I am Linux illiterate.

So I should run the sudo apt-get install hfsprogs first on the usb and then the sudo atv...... to get the job done?

Many Thanks,

Tim

If it's possible, what changes would need to be made to the script(s) to install-usb without a hard drive in the ATV?

@TimmyS: it needs to be installed on the Linux box you created the USB with

@StrangeShay: the patchstick.sh script on the USB assumes /dev/sda is the internal drive and /dev/sdb is the USB stick, but if there's no internal drive the USB is probably /dev/sda, which would cause a problem. Editing the install script will be hard as it's quite complex. If you install with a hard drive attached then remove the drive it'll be easier. Once the install has completed delete patchstick.sh from the recovery partition, then rename patchstick.boot to take its place; edit this file so the kexec kernel params have valid boot= and disk= settings and you should be done.

Thanks chewitt. The trial version runs from a cd drive. Will this work or do I actually have to install the program on a hard drive?

I have the problem that my AppleTV does not boot from sticks whose second partition is not HFS. Never.
It only boots from HFS formatted sticks, but MacOS creates an EFI partition there, which causes the Openelec install script to fail.
It would be great, if someone could modify the install script so, that it tries to load the third partition if available, and the second partition if there are only two partitions.

@simonszu: The osx script has an issue where (as you spotted) osx automatically adds an EFI partition when the USB stick is >2GB in size. I'll recode things around this, but it'll take a few days. If you use a 1GB stick it should work fine.

@TimmyS: It should be possible as the OS uses a RAM drive while it's running which is read-write, but you won't be able to 'persist' the change over a reboot unless you make a bootable USB (oh, the irony) so that changes and additions can be stored.

v2.5 released; this works around an issue with the installer script running from USB keys >2GB created on OSX where OSX helpfully adds an EFI partition to the USB key that we weren't expecting

Awesome. I found a working 2GB stick yesterday, but these types become very rare...good work.

v2.6: contains numerous cosmetic tweaks to the linux kernel and atv-bootloader that prevent a variety of boot-time garbage from being shown on-screen, and the blinking yellow LED is turned off once the installer script runs

@chewitt

I ran the "sudo apt-get install hfsprogs" in the terminal and it says (paraphrasing) "cannot be found"

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,

Tim

@TimmyS: to be perfectly honest, I have no idea I'm going to download an Ubuntu 11.10 LiveCD to boot a VM with, and see what's missing.

@TimmyS: Ubuntu needs to have the list of installable packages updated before it can see hfsprogs as a valid package to install, so run the following commands and all should be happy.
Once 'hfsprogs' has been installed the creator script is able to mount the Recovery partition in read-write mode, which kind of helps with the copying of the boot files over to it

@chewitt I found an old pc at work and installed ubunto to it.I ran the terminal and all the steps and I think I have a USB with everything on it. I will stick it in the apple tv when I get home and keep my fingers crossed! Thanks. I well get back to you probably late this evening!

@chewitt Well I am closer than I was before. The USB boots, connects and starts downloading the openelec-atv.i386-devel-2012xxxxx and gets to 18% and then says "Fail: system kernal or open elec image file not found"

What is the next step. how do I get the system kernel or open elec image on the usb?

Thanks,

Tim

ps I I try and reboot the screen flys by so fast nothing can be read, do I need to redo or change the USB?

@TimmyS: Looks like you have the opposite of the midas touch

It's an old problem with atv-bootloader where the hfsplus recovery partition becomes read-only after the initial boot, which affects how the script runs. For now, you'll need to recreate the USB again to run again. If you set the keyword to "offline" and put the .tar.bz2 image in the OPENELEC partition on the USB key it'll do an offline install using that file.

v2.7: Fixes the read-write only on first boot issue. The installer script now cleanly unmounts things that get mounted and we fsck the recovery partition properly before mounting it. The keyword for "backup" is also functional now. This copies /storage/.config, /storage/.cache, and /storage/.xbmc folders to a tar.gz file on the OPENELEC partition.

@TimmyS: In testing I've seen the download freeze once or twice. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to investigate what went wrong but the solution is to simply try again. I've never had it happen twice in succession so it's something random.

@chewitt I will try again tonite. I made two usb sticks, one regular one offline

@TimmyS: offline had a bug until about 5 mins ago ..so hopefully the 'normal' one works

@chewitt Yea as you can see I am GOOD at finding the bugs....lol