Posted on November 4, 2010 by   Apple TV 2G, Apple TV Apps, AppleTV, Plex   113 Comments

How To Install Plex Onto Apple TV 2G – Play Almost Any Video File Type – Video Tutorial

    UPDATE: We have had reports about users receiving errors when installing this package. If you are receiving an error, please click here for some error solutions.

    This is a really simple tutorial on install Plex onto your 2G. See the below:

    Download links:

    ------------------
    Commands File
    Plex Server Installation for Mac OS X

    Additional Tutorials:

    ------------------
    How to jailbreak the Apple TV 2G

    How to install NitoTV on the Apple TV 2G

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    • Bernd

      great!

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    • tyce

      Will this allow you to decode 1080p mkv’s?

      I am still curious how powerful these little boxes truly are.

      Thanks in advance,

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        From what I understand it can play 720p mkv’s but I am unsure of 1080p at the moment.

        There has been talk that the Apple TV has the ability to play 1080p but is just restricted at the moment, again, at this stage I am unable to confirm.

        Keep an eye out, we’ll post again when we receive more info

        • Jeff

          Hell, I can’t get my Apple TV (Gen 2) to stream anything let alone 720p.

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        It will play 720p MKV but not 1080

    • Interloper

      2 questions.
      If I put the beta on now, can the software update from the atv or do we need to IE: apt-get every time ?
      Any hint of support from other systems?
      I have a bad wifi link to my downstairs and have a NAS unit there. Instead of streaming, I store on the NAS unit. I’d like to stream from it. I guess I could set up to use a macbook as a middle man for now?
      Thanks and good timing. I just bought the atv2 and it is pwned and ready. Excited to see some dev for this

    • sirgotham

      hey thanks man for the online chat and help – setup ran smoothly with exception that my apple remote froze – but as you suggested unpairing it had me up and running.

      cool – great vid :) hope exam was fun

      • Lookingforward

        Anyway to just stream from a NAS (WD MyBook World) without needing to run the Plex server?

        • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

          Not yet, hopefully soon! Keep checking in!

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    • Tomiha

      i have done everything like in the tutorial, but plex doesent appear in my apple TV after the restart,
      i dont know why.

    • anton

      hi, thank you for the tutorial but the last command “killall Lowti” doesnt work i get this reply:

      AppleTV:~ root# killall Lowti
      No matching processes were found

      one step before i get this:

      AppleTV:~ root# apt-get install plex-client-plugin
      Reading package lists… Done
      Building dependency tree… Done
      Package plex-client-plugin is not available, but is referred to by another package.
      This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
      is only available from another source
      However the following packages replace it:
      com.plex.client-plugin
      E: Package plex-client-plugin has no installation candidate

      maybe it has something to do with it.

      would be wonderfull if you can help me

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        You aren’t entering the full command. The full command is:

        “killall Lowtide”

        you forgot to add “de” to the end of it ;)

        • onrem

          hi thank you for the tutorial but it doesn’t work for me, can you help me please.
          when i write the last command i have this :
          AppleTV:~ root# apt-get install plex-client-plugin
          Reading package lists… Done
          Building dependency tree
          Reading state information… Done
          Package plex-client-plugin is not available, but is referred to by another package.
          This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
          is only available from another source
          However the following packages replace it:
          com.plex.client-plugin
          E: Package plex-client-plugin has no installation candidate

          thank you for your help

        • Pat

          yeah anton was missing that bit, but the fact that the installation of the plex client plugin didnt work is also an issue. i got the same error message

          Apple-TV:~ root# apt-get install plex-client-plugin
          Reading package lists… Done
          Building dependency tree… Done
          Package plex-client-plugin is not available, but is referred to by another package.
          This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
          is only available from another source
          However the following packages replace it:
          com.plex.client-plugin
          E: Package plex-client-plugin has no installation candidate

          and did the killall Lowtide command, it restarted my apple tv, but plex is not installed

          • Pat

            i just looked more into what the messages were after each command in terminal, and it did not succesfully add the sources. why would this be?

      • Pat

        I am also having this issue. any bit of help would be great!!!

    • Brian

      Help!

      No Plex showing after killall command.

      Getting this just before it:

      This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
      is only available from another source
      However the following packages replace it:
      com.plex.client-plugin
      E: Package plex-client-plugin has no installation candidate

      Please help somebodty, anybody!

