Template:XBMC faq toc Inline
XBMC for iOS specific Frequently Asked Questions and Answers. Don't forget to check out the iOS Specific Support forum.
General FAQ (all devices)
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- SSH is a secure shell to access and install software on your ATV2. For ssh command line access you can use putty or Tunnelier on Windows, Terminal.app in Mac OS X, or any standard terminal/shell in Linux.
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- The current XBMC for iOS version is based on the 11.0 "Eden" version code. This is the same code that all of the other platform nightly versions are using (changelog). These are in-development test builds that contain many new features, but are not yet completely stable. A stable version of XBMC for iOS will come with the final release of XBMC 11.0 "Eden" (roadmap).
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What nightly build of XBMC am I running?
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- XBMC main menu > System > Lower submenu > System info. Note the build date.
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Formats and resolutions iOS devices can playback
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- XBMC on iOS can playback all formats supported by XMBC. Only h.264 content is hardware accelerated, so only HD content (up to 1080P) in h.264 will be smooth. The iPad 2 and iPhone 4S are the only exceptions to this and will play some other HD codecs due to the faster CPU inside.
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- You'll want to connect to media that's being shared from a computer, HTPC, or NAS device on your local network, especially with the ATV2 since it only has 8 GB of space. iPad and other iDevices can store files locally, and the iPad specifically can also use the Apple Camera Kit to use USB drive and SD cards. Guides for these will be arriving shortly, until then try searching the forums or Youtube.
- This tutorial describes how to share using SMB on Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and below. This is a tutorial for SMB sharing on Windows 7. If you're using Mac OS 10.7 (Lion), there are several filesharing options but you'll likely want to use AFP (unless you run into stability issues) because SMB won't work without installing Samba. WebDAV and FTP are the next best choices. NFS sharing is available for all platforms but it's more complex than the other options. Most NAS devices will use SMB sharing.
- Note: Better how-to guides on network sharing will be coming to the wiki someday. Feel free to add any links here to good guides you find.
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- XBMC for iOS is a full version of XBMC and will be able to use all non-platform specific add-ons and should use all skins. More CPU demanding skins like AEON MQ 3 might not run smoothly, but most skins should be fine.
- Because XBMC is using pre-v11 (Eden) code, only add-ons and skins that have been tested and work will show up in the Add-on manager. If a specific add-on or skin you want to use doesn't show up then look for a newer in-development version on the forums: for Skins, for Add-ons.
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Transfer files like add-ons, skins, and others over
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- To manually install a skin/add-on/repo "by zip", see this guide. The guide will also give you the basic gist of how to transfer files over using SSH/SFTP.
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Sync the XBMC library between multiple installs
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- Check out the tutorials here and here to sync your library between multiple installs of XBMC for any platform.
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Backing up XBMC's settings
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- The most common way is to copy this directory (via SFTP) from the atv2 to another computer: /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/userdata. Some recommend backing up the entire Preferences/XBMC directory. [1] To restore, FTP the directory back to it's original location, then ssh to the atv2 and run the following command to reset ownership/permissions:
chown -R mobile:mobile /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/userdata
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Apple TV 2 (black)
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Apple TV 2 specific requirements
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- The ATV2 remote works with XBMC and can be customized. See: Joystick.AppleRemote.xml for ATV2
- How do I bring up the context menu? - Press and hold MENU
- How do I bring up the OSD during playback? - Press and hold SELECT
- Key repeat (such as holding down directional buttons to navigate) does not work right now on the Apple Remote. This is a known issue.
- The ATV2 can also learn remotes in its native settings. XBMC will respond to these learned remotes. See here for instructions.
- Web interface, including add-on interfaces
- Standard Android and iOS remote apps
- Rowmote Pro (requires helper, see nitoTV)
- Bluetooth keyboards can be used after BTstack is installed using either nitoTV or the command line. See this post for more info.
- Harmony Remotes have experimental support and you can teach the ATV2 to use most standard IR remotes via Settings > General > Remotes > Learn Remote. You can get additional functions by following these instructions.
- The Apple iOS Remote app for iTunes/ATV
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Resolutions ATV2 can play and output
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- The ATV2 can playback most videos saved as high as 1080p, but will only output a 720p signal to your TV. To see if you can really benefit with 1080p output, please consult this chart
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USB hard drives and devices
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- Unfortunately, the ATV2 can not operate as a USB host, so hooking an external drive or any other USB device to it will not work. Only media physically on the ATV2 and media hosted on the network will be available.
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Setting time zones on ATV2
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- iOS 4.3 offers the ability to set the Time Zone via the Apple TV gui, under Settings > General > Time Zone.
