Boxee, a social media player (sort of like Last.fm but can do a whole lot more), has made its way on to the Apple TV. Naturally I have to investigate. The Apple TV is a great set top box that allows you to watch movies, play music and view photos all from iTunes. You can also rent movies directly from it without syncing your own media. You can jailbreak these nice little media centers to play various other video formats beyond the scope of iTunes/QuickTIme. I am not going to go into heavy detail, but I have hacked our Apple TV to enable playing DiVX and other video formats.
Here’s where Boxee comes in. Boxee is based on XBMC and compiles what you and your friends are watching to a profile. The specifics you can catch on the Boxee site itself. Forgive me if I am skipping over all the details. Since Boxee allows me to stream media from my Mac (or any box that has SMB sharing enabled) can watch any videos without the need to transcode or SSH into my Apple TV (which other various hacks) to get the videos to play. I am going to go over how I got Boxee on my Apple TV and provide some pictures. I am going to warn you though, I am a little rusty at taking pictures in the dark of a projector. So bare with the quality, it’s been awhile.
I follow a simple tutorial courtesy of iClarified, what I am going to give you here is some pictures of the outcome and what I used to carry out this tutorial. I’ll also mention any problems I happen to run into a long the way.
How to install boxee on your Apple TV:
Small note: This process is Mac only. I am running Apple TV firmware versions 2.2 during these setup instructions.
- Download the ATVUSB-Creator (http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/)
- Quick point here, I actually had a problem running the creator on my iMac , this is a known issue and unless you have another Mac lying around the house, this can be a snag in the entire operation. A fix is in the works.
- Connect a bootable USB drive
- I used a Fujitsu 2.5″ 100 GB drive in an external self powered USB enclosure.
- Run the ATVUSB-Creator
- Eject and unplug the USB drive once the creator is finished.
- Plug in the USB drive to your Apple TV
- If your Apple TV is on, you can just hold down - and Menu until it reboots. Otherwise Plugin/turnon your Apple TV.
- Once the bootloader on screen says it is finished, unplug your Apple TV and remove the USB drive.
- Pkugin your Apple TV and once the regular menu appears there should be Boxee and XBMC menu options
- Go to Boxee, and choose Update so it can download the app, simply follow the instructions on screen.
- Once updated, a new menu option will appear called XBMC/Boxee, you can run either app from here.
Some issues to Look Out for
- When running Boxee, if the remote doesn’t seem to respond when hitting the Play or Menu buttons, you will need to Unpair your remote in the Apple TV Settings->General->Remotes option.
Some Pictures
I do have invites to give away. So if you are interested leave a comment and fill out your email address (only I can see it in the backend) and I’ll get one shot off.
Update (12/18/2008): There is a Windows XP/Vista version of the patchstick creator available here: http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/downloads/list
Update (12/21/2008): Boxee will be opening up their alpha testing on January 6th. So if you haven’t gotten an invite you don’t have much longer to wait. Since we’re so close to the opening date I am no longer handing out invites. Sorry everyone.
Ive been reading everything I can about Boxee (including your posts.) Thanks info and experiences.
Had been using a PS3 to do much the same thing until the Blueray drive went pop (common problem) so getting DiVX and Boxee on the AppleTV which replaced it would be welcome. If you DO have a spare invitation it would be welcome here.
Thanks info
Rgds
Robert
Thanks for the guide. This looks quite cool, does it seem fairly responsive?
I’d been interested in an invite.
Cheers,
Dave
Robert, I need a real email to send you an invite. Unless I am to replace “nospam” with “robert” in the email you did happen to use.
Dave, the interface is about as responsive as the normal Apple TV interface. Loading a video when streaming takes a few seconds for it to buffer, a little longer than say the Apple TV’s normal interface would start it up. I’ve been pretty happy with Boxee so far (keep in mind this is my second real day of testing it on the Apple TV). Oh, and invite sent. :)
Hey, I’d love an invite. Thanks!!
I am dying to try this, I’m sitting here staring at the Boxee login screen on my apple tv with no way to try this, if you can spare an invite it would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
I would love an invite!
Pete, Rey, Alex, you all got invites. Check your email! :)
I would love an invite as well.
Invite please???
I would love an invite if you have any left.
Thanks
I would really love an inite if you would have any left.
I have three apple TV’s with Boxee on all waiting for a try.
I have 2000 songs, about 100 movies and all 4 seasons of The Wild Wild West I would love to try out with Boxee.
Thanks,
Chris
Christopher, your invite has been sent. I absolutely love Boxee on my Apple TV. I wish Apple would do something similar, but for now I am very content.
Enjoy Boxee!
sweet walkthrough! I’d like to try it out if you’ve got an invite to spare.
