Newbie - New aTV2 Need advice on Jailbreak and installs
#1
I am brand new to jail breaking, I have not done it, but have read quite a bit. I just ordered a new apple tv 2 and want to jailbreak it before I do anything else. Not sure if it will be 4.2.1 or 4.3.1 when I get it. Should I let it upgrade to 4.3.1 and use seas0npass or leave it at 4.2.1 and use greenpois0n?

Also, what all should I install after? XBMC obviously. what about nitotv? Others - and what do they do?

I also want to be able to go to websites such as NBC to watch tv show on those sites that I missed, can I do that and how? will the apple tv jailbroken have a browser so that I can do that?

Any advice on what I should do with the brand new aTV2 before I start would be appreciated.

Thanks,
amoses
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#2
Would love to no more bout this myself plz??
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#3
Well, Dev-Team just released both RedSn0w and PwnageTool to jailbreak ATV2 4.3.1. So you may want to give that a try instead of GreenPois0n because RedSnow and PwnageTools are untethered jailbreak. If you are set on sticking with ATV2 OS build 4.2.1, then you can use any of the jailbreaking tools: GreenPois0n, SeasonPass, RedSnow, PwnageTool.

Remember, if you do decide to have your ATV2 on 4.3.1, you'll also need to use the latest nightly build of XBMC in order to have accelerated playback. The current official XBMC release does not have the fix for VideoToolBox on ATV2 running >4.3.

Lastly, forget the browser. You want to catch up on missed TV episodes? There's a better way. Let me enlighten you...Look into the icefilms addon. There's a thread asked from a "noob" point of view with instructions on how to get it installed here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=98396

To quickly answer the other questions to pose:

1. Know which iOS version you are running and understand the difference between your ATV Software version and iOS version.

instructions: Once you get your ATV2. Hook it up, go into settings/about and see what iOS version you are running. Press the center button on your remote while on the about screen and you can toggle between ATV Software version, Build and OS software. OS Software corresponds to iOS software. Here's a quick table:

ATV2 Software 4.0 = iOS 4.1
ATV2 Software 4.1 = iOS 4.2
ATV2 Software 4.1.1 = iOS 4.2.1
ATV2 Software 4.2 = iOS 4.3
ATV2 Software 4.2.1 = iOS 4.3.1**

**note: Apple TV likes to drop the last digit and simply display OS version as 4.3


2. Assuming you got a pre iOS 4.3 device, you can decide to stay on the lower version or upgrade to the latest 4.3.1. The untethered jailbreak for 4.3.1 just got released a couple of hours ago. The safer route is to stick with 4.2.1 for the time being.

Regarding your question about NitoTV. GreenPois0n will automatically install NitoTV as part of the jailbreaking process. NitoTV is adds a additional menu onto ATV2's Lowtide interface that allow you to install other scripts, addons and updates, all from the convenience of the graphical interface. It's definitely a nice feature to have, especially for newbies who aren't familiar with commandline stuff. From the NitoTV menu, you can easily install the latest official release of XBMC. Like I mention earlier, the current official version of XBMC works great on iOS 4.2.1 and below.

Anyways, this is getting longer than I intended so I'll stop here. Good luck.
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#4
Thank you very much. That was very helpful. I am hoping that it comes in as a 4.2.1., because I still don't get the downgrade stuff. I do have the tinyumbrella installed, but that only saves what ever is on there right now, right? If I need to go backwards to 4.2.1 then I am not sure how I will do that, if it comes in as a 4.3. It should be here tomorrow, so I will check it out then.

Thanks again,

amoses
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#5
It will only save the shsh blob for whatever version Apple is signing. Apple usually only sign for the latest version. Which currently is 4.3.1.

However, when 4.3 was release, Apple stopped signing for 4.2.1 like they usually do. But there was a bug in 4.3 so Apple actually turn back on signing for 4.2.1 for a while. That was the first time Apple had done that. Not sure if they are still signing 4.2.1. If they are, TinyUmbrella will be able to save the shsh blob for it 4.2.1.

Once you have the blob for a particular version saved, you can always downgrade back to that version.

You only need to connect you ATV to TinyUmbrella once. Once TinyUmbrella is able to save your SHSH and get the pertinent data about your ATV2 device, you simply open it up and hit save SHSH and it will save the SHSH for whatever the latest version of iOS. All without having to reconnect your ATV2 again.

My TinyUmbrella program currently knows about 8 iOS devices. Consisting of iphones, ipads, atv2 that I own, or belonging to spouse and friends I have helped in the past.

Everytime a new iOS version comes out, I open up TinyUmbrella and click on "save all SHSHs". It saves all the SHSH for every iOS device that ever connected to it. Nice and convenient.

Currently, the untethered jailbreak with PwnageTool for 4.3.1 has an audio problem with XBMC. Hopefully a updated jailbreak will come out to resolve this. Because the SeasonPass tethered jailbreak does not exhibit this problem. I just wanted you to be aware of that.
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#6
dazex Wrote:It will only save the shsh blob for whatever version Apple is signing. Apple usually only sign for the latest version. Which currently is 4.3.1.

