Installing Mac OS X Leopard on the Apple TV (1st generation)
- Thread starter scj312
- Start date
I haven't looked in probably a couple of years, but the last time I visited, the local Goodwill Computer Store had several 1st Gen. AppleTVs for about $10 - $15.
My next hack/mod will be trying a Mini-PCIE quad SATA adapter. If it works with all 4 drives, then I will 3D print a 1/2" riser so I can mount two internal 2.5 drives and have two eSATA ports on the back.
The mPCIe Quad SATA card arrived. Installed and tested with two drives attached (I will post screenshots later), it worked out of the box, no driver or kext needed. Proceeding with the lift kit, I have to figure out where to relocate the fan, maybe make a exhaust port left of the dual eSATA ports. This is on 10.5.8.
The online 3D models of the ATVg1 did not match the actual device.... That led me down a long slope of G3 Surface Continuity that took way too long. Instead of trying to calculate such a curve, I compared an AppleTV gen 2 to most other Apple devices and they all have nearly identical curves, just separated with longer straight surfaces for larger items (even lines up on a 27" iMac).
Imported a photo of the ATVg2 into Illustrator and matched a curve and exported to my 3D model. Adjusted and did a test print in gray. This is upside down of course. Final will likely be in white.
The online 3D models of the ATVg1 did not match the actual device.... That led me down a long slope of G3 Surface Continuity that took way too long. Instead of trying to calculate such a curve, I compared an AppleTV gen 2 to most other Apple devices and they all have nearly identical curves, just separated with longer straight surfaces for larger items (even lines up on a 27" iMac).
Imported a photo of the ATVg2 into Illustrator and matched a curve and exported to my 3D model. Adjusted and did a test print in gray. This is upside down of course. Final will likely be in white.
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As you may know, the firmware for the 1st-generation Apple TV was a modified version of Mac OS X Tiger. Back in the day, many members of the Mac community were able to get full versions of Mac OS X running on the Apple TV. Unfortunately, patched disk images with the fruits of their labor have been lost to time, so I took it upon myself to dig up instructions on how to set up an installation from scratch, and have uploaded the resulting installation as a ready-to-use disk image!
In this guide, we will be using the disk image to create a bootable USB drive with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 for the Apple TV.
What you will need:
Download the disk image from one of these fine places:
- Mac running Mac OS X Tiger (10.4.x) up to macOS Monterey (12.x)
- 1st-generation Apple TV
- USB drive (16 GB or larger)
- Powered USB hub (for connecting the USB drive at the same time as a keyboard and mouse)
- Monitor or TV connected to the Apple TV via HDMI or component
- Audio connected to the Apple TV via the audio jacks (HDMI audio does not work)
- Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/mac-os-x-leopard-apple-tv
- Macintosh Garden: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os-x-apple-tv-1st-generation
Preparing the USB drive
In Disk Utility, select the drive, then select the Partition tab. Set the volume scheme to 1 partition, name it Apple TV HD, and set the format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then, click Options, ensure GUID Partition Table is selected, and click OK. Apply the changes.
View attachment 2394View attachment 2395
Once formatting is complete, we can restore the disk image to the USB drive. First, scan the image for restore by choosing the Images menu > Scan Image for Restore, then select the downloaded image.
Once the scan is complete, select the Restore tab in the Disk Utility window. Drag the disk image to the source field, and drag Apple TV HD to the destination field. Select Erase destination, then Restore.
View attachment 2398
Once the restore is complete, select the USB drive in the source list, then click Info in the toolbar. Note the disk identifier listed in this window, as we will need it in the next section.
View attachment 2396In Disk Utility, select the drive, then click Erase in the toolbar. Enter the following options, then click Erase:
View attachment 2615
- Name: Apple TV HD
- Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
- Scheme: GUID Partition Map
Once formatting is complete, we can restore the disk image to the USB drive. First, scan the image for restore by choosing the Images menu > Scan Image for Restore, then select the downloaded image.
Once the scan is complete, select the new Apple TV HD partition, then click the Restore button in the toolbar. Click Image..., select the disk image, then click Restore.
View attachment 2616
Once the restore is complete, select the USB drive in the source list, then click Info in the toolbar. Note the BSD device node listed in this window, as we will need it in the next section.
View attachment 2617First, we need to allow various OS utilities access to our drives. To do this, open System Preferences, then select Security & Privacy. Select the Privacy tab, and choose Full Disk Access from the left-hand list. Click the lock to authenticate, then click the + button and add the following items:
In order to see the last two items, press cmd-shift-period after clicking the + button.
- /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
- /Applications/Utilities/Terminal
- /usr/sbin/asr
- /usr/sbin/diskutil
You should see these four items now in the list:
View attachment 2618
Now, open Disk Utility. In Disk Utility, select the drive, then click Erase in the toolbar. Enter the following options, then click Erase:
View attachment 2615
- Name: Apple TV HD
- Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
- Scheme: GUID Partition Map
Once formatting is complete, we can restore the disk image to the USB drive. First, scan the image for restore by choosing the Images menu > Scan Image for Restore, then select the downloaded image.
