Apple TV / Mac Mini

[rchawla80]

Are there drivers for Apple TV Mac Mini avalilable so that a C4 remote can control Front Row?

If so - where can I get it?

Thanks

[thecodeman]

There are one-way IP drivers available for purchase for AppleTv. Your dealer can also create an IR driver for it. Two way drivers for AppleTV are currently in Beta and will be released for purchase soon.

And when I say purchase, I mean that the company that made the driver is charging for them, and that they will only sell to dealers, and dealers have to provide the MAC address of the controller running director at the site and the driver is encrypted to the project.

So to answer your question, you can get the drivers from your dealer who should also probably install them.

[rchawla80]

Thanks a lot! Define one way vs two way? Estimated cost? How much would you charge?

Thanks

[thecodeman]

From the vendor's website

" It provides the same level of control as the standard Apple TV remote but with a couple of extras

* The 'Context Menu' is available on the Info button

* You can skip chapters and fast forward and rewind in movie content

* With the standard IR driver when a second room selects the Apple TV the Play/Pause key is sent which causes whatever is playing to pause - this does not happen with the IP version.

Please note no feedback from the Apple TV is provided with this driver.

It saves the cost of the IR bug, frees up an IR port on the controller and prevents call backs when the IR bug falls off the front."

The two way driver is intended to give feedback and possibly cover art similar to the XMBC and netgear 9150 drivers.

You can call or email us or any other dealer for a formal quote if you'd like one.

[wappinghigh]

What about control of an Apple TV loaded with ATV Flash? Full control of that?

see www.atvflash.com

I know it's only 720p...but sure seems a nice way of getting everything added to Apple TV in one hit.

Is anybody using this solution with C4?

[bog]

None of my content is 1080p or even 720p. I think 720p is fine.

I still recommend Boxee or XBMC on the Apple TV. ATV flash is mostly codecs, a media player and the ability to mount network shares. I think there may be a few more bundled applications like a web browser. The main thing missing in my opinin is ATV Flash browses and navigates a file system as opposed to a media library. You will only see files and folders. You will not see meta data about the movie or tv show. Boxee and XBMC uses scrappers to lookup meta data and allow you to browse by meta data.

[wappinghigh]

None of my content is 1080p or even 720p. I think 720p is fine.

I still recommend Boxee or XBMC on the Apple TV. ATV flash is mostly codecs, a media player and the ability to mount network shares. I think there may be a few more bundled applications like a web browser. The main thing missing in my opinin is ATV Flash browses and navigates a file system as opposed to a media library. You will only see files and folders. You will not see meta data about the movie or tv show. Boxee and XBMC uses scrappers to lookup meta data and allow you to browse by meta data.

Bog. I think ATV Flash loads Boxee and XBMC (as well as a load of other stuff) right onto the AppleTV for you! Sure it costs $45.00..but well worth it IMHO.

[akg4y]

Wappinghigh, loading XBMC & Boxee onto the ATV is not difficult at all. Also if you want 1080p/720p playback buy the CrystalHD card from Ebay and install it in place of the wireless card in the ATV.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=518196&postcount=83

Bog, do you have any idea why when I try to connect to a password protected SMB share using Boxee/XBMC on my ATV the program hangs? I can connect to it fine with Plex and it just brings up the username/password dialog box but that does not come up with XBMC.

[urbanmark]

Wappinghigh, loading XBMC & Boxee onto the ATV is not difficult at all.

Just FYI... there was a little problem installing the new public Boxee Beta (Jan release) on Apple TV. I understand it was not impossible, but a little more difficult. That was fixed with a very recent release which is getting wide blog coverage today (Feb 26th) http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/boxee-beta-now-on-apple-tv/

[akg4y]

Biggest problem with boxee is the lack of CrystalHD support. According to XBMC forums the current driver + SVN release of XBMC is close to perfect with regards to 720 and 1080 support... which I will be testing tonight!

[akg4y]

Anyone here have experience installing NitoTV, VNC software, Firefox, etc on an AppleTV?

[urbanmark]

Biggest problem with boxee is the lack of CrystalHD support. According to XBMC forums the current driver + SVN release of XBMC is close to perfect with regards to 720 and 1080 support... which I will be testing tonight!

Isn't that more of a problem with AppleTV than Boxee? There's no 1080p issue running Boxee on a Mac mini...

[akg4y]

Well the AppleTV native hardware cant handle 1080p and even some 720p decoding and so you get a lot of dropped frames. Now you can install the Broadcom crystalHD card ($25 on ebay) in place of the wireless card in the apple TV and that allows for HD decoding, but the software & drivers have to take advantage of the card being in place. The XBMC folks (davilla in particular) have been working hard to code for the broadcom card and as of today's release XBMC on Apple TV should be able to decode 720p and 1080p files with little to no frame drops. There is still a bug with *outputting* 1080p from the AppleTV using XBMC... only 720p output is supported as of now, but at least you can play 720 and 1080p files without frame drops.

Boxee has not yet started working on CrystalHD support so if you try to play some 720 and all 1080 files then it will stutter on the Apple TV. On a newer mac mini you are right it will work fine, I actually have one of each.