Apple Tv 2 (5.2) with Jailbreak and XBMC
Requirements
- Apple TV 2nd generation.
- Update the Apple TV 2 to version 5.2 (iOS 6.1) if you haven’t done so yet.
- Download Seas0nPass (Mac OS X) (Windows).
- USB cable to connect the Apple TV to a computer to perform the jailbreak.
- SSH client (Terminal for Mac OS X, PuTTY for Windows).
Jailbreaking Apple TV 2 Running 5.2 (iOS 6.1)
Open Seas0nPass.
- Choose “Create IPSW” and let Seasonpass build the jailbroken IPSW to install, then follow on screen instructions to connect the Apple TV 2 to the computer via USB when requested.
- Put the Apple TV into DFU mode by using the ATV remote to hold down both MENU and PLAY buttons for 7 seconds.
- iTunes will launch to restore the Apple TV to the newly made jailbreak IPSW, continue to follow onscreen instructions from Seas0npass.
- Apple TV will reboot and you will know Seas0nPass has been effectively installed because the Settings icon on the Apple TV home screen is temporarily replaced with a red “FC” logo.
- Installing XBMC on the Apple TV 2 (5.2)Before beginning, find the Apple TV’s local IP address by doing the following:
- Go to “Settings” then “General” then “Network”
- Make a note of the ATV IP address, you will need this to SSH into the device and install XBMC
ssh root@appletv-ip
The default password for Apple TV is “alpine” without the quotes, just like all iPads, iPhones, and iPods. It will be “alpine” unless you changed it at some point.
Now that you are logged into the Apple TV remotely, the installation process begins. - The official method from XBMC outlined below uses the command line, though the XBMC Wiki offers an alternate method if you’re adventurous.
- apt-get install wget
- wget -O- http://apt.awkwardtv.org/awkwardtv.pub | apt-key add -
echo "deb http://apt.awkwardtv.org/ stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/awkwardtv.list
echo "deb http://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/atv2 ./" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xbmc.list
apt-get update
mkdir -p /Applications/AppleTV.app/Appliances
apt-get install org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2
mkdir -p /Applications/XBMC.frappliance
reboot
The Apple TV will reboot and you’ll now have the lovely XBMC media center app running on it. - Installing Plugins & Custom Skins in XBMC on Apple TVYou’ll need to use the Terminal.
- or SFTP (either with an app like Cyberduck or from the OS X Finder sFTP feature) to install custom skins on an Apple TV running XBMC but it’s not complicated if you’ve made it this far.
- Connect to the ATV using root@ip-address and then navigate to:
/private/var/mobile/ - Place the zip files into that directory, then from XBMC navigate to “Add Ons” and use “Install from Zip”
- Alternatively, you can unzip skins and plugins on the computer then use scp or SFTP to copy them directly into their appropriate plugin or skin directories.
- Skins can look really great and are free to download from XBMC.
Uninstall XBMC from Apple TVDecided you’re not a fan of XBMC?
No big deal, it’s much easier to uninstall then to install.
Log into the Apple TV again using SSH:
ssh root@appletv-ip
Now use the apt-get packaging tool to uninstall XBMC:
apt-get remove org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2
Finally, reboot the ATV again:
reboot
The Apple TV2 will reboot without XBMC. Done!
Uninstalling XBMC does not undo the jailbreak on the Apple TV.
If you want to unjailbreak the Apple TV, you would need to connect it to iTunes running on a computer, and use the “Restore” feature to return it to factory settings.