Once the scan is complete, select the new Apple TV HD partition, then click the Restore button in the toolbar. Click Image..., select the disk image, then click Restore.
View attachment 2616
Once the restore is complete, select the USB drive in the source list, then click Info in the toolbar. Note the BSD device node listed in this window, as we will need it in the next section.
View attachment 2617
Making the USB drive bootable
Now, we need to change the partition type so that the USB drive is bootable on the Apple TV. Once these steps are completed, the drive will no longer be readable by the Mac.
First, close Disk Utility, and open Terminal.
Runsudo gpt -r show /dev/diskXwhere diskX is the disk identifier or BSD device node noted from Disk Utility earlier.
In the output, find the line with index 2. Note the start and size values, as we will need them later.
View attachment 2397
Runsudo diskutil unmountDisk diskXto unmount the disk.
If it says the disk was not unmounted, wait a few moments and try again.
During the following steps, you may see a warning from Mac OS X that a disk is unreadable. Click Ignore if this alert opens.
Runsudo gpt remove -i 2 /dev/diskXto remove the existing partition entry, which we will re-add in the next step with the correct type.
Runsudo gpt add -b START -s SIZE -i 2 -t "5265636F-7665-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC" /dev/diskXwhere START and SIZE are the respective values noted earlier.
Runsudo diskutil unmountDisk diskXto unmount the drive.
All done!
Booting Mac OS X on the Apple TV
Now comes the best part! The USB drive can be removed from the Mac and plugged into the Apple TV. Plug a USB hub into the Apple TV so that you can connect the USB drive, as well as a keyboard and mouse. Once you plug in the power cable, the Apple TV will boot into the Mac OS X Setup Assistant, where you can set up a user account and begin using Mac OS X! If you'd like to permanently install Mac OS X to the internal hard drive, you can follow the steps in the "Preparing the USB drive" section, but with the internal drive rather than a USB drive (and you can skip the section required to make USB drives bootable).
Things to keep in mind:
- The first boot might be a bit sluggish, but it should speed right up after a few minutes. The image is a fresh install, never booted, so all of the maintenance processes will run like any other fresh install.
- On my monitor the boot screen turns green, but YMMV. Once booted, the color is correct--if it isn't, unplugging the HDMI cable and plugging it back in should do the trick.
- HDMI audio doesn’t work, so use the other audio outputs. Analog audio is the "Internal Speakers" output, which is not selected by default.
- When logging in, you’ll see an unreadable disk error. This is simply due to Mac OS X not understanding the partition types correctly, and you can ignore it.
- The Apple TV only has 256 MB RAM, so keep this in mind during web browsing and other memory-intensive operations. MenuMeters is pre-installed so that you can keep an eye on usage.
- iCal doesn't open.
- Enjoy!
Credits
I can't take most of the credit for this, as it is based on the hard work of others in the Mac community. Here are the resources I used to make this possible:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100715164941/http://www.hackint0sh.org/f98/70835.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20090512203105/http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/f98/634.htm
- https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/48201-codec-dumps-from-linux-to-fix-sound-on-osxonatv/
- https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/32859-applehda-solution-work-in-progress/
- https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/143898-voodoopower-123/
- https://archive.org/details/iDeneb-v1.3
- https://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/AppleTV_OS_3.0.2
I believe that is the unique UUID that the AppleTV rom is looking for to boot from. If that does not exist, it can't boot. You are essentially rewriting the partition table to make MacOS look like the AppleTV boot partition with the appropriate UUID.
Thanks. I have this cd of disk warrior. It works on osx 10.5.8 which is on my iBook. Holding C while computer boots tells osx to boot from the cd which has the smarts to run diskwarrior even if hard drive won’t boot.
My question is, does apple tv 1st gen boot from whatever is on the usb? Can I plug in a cd to the usb port and run disk warrior to check the apple tv hard drive? Or can I make a disk image of the cd and put it on a usb flash drive to run from there?
I don't think so. Per the instructions, when you change the drive partition type to make it bootable by the AppleTV, the mac will no longer recognize the partition.
"Making the USB drive bootable
Now, we need to change the partition type so that the USB drive is bootable on the Apple TV. Once these steps are completed, the drive will no longer be readable by the Mac."
You can likely install DiskWarrior inside Mac OS 10.x running on AppleTV, but you cannot boot 'any' bootable mac partitioned device (usb, optical, external) without that UUID assigned to it. You could possibly restore the DiskWarrior CD to a USB drive, find the core items (AppleTV 2.2 boot.efi, etc) that make it AppleTV bootable and change the partition UUID and have an AppleTV bootable DiskWarrior USB, but it's probably reinventing the wheel.
