APPLE TV (GEN 2): How to view the movies on my external hard drive?

Hello,
I have a Macbook Pro, with Itunes. I already know how to set-up HOME SHARING with the APPLE TV that allows me to view my Itunes library from my TV.
But on my laptop, with the FRONT ROW feature, I set-up a ALIAS in the movie folder on my computer so that the files from my external hard drive were viewable from the movies folder in FRONT ROW. This great feature now allows me to view my content on my laptop (on Itunes) and the movies on my external hard drive, all on FRONT ROW on the Macbook Pro.
When I opened and set-up the Apple TV (Gen 2), I was surprised that it isn't like FRONT ROW. Instead, it only allows the content on my Itunes to be viewed.
This is a downside because I have only 35 GB free on my internal hard-drive, and all of 350+ GB of movies are on my EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE (Western Digital MY BOOK). Also, the movies files on my external hard drive are .AVI, .M4V, and .MP4
Another question I have is what is the USB port on the back of the APPLE TV for? Can it be used for the external hard drive or no?
Basically, I want to watch all the movies from my external hard drive on my TV.
Can I set this up to happen and how?
If not, what should I do to be able to watch the movies from my computer/external hard drive on my TV?
*Please share as much information as you all can because I need to view all my options (if any) in this situation and I value all the advice....THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!*
EQUIPMENT:
Laptop: MACBOOK PRO 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4GB 1067 MHZ DDR3 MAC OS X 10.6.6
Apple TV: Gen 2
TV: Vizio 37" HDTV HMDI LCD
External Hard Drive: Western Digital MY BOOK (USB 2.0 + Firewire)

I followed exactly what you advised, and it all worked. I did convert the files first that were .AVI ---> .MP4 (the audio and video came out beautifully when viewed). I organized my files around a bit, and then I went into Itunes---> Preferences---> Advanced---> Changed where I want to grab my movies from. It keep all my previous music, tv, movies, podcasts files that I had in ITunes, and just "added" the new content without disrupting anything in my Itunes at all. I LOVED IT...so simple in the end.
The files did take a while to convert, but I only had to do the ones that I had that were labeled ".AVI". The program, HAND BRAKE, allowed me to set up a "batch" and I had them converting during the afternoon and into the evening.
All in all....THANK YOU/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic__ _/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/ migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-a vail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstat ic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-ima ges/migration-img-not-avail.png
Since whenever I open my Itunes, all the movies display well, and so my APPLE TV can now view all my "content" in Itunes. I thought I was going to have to return that APPLE TV since I couldn't figure a way around it, and all in all, it wasn't all that bad of a process to convert and then change file location in preferences.
MANY THANKS and HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Similar Messages

How do i Transfer Movies from my external hard drive to my ipad2?

How do i Transfer Movies from my external hard drive to my ipad2?

Another way.
You can use a USB flash drive & the camera connection kit.
Plug the USB flash drive into your computer & create a new folder titled DCIM. Then put your movie/photo files into the folder. The files must have a filename with exactly 8 characters long (no spaces) plus the file extension (i.e., my-movie.mov).
Now plug the flash drive into the iPad using the camera connection kit. Open the Photos app, the movie/photo files should appear & you can import.
 Cheers, Tom

How can I keep iTunes on my Mac but the Movies on an external hard drive and still have them accessible to my Apple TV etc through Home Sharing?

I have a 2TB external hard drive that I want to store my ripped movies on and free up space on my Mac. How can I do this?

Is there a reason you don't want to keep your entire iTunes folder on the external.
Everything will work just fine and it is simpler if everything in iTunes is in one location (the iTunes folder).
Copy entire /Music/iTunes/ folder to external.
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
That is all you need to do.

How do i watch movies from an external hard drive on my macbook and iPad?

how can i watch movies on my macbook and ipad from an external hard drive?

Import it into an iTunes library and then sync the iPod with that library. If desired, create a new library on that drive by launching iTunes with the Shift(Windows) or Option(Mac OS X) key held down.
(81946)

How can I edit movies from an external hard drive.

I am having trouble trying to find out haow to edit a lot of movie film that is now digitized . I want otdo it from an external hard drive or some other way without haveing to download all of it onto my computer. I do not have room. I want to make a number of different dvds from the same footage.

If you want to keep the actual files on the external, you will goto the File menu in iTUnes and select "Add file or add folder to Library". this will keep the files on the external but list them in iTUnes while its connected to the PC. When you disconnect the external tho iTunes will show a ! mark beside the songs cuz it won't be able to find them.
If you want to move the files off the external onto the desktop, you will goto file and select "Import" This will copy?move the file from the external to the "iTunes Music" folder on your desktop

How can I play the music on my external hard drive with my laptop?

Look before everyone points out that this has been asked lots of times before, I wanted to state that in this particular case it might be a little bit more complicated. You see I think I've been an idiot.
I backed up all my physical music onto my external hard drive, but only the physical music. So now I have my nice new laptop and haven't got a clue how to play the music off my external hard drive, since I don't have an itunes library on my external hard drive.
Anyway any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Am I being a plonker, but it doesn't seem as simple as that. If I try and import via itunes it seems to want me to select the individual music file not the folder which holds all the music.
Also if I simply import it, won't my mac copy the files from my external hard drive back on to my laptop? Which makes me think I change the location where all the music is stored in itunes...?
Thanks for the help!

