Multimedia fun

Here is a little followup, on the “hacking the Apple TV” tutorial. In this tutorial I will explain how to run bittorrent on you Apple TV take 2. I will explain how to install transmission (bittorent client) on the Applet TV and run Clutch web-interface to control bittorrent from your browser.

What you need:
- An AppleTV with SSH enabled (check the previous tutorial)
- MAMP
- Transmission Bittorrent for Apple TV ( transmission 1.06 deamon and remote)
- Clutch

Step 1: Install Transmission

Download the Apple TV transmission Bittorrent files and unzip. Copy the two files on your AppleTV (using SSH or whatever else you want) in the /Users/frontrow directory .With the terminal SSH in to your Apple TV (ssh://forntrow@appletv.local pass: frontrow) in the terminal give the following command:

sudo chmod 755 transmission-*
sudo chown frontrow:frontrow transmission-*

Step 2: Install MAMP The second step is installing MAMP webserver (Mac Apache SQL PHP) Download MAMP and copy the MAMP folder on your AppleTV in the /Users/frontrow directory. With the terminal SSH in to your Apple TV (ssh://forntrow@appletv.local pass frontrow) in the terminal give the following command:

sudo ln -s /Users/frontrow/MAMP /Applications/MAMP

Step 3: Install Clutch
Uncompress the Clutch files. Save the file and copy the contents of the Clutch folder (not the folder itself) on your AppleTV in the /Users/frontrow/MAMP/htdocs directory. Give the command.

sudo chmod -R 775 /Users/frontrow/MAMP

Step 4: Make it work
To start Transmission Bittorrent and its interface when you boot your AppleTV (so it keeps working even after power failures) you should create two documents in the /System/Library/LaunchDaemons directory. Here are the necessary commands

sudo nano /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/apache.plist

This one creates a new file called apache.plist in the appropriate directory. Paste these rows inside:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Debug</key>
<true/>
<key>GroupName</key>
<string>frontrow</string>
<key>Label</key>
<string>org.apache.httpd</string>
<key>OnDemand</key>
<false/>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Users/frontrow/MAMP/bin/startApache.sh</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
<key>ServiceDescription</key>
<string>apache</string>
<key>UserName</key>
<string>frontrow</string>
<key>WorkingDirectory</key>
<string>/Users/frontrow/MAMP/</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Press Ctrl-O to save the file and then Ctrl-X to exit. Repeat for the second file:

sudo nano /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/transmission.plist

This is the text to paste inside:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Debug</key>
<true/>
<key>GroupName</key>
<string>frontrow</string>
<key>Label</key>
<string>org.m0k.transmission</string>
<key>OnDemand</key>
<false/>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Users/frontrow/transmission-daemon</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
<key>ServiceDescription</key>
<string>transmission</string>
<key>UserName</key>
<string>frontrow</string>
<key>WorkingDirectory</key>
<string>/Users/frontrow/Library/Application Support/Transmission</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Reboot your AppleTV and check if Bittorrent on your AppleTV is working correctly by browsing to http://yourappletvipaddress:8888

On the iphone:

With the preferences in Clutch you can Change the download directory of Bittorent, to your external drive for example ( /Volumes/nameofyourdrive )

Thats it, Cheers!