Archive for the ‘tv’ Category

Make your AppleTV use a Squid Proxy

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

So, I have started toying around with my AppleTV and realized I wanted to make it a bit more sane for my environment.

1- Make it possible to ssh in to your AppleTV. You can do this with atvusb-creator/ (You can find various guides on how to do this online)

2- ssh appletv.local -l frontrow

3- sudo tcsh

I have a slower internet connection at home so desire to run all my web requests via my proxy-cache. The settings are hidden in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist . I went ahead and copied the file and made a backup (always a good idea!) then performed a few edits, replacing the section that reads Proxies with the following (naturally updating my IP address accordingly).

			<key>Proxies</key>
			<dict>
			<key>AppleProxyConfigurationSelected</key>
			<integer>2</integer>
			<key>FTPPassive</key>
			<integer>1</integer>
			<key>HTTPEnable</key>
			<integer>1</integer>
			<key>HTTPPort</key>
			<integer>3128</integer>
			<key>HTTPProxy</key>
			<string>IP.ADD.RE.SS</string>
			</dict>

Hope these things help you out.

Posted in apple, tv | 5 Comments »

Apple TV Hatred

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

So, our Apple TV started having some problems, would be laggy when playing video across the network (we have the “Smart” sync enabled).  So I decided to do a Factory Restore since I did not hear the sound of the drive clicking or anything else that would indiciate a hardware failure.

After that, it restored with the 1.1 software, not the 2.0.2 software.  So we needed to do a ~20 minute download to get that back in sync, following some major hatred with the device off-and-on over the next 24 hours trying to get the TV shows to sync again.  Turns out amongst the other problems, the Apple TV thought it was in Canada as well as I needed to reauthorize the iMac it syncs with with ITMS.  It didn’t count against our block of authorized comptuers (we have several, including two macbooks – the 14″ dual usb type, two intel iMacs and one MacBook Pro).

I’m utterly frustrated that the factory restore did not do the 2.0.2 software and the upgrade did not propogate a new factory install/reset ala TiVo.  Lets see what happens and if the device wishes to actually die in the next few weeks.  It would make me very sad since we stopped paying for satellite service a few months ago to save on costs, and instead shifted that expenditure to ITMS money.

Posted in internet, tv | 1 Comment »

Writers Strike

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

As the writers strike continues, there continue to be minor settlements around, but with some contracts being cancelled for series development for the fall, the launch of the updated Apple TV, it may now be time to cancel your satellite/cable and consider the cost savings.  If you’re not a mass consumer of television, you may be able to actually save money by acquiring the shows through the iTunesMediaStore instead of paying just to watch things on your TV at home.  It could also give you a chance to save those DVDs from the kids destroying them should you import them (ala the new Family Guy DVD) or via other methods. Personally, I’ve found that The A Daily Show is going downhill fast.  While Jon is clearly insightful on issues, the lack of vision by the network is clearly visible.  Last nights interview apparently went 18 minutes long, but they only posted the part that actually aired instead of some possible compelling “new media” content.  Shows the sad state either of integration or understanding the industry.

Posted in tv | Comments Closed