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        Hi Brian, my partner Euan is the guy who wrote this tutorial. I don’t have an Apple TV so I don’t know anything about jailbreaking them or installing Plex. Euan is actually on vacation right now but he should be checking his e-mails. Send us an e-mail here http://iphoneblogr.com/contact-us and hopefully he’ll get it. Thanks!

      • Tomiha

        I got exactly the same problem

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    • nanardas

      the link http://localhost:32400/system/:/prefs/set?AS_BETA=1 doesn’t load even on safari. why is it so?

      • Juanes

        Hi Nanardas, I had the same problem. I noticed i didn’t have the latest version of Plex on my machine. Upgrade from the app does not work, it will say you have the latest version. It’s a bug. On plexapp.com you get get the latest version. Greetz, Juanes

    • Brian

      For all who are getting the E: Package plex-client-plugin has no installation candidate Error I found the following solution on this this address. http://iphoneblogr.com/2010/11/errors-occurring-when-installing-plex-on-apple-tv-2g/

      1. Remove the older version
      apt-get remove plex-client-plugin

      2. Update again the packages information
      apt-get update

      3. Install the new version (the name of the package has changed)
      apt-get install com.plex.client-plugin

      4. Restart the GUI
      killall Lowtide

    • Sam

      Any way I can get this working on a PC? I’ve heard XBMC is very similar to PLEX and it works on PC but I have not seen a tutorial yet. Has anyone had any luck streaming from a PC?

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        XBMC is Xbox Media Center, it is only for the original Xbox and no this will not work on PC, Plex is a Mac only application. Thanks!

        • Reiska

          Not quite…

          http://xbmc.org/about/

          “XBMC is available for Linux, OSX, Windows, and the original Xbox.”

          • joe

            yea I use plex on my PC and that why I wanted to get it set up on my mac and use it with my ATV2.

            I got unlucky though and ordered off the apple website and got a brand new box delivered with 4.2.1 on it and plex apparently wont work with this version. keep getting errors…. getting this now

            E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

    • Bob’s

      Plex for Apple TV ist nor playing my DVD/Video_TS Files…:(:(:(

      Why???

    • JLMac

      Problem with PLEX that stops the video (divx) after few minutes. It’s a big problem because i have to start the film again from the beguining especially since i couldn’t fast forward using the remote…
      Did anybody experience the same problem ? I have an ethernet connexion, i successfully installed PLEX with tuto.
      thank’s for your help

    • Fau

      sorry for the lame question… i’m getting this error in terminal when trying the 1st command…

      ssh: connect to host 169.10.11.12 port 22: Operation timed out

      can you help me? you said this ip changes for different machines, how can i get mine?

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Not a silly question at all.

        On your ATV, got to the menu on the screen. Click Settings – then click General. Under Network it will tell you what your ip address is.

        Any other problems let us know

    • Jflow

      For those of you that have already installed nitoTV, you can use the nitoTV installer to search for plex and install directly from your apple tv…no terminal commands needed.

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Hi Jflow,

        Thanks for that! When I get a second I will update the tutorial to let everyone know :)

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    • Damian

      how to display the subtitles on PLEX?

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        At the moment, this is stil a very experimental plugin.

        Subtitles are a known problem at the moment, it is being worked on and a solution will hopefully be made available soon.

    • Alex

      Don’t you imagine when will us open our movies with subtitle?

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    • xl

      nice,thanks~

    • binarydaddy

      Just got my AppleTV 2G yesterday, JB’d it about an hour ago n used this tutorial for PLEX. As mentioned, the 5th command line has a new package name. However, I simply reran the commands n changed the pkg to com.plex.client-package and it worked beautifully.

      Might save time from the update comment above:) HAPPY PLEXING!

      I have one question though…I’m getting errors about 5-10 mins in to each movie I access. Could this be a sleep setting in PLEX server or something? Please advise:)

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Hi there,

        Thanks for that. I have updated the commands file to hopefully prevent other people from having this problem.

        I haven’t heard anything about error before. It is possible that this is a sleep settings, check the sleep setting on the Apple TV under Settings, General.

        Let us know how you get on

        • Avril

          I am getting this error as well. It stops playing after a while of watching. Is there a fix for this? It happens on all my movies/Tv shows.
          Thanks!

          • JaeM1llz

            It sounds like a server-side issue. Try downgrading your installation of ffmpeg. The new version requires pretty high-end specs to transcode properly. I talked to another person who was able to bypass the transcoding errors just by using the old version of ffmpeg.

            • 17

              My movies continue to stop in the middle. I have disabled sleep and given priority to ATV2. Has there been a solution to fastfw/rewind (or the use of a remote) to navigate thru a movie?

