AppleTV Software.

Before following this tutorial you must enable SSH on your AppleTV. You can do this by making a Patchstick. The instructions can be found here

Step One
Download the latest build of ATVFiles for Take 2 from here. Make sure to download the .run file.

Save the download to your desktop.

Step Two
Open Terminal by launch it from your Applications:Utilities folder.

How to Install ATVFiles on a Take 2 AppleTV

Step Three
Enter the following command into the Terminal window. NOTE***: You can replace AppleTV.local with the IP Address of your AppleTV if you like.

scp -1 -r ~/Desktop/ATVFiles-1.0.take2a2.run frontrow@AppleTV.local:~

If asked, Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no), type in yes and hit Enter.

You will then be asked for a password. Enter frontrow as the password and press Enter. Notice that the file is now copied to your AppleTV.

Step Three
Enter the following command into the Terminal window. NOTE***: You can replace AppleTV.local with the IP Address of your AppleTV if you like.

ssh -1 frontrow@AppleTV.local

When asked for a password enter frontrow then press the Enter key.

Step Four
Enter the following command into the Terminal window:

sudo sh ~/ATVFiles-1.0.take2a2.run

When asked for a password enter frontrow then press the Enter key.

ATVFiles will install itself. You will then be asked to restart Finder. Enter Y then press the Enter key.

THANKS***: A big thanks goes to ericIII for his creation of ATVFiles without which my AppleTV would barely be used!

NOTE*: You can also enable ATVFiles to use an external USB drive by following the tutorial here

Follow iClarified

twiceremoved - November 21, 2008 at 8:48am

Does this work with new firmware 2.3

Reply · Like

zafarius - July 24, 2008 at 3:19am

I've run this twice now. Installed ssh, installed USB - all good. Install ATVFiles - ATVFiles appears in the menu but all networking - and I mean ALL NETWORKING is lost. Gone. completely lost. On the ATV menu system there is no Shared Libraries at all - not in Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts (you get the picture) and the device cannot connect to the Network at all. From the outside world - AppleTV.local no longer exists and the IP address is a destination unreachable. I'm running ATV Boot 2.02. The only way around this is restore Factory Settings and then update to 2.02 again...sheesh. Anyone seeing the same thing? Any work-around?

bob - June 3, 2008 at 4:17pm

/Desktop/ATVFiles-1.0.take2a2.run: No such file or directory this is what i get... any idea? ssh is ok, is installed sapphire without probs. thanks in advance for your help

colts - May 29, 2008 at 9:56am

in which folder do i have to copy the divx files on AppleTV?

Ben - April 27, 2008 at 10:54am

n3mi, obviously you have not enabled SHH so that got this error.

n3mi - April 27, 2008 at 4:36am

im getting this message at step 1: AppleTV.local port 22: Connection refused lost connection any idea guys?

Ben - April 24, 2008 at 10:31am

I think this instruction is clear and work for me. Only the link ATVFiles is not update. I got 1.1.0 run.

ABC - April 12, 2008 at 7:28pm

I have followed the SSH enabled instructions and, it seemed working fine for me. However, when I tried to install the ATVFiles to my ATV, there was no response from ATV, and the password frontrow doesn't seem to work. Do you have any clearer instructions or troubleshoot with this tutorial. Thanks for your all hard work, can't wait to see my ATV play divx files.

Andreas - March 27, 2008 at 5:18pm

Sorry i can see the folder ATVFiles on my apple TV but from where can I play a divX file that exists in my iMAC? How can I sync a folder in my imac with the folder ATVFiles?

shen - March 25, 2008 at 8:36pm

it says the password frontrow is wrong.any idea???

Taz - March 12, 2008 at 8:08pm

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I used your instructions on the following setup and it works great! AppleTV 1.0 updated to 2.0 Used patchstick to enable ssh Installed nitoTV and used it to install mplayer codecs + Perian Followed your great instructions... Result: able to confirm that DIVX playback is fine. Have not tried other formats. Aside: I have not managed to get nitoTV's Files tool to play DIVX file. I even tried to run permissions fix mentioned here: http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/NitoTV#Perian_Installer So ATVFiles is going to be my tool of choice for anything DIVX. Cheers

crazyastro - February 25, 2008 at 4:12pm

The AppleTV is a great idea, it just needs to be opened up. I agree, with 1.0 and 1.1, I wasn't getting much use out of the device until I installed ATVFiles and was able to load all the stuff I download. iTunes is okay, and the content is ok. It works seamlessly with the AppleTV and thats great, synching music, photos and iTunes videos is a breeze. Converting files that I have downloaded for the AppleTV takes time. It would be much better if I was able to play those files directly on the AppleTV - and now, we can again! Take 2 is a vast improvement in my opinion, and unlike 1.0 and 1.1, there is more to do with the device even if you don't purchase or rent off iTunes (I can't rent just yet, living in Canada, booo). Adding ATVFiles makes it that much better - thank you!!! Just one question - can we play MKV files through ATVFiles? I know this wasn't working very well for me on earlier software, and the majority of stuff I download is HD.