Trick to get Apple TV 2 into DFU mode

Legacy Seas0nPass
21

Plug the power cord and do the same process. Worked for me.

22

Just got the ATV2 from Best Buy.

Plug the power cord in to getĀ to the DFU mode.

Then unplug to restore from itune.Ā Ā 

Done.

23

Iā€™ve done a one of these myself and two for my friends with no issue doing it the normal way.Ā  Then I had an issue, not going into DFU.Ā  As mentioned above i plugged in the usb, plugged the power cable in, and pressed the menu and play button.Ā  After 7 seconds the dfu mode popped up, I removed the power cable and everything went smoothly after that.

24

For those continuing to have problems, try rebooting you PC.Ā  I could not get the SeasonPass app to recognize that the ATV was in DFU.Ā  However, I finally rebooted the PC and it worked.Ā  Iā€™m guessing that either SeasonPass or some Apple driver was wedged is still in memory.

My 2Ā¢.

25

I have run the plug in the power cord when asked to press menu and play buttons techniqueĀ then pressed menu/play for 7 seconds.Ā  Screen rather quickly says it is DFU and I unplyg the poere cord.Ā  On the iTunes screen, it shows several iterations of restoring apple software then message on removing the ATV box and reinstalling it.Ā  Running the aTVFlash software then says it cannot detect a device.Ā  Yuk!! Any guesses as what may solve the problem?

26

My first attempts didnā€™t work. Here is how I got it to work:

  1. Using a different USB cable

  2. Removing other USB devices and USB hubs

  3. Uninstalling TinyUmbrella (which modifies the hosts file) andĀ 

  4. (optional) rebuilding the network information (more details:Ā http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1275)

Hope it helps.

27

New micro usb cable did the trick for me. Windows would not recognized device with first cable.

28

People - Iā€™d love some help!

I bought an Apple Tv yesterday and last night I tried to Jailbreak it. It wouldnā€™t go past the DFU mode part and a google search lead me to this thread. I also got a new cable but that hasnā€™t made any difference.Ā 

However, I now get the below error message when the device is connected. Nothing else is connect (im using a 2009 13" macbook). The apple TV will no longer power up with the UBS only. I needs the mains power - which then leads to the above error.

Iā€™ve also tired rebooting with the alt + cmd + R + P keys held down but it made no differenceĀ 

Any ideas how to fix this and get my jailbreak working?

29
Any ideas how to fix this and get my jailbreak working?

Easiest way I found to get the Apple TV into DFU mode is to leave all cables disconnected. Hold Menu+Play/Pause then plug the Apple TV in to USB. After 7 seconds release the buttons on the remote.

Ā 

What you are describing though sounds like the USB ports arenā€™t powering the device. You could try looking into a powered USB hub but the restore process is very finicky. Do you have access to a different computer you could try?

30

Hey all.

Ā 

I had som problems with the DFU mode alsoā€¦ I was able to jailbreak my device without any DFU problems - but when i had to make a tet. boot there where problems to make the DFU modeā€¦

Ā 

I solved the problem this way:

  • Plug in the ATV power and USB Ā cables

  • Open the programā€¦

  • Push the ā€œCreate IPSWā€ file and pretend you would like to jailbreak it (again)

  • When you are asked to make it DFU mode you simply push the 2 buttons like it saysā€¦

  • When it is detected as DFU mode you should close the program - fast! (let the power and usb cables be in)

  • After you closed the program, you should open it again

  • Then press ā€œBoot tet.ā€

  • Now it will detect your device in DFU mode without doing anythingā€¦

Ā 

again - this was helping me when i had problems to do DFU with tet. boot - i do not have any problems when i simply jailbreaking it - only in tet. boot (and afterwords i can always boot tet. the normal DFU wayā€¦)

Ā 

(Sorry my english - iā€™m Danish!)

31

Hey guys, I have tried all your suggested methods but my atv2 still wonā€™t go into dfu mode. Iā€™ve tried different cables.

My atv never showed up in iTunes when i connected it, it never gave off one single blink when I connected it only with the usb cable. It can be recognized fine with iTunes when its plugged into my tv in the living room, but that doesnā€™t help me with the jailbreak.

