How to Install USB on a Take 2 AppleTV

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Posted April 19, 2008 at 4:39pm by iClarified

These are instructions on how to install USB Hard Drive Support on a Take 2 Apple TV. To follow this tutorial you will need to have an Intel Tiger Disk 1 version 10.4.8 or higher. The disc I used was Mac OS version 10.4.8, AHT version 3A114, Disc version 1.2, 2Z691-5946-A.

To follow this tutorial you must already have SSH installed on your AppleTV. Instructions can be found here to install SSH.

Step One
Download the Take2USB zip to your Desktop for your appropriate firmware version:

2.0.0: Take2USB-2.0.0.zip
2.0.1: Take2USB-2.0.1.zip
2.0.2: Take2USB-2.0.2.zip

Step Two
Download the firmware dmg to your desktop for your AppleTV version.

2.0.0: 2Z694-5274-109.dmg
2.0.1: 2Z694-5387-25.dmg
2.0.2: 2Z694-5428-3.dmg

Step Three
Insert your Intel Tiger Install Disk 1 into your computer and make sure it mounts

Step Four
Double click the Apple TV firmware dmg you downloaded to your desktop. (ie 2Z694-5428-3.dmg). It will mount a volume called OSBoot.

Step Five
Double click the Take2USB zip file you downloaded to your desktop. This will extract a folder called Take2USB.

Step Six
Launch Terminal from your Applications:Utilities folder.

Step Seven
Enter cd ~/Desktop/Take2USB into the Terminal window and press Enter.

Step Eight
Enter sudo ./getfiles.sh into the Terminal window and press the Enter key.

Step Nine
When asked for a password enter your administrator password.

Step Ten
The script will locate all the files you require and create a file called Take2USB.tar on your Desktop.

Step Eleven
Input the following command into the Terminal window (NOTE*: You could use your AppleTV's IP Address instead of AppleTV.local)
scp -1 -r ~/Desktop/Take2USB.tar frontrow@AppleTV.local:~/.

Step Twelve
If asked whether to continue connecting type yes and hit Enter.

Step Thirteen
If asked for a password enter frontrow and press Enter.

Step Fourteen
Now input the following command into the Terminal window to ssh into your AppleTV
ssh -1 frontrow@AppleTV.local

Step Fifteen
If asked for a password enter frontrow and press Enter.

Step Sixteen
Input the follow command into the Terminal window to extract the Take2USB.tar file
tar xvf Take2USB.tar

Step Seventeen
Enter cd Take2USB into the Terminal window and press Enter to move into the newly created directory.

Step Eighteen
Execute the following command to complete the USB installation
sudo ./putfiles.sh

Step Nineteen
If asked enter frontrow as your password and press Enter.

Step Twenty
Once you have been notified that installation is complete you can unplug your AppleTV to restart it.

Step Twenty One
Once your AppleTV has completed you will have USB functionality!

You can even view your connected USB Hard Drive in ATVFiles!

THANKS**: Big thanks to turbo for making this possible and to everyone who contributed!

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Anim8ED - February 19, 2009 at 11:11pm

PLEASE HELP! I cannot figure out why keep getting this on step 20... -bash-2.05b$ sudo ./putfiles.sh Password: cp: /Users/frontrow/Take2USB/usr/bin/nano: No such file or directory USB Install Completed -bash-2.05b$ The ONLY error and I am stuck I have tried 2.0.2 and 2.3 ATV firmware with the same error. Anyone else seeing the same thing and still able to use a USB hard drive? THANKS!

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TDH - February 5, 2009 at 11:27am

See this thread for simplified setup. http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=2180

Lawrence R Carter - February 5, 2009 at 11:10am

Help, i followed the above procedure, however, after i restart the atv the remote does not function.

miskatonic - January 16, 2009 at 11:08am

Hi ereyone! Thanks to this fantastic page i have ssh, usb and ATV files perfectly working in my ATV, (especially thanks to Alynpier). Now, when installing Nito TV I have some problem with "smart Installer". It needs the "MacOsxUpdCombo10.4.9.Intel.dmg" in the folder Documents of ATV. I have this file in the Desktop of my computer. Via terminal,I tried "scp -1 -r ~/Desktop/MacOsxUpdCombo10.4.9.Intel.dmg frontrow@AppleTV.local:~/Documents" It seemed that has been copied to "somewhere" in ATV (it lasts for five minutes) but when i try Smart Installer isn't working (still message "you must have MacOsxUpd... in /Documents". So, Can someone tell me wich is the appropiate code line to copy, via terminal, from Desktop to Documents Folder the .dmg? or to change its location in ATV? (from this "somewhere" I copied it to the correct Documents folder) All of this because I'm very new in terminal sintaxis, if you know where I can find information about it's also wellcomed. Thanks in advance!

Alynpier - February 22, 2009 at 5:13am

@miskatonic Try to connect your ATV via Cyberduck (that is the way I copy/delete files from my iMac). server : AppleTV.local port : 21 log/pass : frontrow Then you will be able to copy "MacOsxUpdCombo10.4.9.Intel.dmg" right in the folder Documents of ATV. If this file is already somewhere (you copied it) you will be able to move it in the right place.

Richard Bova - January 2, 2009 at 10:39pm

Hey guys, I was wondering if we could use the Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) instead of Tiger as i dont have the Tiger disks. Also if I need Tiger, and download it, will the disk image be sufficient. However using Leopard would be easiest for me. Need youe help guys and any help would be appreciated.

