Hesitating to Install Broadcam Crystal HD
#1
Hi,

I'd love to upgrade by AppleTV 1 (silver) to play back 1080p, but I'm hesitating on buying/installing the Broadcom Crystal HD card. My first misstep was that I bought the BCM970012 then later read that it has problems and that I really ought to buy the BCM970015. So I'm out a few bucks already. But before I go ahead and order the BCM970015, there are some questions I need answered:

  1. Are there drivers available for this, yes or no, and can a mere mortal like me without a lot of Linux experience install them?
  2. The instructions I found for installing this card seem to mention removing the wireless card and snipping the antenna wires. Why? Wouldn't that disable Wi-Fi connectivity. That sounds scary.
  3. When I have bittorrent downloads to watch, I have to run a BT client on my PC and FTP them to the (jailbroken) ATV with XBMC installed. Is there some way to manage torrents directly on the AppleTV and store the files locally?
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#2
1. Yes, you can do this with minimal Linux experience. Just follow the directions and you'll be fine. Check out OpenELEC too (Google is your friend) as that is another easy option.

2. Yes, the Broadcom video decoder chip actually replaces the Wifi chip in the Apple TV. Thus you will not have a wifi connection available if you want to install the broadcom chip. You thus must use the wired LAN jack.

3. Yes, there is a way to install a bittorrent program on your apple TV. Transmission is a great, open source BT client. Once it's running on your atv you can control/add torrents through the web interface on your laptop, all handled locally on the atv.

See http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add...ansmission
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#3
I'm still a big fan of Crystalbuntu, but OpenELEC is a fine choice too. Instead of snipping the antenna wires I just tucked them into the hole they come out of (peel back the copper tape) so that if I ever wanted to restore it, I could (I won't. having the BCHD is so great that there is no turning back).
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#4
I currently have an atv1, still running the original OSX software. I am hesitating at installing a Broadcom chip, mostly because I think my atv is working 'good enough' as is. I don't watch a ton of HD video, and I might have to use wifi at some point in the future (currently using ethernet).

Ned Scott, you are a true guru, and so I'd like to ask.. if I were to install the broadcom chip, should I go with Crystalbuntu, or Openelec? Why do you prefer one over the other?

I'm comfortable using most linux distros. Is it just a distro choice?

Thanks
Saddie
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#5
Im running openelec frodo with the 70015 card installed and playback runs a lot better than without the card installed.

That is until i enable hardware acceleration then i develop massive lagging and simply cannot stream hd live tv.

To eliminate wifi networking as the problem i ran a 1080 movie off of usb hard drive. The movie plays very well after a long initial pause and a few seconds of stuttering. CPU around 50%. Without aceleration there is no pause at the begining and cpu is at around 74%/80%.

I must be missing something because i cannot believe that anyone would be satisfied with the way my system works when that option is enabled in video settings.
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#6
Based on my own personal experiences, I consider both unstable for Frodo. Crystalbuntu is great on Eden. Crystalbuntu also seems to run better than OpenELEC for Frodo, but as I said, both have issues with Frodo. I've been trying lots of stuff. We'll wee once stable versions are out for both.
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#7
Thanks for the replies. I am quite happy with Eden, although I haven't taken a good look at any Frodo changelogs. But XBMC really does all that I could ask of it, and with a great price and a great community here. I have been running XBMC since the original xbox came out, and I must thank the developers for maintaining such an amazing piece of code!
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#8
after installing BCM970015 i lost ATV1 wireless conectivity.
is there a way to reinstate the wireless connectivity or is there a device I can connect to ATV1 to have connectivity to my home network?
Thanks
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#9
Ethernet cable?
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#10
(2013-11-14, 18:30)itaiaod Wrote: after installing BCM970015 i lost ATV1 wireless conectivity.
is there a way to reinstate the wireless connectivity or is there a device I can connect to ATV1 to have connectivity to my home network?
Thanks

USB wifi adapter. Both Crystalbuntu and OpenELEC make it pretty easy to set up.

I like this one: http://www.meritline.com/airlink101-awll...38768.aspx
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#11
I installed openelec in my atv1 and it works great without the Broadcom card. I don't want to install it either since I don't want to dump the WiFi card and mess around with USB NICs. I was experiencing a screen flicker than was making it a useless device but that went away after installing openelec.
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#12
Hey guys I wanted to upgrade to the Broadcom crystaHD BCM70015 and am currently running the kodi 14.1. After installation I know I will have to use a usb for my wireless, but will I have to any changes to any of my current settings as far as the jailbreak goes? Sorry for the stupid question I'm a newb.
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#13
It will be a straight swap. CHD card for the WIFI card. Yes settings will have to be changed.

I would recommend using Ethernet unless you like getting your hands dirty with Ubuntu usb wireless configurations:

http://forum.osmc.tv/showthread.php?tid=14240

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#14
Confuseddb: Search for "usb wifi nano" ebay, the red/black one that cost about 2usd shipped.
Then use this driver https://github.com/porjo/mt7601
There is another driver as well, written from scratch and mainlined in linux 4.2. Don't use that driver, it is really really really sucky. But with the driver I just linked to, it performs like a goddamn champ. It's faster and better and has better range than when used with Windows (I know, just sayin'!).
From my bedroom i got like 100kbs at best with the now mainlined driver, if I even got a connection at all. Even when 1m from the router, it sucked. With the driver from porjo (which is a modified vendor driver) I get over 10MB/s from my bedroom, no kidding. Not bad for an el cheapo n150 usb dongle.

Install is easy
git clone https://github.com/porjo/mt7601.git
cd mt7601/src
make
sudo make install

Then:
wpa_passphrase "SSID" "PASSWORD" (which will generate you hexkey)
sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

add this:

# mt7601Usta driver
auto ra0
iface ra0 inet dhcp
wpa-essid "SSID"
wpa-psk **************hex**key************

ifup -a (or just reboot)

(you don't need to configure all the settings as wrxtasy describes in hist post)
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