Comments for Scott Forbes http://scottforbes.net My very infrequently updated blog Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:04:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Comment on AppleTV: How to force a Factory Restore via SSH by Parris http://scottforbes.net/2010/02/27/appletv-how-to-force-a-factory-restore-via-ssh/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Parris Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:04:53 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=133#comment-23 I am currently trying to coax a Gen 1 Apple TV back to life. It has a graphics / logic glitch (white specks all over the screen, fails to boot 90% of the time and if it does boot it displays a very old firmware menu then as I try to move the cursor down the menus it crashes and gets stuck). The first thing I would suggest to anyone is to get a back-up of their internal HDD. You can use a free software app called "Carbon Copy" (Google) which makes a bootable 'ghost' image of the hard drive. This does mean opening the unit up, which of course voids any warranty you might have (should you have taken out Apple Care that still covers the unit). Note, the internal HDD is the older PATA and not the new SATA connection. I then used Fire Core aTVFlash to jailbreak the Apple TV. Despite nothing else running on the box, for some reason this application forces itself onto the system, presumably that is how it is designed. I can then access the Apple TV via Terminal as described above and attempt recovery. Sadly, thus far I have been unsuccessful as I can't get the unit to fully boot and / or remain functional long enough to update the Ethernet / Wifi connectivity for a firmware update, or even scroll down the menu to select the correct option to update firmware. It's clearly a logic board issue. The board is functional, but needs a firmware flash. Does anyone know of any other way to force a firmware update on these units? I suspect it would come back to life. HELP! I am currently trying to coax a Gen 1 Apple TV back to life. It has a graphics / logic glitch (white specks all over the screen, fails to boot 90% of the time and if it does boot it displays a very old firmware menu then as I try to move the cursor down the menus it crashes and gets stuck).

The first thing I would suggest to anyone is to get a back-up of their internal HDD. You can use a free software app called “Carbon Copy” (Google) which makes a bootable ‘ghost’ image of the hard drive. This does mean opening the unit up, which of course voids any warranty you might have (should you have taken out Apple Care that still covers the unit).

Note, the internal HDD is the older PATA and not the new SATA connection.

I then used Fire Core aTVFlash to jailbreak the Apple TV. Despite nothing else running on the box, for some reason this application forces itself onto the system, presumably that is how it is designed.

I can then access the Apple TV via Terminal as described above and attempt recovery.

Sadly, thus far I have been unsuccessful as I can’t get the unit to fully boot and / or remain functional long enough to update the Ethernet / Wifi connectivity for a firmware update, or even scroll down the menu to select the correct option to update firmware.

It’s clearly a logic board issue. The board is functional, but needs a firmware flash.

Does anyone know of any other way to force a firmware update on these units? I suspect it would come back to life.

HELP!

]]> Comment on AppleTV: How to force a Factory Restore via SSH by Scott Forbes http://scottforbes.net/2010/02/27/appletv-how-to-force-a-factory-restore-via-ssh/comment-page-1/#comment-22 Scott Forbes Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:12:19 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=133#comment-22 It's <em>possible</em> that your AppleTV still has an intact Recovery partition, but it sounds like yours is earnestly trying (and failing) to boot from a partition that's no longer bootable. The only "next steps" I can suggest are to (a) crack open the AppleTV, pull its hard drive, attach the drive to another Mac, and erase the OSBoot partition entirely (or, if possible, find a disk image from a working AppleTV and copy it over), or (b) spend $99 on a second-generation AppleTV, because it'll cost more than that to have your first-generation model repaired. It’s possible that your AppleTV still has an intact Recovery partition, but it sounds like yours is earnestly trying (and failing) to boot from a partition that’s no longer bootable. The only “next steps” I can suggest are to (a) crack open the AppleTV, pull its hard drive, attach the drive to another Mac, and erase the OSBoot partition entirely (or, if possible, find a disk image from a working AppleTV and copy it over), or (b) spend $99 on a second-generation AppleTV, because it’ll cost more than that to have your first-generation model repaired.

