Redirecting email to our domain to Google Apps

1.  Add a domain alias at google apps site.

2. Log into godaddy w/ cust  #9028633. Password is long.

3. Go to domain manager, choose domain, total dns control and MX records.

4. Modify MX records according to Google instructions.

5. Create custom URLs at Google site.

6. Modify or create corresponding CNAME aliases at godaddy.

Cross Man buys an iPhone

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AppleTV Hacking Take 3

After successfully hacking the 1.1 version of Appletv, and 2.2 versions, I'm now ready to try the new 3.0.2 revision.

What I've done so far:

1. Create a USB patchstick from ATVUSB Creator to open ATV to ssh and install Boxee
   
2. Install XBMC FAQs and other documentation
   
3. Install NitoTV my preference for watching ripped DVDs. Also enables drive mounting on USB port. You need to do Smartinstall from the NitoTV menu.
   
4. The iPhone/iTouch keyboard interface works with NitoTV app. Boxee has their own great iPhone remote.
   
5. Disabled ssh password
6. Change host names so that I can tell the two ATVs apart.
   
7. Downloaded vim from link on this page. Struggled to download without corrupting binary. Had to do it on a Windows box in the end.

How to disable ssh password:

Run ssh-keygen -t rsa on server

Copy id_rsa.pub to .ssh/authorized_keys on the atv.

Edit .ssh/config with following

Host appletv.local atv

Hostname appletv.local

User frontrow

How to change host name:
http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Change_Hostname

What I have after doing the above is:

• An AppleTV that can play rippd DVDs and other video file from an external USB drive.
  
• The ability to play ripped DVDs and other video files from USB drive or AFP mount.
• Streaming video from Boxee
• Pandora from Boxee
  

Sources:

• AwkwardTV
• NitoTV
• ATVUSB Creator
  

Cross Man and Zoey collaborate on the next ATV feature.

Hacking my Network

Not much of a hack really, but it did involve tracking down a source of parts and opening four boxes to add wiring for external antennas. 

Working with the AppleTV which is hacked to play ripped DVDs, I wanted very badly to be able stream the ripped DVDs from the machine where they are ripped rather than uploading them. The AppleTV has Wireless-N capability and I have two Airport Extremes, also with Wireless-N. I also added a Wireless-N card to the Mac Mini using a card and external antenna from Quickernet. 

I thought about adding external antennas to the ATV and Extremes also. Quickernet sells the antenna and connectors alone, but $129.95 apiece seemed really steep. I asked about volume discounts and was offered 5%.

So I checked around:

Identical antenna $12.95 at Oxfordtec.

Connectors $.39 from Gridconnect.

So now I have four boxes on the network with Wireless-N and external three pole antenna. Depending on where I'm using the Mini, it either has a wireless connection or a Gigabit ethernet connection to an extreme.  Using an AFP mount from the ATV to the Mini hard drive, I'm able to stream ripped DVDs reliably. Using Filezilla, I've seen transfer speeds up to 4 MB/s transferring a file from the Mini to the ATV. Before/After tests showed a 10% speed improvement due to the antennas alone. I didn't attempt to compare stability of the connection.

Here's an overview of the network:

AppleTV with external antenna. The antenna is usually behind the TV. Only two poles of the antenna are connected.

Airport Extreme running Wireless-N over external antenna in office. The Mini is usually connected to this network via Gigabit ethernet. There's also an external drive and two printers connected to the Extreme. The 2Wire DSL modem/router provides Wireless-G service to all clients that don't have wireless-N capability. Reserving the N-network for N-capable clients keeps the speed high.

Another Airport extreme in the living room is connected to a hacked Series 2 DirecTivo machine. There is also a server PC in the basement underneath with an ethernet connection to this Extreme. I have all the wires in place including an extra power brick to plug the Mini into the entertainment system to drive the TV. There is also a Series 1 DirecTivo machine with a coax connection to the bedroom TV. The Series 1 is my wife's, the Series 2 is for my hacking purposes. Between them we have four satellite tuners.

Hacking My Subaru

The stereo on my 2005 Subaru Legacy Wagon doesn't have an auxiliary input. I've been using an FM transmitter made by Monster for my iPod, but now that I have a Tom Tom 920 I'm finding that the FM transmission feature is weak. Time to hack a better solution.

- I've installed the Aux-in Pro iPod kit from Jazzy Engineering. This hack piggy-backs an iPod and mini-plug input onto the CDROM audio input. It comes with a blank CDROM that needs to be played to activate that input. So far it's working well.

I'm using a ProCLip Mounting System for both the Tom Tom 920 and the iPod. Power and connectors are all routed through the storage box in the dashboard for a very clean installation.

Hacking my Tivo

We've been happily using a Series 1 DirecTivo for many years and never saw much need to hack it except to upgrade the hard drive. Now that I'm playing around with digital video more with the AppleTV and Mini, I see a need to do more with the video files on the Tivo so I began looking for a Series 2 machine with networking capability.

DirecTivo machines aren't available new any more since DirecTV now sells only their own units, but they're available used for not much money. Mine cost $70, but they can probably be found cheaper on eBay. I've bought a Hughes SD-DVR120 which can be hacked to network through the USB port. Something that was never officially supported. Edit: Just bought another DirecTivo from a co-worker for $20. It's a Samsung identical to the Hughes.


Sources of information:

• WeetHet
• Dvrupgrade.com
• DealDatabase
• Extracting video

Goals:

• Upgrade hard drive
• Network the Tivo
• Transfer files to ATV and Mini
• Automate file transfer

Completed:

• Upgraded hard drive to WD 320 GB
• Installed DVRupgrade
• Network is working
• Able to browse to webserver
• Able to telnet in
• Installed superpatch
• Installed TyTools (Windows)
• Installed TivoTool 0.7.0 (MacOS)
• Downloaded first video

Summary. TivoTool is working well. You can either choose shows to download directly from the Tivo or set up daily automatic downloads using show names. You can also stream video directly from the Tivo to the Mac if your network is fast enough. Once the Tivo shows have been downloaded to my Mac Mini in .mpg format, I'm able to stream them wirelessly from my AppleTV using my Wireless-N network.

Now, I'm also moving video from the Mac to Tivo, mainly ripped DVD content or files from my Flip video camera. For DVDs here's the flow:

1. Mac the Ripper => ripped DVD

2. Visual Hub => stitches together multiple VOBs and formats for Tivo

3. MPEG Streamclip => fixes timecodes

4. TivoServer (from TivoTool) => emulates a Tivo box to communicate with destination box

Edit: This isn't actually working well. Tivoserver is crashing on every attempt. It can successfully upload a file that originated on the Tivo, so the problem is file format.

If I rip to single VOB, step 3 is unnecessary. Rip in "Title Only Extraction" mode.

Update: For the DVD to Tivo path I'm having better luck on the PC:

1. Use DVD Shrink to extract to single VOB

2. Rename VOB to MPG

3. Upload to Tivo using Tivoserver 0.4.4 

DVD Shrink can also load existing VIDEO_TS directories and then write out a single VOB.