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teeshapie · 2012-03-03, 01:32

I was thinking putting xbmc with apple tv would be a good idea. Although I have concerns that if I run xbmc off apple tv will I have to run my computer at all times as well? Can I just have the apple tv running from my tv with a usb with all my movies plugged into it?
Will that work, I don't want to have to acess my computer.

Thanks

deanmv · 2012-03-03, 01:39

You cannot use the USB port on the Apple TV to support any sort of hard drive or storage device, it won't work, ever. You can however plug onto into a router that supports it and then you don't need the computer on all the time, if that is an option?

teeshapie · 2012-03-03, 01:43

Uhm ok, I don't know if that's the best idea since my router is downstairs and people could unplug my hard drive. What are the best ways to connect xbmc to the tv?

deanmv · 2012-03-03, 01:47

Windows, OSX, Linux, Apple TV. Any of these OS's/devices will run XBMC but you will probably need to run it off an actual PC plugged into the TV so that your media can be stored on the same PC if you don't want to access it remotely/via a network?

teeshapie · 2012-03-03, 01:57

So if I want to run it to my tv from pc I'll need some sort of wireless transmitter or something?

OccupyCouch · 2012-03-04, 22:17

teeshapie Wrote:I was thinking putting xbmc with apple tv would be a good idea. Although I have concerns that if I run xbmc off apple tv will I have to run my computer at all times as well? Can I just have the apple tv running from my tv with a usb with all my movies plugged into it?
Will that work, I don't want to have to acess my computer.

You won't need to be running your computer at all to have XBMC working on Apple TV. As far as streaming from locally stored files, you could set up some kind of network drive solution like an Airdisk, usb drives plugged into a capable router, buying a NAS, Mac Mini, hacking a pogoplug, raspberry Pi...etc.

toxicturi · 2012-03-04, 22:48

And here I was with the same problem, looking for an easy solution Sad

xbs08 · 2012-03-04, 23:41

Plug an HDD to a router with USB storage support (like the Belkin Share N300) and you can use the ATV2 to stream content from the HDD.

OccupyCouch · 2012-03-05, 02:53

toxicturi Wrote:And here I was with the same problem, looking for an easy solution

I think you might have got confused by the list of options I listed for wireless local storage options. You only have to do one of those choices, not all of them. And depending on your preference, you might not need to do anything.

For example, if you have a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme, you can plug USB external drives into them and they become "Airdisks" (also known as Airport Disks) that XBMC can access.

You can also use third party routers with USB storage support but beware that most of those routers including the Belkin mentioned above do not support Mac formatted drives (HFS+ format).

You can also just buy a NAS device that plugs into the router via ethernet. One benefit of a NAS (as well as routers that can be flashed with open source firmware), aside from running and being accessible at all times, is that you can run programs like bittorrent clients or automated usenet programs like Sickbeard (TV shows) and Couchpotato (movies). You can also do the same with any computer and Mac Mini can make a great NAS as well as a web server among other things. The cheapest NAS option is to hack a pogoplug or to get the new Raspberry Pi once it comes out.

It also has to be said, due to all the incredible add-ons available on XBMC like Navi-X, you may not even need any local storage for downloading at all since pretty much every movie and TV show can be found and streamed easily.

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2012-03-05, 16:15

Parrish416 Wrote:I don't know if that's the best idea since my router is downstairs and people could unplug my hard drive.

Someone could also walk up and punch you in the face. The questions to both situations are "why would they?" and "why are you in a situation where people would do that?"

xbs08 · 2012-03-05, 16:21

a) Put a notice above your router saying that you will cut off the hands of those who disconnect your hdd from the router.

b) Put the router and the hdd inside an electrified bird cage.

c) Super glue the usb cable connecting the router and the hdd.

torch1 · 2012-03-05, 16:31

d) kill all your housemates, just in case.

deanmv · 2012-03-05, 17:22

All great suggestions haha!

OccupyCouch · 2012-03-05, 20:26

You can just plug any of the following directly into the Ethernet port of the Apple TV 2:

Airport extreme/time capsule + USB drive
NAS drive
Mac Mini

**joshua.lyon** · 2012-03-12, 18:51

(2012-03-05, 16:15)Ned Scott Wrote:
Parrish416 Wrote:I don't know if that's the best idea since my router is downstairs and people could unplug my hard drive.

Someone could also walk up and punch you in the face. The questions to both situations are "why would they?" and "why are you in a situation where people would do that?"

This quote made my day.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm with the others on the recommendations - if your router has the USB capability, take advantage of that. If you are looking at adding more hardware, I'd go with a NAS solution.

You can either buy an off-the-shelf NAS solution or you can use an existing PC which would be on all the time as a NAS.

Personally, I run a low-power ION based computer in my living room as my main HTPC. I keep it on all the time as it runs all the main services I use (Sickbeard, Couchpotato, SABnzbd). That computer also serves as a NAS device - all of the hard drives that are plugged into it are served across the network. In addition to that, the main HTPC and the other XBMC nodes in the house (Apple TV 2) are all running off the same database on the main HTPC so all my content is synchronized throughout the house.