[FAQ] AppleTV USB Patchstick List

[marcel]

Thanks to gene_mingo for collating the list of USB patchsticks for ATV i believe this will help a lot of users...

Worked:

Ipod shuffle
Kingston DataTraveler 110 1GB
PConKey 2GB
PNY Attache 256MB
PNY Attache 512MB
SanDisk Cruzer 2GB
Sony MicroVault 1GB



Mixed Results:

Dane-Elec 1GB
SanDisk Cruzer 512MB
SanDisk Cruzer 4GB



Failed:

Kingston DataTraveler 100 1GB
Kingston DataTraveler 100 2GB
Kingston DataTraveler 4GB
SanDisk Cruzer 1GB

[jamski]

Failed:

SanDisk Cruzer 4GB


I installed Boxee on my Apple TV with a Cruzer 4GB stick with no problems.

[LawNinja]

I also used a SanDisk 4GB Cruzer to patch my TV, with no problems.

[tsella]

please note that same vendor may change the internal ic in the usb stick a number of times during production.

this list is advisory only.

you should also also try erasing the usb stick in case it fails using the disk utility > erase.

[djc3618]

The Sandisk Cruzer 4GB memory stick worked perfectly for me the first try. The first thing I did was to format it with an HFS+ partition using Disk Utility. The Patchstick app updated it without any problems and the whole upgrade process with atv 2.2 unit went flawlessly.

Darren

[brentosborn]

I used a Lexar 2GB without any problems.

[marcel]

cool the list is getting longer ...i have not tried them all and the list can change from time to time ...:)

[usarcher]

I used a Verbatim 1GB stick, worked perfectly.

[tkidboston]

I was having issues with a Sandisk Cruiser Micro 512MB so I went out and bought a PNY Attache 2GB which worked perfectly.

[king20878]

Super Talent 8gig stick worked.

[aprilfool]

Failed:

SanDisk Cruzer 1GB


This worked for me.

[ObeyTheFist]

I had total success with a SanDisk Cruzer 2GB, but only with the most recent update. The one prior to that was very frustratingly impossible.

[PeteStorm]

1 Gig PNY Attache worked flawlessly for me....

[tatilsever]

Microcenter 2GB thumbdrive worked for me. They were giving them away as a promotion over the summer.

[MikeNNN]

Picked up an Emprex USB 2.0 4GB at Fry's recently. Everything worked without a hitch.

Mike

[bioniksystem@me.com]

Hey, first post!
So I had a thumbdrive and a gen1 shuffle, but couldn't find them anywhere! So I was kinda mad that I had to buy a new one, and while I was looking I found my old gen 1 iPod nano! And I thought to myself, It's just a fancy thembdrive, right? So I followed the instructions for formatting and installing the patchstick software, everything went ok, except the drive doesn't show up anymore on my mac, and there is a weird message on the screen about restoring. Long story short: IT WORKS! So if you don't have a thumbdrive, but have an old iPod laying around, give it a shot before you have to buy another piece of hardware! Thanks for listening

[12bears]

I've tried a Verbatim 1Gb, SanDisk Cruser Micro 8GB and SanDisk Cruser Titanium 4Gb all without success. Have tried all sorts of combinations of erasing and formatting each of the drives and also tried different versions of the ATV Patch Stick Creator, all without success.

Annoyingly I note that others have succeeded with the Verbatim drive.

Am starting to lose faith. :(

[RienNeVasPlus]

1 GB PNY Attaché worked for me as well.

[monty HD]

I used a Lexar 2GB without any problems.

Same here. No problems.

[Tomzo]

Verbatim 2GB "Store 'n' Go" worked perfectly twice - before and after the 2.3 update!

[fribhey]

Failed:

SanDisk Cruzer 1GB


the sandisk cruzer 1gb worked fine for me on my appletv

[arwtdb4atv]

Verbatim 256MB drive failed (ATV just boots normally and ignores the drive).

Imation 2GB stick worked fine.

[tkidboston]

Any chance of updating the first post of this thread to reflect the comments?

