So you have a Jailbroken Apple TV 2 and want install a specific version of XBMC or Kodi, this mini tutorial will show you how to do so.
You might be wondering why would you not simply do:
- apt-get update
- apt-get remove org.xbmc.kodi-atv2
That would install the latest version of Kodi, which normally wouldn’t be a problem. However development of Kodi for the Apple TV 2 platform has come to an end, so eventually you might no longer be able to do this. Another reason might be you want to boot in to boot Kodi / XBMC directly when the Apple TV is powered on for ease of use by family members, this is not possible with the latest version of Kodi.
First ssh in to your Jailbroken Apple TV, the default username is root and the default password is alpine.
Now do: apt-get update – This updates the packages available from the repositories, it wont hurt to do this.
Remove Previous versions of XBMC / Kodi:
Work you way down the list below and copy / paste the commands which are highlighted in bold to remove and clean-up from any previous Xbmc / Kodi installs.
rm -f *kodi*.deb – Deletes any previous Kodi .deb files you might have downloaded
rm -f *xbmc*.deb – Deletes any previous XBMC .deb files you might have downloaded
apt-get remove org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2 – removes XBMC if you have installed it from the repository
apt-get remove org.xbmc.kodi-atv2 – removes Kodi if you have installed it from the repository
rm -Rf /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC – Removes any previous user settings for XBMC
rm -Rf /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi – Removes any previous user settings for Kodi
Installing a specific version of XBMC or Kodi:
You can download any past version of XBMC / Kodi you desire here, the Vim.org repository has all of the past XBMC / Kodi versions at the moment.
So if for example if you wanted to install the final version of XBMC which is 13.2 Gotham I would do the following:
wget http://ftp.vim.org/mediaplayer/xbmc/apt/atv2/deb/org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2_13.2-0_iphoneos-arm.deb – this would download the XBMC 13.2 Gotham version to my Apple TV. If i wanted to download a different version i would simply type wget then the address of the deb I wished to download.
dpkg -i *xbmc*.deb – This will install the XBMC 13.2 Gotham version i just downloaded.
apt-get install org.tomcool.xbmc-booter – This installs the XBMC booter which automatically boots in to XBMC instead of the default Apple TV 2 user interface. Note: Do not install this if you wish to use Kodi, your Apple TV will siply boot to a black screen. However you can simply ssh in to the Apple TV again and type apt-get remove org.tomcool.xbmc-booter to remove the XBMC booter
reboot – Reboots the Apple TV
Once rebooted you should be presented with a clean install of your chosen version of XBMC / Kodi.
Here is a simple list of commands for your copy + pasting pleasure:
apt-get update
rm -f *kodi*.deb
rm -f *xbmc*.deb
apt-get remove org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2
apt-get remove org.xbmc.kodi-atv2
rm -Rf /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC
rm -Rf /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi
wget http://ftp.vim.org/mediaplayer/xbmc/apt/atv2/deb/org.xbmc.xbmc-atv2_13.2-0_iphoneos-arm.deb
dpkg -i *xbmc*.deb
apt-get install org.tomcool.xbmc-booter
reboot
Hopefully someone will find this useful sometime in the future to downgrade or simply install XBMC on their Apple TV 2. I personally wanted to downgrade to XBMC 13.2 Gotham because I wanted the Apple TV to automatically boot in to XBMC for ease of use by family members.
18 Comments
Hi Matt.
I did everything you said above for a clean install of Gotham but to no avail. It wouldn’t even show up on my ATV2.
Could I have done something wrong?
If you can copy and paste the log from your SSH terminal I might be able to try and work out where something has gone wrong.
Hi Matt. I decided to delete it from atv2 and buy a medi8er. I’ll install it on that and let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help.
Regards.
David.
you have helped me and others around me!!!!!!!!!!! thank you so very very much!
I got an error so had to do one extra step: apt-get org.xbmc.xbmc-seatbeltunlock
This was useful cos I found KODI unstable and kept crashing.
I just need to configure the Add-ons I use again. Thanks Matt
Call me stupid but what is “ssh”??
I have a jail broken AppleTV and ichannel isn’t working (along with other add ons), so I was going to follow your directions and install Gotham but I’m not familiar with the acronym
SSH is Secure Shell, to sum up in basic terms SSH is a command line version of remote desktop, with remote desktop you can interact with the desktop on a remote computer, with SSH you can use interact with the terminal (command prompt) of a remote device.
Putty is a popular SSH client for Windows: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html on OSX / Linux you can simply use the “Terminal” to SSH in to another device.
I hope that helps a bit!
I’m new to all of this but did manage to install Kodi on Appletv2 (jailbroken) and then Exodus but now we’re having lots of trouble with crashing when we try to watch something. I’d like to uninstall and reinstall Kodi/XBMC so can I type these commands within the Appletv itself…say in ‘System’ ?
Thanks
You can’t, you need to ssh in to the Apple TV from a computer.
Hi Matt, can’t seem to be able to get Apple TV to auto boot XBMC after following instructions above.
Does apt-get install org.tomcool.xbmc-booter work on iOS version 5 and above? I’m running 5.3.
Thanks
It doesn’t work. only versions <5.0
it is written on some wiki pages i can't find now.
I have the same problem, without possibility to downgrade to 4.4.4 (no saved SHSH)
HELP! Kodi and XBMC keep crashing all the time by searching for movies and while watching. Tried everything, you know how to fix this?
What theme / plugins do you have installed?
Have you tried removing all your userdata then re installing?
Now, only kodi installed and the Genesis add on. Crashes everytime. Thinking about to sell my Appel tv 2. Can’t handle it anymore? Or are there people who can use it without crash?
I jailbreaked it again yesterday with firecore so I think I have a clean install?
Pleaser I dont wanna buy a android player 😢
Hi Matt: I currently have kodi on atv2, but I made the mistake of changing the skin and now it does not allow me to navigate or return to previous skin. I did ssh process (cyberduck), but unable to find file “guisettings.xml” to delete. Please help
It should be in /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi
Hi Matt, thanks for this I just had to get the seatbeltunlock but after that it worked great.
wget http://mirrors.kodi.tv/apt/atv2/deb/org.xbmc.xbmc-seatbeltunlock_1.0-5_iphoneos-arm.deb
Hello,
I thank you. I can now use my ATV2 as a headless Airplay AND uPnP renderer.
I had to install seatbeltunlock before xbmc 13.2:
wget http://ftp.vim.org/mediaplayer/xbmc/apt/atv2/deb/org.xbmc.xbmc-seatbeltunlock_1.0-5_iphoneos-arm.deb
and
dpkg -i *xbmc-s*.deb
dpkg -i *xbmc-a*.deb