Firefox

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Contents

[edit] Introduction

With a combination of hacks from this site, you can get a fully working web browser (Mozilla Firefox) working on the AppleTV. Firefox will be used using a USB keyboard and mouse plugged (via a USB hub) into

[edit] Prerequisites

  • An SSH enabled AppleTV
  • An Intel Mac
  • A USB keyboard and mouse (with USB hub if not built into keyboard)

[edit] Installation

[edit] Enabling USB for keyboard and mouse support

If you do not have bspatch installed on your AppleTV (you have updated to v1.1) then copy bspatch and bzip2 from your Intel Mac onto your AppleTV and put them in the /usr/bin directory.

Patch the Kernel on your AppleTV to allow USB devices. You do not need to follow the instructions (loading kexts) for enabling USB Mass storage support unless you need an external USB storage device (hard drive, USB pen drive etc). The kernel patch is all that is required.

[edit] Installing System Prefernces

Install System Preferences onto your AppleTV. This is needed to enable the mouse pointer.

[edit] Enable the Mouse Poiner

Enable the Mouse Pointer on your AppleTV. The mouse pointer will only be visible if finder is not running (ie, only when you are running applications) so you don't need to worry about it being visible in the main AppleTV interface.

[edit] Install Firefox

Download the latest version of Firefox and copy the Firefox .dmg to your AppleTV.

ssh to your AppleTV and run the following commands 

sudo hdiutil mount Firefox\ 2.0.0.7.dmg
cp -r /Volumes/Firefox/Firefox.app /Users/frontrow/Applications/

[edit] Install and Configure AwkwardTV Applications Menu

This can be done from the AwkwardTV menu if you patched your AppleTV with a patchstick

Configure the Applications Menu by editing the file /Users/frontrow/Documents/Applist.plist. Here is a copy of mine: 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Applications</key>
  <dict>
    <key>0</key>
    <dict>
      <key>args</key>
      <string></string>
      <key>remotewatcher</key>
      <false/>
      <key>fireandforget</key>
      <false/>
      <key>menu</key>
      <string>Firefox</string>
      <key>killfinder</key>
      <false/>
      <key>path</key>
      <string>/Users/frontrow/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin</string>
    </dict>
  </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

The important part is running the firefox-bin file rather than firefox (it didn't seem to work on mine)

[edit] Running

To run, Simply go to Applications from the main menu and select Firefox. After a few seconds Firefox will appear (if not, change the killfinder option to /true in the config file - see Applications Menu). After you quit Firefox, you will be returned to the main menu.

[edit] Footnote

This procedure can be used to run any Apple application as long as dependencies are met. Presumably it works with Safari, but I haven't checked. Happy browsing! This guide was written from my AppleTV!

  • 17-10-07 - (Cybix) - I've managed to get Skype working using the exact same methods for Firefox. Only instead of copying the Firefox.app from a fresh mounted firefox image, I copied Skype.app from a mounted Skype image. (from my Macbook Pro to AppleTV) Works great however haven't yet tested a voice call. more at http://www.invertedreality.com/?p=135
Retrieved from "http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Firefox"
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