How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 with Seas0nPass [Mac]

Seas0nPass is a new jailbreak utility designed specifically for the second generation Apple TV (2010). It's comparable to utilities like PwnageTool. I've used both and I personally find Seas0nPass to make the process much simpler when it comes to the Apple TV. Not only does it jailbreak 4.1.1 (4.2.1), it offers a pretty easy tethered boot mode as well. Hit the jump for a walkthrough on how to jailbreak the Apple TV 2 using Seas0nPass.

For this example, I'll be jailbreaking an Apple TV 2 running iOS 4.2.1 (4.1.1), which requires a tethered boot. Here is what you'll need in order to jailbreak your Apple TV -

  • A Mac running the most current version of iTunes
  • Newest version of Seas0nPass
  • A micro-USB cable

Once you've got all the above, we're ready to start.

Jailbreak your Apple TV

  1. After you've downloaded Seas0nPass, open it and save it.
  2. Place it in your dock, you don't have to but I've done this as it makes it easy to access for tethered boots.
  3. Open Seas0nPass.
  4. First you'll want to click "Create IPSW".
  5. This process will take a second, but once it's complete, it will prompt you to plug your Apple TV into your computer via USB and boot it into DFU mode by holding down the play and menu buttons on your AppleTV remote for 7 seconds. You can tell it worked when the light on your Apple TV blinks rapidly. After that, it's ok to release the buttons. Make sure you don't have your power cable plugged in for this part.
  6. Seas0nPass will recognize that your Apple TV is in DFU and do the rest on its own. You'll see it open and restore in iTunes and navigate itself to the firmware bundle it created.
  7. If all goes as planned, you should get a message saying your jailbreak was successful. You can now move on to perform a tethered boot.

Perform a tethered boot

  1. Launch Seas0nPass again if you had already closed it out.
  2. This time choose "Boot Tethered".
  3. Seas0nPass will prompt you to connect via USB and put your Apple TV back into DFU again, same as earlier.
  4. After it performs a tethered boot, it will reboot in 10 seconds. In those 10 seconds, you'll need to reconnect your Apple TV's power cable and HDMI cord. (You can remove the USB cable now.) If you don't do it fast enough, don't panic. Simply repeat the tethered boot process.
  5. You should now be able to turn your Apple TV on like normal. You'll be guided through the setup again. This should only happen after your initial jailbreak, not every time you need to do a tethered boot.

The Apple TV is a little bit more friendly to a tethered jailbreak. You don't need to reboot it as much as you would an iPhone, iPad, or iPhone. I've set mine not to sleep and just use a screensaver as well. If you'd like to do that, simply to go "Settings" and change the sleep option to never. This is always nice if you want to be able to rapidly change inputs on your television. Give it a try and let us know how Seas0nPass works for you!

If you have any questions or need any extra help, jump on in to our Apple TV Forums.