Ok i just got my Apple TV 2 box, but was kind of disappointed to find out i need to convert all my media to quicktime format so i can put it in iTunes and stream it to my TV. Who wants to wait 1 hour for a video to convert before they can play it ? Well not me..
Here is where Plex comes in….
Plex is a media server that runs on your Mac, and transcodes the files on the fly to your Apple TV 2. What’s good about it, no wait !!! So far it plays all formats i throw at it, however fast forward does not work on many, but you can still watch the movies, which is great. The only hick ups i’ve got, was trying to stream a 12Gig 1080p MKV file, the AppleTV started to skip. But maybe because i’m using a 10 year old wireless G router 
But even over Wireless G i can play 4GB 720p MKV files without skipping.
Check it out in Action
You want it too ?
Here is what you need.
Apple TV
Mac
TV
Download Apple TV 4.1 Firmware
Next you need to follow all the instructions carefully !!! I’ll give you a video and the text version. The whole process takes about 20 minutes.
1. Install Plex on your MAC and setup the shared folders.
2. Download Pwnage tool and unplug all cables from the Apple TV except for the MicroUSB cable, unplug the power !
3. Start Pwnage tool, follow the instructions to build the custom firmware, then put AppleTV into DFU Mode
4. Start iTunes and restore the custom firmware by holding the option key on the keyboard when you hit restore, this will allow you to chose the custom firmware you’ve just built, this will be on your desktop
5. After your AppleTV restores, it will be jailbroken
6. Get the iP of your AppleTV, this will be under settings in the Apple TV
7. SSH into your Apple TV using the terminal application (use “ssh root@20.0.0.5″) without quotes and hit enter, update the 20.0.0.5 to your AppleTv IP
- if you get a @ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @ browse to the folder and erase your known hosts file, like i show in the video
8. at this point you are logged in the appletv box via SSH copy and paste each of the next lines separately, after each line hit enter.
echo "deb http://apt.awkwardtv.org ./" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/awkwardtv.list echo "deb http://www.ambertation.de ./downloads/PLEX/" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plex.list
9. Next we update Cydia Datebase
apt-get update
10. Install the Plex Plugin
apt-get install plex-client-plugin
11. Update the plugin
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
That’s it !
No unplug the microUSB and plug everything back into your TV. You should have a new Plex drop down like I do in my video below.
Here is our Step By Step Video
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