How to Play DVDs on Apple TV 2 from your Mac DVD drive

Didn't have a dvd player on the tv anymore but wanted to watch one without moving my xbox downstairs - so I figured out how to use my laptop a and vlc to stream the dvd to the apple tv - no jailbreak required - no dvd ripping - everything I used is completely free.

It did require a bit of command line but I tried to go through the whole process so you can see what I did.

Here is a link to a text explanation of some of the command line code http://www.doityourselfharry.com/sandbox/vlcCommandLine.txt

Basic instructions: Download and install VLC http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html

and AirFlick-0.51.zip or later

http://ericasadun.com/ftp/AirPlay/

2. Add application/x-mpegURL m3u8 and video/MP2T ts to mime.types for your apache server

3. Enable your server

4. Add a stream folder to the root of your web directory

5. Insert the dvd and run the vlc command line with the title and chapter set to the right ones for the DVD and the output to the stream folder in your web directory

6. Check that there is a prog_index.m3u8 file in your stream folder - might take up to 30 seconds for the dvd to startup and begin encoding

7. type yourserver.ip/stream/prog_index.m3u8 into the airflick window after connecting to your apple tv

Make sure your web server is running and make sure that the path to your stream folder is correct - it won't work if you are trying to access a prog_index file that doesn't exist

You can mess with the video and audio encoding to try and get the best quality and minimize lag - let me know if you find anything that works really well!

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• apple tv 2
• apple tv
• dvd player
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• mac
• vlc
• ipad
• stream dvd
• stream
• command line
• terminal
• ipod
• iphone
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• mp4
• computer hacks
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• tutorial

[ktsudios]

Thanks for the guide, I extended your efforts and made it automatic. When I put my DVD in the computer, a dialog box comes up asking do I want to stream to TV or play on computer. I am also willing to share.

[Harrybj17]

@ktsudios Nice, did you use an applescript? I'd love to see a demo - can you put a video up?

[Wawasaki]

Hi, im currently with a very slow Internet and can't watch the whole vid right now, but is it possible to play a DVD into my tv using a MacBook pro as a DVD player? Thanks, I'd appreciate any response.

[Harrybj17]

@Wawasaki of course - there are a few options: stream the dvd like this video shows (not the best option), get a cord to hook your macbook pro up - probably dvi to hdmi depending on what year your macbook pro is, convert the dvd to an mp4 using handbrake (this is my solution)

[MrCarstino]

Hi, thanks for this guide......unfortunately my VLC crashes every time after I put in the command line. Any ideas?

Kind regards!

[Harrybj17]

@MrCarstino Yeah - it's really too bad - it was a great feature. This is really not intended for practical use though. If you want to watch dvds on your tv I'd convert them using handbrake. Get an external harddrive if you don't have one, get plex media player, and get a cord to hook your computer up to the tv. This combo is the best I could find. Once you have a cord for computer to tv it opens up a lot of cool options.

[ktsudios]

@Harrybj17 Yes, I used an applescript and automater. I will upload a video this week. Thanks for the terminal commands.

[jennybee1971]

marry me!



[Wawasaki]

...obviously using the apple tv...(I forgot to wrote that)

[MrCarstino]

I tried it with "Cars" (part one) and "Ice Age"....I red somewhere that this command isn´t working with the newest version of VLC. I already had handbrake in my mind but as I got a lot of

DVDs here it would be nice being able just to stream them. So I´ll have look for an older version

of VLC.

[Harrybj17]

@MrCarstino what dvds have you tried it with? I am using VLC 1.1.10.1 - I will try to replicate your error on 1.1.12 and see if I can figure out what is going on.  You may want to post a request on the VLC forum too - the guys on their are really the experts on VLC command line. Side note: a more practical solution for dvd playback would be handbrake and itunes for the apple tv 2 - I just don't want you wasting your time if that is what your end goal is