Kodi 16.1 on LibreELEC 7.0.2

Kodi runs best on OpenELEC or LibreELEC, as it is a stripped down Linux which contains only what is necessary to run Kodi. It boots very fast directly into Kodi.

I installed LibreELEC 7.0.2 running Kodi 16.1 (Jarvis) on an Asrock Beebox N3150, with 8 GB DDR3L single channel RAM, and 64 GB mSATA drive (Transcend MSA370). The Beebox is very small, although you can install a 2.5“ SSD, the mSATA is the much better solution as it does not fill up the enclosure and compromise the cooling.

Make sure to disable auto-update for the Titan skin. The update from 3.6.78 to 3.6.120 breaks the widgets. To do so, go to Settings –> Add-ons –> My add-ons –> Look and feel –> Skin –> Titan.

The following guide explains how to install Kodi on any Intel compatible 64bit architecture.

Basic Install

  1. Make a bootable USB drive with the LibreELEC iso, I used Rufus Portable to do this, then run the installer.
  2. After booted into Kodi, go to System –> Settings –> Appearance –> International and set Language, Region, and Timezone country. You might also want to set the Settings level to “Expert”.
  3. Go to System –> Settings –> Weather. Get “Yahoo! Weather” in Service for weather information, then enter your Location in Settings.
  4. Modify the Device Name in System –> Settings –> Services –> General
  5. Modify the Workgroup in System –> Settings –> Services –> SMB client
  6. Modify the System Name in System –> Settings –> LibreELEC Settings –> System
  7. Set the default audio device in System –> Settings –> System –> Audio output
  8. Connect through SSH and upload a rsa key file to ~/.ssh. Copy the key to authorized_keys.
  9. Disable SSH Password in System –> Settings –> LibreELEC Settings –> Services
  10. After installing the Keymap Editor, map the Mute key to “Context Menu - c”. The Asrock remote does not have a key for the context menu, and the mute key is not needed as the volume is controlled through the AV receiver.
  11. Update: login to the LibreELEC box via SSH and type in the following commands:
    cd /storage/.update
    wget http://releases.libreelec.tv/LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-7.0.3.img.gz
    reboot

Live-TV

The live TV settings are tricky, so I describe the different procedures in this chapter.

KodIsrael install 2016

This guide is for a Kodi 16 install on a x64 LibrELEC box.

  1. Install LibreELEC Add-ons (official) –> PVR clients –> PVR IPTV Simple Client. Configure with the
    M3U Playlist: http://www.wownet.ro/iptv/
    EPG URL: http://www.wownet.ro/epg/
  2. The built in Simple Client does not work yet, as it is missing correct settings for Kodisrael. Go to System –> File manager –> Add source and add repository
    http://kodisrael.co.il/repo

    then Install from zip file, select Kodisrael, and select the only zip file available.

  3. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> ..Kodisrael Repository –> Video add-ons –> IsraeLive. Choose “Yes” to update PVR IPTV Simple client settings. Reboot.
  4. Enable Live-TV in System –> Settings –> Live-TV, also enable the Channel Manager. IPTV Simple Client works now and TV starts loading channels.

KodIsrael install 2017

This guide is for a Kodi 16 install on a x64 LibrELEC box.

  1. Install LibreELEC Add-ons (official) –> PVR clients –> PVR IPTV Simple Client. Configure with the
    M3U Playlist: http://www.wownet.ro/iptv/
    EPG URL: http://www.wownet.ro/epg/
  2. The built in Simple Client does not work yet, as it is missing correct settings for Kodisrael. Go to System –> File manager –> Add source and add repository
    http://kdil.com/repo/

    then Install from zip file, select Kodisrael, and select the only zip file available.

  3. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> ..Kodisrael Repository –> Video add-ons –> IsraeLive. Choose “Yes” to update PVR IPTV Simple client settings. Reboot.
  4. Enable Live-TV in System –> Settings –> Live-TV, also enable the Channel Manager. IPTV Simple Client works now and TV starts loading channels.

PVR IPTV Simple CLient install 2017

This guide is for a Kodi 16 install on an Android box.

  1. Enable Live-TV in System –> Settings –> Live-TV, also enable the Channel Manager. Kodi will notice that no PVR add-on is installed.
  2. Install the PVR IPTV Simple Client add-on. Configure with the
    M3U Playlist: http://www.your.domain/download/iptv.m3u
  3. Add TV streams to the file iptv.m3u. If you do not have access to a web server, or if you only use one Kodi box, then you can also save that information locally on the box.

Other Add-ons

I prefer to scrape all my movies offline. In my locations I operate a total of 7 Kodi boxes, and with offline scraping I need to do it only once. tinyMediaManager does an excellent job in this, however, it is more effort than using the Kodi built in scrapers.