]]> Comment on AppleTV: How to force a Factory Restore via SSH by abeere http://scottforbes.net/2010/02/27/appletv-how-to-force-a-factory-restore-via-ssh/comment-page-1/#comment-21 abeere Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:53:42 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=133#comment-21 I thought I had finally found the grail, I was experiencing the exact same problems! But unfortunately now my atv is showing the Apple logo with a flashing question mark and atv, which I think means it can no longer find any boot drive... If you can think of any fix for this it would be much appreciated as most people are saying it is dead. :( I thought I had finally found the grail, I was experiencing the exact same problems! But unfortunately now my atv is showing the Apple logo with a flashing question mark and atv, which I think means it can no longer find any boot drive…

If you can think of any fix for this it would be much appreciated as most people are saying it is dead. :(

]]> Comment on How often does my birthday fall on Thanksgiving? by rancheria http://scottforbes.net/2010/07/07/how-often-does-my-birthday-fall-on-thanksgiving/comment-page-1/#comment-20 rancheria Sun, 05 Dec 2010 11:32:50 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=137#comment-20 Thanks Scott for providing us Thanksgiving Week Babies with your valuable info and calendar. I just this last hour tried to figure out the pattern for when my birthday falls on Thanksgiving. Starting with a very past and recent Thanksgiving birthday, I looked up many Nov. calendar months on the net. Exactly like you, I too went looking online to see what years I would be having turkey and cranberries for my birthday. I may have been inspired to do this because this year I missed both a Thanksgiving feast and a birthday feast two days later. I vowed to never let that happen again. I figured out the pattern of: 6yrs, 5yrs, 6yrs, and then 11 yrs. I looked at your projected Thanksgiving dates for my birthdate, Nov. 27th, to see how old I would have to make it to, to have my birthday turkey on 2042. i would be 94 on that date. So, to hedge my turkey and cranberries with trimmings wish bet, I looked at the previous possible Thanksgiving/birthday synchronicity and found your listed date was 2031, when I would be only 83. Damn, I thought, why did the dreaded 11 year interval after to hit me exactly at the end of my hoped for lengthy life. 11 year spread, Either 83 or 94 yrs. of age to make it to my Last Thanksgiving. That's a lengthy spread at an advanced age! So, I rechecked and found that you had left out 2036, when I would be only 88 years of age. Whew, well, my Dad will be 88 in less than 5 months, I'm hoping, so maybe my reaching 88 yrs. of age is possible for me. So, you see, leaving out the year 2036 for me, could have been a very vital disappointing mistake !! Thanks to Domenica for having the 2036 date for us November 27 people listed. I had projected out to this date, myself, but just had to check again. Thanks so much for bringing all this up, and shedding much needed light on the calendar patterns for us lucky Thanksgiving Babies. Your way in which you came to this was identical to mine. I had too much unwanted time on my hands tonight because I awoke in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep. Finding your great blog site and subscribing got me all the way 'till the dawn and I can now go have breakfast. Before I found your info, I wondered why there was nothing on the internet about this ! Scott, you are a true pioneer and have broken rare ground. Thanks again and I look forward to reading your blog, as I may find much in common with a blogger like you, who thinks just like me when it comes to loving turkey and cranberries on his birthday. --And the same with wanting to figure it out, and wondering why there was no help from the internet. Only, in my case, you and Domenica were there to help me in my times of great Insomnia relief need. It's very appreciated. I'll tell this story on my 94th birthday on Nov. 27th, 2042, after telling it on the same date in 2036, when I want to celebrate reaching 88 on Thanksgiving !! Merry Christmas (that's an easy one for us Nov. 27 people--it's always exactly 4 weeks, to the day, beyond our birthday) Jack Thanks Scott for providing us Thanksgiving Week Babies with your valuable info and calendar. I just this last hour tried to figure out the pattern for when my birthday falls on Thanksgiving. Starting with a very past and recent Thanksgiving birthday, I looked up many Nov. calendar months on the net. Exactly like you, I too went looking online to see what years I would be having turkey and cranberries for my birthday. I may have been inspired to do this because this year I missed both a Thanksgiving feast and a birthday feast two days later. I vowed to never let that happen again. I figured out the pattern of: 6yrs, 5yrs, 6yrs, and then 11 yrs.
I looked at your projected Thanksgiving dates for my birthdate, Nov. 27th, to see how old I would have to make it to, to have my birthday turkey on 2042. i would be 94 on that date. So, to hedge my turkey and cranberries with trimmings wish bet, I looked at the previous possible Thanksgiving/birthday synchronicity and found your listed date was 2031, when I would be only 83. Damn, I thought, why did the dreaded 11 year interval after to hit me exactly at the end of my hoped for lengthy life. 11 year spread, Either 83 or 94 yrs. of age to make it to my Last Thanksgiving. That’s a lengthy spread at an advanced age! So, I rechecked and found that you had left out 2036, when I would be only 88 years of age. Whew, well, my Dad will be 88 in less than 5 months, I’m hoping, so maybe my reaching 88 yrs. of age is possible for me. So, you see, leaving out the year 2036 for me, could have been a very vital disappointing mistake !! Thanks to Domenica for having the 2036 date for us November 27 people listed.
I had projected out to this date, myself, but just had to check again. Thanks so much for bringing all this up, and shedding much needed light on the calendar patterns for us lucky Thanksgiving Babies. Your way in which you came to this was identical to mine. I had too much unwanted time on my hands tonight because I awoke in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep. Finding your great blog site and subscribing got me all the way ’till the dawn and I can now go have breakfast. Before I found your info, I wondered why there was nothing on the internet about this ! Scott, you are a true pioneer and have broken rare ground.
Thanks again and I look forward to reading your blog, as I may find much in common with a blogger like you, who thinks just like me when it comes to loving turkey and cranberries on his birthday. –And the same with wanting to figure it out, and wondering why there was no help from the internet. Only, in my case, you and Domenica were there to help me in my times of great Insomnia relief need. It’s very appreciated. I’ll tell this story on my 94th birthday on Nov. 27th, 2042, after telling it on the same date in 2036, when I want to celebrate reaching 88 on Thanksgiving !! Merry Christmas (that’s an easy one for us Nov. 27 people–it’s always exactly 4 weeks, to the day, beyond our birthday) Jack

