Official AppleTV MacCar Thread

[brain21]

I *think* (I don't currently have an ApleTV) that there is a button on top of the case, and also possibly a way to do it via the remote, that you can hold down for a few seconds and it puts it to sleep.

I would imagine then, that if yours is hacked you could ssh in and write some sort of shell script that would accomplish the same thing (so you don't have to have physical access)? Not sure...

[duckjibe]

No button on ATV. Have to use remote by holding play/pause for a few seconds.

[duckjibe]

My other post went missing but I wanted to say that I have AppleTV in my car and the biggest problem is it keeps needing to re-sync all content because a file is getting corrupted when it powers off in the middle of writing to disk. This is really a problem because it takes the ATV weeks to upload all content again. I have a smart power supply from Opus that powers off the ATV after 1 hour or if the battery voltage drops too low. There is no way to automatically shut down the AppleTV gracefully. The only way to sleep it is via holding play/pause on the remote for a few seconds.

The AppleTV will only be viable in the car if someone can resolve the power down/sleep issue. If someone can help with this it would be great.

[brain21]

Is there a way to either partition the AppleTV drive, or maybe just put the OS on a USB stick, and make it non writable? So you would use a special partition on the appleTV for storing your media files and your swap file (or simply create yet another partition for that if it is not already done) so that if you power it off, it always reboots from the USB stick w/ an image of the regular HDD in the same state every time (and therefore you don't run the risk of messing up your drive image)?

Perhaps a "Patchstick" USB that has the AppleTV OS on it rather than OSX (Tiger), and then chmod the stick to read & execute only. I would think it would have to mount the other partitions (the writable ones) on bootup, so that mount point would have to have write perms, but other than that I would *think* that that would work. Now I just have to google and see if someone has done this already. :-)

Now that I think about it, you'd also have to force iTunes to store EVERYTHING in the readable partition otherwise you could never add new files or playlists (unless ssh'ing in, chmodding itunes, creating your playlists & adding songs to the DB & then re-chmodding to R-X isn't too much of a pain), right? For me that's no big deal. I don't change that stuff too often, but for others it might be.

[duckjibe]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think the AppleTV already works that way for the OS. It is the media content/library file that gets corrupted?? In any event it has to get updated regularly as I am adding songs/movies/podcasts all the time so must always be changing. Its got to be maintenance free for me.

[brain21]

So, if I understand you correctly, there is a file or some sort of a DB that gets corrupted on an instant power off. Does this happen EVERY time you power it off, or only after you've added new media to the library?

If it's only when you've added new media, then after you've added the new media do an immediate graceful reboot and you should be fine. A PITA, but still an easy solution.

If it happens EVERY time you do an instant power off, then there should be a way to create a read/execute only backup copy of those files, and use those instead of the real ones. When you add new stuff, make it read/write to the REAL copies. Do a reboot so you know they are in a good state, back those files up & use those.

Maybe something where:

In a normal, good state (lets call the file simply "file.db"):
1) cp file.db file.db.backup
2) chmod 555 file.db.backup
3) mv file.db file.db.original
4) ln -s file.db.backup file.db

So this should boot from a read/execute only version of those file(s). iTunes or whatever will be loading the file.db and getting the non-writable file.db.backup loaded instead (and think it's still file.db)

Then, when you want to add new files, run a script that simply
1) removes the sym link
2) mv file.db.original file.db
3) Add your media to the database
4) Do a graceful restart

OK, now you have a new updated version of file.db After that reboot, re-run the first script, so iTunes or whatever reads from the non-writable file?????

This is, if I even understand the problem correctly, which I may not :-) and assuming that the program doesn't NEED write access to the file in just a play-back scenario (no adding of new files).

Either way, I bet that there is a way to script around it somehow...

Then again, I may be completely misunderstanding what & how things are getting corrupted?

[tonheko]

Assuming that I cannot access my wlan from my garage, that I'll have to take de aTV off my car and bring it to my apartment every time I want to sync it.

Will I have some problem like loosing my libary because of some corrupted file?

Also, Is there a way to exetend the IR receiver?

Thanks

Antonio.

[meagain]

Hi. My question is, couldn't AppleTV be simply run to a Mimo 7" USB monitor?
They're from Korea but just now USA is able to buy them. There is also a rebranded version made for Samsung and Buffalo.

http://www.mimomonitors.com/

One 7" USB monitor is straight, the other is:

Touchscreen !!!!!
Audio capable
WebCam

I think there's a demo or 2 on youtube and lots of reviews around to read.
Couldn't one simply plug into an Apple TV USB port? Would that power the monitor display?

I am not knowledgeable about all this stuff but these darn cute little 7" USB monitors keep swirling around in my head and I just know there's use for them. In my perfect world, I could plug my iphone into one and use the hacked TVout app.

But seriously, wouldn't this work with AppleTV in the car? Thanks.

[dghazfan]

Perhaps photos in AppleTV in a Car can help to visualize installation

[silverhack]

I just thought I'd check if anyone is still doing AppleTV work as a car pc. I'm upgrading my AppleTV to a Mac Mini for my media center. Now I have an extra AppleTV so I'm thinking about using it in the car.

Has there been any headway on power supplies?

As for screens, what would be the best way to connect it to a 7" screen since the AppleTV has Component and HDMI output? My screen (Liliput) has VGA and composite input. I read somewhere that composite output can be hacked on the AppleTV, so maybe that would be the best (cheapest) option rather than buying a $60 HDMI to VGA converter to use with a $70 screen.

[dghazfan]

Silverhack,

>> Has there been any headway on power supplies?
I just use a DC-AC inverter to power AppleTV, although some mentioned 12VDC to 5V DC transformer as an option

>> As for screens, what would be the best way to connect it to a 7" screen since the
>> AppleTV has Component and HDMI output? My screen (Liliput) has VGA and
>> composite input. I read somewhere that composite output can be hacked on the
>> AppleTV, so maybe that would be the best (cheapest) option rather than buying a
>> $60 HDMI to VGA converter to use with a $70 screen.
I connect the green connector as per the instruction here http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Composite

Good Luck!!

[YoungHell]

My question is what type of screen can i get that will aloow me to use normal functions as cd navi and am/fm radio as well as allow me to use the apple tv? I want to me able to switch back n forth from cd to atv to navi to radio (when i switch to navi I dont want the audio from the other 3 to stop working). what screen is needed to do this in-dash. please hellp