However, when 4.3 was release, Apple stopped signing for 4.2.1 like they usually do. But there was a bug in 4.3 so Apple actually turn back on signing for 4.2.1 for a while. That was the first time Apple had done that. Not sure if they are still signing 4.2.1. If they are, TinyUmbrella will be able to save the shsh blob for it 4.2.1.

Once you have the blob for a particular version saved, you can always downgrade back to that version.

You only need to connect you ATV to TinyUmbrella once. Once TinyUmbrella is able to save your SHSH and get the pertinent data about your ATV2 device, you simply open it up and hit save SHSH and it will save the SHSH for whatever the latest version of iOS. All without having to reconnect your ATV2 again.

My TinyUmbrella program currently knows about 8 iOS devices. Consisting of iphones, ipads, atv2 that I own, or belonging to spouse and friends I have helped in the past.

Everytime a new iOS version comes out, I open up TinyUmbrella and click on "save all SHSHs". It saves all the SHSH for every iOS device that ever connected to it. Nice and convenient.

Currently, the untethered jailbreak with PwnageTool for 4.3.1 has an audio problem with XBMC. Hopefully a updated jailbreak will come out to resolve this. Because the SeasonPass tethered jailbreak does not exhibit this problem. I just wanted you to be aware of that.

So, how can I downgrade it to 4.2.1 if it has 4.3.1 on it already (from when it was new)? can I use shsh blobs from a different device? My son in law has 4.2.1 shsh blobs from his iphone. I don't suppose that would work though. What are my options?
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#7
You can't if you don't have the shsh blob. That's why you'll want to use TinyUmbrella to see if it can still save 4.2.1 blob for you. If it can, then you'll be able to downgrade.

Otherwise, you'll have to stay on 4.3+.

Each shsh blob is unique to each device. Otherwise, we wouldn't need to do this song and dance. Sorry, you won't be able to use your son in law's 4.2.1 from his iPhone or ATV or iPad.

Any specific reason you want to downgrade?
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#8
dazex Wrote:Any specific reason you want to downgrade?

I just have read that the 4.3.1 jailbreak is not working real great yet. 4.2.1 seems to be pretty flawless.

I will hook it up to my MAC tonight, fresh out of the box, and save the shsh blob. hopefully it will be 4.2.1, but if not then I will just have to break it with the pawnage tool that came out. I hope there is a good guide posted. Thanks for all the help.

amoses
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#9
Nah, that was yesterday. The problem was with the jailbreak, not so much 4.3.1. The pwnagetool untethered jailbreak had audio issue and smb issues for some.

However, reports are the Seas0nPass untethered jailbreak that was released today remedied both problems. So please read up on that for more info.
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#10
Okay, Thanks. I guess you would reccommend using seas0npass then? Greenpois0n seems much easier, but I downloaded the seas0npass stuff in case I need to use it. I will try it out when I get home late tonight. Thanks again for the help.

amoses
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#11
As far as I know, GreenPois0n hasn't release a 4.3.1 untethered jailbreak yet.

But use whatever jailbreak tool you want. Just make sure they have been updated for 4.3.1 and it's untethered.
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#12
dazex - I hooked it up and saved the shsh blobs. It saved 2 of them: AppleTV 4.2.1 (8C154), and AppleTV 4.3.1 (8F202). It says in the lower part that the "installed firmware version" is 4.2.1. So I can use greenpois0n, right? And I don't understand, how did it save both 4.2.1 and 4.3.1 when only 4.2.1 is installed? I don't get it.

amoses
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#13
I guess really, it would not hurt to update it to 4.3.1 and then use seasonpass, right? Because now that I have the shsh blobs saved, I can go backwards, if there is something not working good, right?
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#14
Ok, looks like Apple is still signing 4.2.1 shsh blob. That's good.

I wrote a lengthy post about how once TinyUmbrella has the signature of your ATV2, it'll be able to save the blob for whatever Apple is currently signing. If you look at the log tab, you'll see that TinyUmbrella will ask Apple's server for each of the known firmware. If Apple answer yes to any of them, it saves the shsh blob locally and also save a copy on Cydia's server. Nice isn't it?

So, you have 4.2.1 and 4.3.1 shsh saved. You can always downgrade back to these two version in the future.

Also, to answer your question...since you are on 4.3.1, you can use GreenPois0n to jailbreak just fine. Have fun.

PS: You can always attach the photo to these thread. Plenty of people on the forums to help. Not just me. Wink
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#15
amoses Wrote:I guess really, it would not hurt to update it to 4.3.1 and then use seasonpass, right? Because now that I have the shsh blobs saved, I can go backwards, if there is something not working good, right?

Yup, you can upgrade to 4.3.1 and use SeasonPass.
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Newbie - New aTV2 Need advice on Jailbreak and installs0