]]> Comment on AppleTV: How to force a Factory Restore via SSH by tommpl http://scottforbes.net/2010/02/27/appletv-how-to-force-a-factory-restore-via-ssh/comment-page-1/#comment-19 tommpl Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:59:24 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=133#comment-19 Hey thanks for the info it worked and now my wife wont kill me braking her apple tv. I was going crazy trying everything! ha Hey thanks for the info it worked and now my wife wont kill me braking her apple tv. I was going crazy trying everything! ha

]]> Comment on How often does my birthday fall on Thanksgiving? by domenica http://scottforbes.net/2010/07/07/how-often-does-my-birthday-fall-on-thanksgiving/comment-page-1/#comment-18 domenica Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:58:56 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=137#comment-18 Thank you for adding additional dates. I have a close relative with an occasional Thanksgiving birthday and when I was doing research about a year ago I came across the following (below) on Wikipedia. Just like you, someone had already taken a great deal of time researching dates. Happy Birthday! Thanksgiving Birthday Pattern New section submitted for inclusion in the Birthday article. Was originally posted to the Thanksgiving article discussion. Thanksgiving (USA)is a rare holiday that doesn't fall on the same date each year. The date is affected by the fact that it is fixed to the fourth Thursday of November. And leap year causes the date to jump a year. The resulting pattern is a 28 year cycle that goes like this; 11 years, 6 years, 5 years, 6 years then repeats. If your Birthday falls between 11/22 and 11/28 it will eventually fall on Thanksgiving day. The easiest way to tell if your Birthday is going to fall on Thanksgiving is to look at the first day of November. If the first day of the month is a; Sun = Thanksgiving is on the 26th, Mon = 25th, Tues = 24th, Wed = 23rd, Thu = 22nd, Fri = 28th, Sat = 27th. Following is a list of Thanksgiving Birthday's for each possible date; 11/22 -- 2007, 2012, 2018, 2029, 2035; 11/23 -- 2006, 2017, 2023, 2028, 2034; 11/24 -- 2011, 2016, 2022, 2033, 2039; 11/25 -- 2010, 2021, 2027, 2032, 2038; 11/26 -- 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026, 2037; 11/27 -- 2008, 2014, 2025, 2031, 2036; 11/28 -- 2013, 2019, 2024, 2030, 2041 Gregmjr 23:08, 3 February 2007 (UTC) Gregmjr (talk) 15:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC) Thank you for adding additional dates. I have a close relative with an occasional Thanksgiving birthday and when I was doing research about a year ago I came across the following (below) on Wikipedia. Just like you, someone had already taken a great deal of time researching dates. Happy Birthday!

Thanksgiving Birthday Pattern
New section submitted for inclusion in the Birthday article. Was originally posted to the Thanksgiving article discussion.

Thanksgiving (USA)is a rare holiday that doesn’t fall on the same date each year. The date is affected by the fact that it is fixed to the fourth Thursday of November. And leap year causes the date to jump a year. The resulting pattern is a 28 year cycle that goes like this; 11 years, 6 years, 5 years, 6 years then repeats.