How Do I: store my iTunes Movies on an external hard drive?

Since my iMac hard drive space (2 terabite) is almost half-full of the Movies I have in my iTunes, I would like to be able to set up my iTunes to store and play the movies from an external hard drive. I just bought a 4 terabite G-Drive for doing this. I would also like to be able to view the movies on my two differant Apple TV's.
If anyone has any information on this it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
kalton

I have almost zero experience with Apple TVs. I saw one once in an Apple Store, across the room.
The easy way:
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option (shift on Windows) key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.
The easier hard way:
You will need delete the movies from your iTunes collection. Drag them to a folder on the other drive. Hold down the option key and drag that folder back to an iTunes window. Opton will prevent the files from being copied back to the drive. Drawbacks: 1) You must remember to do this each time you add an item or it will copy it to the drive. 2) Deleting it will remove things( metadata) such as ratings, last played, date added.
The tougher hard way:
Re-assign your media folder to a folder on the external. Consolidate just the movies to the external. Re-assign media back to regular location. Advantages: Will keep your metadata. Note - I have never done this.
Whatever you do, back up first.

How do i restore my phone using the ipsw from an external hard drive

I am currently deployed to Afghanistan and don't have very good signal. One of the guys thought it would be funny to change my passcode, and then forgot it. Now my phone is disabled, and the computer I used to set it up is in the states. The signal here is too week to download the Iphone update software via iTunes(keeps losing signal partway through and restarting the download). Its 802MB so I spend seven hours at the computer lab to download the ipsw to an external hard drive. I used the instruction I found via google to restore the phone, and its not working. Itunes keeps trying to download it again. Not sure how to make itunes read the downloaded version. Also its not my computer, so I logged into my apple ID on his itunes. Does this create part of the problem. When unzipping the file some of the files were encrypted. Maybe thats part of the problem?
Please help if you can.

Hi joehazelton,
If you have already got the ipsw file, (assuming that it's a latest version or the version on your iPhone at least), you can try the following:
If you are using a Windows 7 PC:
Go to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates
If you are using a Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates
If you are using Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/[can't recall the folder name]
Once you locate this folder, copy the ipsw file to this location. Then try to restore your iPhone.
Please post your feedbacks!
-aneesh-
www.sarayoo.info

How do I restore all of my itunes content onto my newly installed computer drive? All my purchase are no longer in my account but I did back up the files onto an external hard drive. Now how do I get them back? Please

how do I restore all of my itunes content onto my newly installed computer drive? All my purchase are no longer in my account but I did back up the files onto an external hard drive. Now how do I get them back? Please

Ummals wrote:
...I did back up the files onto an external hard drive. ...
Did you follow all the steps as detailed here...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

Can I view photos and movies from my external hard drive? I used Time Machine and a WD Passport for backup. Since my drive on my MacBook Pro is filling up I was planning to delete some of the movies and photos.

Can I view photos and movies from my external hard drive? I used Time Machine and a WD Passport for backup. Since my drive on my MacBook Pro is filling up I was planning to delete some of the movies and photos. I wanted to see if I could view them from the hard drive. Thanks

Hello, eco1.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
This sounds like you are wanting to move your iTunes media folder to an external drive and have iTunes this folder from this location. If this is the case then I would recommend taking a look at the article below.
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
Cheers,
Jason H.

HT2518 How do I transfer music from an external hard drive to my itunes on my mac? I have put the files into the itunes media, but they are not showing up in iTunes!

How do I transfer music from an external hard drive to my itunes on my mac? I have put the files into the itunes media, but they are not showing up in iTunes!

Hi, did you try iTunes>File>Import?

How do i recover data from an external hard drive that was accidentally deleted? After I verified the drive, a message appeared that said my drive needed to be repaired. When I tried to access the drive again, the 700 Gigs of music is gone!

How do i recover data from an external hard drive that was accidentally deleted? After I verified the drive, a message appeared that said my drive needed to be repaired. When I tried to access the drive again, the 700 Gigs of music is gone!

Stop using the drive immediately, un plug it.
Buy a copy of ProSoft DataRescue 4 and use it to search for deleted files.

I am trying to find out how to copy the image on my existing hard drive to my new hard drive before I install it so it will be like I didn't do anything.

I am trying to find out how to copy the image on my existing hard drive to my new hard drive before I install it so it will be like I didn't do anything. Thanks for the info. on changing it.

Format is found in the Erase Tab:
The Disk Image is found on the Restore Tab:

I have vlc player movies on my external hard drive; can i watch these on the apple ipad?

i have vlc player movies on my external hard drive; i normally watch them on an windows laptop; can i watch these on the apple ipad?

<edited>
There's a vlc streamer app in the app store, but you would need to also install the streamer helper on the device where the movies reside. This works between my macbook and my ipad, but if you cannot access the external drive and install the helper file, then probably not

How can i update the itunes in my external hard drive?

When i try to update the itunes on my external hard drive, it creates a new application in my computers hard drive. How can i update the one on my external hard drive?

there's no advantage to having the application on your external drive, you should leave it in your applications folder on your internal drive. if you insist on changing the app's location, you'll always have to then copy the app by hand to the external drive

APPLE TV (GEN 2): How to view the movies on my external hard drive?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for