Sapphire Browser

We have added a Manual for Sapphire.

See:

• Instructions for installing Sapphire on the AppleTV.
• Instructions for installing Sapphire on a Leopard Mac.

These instructions are intended to be used to install Sapphire Manually on your AppleTV. You will probably only need to do this if Sapphire is unavailable through the ATVLoader (it takes a little while for new versions to get approved by AwkwardTV to be listed).

-WARNING- READ THIS TUTORAIL FIRST. If you are not confident in what you are going to be doing PLEASE DON’T PREFORM THIS TYPE OF INSTALLATION and wait for the ATVLoader to be updated.

1. We need the IP address for the AppleTV - to find it go to the AppleTV’s Menu and select Settings -> Network. For these instructions we will assume the IP Address is 192.168.100.100.

2. We need to make sure SSH is enabled. To turn it on, go to the Awkward TV plugin and select the SSH Service button. The button will say “SSH Service Enabled” when it’s turned on.

3. Now we need to SSH into the AppleTV. Using the terminal* type: “ssh -1 frontrow@192.168.100.100″. Remember to use your AppleTV’s IP Address.

4. The password is “frontrow”

5. Now we need to make sure we can write to the OSBoot volume. Using the terminal* type: “sudo mount -uw /”. Again, the password is “frontrow”.

6. Now our AppleTV is ready for an install. If you already have a version of Sapphire Installed we need to remove it. Using the terminal* type: “sudo rm -r /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/PlugIns/Sapphire.frappliance”.

7. Now we need to get the new version on the AppleTV. From your computer, copy the Sapphire.frappliance folder on to your AppleTV’s frontrow partition.

8. Now we need to move the Sapphire.frappliance folder from the frontrow partition to the OSBoot partition. Using the termianl* type: “sudo mv ~/Sapphire.frappliance /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/PlugIns/”

9. Almost done! we just need to reload the AppleTV’s UI. Using the terminal* type: “sudo reboot”.

10. Wait for the AppleTV to reboot.

* To open a terminal window type “Terminal” into spotlight - it will be the top hit.

  Sapphire Browser Beta 4 (Universal) (763.8 KB)

• Browser listings will ignore leading “A”s and “The”s from titles when sorting alphabetically.
• Movie and TV Show title choosers now have a much wider selection list. This should help when selecting titles since the user won’t have to wait for the text to scroll.
• Added the ability to hide Video info in the Media Preview.
• Added the ability to hide Audio info in the Media Preview.
• Appropriate movies will be adorned with an Oscar or IMDB badge for winning an Oscar or being in the IMDB Top250.
• Virtual directories are now loaded in the background. This allows for faster loading from the AppleTV menu. The user will be stalled with a load screen if they aren’t ready when selected.
• Settings menu now has some more appropriate icons.
• Added ability to join together multiple files into one. Great for movies which were segmented. Access this through the mark menu.
• Sapphire is now compatible to run on Leopard (10.5). This compatibility is processor independent.
• Sapphire now has Virtual Directories. These directories are compiled directly from the metadata and are independent of a files actual directory location.
  • TV Shows - All recognized episodes are displayed here with the following structure:
    • Show Name
      • Season
        • Episode Titles (sorted by episode number)
  • Movies - All recognized movies are displayed here with the following structure:
    • All Movies
      • Movie Titles (sorted by name)
    • By Genre
      • Genre
        • Movie Titles (sorted by name)
    • By Cast
      • Actor Name (sorted by name)
        • Movie Titles (sorted by name)
    • By Director
      • Director (sorted by name)
        • Movie Titles (sorted by name)
    • IMDB Top 250 (must be ranked)
      • Movie Titles (sorted by rank)
    • Academy Award Winning (must have won an Oscar)
      • Movie Titles (sorted by number won)
• Sapphire Media Preview now displays movie specific information.
  • Release Date
  • Director
  • Genre
  • Cast (first 3 - headliners)
  • IMDB User rating
  • Plot
• Added a Poster Chooser that lets the user choose which poster they want displayed for their movie files (ATV 1.1 & Front Row only).
• Added a new import tool for fetching data for movies.
  • Collecting the movie’s release date from IMDB.
  • Collecting the movie’s genres from IMDB.
  • Collecting the movie’s director(s) from IMDB.
  • Collecting the movie’s writer(s) from IMDB.
  • Collecting the movie plot from IMDB.
  • Collecting the movie’s oscar count from IMDB.
  • Collecting the movie’s IMDB rating.
  • Collecting the movies MPAA rating.
  • Collecting the movie’s IMDB Top250 rank.
• Sapphire Meta Data is now using a binary format - this dramatically reduces the size if the stored metaData file.
• Sapphire is now capable of seeing all mount points & displaying them in the browser.
• Added settings that allow Allows the hiding and skipping of collections.
• The Sapphire Pill has been replaced: the Left button now changes predicates and the Right button now goes to mark menu.
• Skipping during playback has been improved to allow for finding a particular place a bit nicer.
• Added support for playing audio files.
• TV Show files are now sorted by show first, then season, then episode.
• Fixed the menu dividers to be more compatible with ATV 1.1.
• Fixed an issue when playing a video where skipping forward and then back would cause the player to crash.
• Import Tool titles should be a little more informative to what they do.
• Sapphire now has the ability to enable/disable AC3 passthrough on a per file basis. Enable this feature in the settings menu.
• Sapphire should now display more accurate sample rate information.
• Fixed Ticket #5
• Fixed Ticket #6
• Fixed Ticket #9
• Added Enhancement Ticket #12
• Changed the Sapphire ApplianceIcon.png to a smaller & better looking image
• Changed the DefaultPreview.png to the new image
• Added the TV show’s name to the S/E preview display
• Sapphire Import tools are more verbose giving the user a better idea what it’s currently doing.
• Sapphire Meta Data structure is more robust - allowing multiple paths and subpaths for a single file.
• Sapphire Import tools will now play nicely with watchdog. This should solve issues with the importers freezing and/or never starting.
• Sapphire is now using localizable strings - Time to get some translators!

