Component out on AppleTV 1, XBMC, Crystalbuntu

$30 AppleTV 1 running linux- component output @ 720p

I picked up an AppleTV 1 with a Crystal HD card on Craigslist for $30.  After messing around with running XBMC on top of the Apple Software and getting mediocre results, I decided to give full on Linux a shot.  After going through the somewhat easy tutorial Sam Nazarko put together, the first thing I needed to get resolved was component video out to my 720p HD TV.  HDMI works out of the box but I have an older stereo with component (red, blue, green) video.  

Get your command line on

I've worked in Linux and Unix systems for a while but it has been a long time since I'ave had to do much with them.  After a ton of digging around I figured out that I need to edit the xorg.conf file. To do this, I had to SSH into the appleTV and edit the file directly on the appleTV.  I tried to   use sFTP to pull the file down, edit it locally, then push it back but there were permission issues.  To edit the file I SSHed in the ran nano:


atv@Crystalbuntu:~$ sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

I tried a ton of different configurations and lucked out getting 4:3 480p going but couldn't get it correct:

I finally resorted to the forums.  I say resorted because asking n00b questions on a Linux forum is a sure way to have some random guy on the interweb loudly extoll your technical inadequacies.

My forum post: 720p via component- so close (logs included) - not including logs is a surefire way to get beaten up on a linux forum.

The solution came from Ozymandyaz.  I used his/her config data instead of revising mine for the 200th time.

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    Option "RegistryDwords" "RMDisableRenderToSysmem=1"
    Option "DynamicTwinView" "false"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    Option         "UseDisplayDevice" "TV"
    Option         "TVOutFormat" "COMPONENT"
    Option         "TVStandard" "HD720p"
    Option         "TVOverScan" "0.80"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "NoLogo" "True"
    SubSection     "Display"
    Modes "1920x1080" "1280x720" "1024x768" "720x480" "800x600" "640x480"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option         "Composite" "Disable"
EndSection

What about 1080?

If you have a 1080 tv instead of 720, you'll want to change this line:

Option         "TVStandard" "HD720p"

to this:

Option         "TVStandard" "HD1080p"