        • binarydaddy

          Morning All! Sorry for late response, but there are two things I found that will keep videos from stopping after a short time:

          1) Change Sleep setting on Apple TV to off. That disables sleep.

          2) if u use wifi, go into your router n configure QoS to put priority of traffic to ATV2 first. Alternatively, u can run a direct LAN connection like I did n that makes it all good w/out QoS!

          Any updates on pause/fast fwd features being updated?!?

          Cheers

    • Vasilis

      Any news about subtitles on plex 4 apple tv guys?
      Although i see subs on plex when on apple tv i dont……
      Any solutions?

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    • http://osxdaily.com MacWill

      Nice, that’s freakishly easy

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    • Wesley

      How does one upgrade after having already jailbroken the Apple TV? is there a video for that?

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Hi Wesley,

        To upgrade simply follow the software update on your Apple TV itself, this will download and update itself. At the moment, if you do not have shsh files saved for iOS 4.1 (Apple TV 4.0) you should not upgrade. There is currently only a tethered jailbreak which will not be very useful. Wait until a proper jailbreak is released.

        Thanks

    • tonino

      Hi. Wonder if anyone can help me set up? Am following the tutorial on installing Plex. Have done everything up to inputting the IP address in terminal. I keep getting the following error in Terminal. ssh: connect to host 192.168.1.6 port 22: Connection refused. In ATV the IP address is found in settings/general/network. It looks like it is set to DHCP and the the number found above.

      My other question is; If I update ATv when it prompts me to do that, will I loose the jailbreak done via Pwnage tool? How would I disable the prompt? It keeps popping up when the ATv wakes from sleep.

      Cheers in advance

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Hi Tonino,

        Thanks for your question!

        First of all, the Connection refused issue. Most people have this issue because they are using the wrong ip address. In this case it doesn’t sound like your problem. It you are using the right ip address, the problem is most likley an issue with your jailbreak. Are you sure that you restored to the custom firmware file you created in the Pwnage Tool? (often people get mixed up with the normal restore file and the custom_restore file).

        Yes, if you update you will loose your jailbreak. At the moment there is only a tethered jailbreak for Apple TV 4.1.1 (the latest). This is not very useful for most people. There will be a proper jailbreak when comex releases is untethered exploit.

        There should be a plugin type thing in NitoTV that will let you block the Apple update notifications. This can be found under the search feature in NitoTV.

        Let us know if that helps/if you have any other questions :)

        • tonino

          Hey thanks for the quick response. There was an issue with the jailbreak. When it go to the iTunes restore, it extracted the new firmware and then wanted to verify the restore with Apple servers. “Could not restore AppleTV because device is not eligible for the requested build”. I assumed that the restore/jailbreak worked anyway but the verification was not necessary. ATv works fine after that. Software v 4.1 in settings/general/about

          Perhaps I still haven’t jailbroken it eh? But it just does not get past that part in iTunes.

          So by tethered do you mean that I need to launch Pwnagetool every time ATv sleeps or powers down? I’m not even sure how it manages itself in that regard. All I could find was ‘sleep after XX(time)’ setting.

          • joe

            “Could not restore AppleTV because device is not eligible for the requested build”.

            this error happens because Apple stops signing the firmware after a certain period of time when a new one is released. this is why its important to back up your SHSH blobs once you are jailbroken.

        • tonino

          Aaahh yes. Took a look at atvblogr.com and found someone with the similar issue. Looks like I’ll have to wait for a new release from the Dev team or similar. Mine is a day old ATv and being new to the interface, I clicked and updated to the very latest firmware without being aware…Am now on 4.1.1.

          I love the site and really appreciate the extra effort you lot put in to help out the iDevice community. Keep up the great work.

          Tonino.

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    • http://www.ForBrains.com Shit For Brains

      I believe you said ‘um’ about 200+ times. Please redo your tutorial so that you have less than 15% of your statements riddled with Uhm… meaningless… uhm… uncertainty.

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Give me a break, it was the first video tutorial I had created.

        If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Simple as that.

        • Joe

          Hi First of all Thanks for your Tutorials in youtube,

          It really well done, and simple to understand.

          My issue is as follow:

          I’m gettin an error : Failed to fetch http://apt.awkwardtv.org/./Packages.gz HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found

          I think this website is down for the moment. I have my ATV2 jailbroken and ready to install Plex, and I’m just waiting for this little problem get solved. Just let me know if you’ve found a way to solve this problem, or thanks for all anyway.