• If you haven’t already patched your AppleTV or are new to the community consider using AwkwardTV’s Beginner’s Guide.
• Download the Sapphire Plug-in here or through the AwkwardTV’s ATVLoader.
• If Sapphire is unavailable on the ATVLoader here are some instructions on how to install Sapphire Manually.
• Restart your Apple TV (restart Finder)
• Access the Sapphire main menu using your Apple TV.
• Go to the Settings Menu and select “Hide Collections”. This menu will let you choose which folder paths will be available from the main menu. Note that hiding a folder path doesn’t stop the import tools from looking for files there.
• Also inside the Settings Menu, select “Don’t Import Collections”. Checking folder paths in this menu will tell the import tools which folders to skip.
• From the Main Menu, selecting “Import All Data” will run all three import tools simultaneously. However, if you choose to run the import tools separately (through the Settings Menu), it is strongly recommended that you use “Fetch TV Show Data” before using the “Fetch Movie Data” tool. This will allow the movie importer to skip files already discovered to be TV Shows. See the Sapphire File Formats if your files aren’t successfully being imported.
• Be patient. The import tool(s) can take a considerable amount of time depending on how many files are in your collection. During testing, a fresh import on ~1 Tera byte worth of TV Shows & 200+ movies took about 20 minutes. If you are running the import(s) for the first time, you will want to stick around to select titles & movie posters for your collection. The import tool(s) will be a bit slower if you are using the airport (wireless connection).
• Once the import has finished, you might want to tag the TV episodes you have already watched, or tag your favorites. The best way to do this is to select TV Shows from the main menu. Once you have found a directory or file you wish to “Mark as Favorite” or “Mark as Watched”, press the right arrow key to bring up the Mark Menu. Select the appropriate mark operation by pressing the Play/Pause button.
• Enjoy your fully personalized TV Show & Movie virtual directories packed full of episode and movie information! To switch between Unwatched , Favorite and Browse menu views simply push the left arrow key.

On the AppleTV:

With beta 4 we have changed the way the Apple Remote interacts with Sapphire. Specifically the left and right arrow buttons now have dedicated tasks while using the browser.

In Leopard:

The Apple remote will respond exactly the same as it does for the AppleTV (See above). In addition to the remote, you can use the keyboard to control Sapphire with the following keys:

To Select, Play or Pause use:

Return -or- Space Bar

To go back (same as hitting the menu button on the remote):

ESC

Toggle View:

Left Arrow ( <– )

Mark Menu:

Right Arrow ( –> )

Move Selector UP:

UP Arrow

Move Selector DOWN:

DOWN Arrow

Sapphire will now run on any (Intel or PPC) Mac running Leopard.

This information has been moved to the Sapphire Manual

See: Installing Sapphire in Leopard

The TV Show chooser has been updated - no more waiting for text to scroll!

Browse your movie collection in it’s entirety. They are all here in one spot!

Select which collections to display on the main menu. Turn them all off if you like and use the Virtual Directories for a concise clean look.

Browse your movie collection by IMDB’s Top 250 rank. See how well your tastes stack up to the world!