[Timbo1980]

Hi Guys!

I was running XBMC on my Apple TV 2 successfully for about a year now.
(10.4.0 AppleTV2,1, Version 4.2.1 (Build 8C154)). Yesterday, all of a sudden, it stopped working. It boots up like always, displaying the Apple-Logo Bootscreen. But when it normally changes to the ATV Menu, now the screen goes black. After a while, my TV (an LG 32 LG 3000) says "No Signal". That somehow makes the Apple TV flash its LED and finally reboot. This repeats over and over. I read that other people had similar problems, but found no definite solution in this forum. (I did not change anything in my setup, not even the wifi-password as was indicated in a different post here).

So I tried to restore the device. Unfortunatly, when I hook it up to iTunes, I only have the Option to restore AND update to the latest iOS Version. That, of corse, I don't want to do.

Question 1: Is there a solution to this "No Signal" error that doesn't involve factory resetting?

I tried to download the old Apple TV Firmwares from this page:
http://www.ijailbreak.com/news/download-...are-files/
I tried
4.1.0: AppleTV2,1_4.1_8M89_Restore.ipsw
4.2.0: AppleTV2,1_4.2_8C150_Restore.ipsw
4.2.1: AppleTV2,1_4.2.1_8C154_Restore.ipsw

Unfortunatly, trying to restore these .ipsws was not possible. "device not eligible for requested build".

Question 2: Is there an easy way to reset it to 4.2.1?

Thanks a million times, you guys are great.
Cheers!
Tim

[Ned Scott]

Can you still SSH into the Apple TV?

Look into something called iFaith and that might help you rejailbreak without updating (not sure, though).

[g-off]

You can only go back to versions that are no longer being signed by apple if you saved the shsh blobs with tiny umbrella. Download a copy and see if you can extract them now before flashing it again.

[Timbo1980]

Hi Ned,
I haven't tried it yet, but my guess is that I won't be albe to SSH into the device. It reboots as soon as the Bootscreen disappears. But I'll try it tonight.
I'll try iFaith as well, thanks for the tip.

@G-off: Unfortunatly, I don't have saved shsh blobs. I'll see what iFaith will be able to do. Thanks for your help.

To return to my first question: Has anybody experienced this "No Signal" phenomenon? Maybe there is a solution that doesn't involve factory resetting..

Thanks!

[Timbo1980]

Hi Ned again,
as it turns out, I can still ssh into the ATV2. What do you recommend to do?
Thanks!
Tim

[deanmv]

Have you tried unplugging it? Sounds simple but it does it to me sometimes and this always fixes it. It is a jailbreak error Memphiz has said.

[Timbo1980]

Hi Deanmv, yes, I tried unplugging. By now, I managed to save the SSH Blobs, but I could't get the factory restore to work. iTunes never let me get through with it, although tiny umbrella seemed to be working. Man, this is hard.

Is there anything I can to with the terminal? I read something about a "killall ApppleTV" command, but I never got it to work even though I can SSH in just fine. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[deanmv]

There are killall commands but I don't know if they will work as nothing is essentially running if it is still in a boot loop, there is a "reboot" command but I am not sure how different that will be from just pulling the cable out.

[Timbo1980]

I had it unplugged last night, no luck.

Reboot didn't help. I Think I'm running out of options here.
I always get "error 1600" or other errors when I try to reinstall the unmodified Apple 10.4.0 AppleTV2,1, Version 4.2.1firmware. I guess installing iOS 5.01 will ruin my chances to run xbmc on it forever.. Not sure what to do now.

[deanmv]

You won't be able to put 4.2.1 back on it anymore as it isn't being signed by Apple anymore, not sure if 4.4.4 is (would doubt it) but see if Ned has any more ideas?

[Th3avatar]

This is what happened to me on my iPad2 3G when I tried to fix gcc-toolchain on it when I recklessly replaced libraries.
Of course you haven't touched the libraries at all in this case.

What actually happened is possibly a recovery loop.
If you still have your SHSH do the following, though I cannot guarantee this will work:

- Update your iTunes to the latest version
- Download the latest TinyUmbrella. (You should have this if you already tried saving your SHSH with it.)
- Close iTunes
- Start TinyUmbrella and run the TSS server.
- Open iTunes.
- Put your iDevice into DFU mode (Note: DFU mode is not recovery mode, it's stronger than recovery mode. If you see "Plug your device into iTunes", you are in RECOVERY mode. DFU mode is just a black screen and iTunes saying "iTunes detected a device in DFU mode"). <--- Trying to put an iDevice into DFU mode manually is a pain in the ass, so youtube it and just follow the video.
- Hold SHIFT and click restore
- Restore to a previous known working version.
- Now I'm not sure about this step, but if you get stuck after restore in recovery mode, use TinyUmbrella to kick your device out of recovery loop.
- Re-jailbreak, install XBMC -> profit.

Alternatively, you can try to update to latest iOS, and then downgrade it as a backup plan if the above steps fails.

Good luck and I hope this works! I kind of had nightmares of it since I restored my iPad 2 THREE times in one week because me wanting to install GCC on it (it succeeded after the third time ).

PS: If you could SSH into your device, it means that some core files got deleted or modified making springboard unable to launch. But the device boots just fine I guess. In my case, it was like the device didn't even want to boot. Of course unless you know exactly what has been modified/deleted and if you have a backup of those file(s), you can fix it. I doubt you would.

[Timbo1980]

4.4 isn't signed anymore. I just tried that via Seas0npass. Too bad. I stil got the Shsh Blobs for 4.2.1 but I can't install it.

I just tried iFaith, the whole building of a signed firmware went fine, but again, even on my girlfriends PC I can't install the signed firmware on my apple TV. it just says someting like "preparing to restore iPhone (!)" but it never finishes. I'll try to update iTunes and try iFaith again. Any other options?

[Th3avatar]

Are you sure to put it in DFU mode and not recovery mode? Because that makes a huge difference.
And the whole point of having SHSH is to ignore Apple signing your firmware, because the TinyUmbrella TSS server will fake the apple server and sign it for you.
Are you still on your broken iOS or updated to latest? If all else fails, you should update to latest iOS which apple signs and then try to downgrade. I know this downgrade stuff when your device is practically useless is bad for the heart.

[Timbo1980]

Yes, I'm in DFU mode. Tiny Umbrella said so.

I'm still on the broken iOS. Upgrading to 5.X is something like my final option, since I don't know if I'll be able to downgrade.. or should I officially upgrade?

[Th3avatar]

Just try playing around first if you can downgrade it like that. When you get tired of it, upgrade to last version and try to downgrade from there by putting device on dfu mode on the last version. I also did that from broken iOS 5.0.1 to 5.1 and then DFU downgrade to 4.3.3