Setting up Apple TV without a TV

How can I make my Apple TV 1st gen join a WiFi network without having a TV connected? Is there an OSX utility for set up in the same way there is with Airport Express?

Solution 1:

No. You need to connect the AppleTV to a video output of some sort, otherwise there's no way to specify the SSID (the WiFi network identifier) and the password (if any). After you've done that once, you can unplug it from the video output.

Solution 2:

YES! It can be done. If the bluetooth method isn't working (turning on Apple TV and touching your iPhone to the device to configure), you can work your way through the menus and manually enter your wifi password using the voiceover command. This activates automatically when you first plug in Apple TV. I needed Apple TV only for my music receiver (and don't own a tv), so I ran HDMI from the Apple TV device to my receiver, made sure my receiver was on so I could hear voice commands and then found images of the on-screen keyboard Apple TV uses (easy image search on Google). Using the voice commands and these images, I could get through the menus and select everything (including a long gibberish password) with the remote. Once I got going with the voiceover, it took under 10 minutes.