[Giz]

PNY Attache 2GB - Worked perfectly 1st time.

[dirkrandal]

I can see the files using Mac Finder; when plugged into the ATV, the patchstick is ignored and ATV starts as if it's not there at all. For the life of me, I cannot find one of the other MANY thumb drives we have around here... just moved a while ago and I know they are around somewhere.

[mobilexile]

I just had success with a cheap 1GB Newegg.com promo flash drive (received free with purchase).

[minniger]

Installed via a SanDisk cruzer micro 4g. Costco had a 3 pack for 30 bucks so thought it was worth a try.

[eknight614]

installed about a month ago using a kingston 1gb. No problems flawless. I even built the thumbdrive on a windows pc using the newly released windows flashing software. Super easy

[mariojd]

It worked fine for me.
Macbook Intel Mac OS X 10.5 -> Apple TV 2.3

[goi_master]

I used a PNY 2GB MicroSD card (it came with a USB adapter).

I successfully used the Windows command line version (b11) of the creator to patch my Apple TV v2.3. Once it was patched, it seemed as if I needed to download the latest XBMC, Boxee, and Launcher from within the AppleTV in order to make it work. Other than that, it works great!

[TrexDigit]

Super Talent 16gb worked fine!

[madagi]

512MB SanDisk Cruzer Micro did NOT work for me.
16GB SanDisk Cruzer Titanium DID work for me.

[Jeffery]

I've tried a Verbatim 1Gb, SanDisk Cruser Micro 8GB and SanDisk Cruser Titanium 4Gb all without success. Have tried all sorts of combinations of erasing and formatting each of the drives and also tried different versions of the ATV Patch Stick Creator, all without success.

Annoyingly I note that others have succeeded with the Verbatim drive.

Am starting to lose faith. :(

Did you ever find out what the issue was or come up with a solution? My
SanDisk Cruser Micro 8GB has failed evertime. I have erased it formated it for mac os extended and everytime I run the creator it runs and gets through everything then i get this error:

"Downloading 2Z694-5573-24.dmg...
Download complete!
Verifying SHA1 of DMG image...
Extracting boot.efi ...
Extracting recovery seed ...
extracting atv_recv.zip
Creating USB Flash Disk...
umount_disk settling delay (10 seconds)
partition the target disk
Unable to partition device:
Partitioning encountered error Could not unmount disk (-10000) on disk disk1
Started partitioning on disk disk1
Creating Partition Map
Could not unmount disk for zeroing
partition_disk failed
Failed! (0:00:28)"

[holdencalgary]

Saw a post that this was not working, but I just installed boxee on my atv fine. Kingston Data Traveller 8gb did not work.

I am using Mac OSX 10.5.5 on a MacBook 2.4 ghz intel with 4 gb ram and Apple TV 2.3 160 GB straight out of the box.

[libetev]

I had absolutely no problem with this patchstick. I used it last night. OSX 10.4.11 (Tiger) with atvusb-creator-1.0.b10. Installed Boxee.

[craigsumner]

No love from my old sandisk cruzer 256

[Jeffery]

you need at least 512 or 1gb. I think it needs at least 312mb

[craigsumner]

Aha! Success with a PNY Attache 2GB

[khashmi]

Sony MicroVault 1GB-It worked on the first try. I followed directions on iClarified to format the USB to the single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition.

[GreatGooglyMoogly]

atvusb creator failed to install after erasing my thumb drive. After selected the zero all data option in disk utility it installed with no problems. If anyone has an issue with a thumb drive give this a try.

[jokers]

Thanks to gene_mingo for collating the list of USB patchsticks for ATV i believe this will help a lot of users...

snip

Failed:

Kingston DataTraveler 4GB


This worked perfectly for me - I didn't read this article before and took it straight from the packet to the pacthstick - no problem.

And I had to do a second patchstick recently where there still wasn't any problem.

Best
Jonas

[jubal]

Aha! Success with a PNY Attache 2GB

Concur. I've successfully (and repeatedly) used a PNY Attache 2GB with atv-usbcreator.