Thanks!
EB, glad you liked it. Invite has been sent. :)
Great article! Do you have any remaining invites? I am eager to give this a try.
Thanks!
Dan, it has been done. Enjoy!
Excited to try Boxee on my Apple TV. Could you send me an invite? Thanks!
Boxee on the Apple TV is where it is at. Enjoy, Colleen!
Dying to try this, but can’t seem to get an invite. Can anyone share one? Thanks!
i’m trying to get an invite
bv Thanks
jeanpeter
If you have any invites left, I would love to try it out.
Thanks,
Rob
Nice article. I just bought apple TV and I can’t seem to find any invites any where about Boxee. If you have one, can u please share?
Hi guys, I have apple TV here in the UK . I would love to try it out. Would you have anymore invites ?
:) Nick
Hey Guys, does anyone have a spare invite? philip at nakko dot com I’m sitting here staring at a login screen and want to watch finally watch all my series sooooo baaaad. PLEASE?!?!?!
Please send me an invite!!!!
billypaulson@mac.com
thanks!!!!!!
Hello thanks for your helpful information can you invite me to boxee thanks alot :)
I am really looking forward to trying Boxee. I have been waiting for someone to create a media center software like this for a long time. I have XBMC for Xbox, but this is SOOOOO far beyond it. Unfortunately, I’m just staring at a login box. Any chance of getting an invite? I signed up on the site, but no luck yet.
Thanks!
Jason and Jonathan, check your inboxes, invites have been sent. :)
Please, send me an invite :) Thanks!
Wow.. I’ve just had to re-hack my AppleTV after updating itself to 2.2, so only now I see what leaps have been made in the apps sector..
Would love an invite ;)
This is pretty amazing. If Apple would add this as a service they would sell Apple TVs like CRAZY. I would love to get an invite. I have an apple tv just begging to get this program and check out Hulu on it.
Skunkie, if you have any more invites, I would be grateful… thanks! I have installed Boxee and am staring at the login screen. Thanks!
could you please send me an invitation thank you
email sorry wilgamez@hotmail.com
I’ve been searching everywhere to try and get an accoutn to try Boxee out, having gone through all the rigmarole of figureing out how to install on my ATV and now I’m stuck here waiting for my password! I know everyone and their dog wants one but dont suppose theres the remotest chance of an invite is there? Thanks v much in advance!
Paul
Invites have been sent off. Enjoy!
I would also love an invite if you could spare one
Great article. Do you have any invites left?
Hi
I would love an invite too.
Seems like great software !!
please send an invite i would appreciate it very much as i can not try this. Thank you very much kind sir.
Hey, thanks so much for doing this. I just installed it on my ATV, and now I need a login! I don’t knowwhy the people from boxee don’t offer a more simple way of signing up. THey say that they will send out login id’s every monday, but they are backlogged, and it maay take a few weeks before I can get one from them. So if you still have a login, I would be extremely grateful if you could send me one also!
Thanks for the description above. Jurgen
Another round of invites sent off. Enjoy!
Can you send me an invite as well. I would really like to install this software and try it out. Thanks!!
Does anyone have an extra invite? I would love to try this out.
Thanks!!
Hello, Does anyone know if you can create a stick drive on a Vista Platform yet? Is there something in the works for this? I also would like an invite if possible, registered about a month ago and now luck yet. Thanks!!
Mike, you can download a USB creator for Vista here:
http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/downloads/list
Invite is also sent!
Cool blog. PLEASE PLEASE I beg of you, can you spare one more invite? I promise to… well, be very very grateful!
Scott, an invite has been sent. :) Enjoy!
Awesome Skunkie.
I just updated, but don’t have an account…
If anyone has one more, I’d really appreciate it.
this is really fantastic…
Could some one send me a boxee invite for windows ? thank you!
So I have it on my AppleTV and my Ubuntu partition on my PS3…And would like to try it on my Mac as well. Thank you for offering invites I would love one if you have any more to give…After trying Joost etc.. I think Boxee has it right!
Just sent out a round of invites, enjoy!
ITS XMAS thanks!
Skunkie — could you spare an invite? I’m dying to try Boxee.
Thanks,
David
Alex, no problem.
David, enjoy!
I could use an invite.
I’m really wanting to try this out.
Boxee will be opening up their alpha testing on Jan. 6th:
http://blog.boxee.tv/2008/12/21/opening-up-the-alpha/
I will no longer be handing out invites, sorry guys.
I am also looking for an invite to Boxee if you have any spare ones left. Thank-you for any consideration. Email - hannahbob62@earthlink.net
Sorry Dave, I am no longer handing out invites.