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Native ATV2 software after XBMC installation
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- XBMC is installed onto the Apple TV internal flashdrive, much like any iOS app, but you will still be able you use your Apple TV software as normal, XBMC will only be an extra option that you can launch from the Apple TV's original menu when you want to utilize the extra features and functions that are available in XBMC compared to the original Apple TV software. So XBMC will not replace the original Apple TV software, it instead complements the existing Apple TV software.
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Software updates from Apple will crash XBMC
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- Install updatebegone via nitoTV or SSH into the ATV2 and type in:
apt-get install com.nito.updatebegone
reboot
- The above has fixed the issue in many cases but if it doesn't make sure your packages are current. SSH into the ATV2 and type in:
apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
reboot
- If the issue is still there, add these lines to your /etc/hosts file. [2] SSH into the ATV2 and type in:
echo "127.0.0.1 appldnld.apple.com" >> /etc/hosts
echo "127.0.0.1 mesu.apple.com" >> /etc/hosts
echo "127.0.0.1 appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net" >> /etc/hosts
echo "" >> /etc/hosts
reboot
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Finding the ATV2 software version
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- Apple TV main menu > Settings > General > About > click Select to toggle between Apple TV software version and iOS build version. Apple TV software is the application running on top of iOS similar to how FrontRow runs on MacOS. It's similar versions are easily confused with the iOS versions. More info on the Apple TV software versions is available here.
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Directly booting into XBMC
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- The ATV2 can be set up to directly boot into XBMC, bypassing the native ATV2 menu, but this will disable the ATV2 native menu completely.
- SSH into the ATV2 and enter the following commands:
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iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
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- To install XBMC for iOS you must have a jailbroken iDevice running iOS 4.x. iOS 5 support is experimental.
- For hardware: iPad 1, iPhone 3Gs, iPod touch 3rd gen (16GB and 32GB models only), and later are supported. iPhone 4S currently has no jailbreak.
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- Context menu: Two finger single tap the menu item.
- Go Back: Two finger swipe left.
- Zoom into/out of Image: Pinch.
- Slide out menus: Hold the menu item to bring it up, then swipe right to access the sub content.
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- Direct touch screen input
- Web interface, including add-on interfaces
- Standard Android and iOS remote Apps
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Resolutions iDevices can play and output
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- iDevices can playback most videos saved as high as 1080p. Native video output from a composite or HDMI adapter on an iDevice is not currently supported, so iDevices can't output their capable resolution (via HDMI adapter: 720P on most supported iDevices, 1080P on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S). Support for this may be added in the future.
- iPads 1 and 2, and 3rd generation iPhone and iPod touch devices will have native screen resolution when viewing XBMC. However, XBMC does not currently support "Retina" displays on the iPhone 4, 4S, and 4th generation iPod touch. Support for this may be added in the future.
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Troubleshooting
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Getting more help with XBMC for ATV2/iOS
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Settings or sources not stored and updates are failing
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- This can happen when the setting xml files are manipulated outside XBMC. Connect to your iPad/ATV2 as root using an ssh client and repair file permissions.
- Run the following command on the iPad/ATV2:
chown -R mobile:mobile /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/userdata
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Reset the AppleTV2 without unplugging
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- Hold "menu" and "down" buttons for 5 sec.
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- This is a known issue and will be fixed with the new audio engine (developed behind the scenes..).
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Stuck on a bad iPad/iDevice skin
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- If you changed skins on the iPad or other touch device and now can't navigate back to change them, delete
/private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/userdata/guisettings.xml
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- It's probably not the XBMC software on your ATV2, but has to do with your receiver. Try this solution.
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AC3 files stutter or have static noise
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- AC3 Audio can stutter and pause video. Generating thumbnails may be the cause, go to XBMC > Settings > Video > File and deselect 'generate thumbnails'. Audio output could also be the culprit, go to Apple TV > Settings > Audio & Video > Audio Output and set it to "16 bit".
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- Try using a different protocol (especially if you are using SMB), i.e. UPnP or FTP, and avoid using Wi-Fi if possible.
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Other ATV2 crash reasons/fixes
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- Check your logs for clues.
- Do you have Firecore Media Player installed? Try removing it and testing again.
- Have you verified proper ownership of your settings?
- Is an Apple software update crashing XBMC? Try blocking them.
- Are you using a feature rich skin? Check to see if you're running out of memory.
- Have you run out of space on your ATV2? Check with "df -k". If any /dev/disk* filesystems are at 100%, use "du -h /" to see what's taking up space.
- Does your xbmc.log have any SQL errors? Remove your databases and reboot: "rm -f /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/userdata/Database/*db".
- Are you running the latest nightly? It'll have the most recent bug fixes.
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