XBMC and a few needed informations from a newbie, please.

[mydave]

Greetings,

I have an iPad1, jail-broken, ios 4.3.3, and am using daily. Itunes is still at ver 10.3.1.55.
Recently, I installed XMBC on it. It works fine, but the video is not smooth. My guess is the limitation of its hardware's, being the first generation (?). A similar installation of XBMC on a Nook HD+ runs smoothly, by the way.

My questions, please, are:

1> Did anybody try XBMC on iPad1 ? helpful hints to improve the performance ?
2> If XBMC indeed needs be on a newer iPad, what is the latter iPad version it would work on. Since XBMC requires a jail broken unit, so this is a good consideration for choosing the right version.
3> If I need to purchase a newer iPad, can I use both iPads on the same computer, same iTunes version ?
4> Can I upgrade iTunes to the latest version without having to upgrade my current iPad ?

I do have more questions, but hopefully they won't be needed with the help for the above questions.

Thanks greatly in advance.

 

[willerz2]

1) XBMC is compatible with iOS 4 through 7, but the developers recommend iOS 4.3 and above. The iPad 1 is also compatible with XBMC. Performance shouldn't be that far off between the devices as XBMC is not as big of a resource guzzler. Of course, better hardware would mean smoother interaction on the device if you're running other things in the background and multitasking between several things at once, but it does not have an extremely drastic change in the relay of data between iPad and XBMC as that depends on your local network.

2) XBMC works with most jailbroken iOS devices running iOS 4.0 and above. For a complete list, the iPad 1,2,3,4,Mini,Mini with Retina,Air; iPod Touch 4th and 5th Generation; and iPhone 4,4,5,5[C],5. Although some other devices fall under the category of iOS 4 and above, the processing power is not up to par. Remember that the iPads have a slightly buffed up processor compared to the smaller form factor counter parts (i.e. the iPhone 4 has an A5 processor, and the iPad 2 has an A5X processor).

In terms of other iPads, all of the iPads (with the exception of the iPad 1) is supported on iOS 7, so basically you can get any iPad, and it'll work, at least until the end of the month or the first few weeks of the next month as iOS 7.1 patches the Evasi0n7 exploits, but if you get one between now and next/following week, you should still be on a jailbreakable iOS (unless the store you're getting the iPad from pushes them out faster because of demand).

3) Yes of course. Just log in with the same AppleID and you can sync/manage media or data using iTunes.

4) Yes. You're never forced to upgrade your iOS. Apple will recommend that you do (or if an app requires it and you must have that app) to get the "most" out of each iOS. iTunes and iOS are separate, so if you update iTunes, you don't have to update your iOS. But, if you want to update your iOS, you may need to upgrade your iTunes versions for official support, otherwise, you won't be able to manage your media/data through your computer.

TL;DR: The iPad 1 works with XBMC so you won't have to replace it unless you're looking for an upgrade. I would recommend that you probably upgrade to the latest 5.1.1 (last iOS for the iPad 1) and re-jailbreak using RedSn0w or Absinthe just to have a fresh jailbreak on your device, and see if that matters at all with the choppiness when using the iPad with XBMC. If you want to opt for the iOS upgrade to 5.1.1, make sure you do backup your device so you don't lose any data on your iPad that can be backed up using iTunes.

 

[mydave]

Thank You willerz2 for the detailed explanation. Much appreciated.
You are right about my unwillingness to part from my iPad. It has been my daily companion for many years, plus the upgrade to a newer iPad would take a big chunk out of our monthly retirement check.
So, when you have a time, please point me to the right direction for upgrading to iOS 5.1.1.

I guess the steps would be as follows (please correct and point):

1> Update iTunes from the current version 10.3.1.55 to the latest iTunes 11.1.3.

2> Upgrade iPad from the current version 4.3.3 to the latest iPad1,1_5.1.1_9B206_Restore.ipsw
a> Connect iPad to computer
b> Hold the Home + Power buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds.
c> Release the Power button without releasing the home button. Continue holding Home for another 10 seconds.
d> Release Home, and the screen should stay completely black. If so, chances are the iPad successfully entered into DFU mode.
iTunes will open and report that: “iTunes has detected an iPad in recovery mode. Accept the prompt to restore your iPad. Hold the shift key and then click the Restore button. Use the browse window to select that IPSW file . Select the file and then let iTunes finish.

3> After that is done, use redsnow to jailbreak.
Here is the part that I am not sure of. What is the right Redsnow version to use ? Where to download it from ? Is there a video or tutorial available to follow step-by-step.

Hopefully, the upgrade to 5.1.1 would reduce the choppiness when using my iPad with XBMC.
Again, thanks greatly for your time and sharing your knowledge.

 

[willerz2]

Thank You willerz2 for the detailed explanation. Much appreciated.
You are right about my unwillingness to part from my iPad. It has been my daily companion for many years, plus the upgrade to a newer iPad would take a big chunk out of our monthly retirement check.
So, when you have a time, please point me to the right direction for upgrading to iOS 5.1.1.