    • tony corne

      is awkwardtv.org down? No matter what i try even with the web browser I cant reach it… I keep getting the folowing error:

      Failed to fetch http://apt.awkwardtv.org/./Packages.gz HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found

      • nekton

        Yes, it seems to be down and has been all week. Earlier there was a message about DNS and fore the site owner to contact domain but that has gone now.

      • Joe

        Hi Tony,

        I’m experiencing the same problem as you, I’m gettin the same error : Failed to fetch http://apt.awkwardtv.org/./Packages.gz HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found

        I think this website is down for the moment. I have my ATV2 jailbroken and ready to install Plex, and I’m just waiting for this little problem get solved. Just let me know if you’ve found another way……Thanks …

    • sky1ne

      Quote twitter @nitotv “thanks to @DHowett we’re back with a temporary repo address at http://awkwardtv.dyndns.tv/ please RT!!”

      Try the above source…

    • jesper

      Hi!

      When i write “killall lowtide” nothing happens whit the apple tv, in terminal i get up “No matching processes were found”, what’s wrong?

      (excuse my English, I’m Swedish)

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Hi Jesper,

        The app lowtide has been changed in the latest firmware upgrade. Try using “killall appletv.app”.

        Alternatively, just unplug the AppleTV from the wall and plug it back in. Let me know if that makes a difference.

        Thanks

        • daveztu

          I was having the same problems, tried the above fix, but still says No matching processes were found.

          • JaeM1llz

            daveztu, quite a bit has changed with Plex since we first posted this tutorial back in November. Please try the post our our sister site AppleTVBlogr for Installing Plex on AppleTV 2g 4.2.1

        • jesper

          Thanks the “killall apple tv” worked but plex didn’t show up on my apple tv so i tied this:

          -ssh root@atv2.ip.address
          -cd /private/var/root/
          -wget http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16129573/com.nito.deb
          -echo “deb http://apt.awkwardtv.org ./” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/awkwardtv.list

          -echo “deb http://www.ambertation.de ./downloads/PLEX/” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plex.list
          -wget -O- http://apt.awkwardtv.org/awkwardtv.pub | apt-key add -
          -dpkg -i com.nito.deb
          -apt-get update
          -apt-get install com.plex.client-plugin
          -rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/com.plex.client-plugin.postinst
          -apt-get install com.plex.client-plugin
          -ln -s /Applications/Lowtide.app/Appliances/PLEX.frappliance/ /Applications/AppleTV.app/Appliances/PLEX.frappliance
          -apt-get install beigelist
          -killall AppleTV
          -apt-get update
          -apt-get upgrade

          and now i have plex on my apple tv, but when I start a movie, an error appear saying: “an error occurred when the content was loaded” “try again later”
          What should I do to fix it?

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    • philb

      I have just install plex on my apple tv2 by following the video above. But when plex come up on my apple tv i cant seem to get my movies & tv shows on it from my mac? it only says other servers and settings? I have plex running on my mac as well.

    • josh

      Great tutorial, thanks!

      Are there any changes to the instructions if you are running plex on a PC (assuming its possible to have a pc running plex talking to an ATV2?)

      thanks again

      Josh

      • http://mcmorrisdesigns.com JaeM1llz

        Unfortunately Plex is a Mac only application, however, you can stream from your PC to your aTV using XBMC. Installation instructions can be found on our sister site AppleTV XBMC Tutorial.

    • CrAchOS

      Hi,

      installed plex on my atv2 4.2.1 (greenpois0n). Plex Server is installed on a windows maschine.

      I tried setting beta-plugins but the plex server still tells me, that it’s the latest version. On plex client (atv2) the server is not visible.

      help would be great _/

      • http://mcmorrisdesigns.com JaeM1llz

        As far as I know, Plex on aTV2 doesn’t work with Windows, try using XBMC instead, the support is much more extensive.

    • biblings

      Hi

      I’ve installed XMBC and would like Plex as well / instead. Is this possible?

      Great site, guys!

      • http://mcmorrisdesigns.com JaeM1llz

        Hi Biblings,

        Glad you like the site! Once you are jailbroken you can install as many apps as you want :) The only limitation is the storage space

    • Zoro50

      When I bring up Plex I get 2 options “Other Servers” and “Settings”. Inside Other Servers I see my Library but when I click into it there is nothing there. I have verified that the library is pointed to my media folder. Any ideas?

      • Zoro50

        Just figured it out. All I had to do was restart the Plex Server. Thanks for the great video blog!