Alynpier - January 3, 2009 at 3:45am

Yes, the disk image is enough; you just have to mount it to access certain files.

jpf55 - December 19, 2008 at 5:27pm

Jason: if you can SSH into the atv, install nitoTV, it's much simpler, and it will install the necessary files.

bumkin - February 5, 2009 at 1:36am

how do you get it to see the drive. i have installed the files as directed but now the remote will not work.

Jason - December 19, 2008 at 4:14pm

I have version 2.3 can the zip and firmware links listed here be used for 2.3. The highest I see is 2.02

Travis - November 22, 2008 at 2:09am

Thanks for spelling that out for me, I'm kind of slow :-) Instead of writing scp -1 -r...... Can I write scp -2 -r...... I ask this because whenever I ssh, or anything that usually requires the -1 it tells me I have the wrong type or version (can't remember), but if I use a -2 it works. Is this ok?

TDH - November 19, 2008 at 12:21am

If you unzip the Take2USB 2.0.2 zip file there is a getfiles.sh script in there. You need to add a # before the line "cp -p /Volumes/OSBoot//mach_kernel.prelink ." without quotes. Then add in "scp -1 -r frontrow@appletv.local:/mach_kernel.prelink ." without quotes on the next line. This will grab the mach_kernel.prelink from the AppleTV itself instead of the restore image so you always have the current version.

Travis - November 18, 2008 at 9:46pm

There isn't an easier way? I thought that there would be a zip file for 2.1? When you say script do you mean the tar file after extracting the 2.0.2 zip file. I have to modify that?

TDH - November 18, 2008 at 9:04am

If you compare my script below to the original and make the necessary changes to the original, it will take the firmware directly off the appletv and you won't need the image.

Travis - November 18, 2008 at 7:25am

Alynpier, That is for the firmware. I need the zip file that creates the tar file. iclarified doesn't have it for 2.1, they stop at 2.0.2... thanks -

Alynpier - November 18, 2008 at 3:21am

Goto : https://iClarified.com/970 ;-)

Travis - November 17, 2008 at 8:21pm

Nobody knows where the zip/tar files are for OS 2.1? I saw a post that someone with OS 2.1 enabled USB. Do I use the 2.0.2 zip file for that? Please help!

Travis - November 15, 2008 at 9:33pm

where is the zip file for OS 2.1 ?

jpf55 - August 29, 2008 at 3:17pm

Dan: Yes it does, for some reason, I can't find the link where it says so but just go to settings in nitoTV and install software in the order of the screen all the way to Smart Installer, after that its optional. nitoTv will tell you if your are missing files

Dan - August 29, 2008 at 2:54pm

Does NitoTV add USB support? I couldn't find that anywhere in the documentation..

Alynpier - August 28, 2008 at 5:02pm

To activate USB, you can more easily install the last version of nitoTV (0.4.8) and let him do the job... via Smart Installer. The one thing to do is to copy "MacOSXUpdCombo10.4.9Intel.dmg" in "frontrow/Documents". ;-)

miskatonic - January 16, 2009 at 11:17am

Hi Alynpier! I have posted a comment for everyone, but in case you see the reply fastest and in brief, wich is the appropiate code line to copy the .dmg from my desktop to Documents folder in ATV? I tried "scp -1 -r ~/Desktop/MacOsxUpdCombo10.4.9Intel.dmg frontrow@AppleTV.local:~/Documents" and it has been copied, but not in Documents folder, because Smart Installer is not working still. Thanks again!

Dan - August 28, 2008 at 12:08pm

I had a hell of a time getting this to work, but was finally able to do so earlier this week. I'm still relatively new to terminal so nothing I did would work. I would get all the way to Step 18 without any problems, then when I put in the "sudo ./putfiles.sh" command, it would cycle through all the files and find errors with all of them saying that it could not locate them. I ended up opening the "putfiles.sh" file in the Take2USB folder and reading where the files were supposed to be located. I then logged in to the Apple TV using Fugu and navigated to those folders. As expected, none of the files the "putfiles.sh" file was looking for were there. As a work around, I decided I would use Fugu to manually place all the .kext files in the proper places on the Apple TV. For the other Noobs who can't get this to work who were getting the same error message I got, this is how I did it: Open the putfiles.sh file in the Take2USB folder. Make a list of all the .kexts and .bins and the location on the Apple TV they need to be place in the file. On your computer, navigate to the System>Library>Extensions folder in your hard drive in Finder. You should be able to find all those .kexts and .bins in there. Copy them all and paste them into a folder on your desktop. Use Fugu or some other SSH program to get into your Apple TV and navigate to the locations that are in the list you made above. Once there, upload all the .kexts or .bins that are in that list in their proper locations. Once that's done, get into terminal and go through Steps 14 to the end again. Reboot your Apple TV and cross your fingers. I spent about 3 months dealing with a piddly 40GB internal hard drive and being frustrated by dead ends with this hack. Now I have every television show I've ever downloaded at my finger tips on my TV. And I still have 200GB to spare on my external. This is really great. Thanks to everyone who has helped make this hack better.

miskatonic - August 18, 2008 at 4:21pm

THAAAAAAANKS A LOT ALYNPIER ! It's working yet

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