If your Birthday falls between 11/22 and 11/28 it will eventually fall on Thanksgiving day. The easiest way to tell if your Birthday is going to fall on Thanksgiving is to look at the first day of November. If the first day of the month is a;
Sun = Thanksgiving is on the 26th,
Mon = 25th,
Tues = 24th,
Wed = 23rd,
Thu = 22nd,
Fri = 28th,
Sat = 27th.

Following is a list of Thanksgiving Birthday’s for each possible date;
11/22 — 2007, 2012, 2018, 2029, 2035;
11/23 — 2006, 2017, 2023, 2028, 2034;
11/24 — 2011, 2016, 2022, 2033, 2039;
11/25 — 2010, 2021, 2027, 2032, 2038;
11/26 — 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026, 2037;
11/27 — 2008, 2014, 2025, 2031, 2036;
11/28 — 2013, 2019, 2024, 2030, 2041
Gregmjr 23:08, 3 February 2007 (UTC) Gregmjr (talk) 15:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

]]> Comment on How often does my birthday fall on Thanksgiving? by elaeames http://scottforbes.net/2010/07/07/how-often-does-my-birthday-fall-on-thanksgiving/comment-page-1/#comment-17 elaeames Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:25:41 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=137#comment-17 Hey Fellow occasional Thanksgiving Birthday! I was born on bird day, and in keeping with the ever changing cycle - I get to celebrate on bird day this year! Happy Birthday to you - Hope you are spoiled and have a meal of your own (other than turkey). Thanks for putting together the list - I was actually unaware that this year was a bird-day birthday until a friend mentioned it! Ela Hey Fellow occasional Thanksgiving Birthday! I was born on bird day, and in keeping with the ever changing cycle – I get to celebrate on bird day this year!

Happy Birthday to you – Hope you are spoiled and have a meal of your own (other than turkey).

Thanks for putting together the list – I was actually unaware that this year was a bird-day birthday until a friend mentioned it!

Ela

]]> Comment on AppleTV: How to force a Factory Restore via SSH by Scott Forbes http://scottforbes.net/2010/02/27/appletv-how-to-force-a-factory-restore-via-ssh/comment-page-1/#comment-15 Scott Forbes Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:29:47 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=133#comment-15 It didn't brick my unit (more the opposite, in fact), but we entered the Land of Voided Warranties a long time ago. :-/ I might try pulling the battery from the remote, unplugging the AppleTV, and letting them both sit for an hour; or, better yet, if you've got another Apple remote I might break that out and see whether it makes any difference. <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1551" rel="nofollow">http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1551</a> Beyond that, if you can't get the remote working, I suspect your next-best options are (a) crack open the AppleTV, pull the hard drive, find a disk image from an intact AppleTV, and try to restore... or (b) go to the Apple Store. This really sounds like an issue with pairing and un-pairing the remote, though, or at least all the other troubleshooting pages I've found give the same advice in this situation. It didn’t brick my unit (more the opposite, in fact), but we entered the Land of Voided Warranties a long time ago. :-/ I might try pulling the battery from the remote, unplugging the AppleTV, and letting them both sit for an hour; or, better yet, if you’ve got another Apple remote I might break that out and see whether it makes any difference.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1551

Beyond that, if you can’t get the remote working, I suspect your next-best options are (a) crack open the AppleTV, pull the hard drive, find a disk image from an intact AppleTV, and try to restore… or (b) go to the Apple Store. This really sounds like an issue with pairing and un-pairing the remote, though, or at least all the other troubleshooting pages I’ve found give the same advice in this situation.

]]> Comment on AppleTV: How to force a Factory Restore via SSH by refreshedit http://scottforbes.net/2010/02/27/appletv-how-to-force-a-factory-restore-via-ssh/comment-page-1/#comment-14 refreshedit Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:54:21 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=133#comment-14 I tried this, the system light turned off after 6 seconds... then nothing.. No change. DAMN, now I can't even SSH in.... :-( Has this process bricked my unit? I tried this, the system light turned off after 6 seconds… then nothing.. No change. DAMN, now I can’t even SSH in…. :-( Has this process bricked my unit?

]]> Comment on AppleTV: How to force a Factory Restore via SSH by refreshedit http://scottforbes.net/2010/02/27/appletv-how-to-force-a-factory-restore-via-ssh/comment-page-1/#comment-13 refreshedit Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:49:30 +0000 http://scottforbes.net/?p=133#comment-13 Problem is - How do you pair a remote with an ATV that is waiting to be set up? There are no pairing options yet.... Problem is – How do you pair a remote with an ATV that is waiting to be set up? There are no pairing options yet….

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