    • Dozens

      I too am having a hard time installing XBMC/Plex, when I use Terminal and try this SSH business I get I enter the address from my Apple TV as “DHCP 10.0.1.3″ and I get “connection refused”. How do I find my AppleTV’s true IP address?

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        DHCP is not the same thing as IP. Go into settings then go to General and then to Network to find the IP. It usually starts with 192

    • Paul Russell

      Worked great for me!
      thanks

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        Glad to hear it Paul, thanks for reporting back!

    • Trev

      Hi I am very new to this and have installed plex on my ATV2, when I navigate to any of the video’s using in plex using ATV and play them for some reason they don’t play on the TV but play on my laptop instead (my movies play fine but not the video feeds)
      I guess I am missing something really basic here !

      Thanks

    • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

      Hi John717, glad to hear you got it working! You can find a tutorial on how to install Crackle on our sister website AppleTVBlogr. Check it out: Crackle AppleTV Tutorial

    • Biblings

      Hi

      I’ve installed Plex and XBMC and it works like a charm. Now I want to install another app…, its a bit embarrassing – but I’ve forgotten my password since a changed the default…

      I have a sh”#”#load of passwords inside my head and never failed until this little projekt..

      :-(

      Is this a dead end or is it possible to reset ATV2 completely and start over?

      • Biblings

        Isn’t it great when someone walks in the room and you suddenly remember everything….!

        :-)

        I’m happy again – I’m inside the matrix again.

        JaeM1llz: Sorry for the trouble :-)

        • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

          Im assuming that means you remembered your password. In the future, if you do forget your password, the only way to reset it is to restore firmware so make sure you keep track of it :)

    • Eric

      This seems pretty straight forward, and easy. I am looking forward to try this out tonight. One question: does the apple tv 2 need to be JB to do this? I didn’t notice that mentioned in the video, but reading the comments suggest so.
      Thanks,

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        Yes, you must first be jailbroken in order to install 3rd party applications

        • Eric

          Thank you so much,

    • Mike

      Hey, this looks super easy, but I had a problem when I put the first command line in & changed the IP to my atv’s, terminal told me the connection was refused. Any ideas?
      Thanks

      • http://iphoneblogr.com thescragster

        Hi mate,

        Have you jailbroken your Apple TV first? To install this program you have to be able to connect to your Apple TV via SSH (meaning you have to have jailbroken)

    • nekitaec

      Why updates setting does not work.
      As soon as i type http://localhost:32400/system/:/prefs/set?AS_BETA=1
      safari refuses to connect to localhost.

    • jman

      Hey .. thanks for the tutorial. Worked a treat!
      However .. I can play tv shows etc .. but when I go to play movies, it plays a freeze frame of the movie and not the moving image.
      When I play on Plex on the main computer it works however.

      Any suggestions ?

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        Try restoring and rejailbreaking

    • Aaron

      Hi all,

      I JB with seasOnPass and than followed and Installed plex onto my atv2. But movies and tv series freeze frame as soon as i play them? what can i do?

    • BLyles

      I have several of the apple tv setup in the house with plex running fine. On this new apple tv after installing seasononpass and plex I can only play tv show’s NOT any movies as they play on the other ATV’S is anybody having the same problem? Or just some ideas. Thanks

    • shawn

      Thank you so much!!! This was the only step of JBing my aTV that worked flawlessly!!!! Kudos to you.

      • http://iphoneblogr.com JaeM1llz

        Great Shawn, we are glad it worked for you! Now you know where to come for all your jailbreaking needs :)

    • Gael

      I have just bought an atv2, jail breaked it with seas0npass, and went through the instructions how to install plex, and although all the instructions go fine, no plex menu appears on my screen. Several questions I would have:
      -how can I be sure the jail break went fine?
      -does the firmware installed on the atv2 at first matters?
      Thanks for your help.

    • Majorthoughts

      I install some plugins on plex via there available plugin menu in plex and all of them did not tried show up on my apple tv but only the old ones are still there and a like 3 new plugins. I tried updating plex and re-running the codes to remove plex and reinstall it and still no new plugins. and its plugin’s like HGTV HULU ect.. please help.

    • Dean

      W: GPG error: http://www.atvapps.com ./ Release: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 3027C138FC9578AA

      I get the above….any suggestions?

    • Bradley

      Great tutorial! Thank you so much!!

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    • It’s me I need help

      How can I jailbreak a apple tv2 running 4.0 original firmware