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Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. Available for free at home-assistant.io

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Repurposing 3rd Gen Rev A Apple TV (slrpnk.net)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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My 3rd Gen Rev A Apple TV (Model A1469) has been sitting around in a drawer for a long time and I was considering recycling it. But it works perfectly (minus the drawbacks of it having old technology) and I can’t stand the idea of wasting something useful. Is it possible to repurpose it for Home Assistant? I’m still working on getting started with HA - is it possible to use this to run the OS?

How else could I repurpose this? Has anyone else successfully done something like this?

Any help that explains like I’m 5 will also be especially appreciated since I am still learning these things 🙏🏻

Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 14 hours ago

Not much, thanks to Apple's planned obsolescence

[–] [email protected] 10 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Some have already suggested jailbreaking and installing Kodi but honestly, it's almost not worth it if you don't have a specific use case for it. The latest Kodi you can install is 14 vs. the current 21 which is super old. At this point I'd honestly then just go for some other media center solution (Raspberry, Mini PC, ...). You could maybe use it as an AirPlay point to cast your MacBook screen but not sure how feasible this is in your case and I'd still argue there are probably better solutions

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago

I don’t know anything about Kodi, but it sounds like it will be quite similar to what the Apple TV already is. If that’s right, then I think you’re right that all this effort would be a waste of time. Thanks for your input 👍🏻

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

As per your other thread, incase others are interested. I dont own one but on searching options seem to be limited. It can be jail broken and Kodi installed.

That may be a jumping off point for doing more but I can't see that anyone has successfully installed linux on it for example.

https://github.com/NSSpiral/Blackb0x

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago

Thanks for the link! It sounds to me that Kodi wouldn’t be as useful of a jump forward as I was imagining. Shame. Thanks for contributing 👍🏻

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You just reminded me that I have one. I'm going to see if I can repurpose it into a clock.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Drill a hole and get an analogue clockwork, done.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Only downside is that the 1080p monitor that's currently got a full screen digital clock on it, facilitated by a recently dying Chromecast, will still be dying and the analogue clock attached to the hole in the Apple TV won't allow me to see the time from the other side of the room in the dark.

I suppose I could strategically drill the hole and do both, but my hands aren't that stable and my eyesight is fading, so other suggestions welcome.

As an aside, I just went hunting for the old Apple TV and haven't yet found it, so there's plenty of time before I have to commit either way.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 20 hours ago

Hmm... Clockwork and fluorescent arms?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 22 hours ago

I do not believe it will work that way. I don't think Linux will even run on it well because of unknown hardware. You can run xbmc or Kodi I believe after you jailbreak it though.