I just bought the Apple TV 2 and I’m planning on jailbreaking it. More importantly, I’m strongly considering purchasing ATV Flash (I really like your integration of the media player into the system), but I have a quick question: do updates to ATV Flash include Apple’s firmware updates or will we have to update the system, re-jailbreak it and re-install ATV Flash in order to get those updates?
On a separate note, I ordered the Apple TV 2 before the firmware update, but it didn’t ship until after it. I’m not sure what the default firmware will be on the system, but if it is 4.3, will I have to wait until it’s jailbroken or is there a way to downgrade the firmware in order to jailbreak it? If it’s the former, how long do you guys think it will be until the jailbreak becomes available?
aTV Flash (black) updates won’t include AppleTV updates, however jailbreaking with Seas0nPass will (normally) update your AppleTV to the latest version.
That said, Seas0nPass needs an update to be compatible with the new 4.3 AppleTV software that was released on Monday. Running the current version of Seas0nPass will install the previous 4.2.2 software on the AppleTV.
Thanks for the reply. I want to just make sure I actually understand. It sounds like Seas0npass is bundled with the most recent compatibile Apple TV firmware, updates your system with that firmware, and then jailbreaks the Apple TV. Is that correct?
So, Seas0npass doesn’t care what the current software is running the Apple TV - it’ll just install 4.2.2 and then jailbreak? If that’s really the case, what’s the point of the SHSH blobs. This is partly where I’m confused, because I didn’t think I could run the jailbreak at all if my system ships with 4.3 on it (I’ll find out for sure later today).
As an answer to my original question, however, it sounds like that in order to obtain future Apple firmware updates (even with aTV Flash), I’ll need to rejailbreak the device once Seas0npass is compatible with that firmware. Is that correct?
Seas0nPass is setup to download (usually) the latest AppleTV software and jailbreak it. This will act as a restore on the AppleTV and wipe out any settings or software you previously have installed.
Right. It doesn’t really matter what version your AppleTV came with, only the version Apple is still ‘signing’. Saving your SHSH blobs allows you to downgrade to an older software version (using Seas0nPass or just a normal restore) even if Apple is no longer signing that particular version.
It seems Apple may still be signing the 4.2.2 software, so you should be able to run Seas0nPass and install this verison if you so desire.
That’s what I thought - I just didn’t realize that Apple may still be signing the 4.2.2 software, which is what confused me.
It seems that for some people, limiting your ability to upgrade to the latest Apple firmware could be a problem. Perhaps aTV Flash already does this, but is it possible to set it up so that if it detects that there’s a firmware update that can be jailbroken, it will notify you and, upon your instructions, off-load any settings, data, etc. (to your Mac) that will be wiped out by the update. Then, when aTV Flash is re-installed after the firmware upgrade and jailbreak, it restores those settings, etc. That way, people can stay up to date on both their Apple firmware and aTV Flash more easily.
What worries me, is that if I install aTV Flash later this week, a couple months from now, iOS 5 will become available for Apple TV which will contain important improvements to the Apple TV experience (right now, I really don’t care if I’m running 4.2.2 or 4.3). I don’t want to spend time playing with my settings, etc. just to have them wiped out when I upgrade to iOS 5 and have to spend the time again restoring all that was undid. And I don’t trust myself to do this correctly (i.e., knowing which folders, etc. to backup).