I guess the steps would be as follows (please correct and point):

1> Update iTunes from the current version 10.3.1.55 to the latest iTunes 11.1.3.

2> Upgrade iPad from the current version 4.3.3 to the latest iPad1,1_5.1.1_9B206_Restore.ipsw
a> Connect iPad to computer
b> Hold the Home + Power buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds.
c> Release the Power button without releasing the home button. Continue holding Home for another 10 seconds.
d> Release Home, and the screen should stay completely black. If so, chances are the iPad successfully entered into DFU mode.
iTunes will open and report that: “iTunes has detected an iPad in recovery mode. Accept the prompt to restore your iPad. Hold the shift key and then click the Restore button. Use the browse window to select that IPSW file . Select the file and then let iTunes finish.

3> After that is done, use redsnow to jailbreak.
Here is the part that I am not sure of. What is the right Redsnow version to use ? Where to download it from ? Is there a video or tutorial available to follow step-by-step.

Hopefully, the upgrade to 5.1.1 would reduce the choppiness when using my iPad with XBMC.
Again, thanks greatly for your time and sharing your knowledge.

For step 2, if you've downloaded the 5.1.1 IPSW already, you can shift/command + click the Restore button to browse. Otherwise, once the iPad is in DFU mode, you can simply click Restore and iTunes will download a fresh copy for you. Either ways, it's the same so it's up to you. If you need the iPad1 5.1.1 IPSW, you can get it from the sticky here if you don't want to use iTunes to download the IPSW

For step 3, you can use RedSn0w, or, you can use Absinthe 2.0.4. RedSn0w will require that you re-use the 5.1.1 IPSW, whereas Absinthe is a userland jailbreak, and is a one-click jailbreak. To jailbreak using RedSn0w, see here. To jailbreak using Absinthe, see here. And hopefully it does remedy the choppiness. Let us know how it goes.

Credits to the iPadForum Staff, f4780y and Mickey330 (Marilyn), for creating the guides to the T.

 

[mydave]

Hello my dear Mr. willerz2,
Thank You so much for guiding me with utmost care. I feel much better now that a clear path is laid out by your guidance.
I will proceed and report back, of course.
Thanks.

P.S. Noticed that your are a New Yorker. I was some many many years ago until the cold drove me away. Missed it every day.

 

[willerz2]

Hello my dear Mr. willerz2,
Thank You so much for guiding me with utmost care. I feel much better now that a clear path is laid out by your guidance.
I will proceed and report back, of course.
Thanks.

P.S. Noticed that your are a New Yorker. I was some many many years ago until the cold drove me away. Missed it every day.

You're very welcome. Well the cold's back and better than ever (if you can call it that). Low double/single digits for weeks now.

 

[mydave]

Result:
1> The update from iTunes 10.3.1.55 to the latest iTunes 11.1.4.62 took a long time, especially the 'Update iTunes Library' part.
2> Restore to iPad1,1_5.1.1_9B206_Restore.ipsw went fine. Part of the restore process has two options: 'Set up as new iPad' and 'Restore from this backup'. I was not sure what to do, ignore it or select one of the two. Finally, I selected the second option, knowing that it may delete the XBMC setup that I did after the last sync. So, an advice to anyone who may be in the same boat is to do the sync prior to taking on this task. A great many apps failed to install during the restore. Perhaps the iPad needs be jailbroken.
3> Proceeded to absinthe-win-2.0.4. It appeared to be simpler than RedSn0w and it went smoothly. After the completion, I started and updated Cydia. I assume that since Cydia worked, my iPad was successfully jail-broken.
4> Now, there were some hiccups.
. The sync had error:

iTunes was unable to load data class information from Sync Services. Reconnect or try again later.

. I had to google for solutions, and after a while, I was able to get passed that. The sync finally started with a few apps could not be found.
. iTunes then proceeded to copy/sync apps to the iPad. Same problem as stated in item <2> above, which meant that a great many apps failed to install. The ebooks and music synced fine.

I'm going to let the sync continue, even though many apps will not get installed. Perhaps you can enlighten me on the necessary correction if possible. In the meantime, after it went thru the incomplete sync process, I will attempt to install XBMC setup and return with update.

Please accept my gratitude again for the guidance.

Best.

 

[willerz2]

Uninstall iTunes and reinstall a fresh copy. Like iOS, you should reinstall iTunes completely when going from one threshold to another, in your case, iTunes 10 to iTunes 11.


Sent from my iPad using Tapa

 

[mydave]

Uninstall iTunes and reinstall a fresh copy. Like iOS, you should reinstall iTunes completely when going from one threshold to another, in your case, iTunes 10 to iTunes 11.
Sent from my iPad using Tapa

Yes, iTunes was upgraded from 10 to 11 as the first step before the iPad was upgraded to 5.1.1
XBMX installed. The performance improves significantly although it is not on par with the Nook HD+. However, I am happy with the result.

Best,

Updated: Somehow, the more I use, the better XBMC performs. Great old iPad

 

[willerz2]

Awesome. Glad we had that worked out.