[egeisler]

Don't kill me for not being a super-techy. But until I tried installing Boxee, I actually felt like I knew my stuff.

I am familiar with disk Utility and have a SanDisk Cruzer 4GB. I wwnat to format it as HFS+, but that isn't an option. Can you please expand on this method?

Thanks,
E


The Sandisk Cruzer 4GB memory stick worked perfectly for me the first try. The first thing I did was to format it with an HFS+ partition using Disk Utility. The Patchstick app updated it without any problems and the whole upgrade process with atv 2.2 unit went flawlessly.

Darren

[GreatGooglyMoogly]

I wwnat to format it as HFS+, but that isn't an option. Can you please expand on this method?

Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
http://i44.tinypic.com/2mr6u77.jpg

I also selected Zero Out Data in the Security Options.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2h7dwl5.jpg

[chucky3]

I had troubles setting up my PNY USB key and could not figure out the problem. Instead of using the image creator provided I tried the HP Drive Boot Utility and it worked perfectly. Not sure if others tried it.

[radiotibor]

The PNY Attache 4GB USB stick worked

[bch580]

Tried two Kingston DataTravelers 4 GB and 16 GB (p/n DTI-x, the white ones) and neither worked. Also failed with a 1GB Sandisk MicroSD card in an adapter.

Finally had luck with an HP P-FD4GB-HPV125W-FS 4GB. Worked first try.

BTW, I'm using ATVUSB on Windows XP.

[bch580]

Credit and thanks to the guys over on the XBMC forum. There is a nice thread over there with a list of working/non-working drives (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38870&page=3).

[djphibes]

Tried a 4gb PQI, Failed.

[giaimo13]

I was able to flash my AppleTV successfully with both a 1 Gb and a 4 Gb Gizmo drive from Crucial Technology - they were giving away the 1 Gb ones with a Mac memory purchase last October, and selling the 4 GB ones for $13.99 so I bought one. Nice little sticks if yyou like them tiny - and I do!

[justinlarsen]

SanDisk Cruzer Micro Skin 1GB - Worked perfectly on the first try.

[FreddieD]

Having the thread starter keep this list up to date is probably an annoying task and because it was already out of date anyway, I consolidated all of the replies up to this point into the wiki:

http://wiki.boxee.tv/AppleTV_Flash_Drive_Compatibility_List#Apple_TV_US B_Flash_Drive_Compatibility_List

[damienkis]

used one of the cheapy duracell thumb drives from best buy with no issues! :)

[mrtrik]

Not sure if it was mentioned already, just used a Lexar 2gb Firefly. No problemo.

edit :: updated the wiki

[tarquesh]

sandisk cruzer 8gb

[ghostshadow]

I believe it's been mentioned in the thread. I have used the PNY attache 1GB (purple) with sucess. I haven't had any issues with it. Worked perfectly.

[rachat024]

Well, thanks so much for your informative posts. I will try using a 2GB PQI instead of 4 GB. :)

pret auto (http://pret-auto.org)

[bzbx]

Toshiba 4GB worked just fine for me.
bz

[sunspot19]

Sandisk CF Ultra II 1GB attached via multi-media card reader worked great.

[gauspad]

128 MB Cruzer mini
128 MB Crappy little Dell thingy

Both worked time and time again

[judgeschambers]

SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2 GB. Bought at Best Buy. Worked like a charm. ;)

[houden]

Lexar 4GB stalled out.
Not totally sure its the drives fault though. Could be the driver.

[Hansen]

Thanks for sharing.

[Hansen]

Useful information.Thanks for sharing.

[Hansen]

Thanks for sharing this list.

[juliemarriet]

Its a so good news that if you would not problem when you install a apple theme in your computer.
Thanks.

[vokduhum23]

Awesome, would love to come, hope I can make it. Damn working retail in december!

[87vert]

Corsair Flash Voyager 8GB - Created under Windows - Works great

[Black_Knight]

Dane-Elec 1GB Worked for me