(should I be seeing my atv2 in finder or some other place ?? My iMac never even made a sound when I connected it. But I am 101% sure that the usb cable is fine, it works perfectly with a camera that has micro usb)

When i try the method where I have the power cable inserted, the led just blinks, then when I press the buttons the led starts blinking very rapidly. Then it stops and it blinks again in the same 1 second interval. Despite I never get passed the seasonpass ā€œwaiting for dfu deviceā€.

Do you think theres something wrong with the cable ?? Or what should I do, Iā€™ve got the atv2 since 2 weeks and Iā€™m still not able to jailbreak it :(.

P.S.: Iā€™ve also tried the ā€œmenu + down && menu + play/pauseā€-method

32

The ATV2 should always be seen by iTunes when you plug it in via the micro USB cable. This should happen even when not in DFU mode. If it is not happening then you have a problem with either the USB cable or the port on the PC/Mac. Make sure you are plugging in directly and not via a hub.

33

Iā€™ll go out and buy another cable so I can find out. The cable seems to be the issue here since I am plugging it directly into my iMac. Not one single time did it show up in iTunes, so I think the cable doesnā€™t work at all.

34

Ā 

Ā 

Two micro usb cables later - weā€™re in business!!

Ā 

ToĀ clarifyĀ for anybody else reading this and needing help - in the first two cables I tried, the appleTV never showed up in itunes. When I tried the third cable it did. Getting the TV into DFU mode then only required holding down the menu and plan/pause button for 7 seconds

Ā 

(the first two cable continue to work fine for the devices were orginally purchased for)

35

I went to a friends house and it worked without an itch. Fired up seasonpass, waited until the ā€œpress ā€¦ for dfuā€ mode , followed the instructions, it didnā€™t work. Then i tried the method where i have to press menu+down button. Didnt work. I tried the menu+down / menu+play a couple of time. Suddenly it worked. BOOM!!

Thanks for the suggestions.

36

I tried another USB-slot (in this case a USB 3.0) and it worked like a charm.

37

My trick is to connect the powercablevto get in dfu mode, but disconnect it to take the next stepsā€¦

38

I did the jailbreake myself back in May without any problem. In fact it worked at my first try. Then I helped a friend to do it in November and again it worked fine. But Yesteday I tried to re jailbreake my ATV 2 in order to update it to the firm 4.4.4 and I couldnā€™t get it into DFU mode, when I tried (iTunes closed and the custom firmware created with seasonpass) iTunes opened but it showed the ATV 2 in the regular way (not DFU) and then I tried again and when the light started to blink rapidly the only thing it was doing was restarting the ATV 2 (in the iTunes you can see it disapear and appearing again). But no DFU mode. Itried everything I found in the web such as: Menu + Play/Pause buttons for 7 seconds, Menu + Down buttons for 7 seconds, with the power cord in, without the power cord in and nothing has worked. What else could it be?

I will try with a new USB cable today.

39

I did the jailbreake myself back in May without any problem. In fact it worked at my first try. Then I helped a friend to do it in November and again it worked fine. But Yesteday I tried to re jailbreake my ATV 2 in order to update it to the firm 4.4.4 and I couldnā€™t get it into DFU mode, when I tried (iTunes closed and the custom firmware created with seasonpass) iTunes opened but it showed the ATV 2 in the regular way (not DFU) and then I tried again and when the light started to blink rapidly the only thing it was doing was restarting the ATV 2 (in the iTunes you can see it disapear and appearing again). But no DFU mode. Itried everything I found in the web such as: Menu + Play/Pause buttons for 7 seconds, Menu + Down buttons for 7 seconds, with the power cord in, without the power cord in and nothing has worked. What else could it be?

I will try with a new USB cable today.

40

I was having 1600 errors in iTunes. iTunes saw the ATV just fine, Seas0nPass detected DFU, but iTunes would not restore.

What worked for me:Ā 

Plugged ATV2 into power. Plug the USB cable into the ATV, but not the PC yet (I just found it easier to get the timing right this way. It shouldnā€™t matter which end goes in first.)

Menu + Down, then Menu + Play.

Right after the ATV stops the fast blink after letting go of the remote, plug the USB in to the PC.

I had about .5 - 1 second to plug in the USB to the PC. Youā€™ll notice that after letting go of the remote, the led goes dark, then blinks fast a couple of times, then goes right into the .5 sec blink. I needed to plug it in before that. The timing was tricky, but it worked for both of my ATV units. Maybe this will help someone out. It seems like perhaps there are hardware differences that might be causing the differing experiences with all of these methods. YMMV, good luck!