I got an email response but can’t access it once I login. Doesn’t seem to be any way from the email to reply.
I've been wondering if the original AppleTV box would make a good MAME machine. Seems like all the parts are there, including OS X and video output. Is there bluetooth support on the first gen version?
The built-in wifi card does not support BlueTooth. You could either use a USB dongle, or replace the mPCIE card with something newer that 10.5.8 still supports (but I can't confirm one exists that is supported under 10.5.x or the 10.6.x hack).
Many years ago I wondered the same thing. It is certainly possible to do it with varying success, but the hardware in the 1G AppleTV is far from ideal because of the low memory and not particularly powerful CPU. It's massively outclassed by current SBCs both in hardware and software, especially with emulation capabilities.
Hi
Long story short:
Long ago I read about a guy how plug some speakers on this port and it blew them , I find one Bluetooth card from an iMac (07-08?) and plugged in on this port and if I plugged one way the ATV won't star but turned around and it turned on but the OS (10.8.6) don't have bluetooth on system pref, the BT card is not recognise by system profile. anyone think this card should work ?
any Idea ?
Bonus question:
I got a CrystalHD but Im not versed on Terminal and I try to installed on like if the ATV was a Mac mini .
apparently by with I read it only works whit XBMC not as a graphic card per se, did any one have something like a script that run by itself and do the install?
todayguesswhat.blogspot.com
www.journaldulapin.com
Long story short:
Long ago I read about a guy how plug some speakers on this port and it blew them , I find one Bluetooth card from an iMac (07-08?) and plugged in on this port and if I plugged one way the ATV won't star but turned around and it turned on but the OS (10.8.6) don't have bluetooth on system pref, the BT card is not recognise by system profile. anyone think this card should work ?
any Idea ?
Bonus question:
I got a CrystalHD but Im not versed on Terminal and I try to installed on like if the ATV was a Mac mini .
apparently by with I read it only works whit XBMC not as a graphic card per se, did any one have something like a script that run by itself and do the install?
Thanks Davilla and XBMC team - Apple TV support for Broadcom Crystal HD BCM70012
NOTE - the following instructions are here for historical reasons! There is now a much more elegant way to setup XBMC with Crystal HD on th...
todayguesswhat.blogspot.com
You searched for Crystal HD - Le journal du lapin
www.journaldulapin.com
* Tnx for the link but I belie I wasn't clear enough, I installed fiscally the crystalHD on the ATV but the OS X needs some terminal trickery to install on the system . What im trying to achieve is to make OS X recognise this card. Which I can't figure out since my only interaction w terminal is "disk util list" beyond this im lost =p .
Beside fort with I have read the CrystalHd only runs on XBMC and OSMC semi natively .
• Btw the Bluetooth card was plugged inside the ATV on the only port that is free on the board that I only once I come across someone talking about it , I also try to run a new instal of OS (10.6.3) to see if the system will pick the card but again I find that probably the OS X was strip of the Bluetooth feature on this version any ideas?
•Bonus coment:
1- My ATV can be only recognised by old TVs if I plug the HDMI to my newest Tv it doesn't pick the signal
2- I try to replace the HDD with a CF card adaptor to PATA/IDE but the ATV don't recognise the adapter but my computer read it fine. finally I got a IDE to sATA that works fine with a ssd and I was able to reach a Geekbench of 949. https://browser.geekbench.com/geekbench2/2738904
3-I wasn't able to make any browser to work I try this:
if some one know of one browser that works let me know please.
4-I was able to install Photoshop CS but very buggy, I try Macs Fan but dint recognise any fan .
Interesting port option... I powered one of my AppleTVs on, and I get +5v at the first pin (with the big arrow V), 2nd pin ground, then two other minor voltages, assume the 3rd and 4th pins are D+ and D-. I will have to cobble together a test setup and see if its actually USB or not. If it is, then I have several USB BT cards from old computer pulls, so if one connects with my 10.5.8, that would be super! Since I removed the wifi and installed a quad SATA card in the mPCIE slot, some wireless connectivity would be cool.
Possible donors:
I don't think there was any hardware support in MacOS for the CrystalHD, only the driver support inside XBMC / Kodi on Mac.
I found 10.6.x very unstable and lots of graphics artifacts. I stuck with 10.5.8 on my hardware.
1 - AppleTV gen1 is max 720p, so maybe the new TV only support 1080p or higher? Try the menus and see if it will go down to 720p.
3 - Try DarkWeb browser? The reason the browsers don't work is likely that everything now is httpS and certs required are not valid. Or maybe TenFourFox or RetroZilla?
4 - With a Geekbench of 949 and only 256MB of RAM, Photoshop is definitely going to struggle. Not sure there is even enough ram to launch it? The internal fan is not user controlled that I am aware of in the AppleTV gen1.