How To: Jailbreak Apple TV 2 With Seas0nPass

Apple’s latest version of iOS recently updated for Apple TV with build 8F305. This build, which is also known as 4.2.2 (AKA iOS 4.3) on your Apple TV’s About menu, was released two weeks ago and fixes a number of issues including audio not playing when video content is playing (here’s a full list of changes). Today we are going to be walking through how to jailbreak the latest Apple TV software.

Warning: Just like every other iDevice jailbreak, your Apple TV preferences will be reset.

Requirements

• 2nd-generation Apple TV
• 2nd-generation Apple TV remote
• Micro-USB cable
• Latest version of iTunes
• Seas0nPass: Windows | Mac

One

Extract the Seas0nPass .zip file. Windows: Double-click file > Extract All. Mac: Double-click file.

Two

Power off your Apple TV by unplugging the power cable. Grab your micro-USB cable (not mini-USB, comparison here). Plug the USB cable into both your Apple TV and computer. Do not plug in the power cable.

Now run the Seas0nPass.exe by double clicking on it. The first thing you’ll see is two options: Create IPSW or Boot Tethered. If your Apple TV is already jailbroken, you can choose the Boot Tethered option. In our case, we’ll be selecting Create IPSW.

Three

Unlike previous jailbreak software (i.e. GreenPois0n), Seas0nPass has a great feature that automatically downloads the latest IPSW for you. No longer do you have to scurry the web in search of the right IPSW for your device. Seas0nPass will use this IPSW to create a custom restore firmware to upload to your Apple TV.

Four

Seas0nPass will go through a series of steps such as Installing Software and Compressing IPSW. The process should take about 2 minutes.

Five

Finally you will be faced with the screen below. As it says, you must put your Apple TV into DFU mode by holding the Menu and Play buttons on your remote for 7 seconds. It’s important that you point your remote at your Apple TV while doing this otherwise your device will not receive the remote’s signal. We found that you must release the two buttons after 7 seconds for your device to go into DFU mode – it will not go into DFU while you’re holding down the two buttons.

Six

Once your Apple TV is in DFU mode, Seas0nPass will display the screen below.

Seven

Now we’re done with Seas0nPass. Click OK and close out of it. The rest of the process will be handled by iTunes.

Eight

If it’s not already open, open iTunes. Navigate to “Apple TV” under Devices in the left column. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and left click the Restore button in iTunes. A window will pop up asking for a .ipsw file. Browse to your documents and double click the folder called “Seas0nPass”. Select the newly created .ipsw file. iTunes will pop up telling you it will erase and restore your Apple TV. Just click Restore.

Nine

iTunes will now be restoring your Apple TV with the Seas0nPass IPSW. Be patient and within 10 minutes your Apple TV will be jailbroken. Hook up your Apple TV to your TV. You’ll notice that all your preferences have been reset and you’ll have to re-enter them. Once you’re in the Apple TV main menu, you’ll notice a new menu called Seas0nPass. If you don’t see that menu, then you’re Apple TV is not jailbroken.

Ten

Now that your Apple TV is jailbroken, we’re going to install third-party software such as XBMC and VNC. First, we have to find out what IP address your Apple TV was assigned by your router. From the Apple TV homescreen navigate to the right to the Settings menu. Select General and then Network. Next to IP Address is your Apple TV’s (you guessed it) IP address.

Eleven

You won’t be able to SSH into your Apple TV from your TV, so jump back on your computer and download an SSH client. We suggest using Putty for Windows and the terminal application on Mac OS X. We’ll be using Putty in this example. Type in your Apple TV’s IP address in the Host Name (or IP address) field. Click Open and you will be prompted to log in as a username. Type “root” as the username and type “alpine” for the password.

Twelve

It’s always in good practice to change the default passwords for root and mobile users. After you’ve logged in as root, type the following commands:

passwd

Type your new password for the root username twice.

passwd mobile

Type your new password for the mobile username twice.

Thirteen

Now type the following commands right after each other. Be sure to type the commands as we had issues with copying and pasting them into Putty. Press Enter after each line:

echo "deb http://apt.awkwardtv.org ./" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/awkwardtv.list
apt-get update
apt-get install com.nito.nitoTV
killall Lowtide
reboot

After you run the third command, you will notice it will ask if you want to continue. Of course you do, so just type “y” and hit Enter. Finally, the last command will obviously reboot your Apple TV.

Fourteen

When your Apple TV restarts you will see that you installed nitoTV, which acts like Cydia on a jailbroken iPhone; nitoTV is a package management system that allows users to download packages via a user interface. From the homescreen, scroll over to nitoTV and open it. You’ll see a list of packages that you can install. I suggest installing XBMC Media Center. If you’re not familiar with XBMC, I think you should acquaint yourself now.

That’s all folks! This jailbreak is much easier than the previous GreenPois0n jailbreak for Apple TV. What do you think? Will you be using Seas0nPass again in the future? Let us know in the comments.