[AppleTV] HOW-TO get a Sitecom 802.11n external USB WiFi adapter to work on a AppleTV

chewitt · 2011-01-20 06:59

illiac4 Wrote:Can both cards work at the same time? Or. does it disables wireless when lan is in port? I'm asking this because i'm using both cards lan for ip-tv and wi-fi for internal network and internet access on Boxee Box.

The AppleTV's NIC swap behaviour is triggered when en1 becomes active by joining a wireless network. This mod puts the USB NIC on en0 where it's seen as the primary fixed interface, and en1 remains absent in the OS so the NIC swap behaviour cannot be triggered. The original ethernet NIC is now on en2 which the "AppleTV" part of the OS is effectively blind to so there's nothing stopping you from using it as second interface and it should be a simple case of configuring the NIC using System Preferences.app. As with any multi-homed setup you may need to reorder NIC's and/or set additional network routes to have things work as you want, but that's all standard networking.

NB: I'm still on the lookout for a Broadcom chipset USB Wifi dongle. I'd like to find something that can be set to impersonate an original airport card (including use of the 'airport' commands in the OS) so that the original en0/en1 appearance and behaviour is maintained. I can only find PCI based cards, but if someone spots a USB one, let me know!

Christian

chewitt · 2011-01-22 11:58

illiac4 Wrote:Is this usb wifi also compatible with pin's image (linux)?

Update: I tested pin's Linux image this morning and appears to be working fine. Took me a while to figure out how to make network config survive a restart as it's been a while since I did anything in Ubuntu, but I got there. HOW-TO will follow in a couple of days.

grey · 2011-01-22 13:54

can it work on a usb hub, when there is attached a USB external hdd, too?

thanks

chewitt · 2011-01-22 15:07

grey Wrote:can it work on a usb hub, when there is attached a USB external hdd, too?

I think as long as the external drive isn't sucking loads of power (if it draws from the USB port) and you're not trying to perform huge file transfers at the same time, you're "probably" okay. I currently have the Sitecom USB NIC, a PC keyboard, 8GB SSD in an external USB-powered case and a 4GB flash drive hanging out of the back of a tiny pocket-hub while I experiment with Ubuntu on the SSD. So far so good..

grey · 2011-01-23 12:45

thank you for your reply.

only issue is that it would be hard for me to find a Sitecom adapter... as i live in Europe and it's first time i hear about this company and i'm in IT business (

chewitt · 2011-01-23 13:05

I went around a couple of the local IT shops and noted down model numbers for the adapters available, and then did some Googling to find out the chipsets used so I could have a look for OSX and Linux drivers. Realtek chipsets seem to be widely used (the list of USB vendor names and usb device codes in the OSX driver runs to 3-4 on-screen pages and it's probably only half of them) and Realtek allow you to download original drivers from their website, including source for the Linux driver which is always a good sign. It's worth noting that Sitecom themselves don't provide an OSX 10.4.x Intel or Linux driver for this card (and the W352), they only provide the 10.5+ Mac and WinXP/Vista/7 drivers, which is common among smaller manufacturers. Having done a fair bit of Google trawling it looks like Railink chipset WLAN products are have a similar approach to the Realtek ones; the drivers create an Ethernet-like NIC in the OS and use their own wireless configuration utility to set-up the card, and Railink post OSX, Linux and Wintel drivers to their website that you can use, so I would expect the same process I used to be possible with their kit as well.

Do your homework on what's available, and check out the store's returns policy Smile

grey · 2011-01-23 14:11

yes, Sir!

nerve · 2011-01-28 10:19

One more question.
Is it possible to put this kext :

Quote:edit /etc/rc.local to include a new line that loads the RTL8192SUt.kext and IONetworkingFamily.kext file on future reboots. nitoTV will have set Turbo's kextloader as the first line in the file. I've appended the RTL kext to the end of the file and placed the IONetworking kext after other IOXxxxx kexts mid-way in the load list.

in a sartup item instead in rc.local.

I have to load tvcomposite.kext and rc.local break the opening of the startup item

chewitt · 2011-02-02 17:06

nerve Wrote:One more question. Is it possible to put this kext : in a sartup item instead in rc.local. I have to load tvcomposite.kext and rc.local break the opening of the startup item

Sorry, I don't quite follow what you mean?

NB: Si vous répondre avec les mots simple en Français je te comprenez

Christian

nerve · 2011-02-03 11:05

My English is so awful ? Smile

)

ok I've this rc.local :

Code:

/sbin/turbo_kext_enabler.bin

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IOCDStorageFamily.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IODVDStorageFamily.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/msdosfs.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/AppleSMBIOS.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IOStorageFamily.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/cddafs.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/smbfs.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/udf.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IOBluetoothFamily.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IOBluetoothHIDDriver.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/IOHDIXController.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/ntfs.kext

/sbin/kextload -v /System/Library/Filesystems/fusefs.fs/Support/fusefs.kext

and this startup item to load the tvcomposite.kext :

Code:

ATV_Colour\StartupParameters.plist

{

Description = "Load Composite Kext";

Provides = ("Composite");

OrderPreference = "First";

}

and the script atv_colour :

Code:

#!/bin/sh

. /etc/rc.common

kextload /System/Library/Extensions/TVComposite.kext

In this case it doesn't work, the TVComposite.kext isn't load.

The solution I've found is dirty but work, i rename my rc.local in rc.load an change the script atv_colour like that :

Code:

#!/bin/sh

. /etc/rc.common

kextload /System/Library/Extensions/TVComposite.kext

sh /etc/rc.load

So tvcomposite.kext is load then rc.load

My question is have you a better an more sexy solution ?

chewitt Junior Member Posts: 30 Joined: Jan 2011 Reputation: 0 Location: Dubai, UAE	2011-01-22 11:58 Post: #12 illiac4 Wrote:Is this usb wifi also compatible with pin's image (linux)? Update: I tested pin's Linux image this morning and appears to be working fine. Took me a while to figure out how to make network config survive a restart as it's been a while since I did anything in Ubuntu, but I got there. HOW-TO will follow in a couple of days.
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grey Senior Member Posts: 218 Joined: Nov 2008 Reputation: 0 Location: Chisinau, Moldova	2011-01-22 13:54 Post: #13 can it work on a usb hub, when there is attached a USB external hdd, too? thanks
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grey Senior Member Posts: 218 Joined: Nov 2008 Reputation: 0 Location: Chisinau, Moldova	2011-01-23 12:45 Post: #15 thank you for your reply. only issue is that it would be hard for me to find a Sitecom adapter... as i live in Europe and it's first time i hear about this company and i'm in IT business (
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grey Senior Member Posts: 218 Joined: Nov 2008 Reputation: 0 Location: Chisinau, Moldova	2011-01-23 14:11 Post: #17 yes, Sir!
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