  1. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Information Providers –> Movie information –> Universal Movie Scraper. Make it the default scraper when you add video sources.
  2. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Video add-ons –> Missing Movies.
  3. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Program add-ons –> Cinema Experience
  4. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Program add-ons –> Backup
  5. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Program add-ons –> Keymap Editor
  6. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Video add-ons –> YouTube. Note: If you are installing the Titan skin, do not install YouTube now.
  7. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Music add-ons –> Radio
  8. Go to System –> File manager –> Add source and add repository
    http://fusion.tvaddons.ag

    then Install from zip file, select Fusion, start-here, plugin.program.addoninstaller-x.x.x.zip. Once installed, you can access the Addon Installer under Programs.

  9. Install TuneIn Radio from Programs –> Addon Installer –> Audio Addons
  10. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Music add-ons –> Tunir
  11. Install SportsDevil from Programs –> Addon Installer –> Video Addons
  12. Install Chromium from Programs –> Addon Installer –> Program Addons
    1. To enable audio for the Chrome browser, do the following:
      1. Go to Settings –> Add-ons –> My add-ons –> Program add-ons –> Chromium –> Configure and enable Stop Kodi Player and Suspend AudioEngine.
      2. In the same menu, enable Use Custom Audio Device, and set “hw: 0,3” as Audio Device. Enter the string without ”.
      3. In your setup, your audio hardware device might be different. SSH into your box and type “aplay -l” to find the correct devices/cards. The format is “hw:<cardnumber>,<devicenumber>”.
      4. If you are not sure which of the listed devices is the audio device used by Kodi, copy a sample.wav file to your box and check whether it plays sound with “aplay -D plughw:0,3 sample.wav” (modify cardnumber and devicenumber for your hardware)
    2. To enable Flashplayer for the Chrome browser, do the following:
      1. Download and extract the flashplayer plugin for Linux x64 directly from Adobe. Select Linux (64 bit) and the (.tar.gz) - PPAPI file version.
      2. Extract libpepflashplayer.so from the archive
      3. Assuming you have already installed flash in Settings –> Add-ons –> My add-ons –> Program add-ons –> Chromium –> Configure, copy this file to your LibreELEC box in the directory: /storage/.kodi/addons/browser.chromium/bin/PepperFlash
      4. Open Chrome, then go to "chrome://settings" (URL or settings button), “Show advanced settings…”, and disable “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed”.
  13. Install SpeedTester from Programs –> Addon Installer –> Program Addons

Movies

Settings

  • Settings –> Videos –> Library –> Group movies in sets
  • Settings –> Videos –> Playback –> Preferred audio language
  • Settings –> Videos –> Subtitles –> Preferred subtitle language
  • Settings –> Videos –> Subtitles –> Languages to download subtitles for
  • Settings –> Videos –> Subtitles –> Default movie service
  • Settings –> System –> Audio output –> Audio output device
  • Settings –> System –> Audio output –> Number of channels
  • Settings –> System –> Audio output –> Enable pass through
  • Settings –> System –> Audio output –> DTS capable receiver
  • Videos –> Files: Add different sub-folders to the library on the server, which you want to add to a movie set with it's own menu entry
  • Add folder by folder, after each add go to Movies and <Right click> –> Manage –> Manage movie set for each movie to assign it to a set
  • Start with the movie which folder art you want to appear as set in the movie collection. I have not found out how to change the art afterwards in the Titan skin.
  • <Right click> –> Add to favourites for each set you created, then go to Settings –> Skin Settings –> Configure shortcuts –> Edit menu shortcuts
  • Add each favourite to the menu

Scrapers

  • Set “Universal Movie Scraper” for all movies
  • Set “Local only” for concert movies and scrape all of those with TinyMediaManager from a computer
  • Find movies which the scraper did not find with “Missing Movies” add-on

Skin

Titan is by far the best skin I ever used in Kodi. Look and feel and configuration options are one of it's own. Note that the customization instructions below are skin specific.

Skin Install

  1. Install System –> Settings –> Add-ons –> Install from repository –> Kodi Add-on repository –> Look and feel –> Skin –> Titan
  2. Select “Simple confluence-style homescreen vertical in System –> Settings –> Skin settings –> Homescreen layout
  3. In Skin settings, Titan will alert “Weather FanArt missing!”. Select Yes and install “Weather Fanart - Multi”
  4. In Skin settings, Titan will alert “Studio Logos missing!”, Select Yes and install “Studio Icons - Coloured”
  5. Select YouTube in the main menu, then setup, then login. It will take you through a 2 step authentication, you need a computer or tablet to confirm. If the authentication process fails with “Login failed”, uninstall YouTube, SSH into LibreELEC, and delete folder ~/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/plugin.video.youtube, then start over again.
  6. If you install Titan on Kodi Jarvis 16.1, make sure to install version 3.6.78. Version 3.6.120 will break the widgets, and I did not find a way to fix it. Go to Settings –> Add-ons –> My add-ons –> Look and feel –> Skin –> Titan and disable auto-update.

Skin Settings

  • Media library views: enable Use extended video info dialog. Enter your TMDb credentials in the add-on settings of the ExtendedInfo Script.

Configure shortcuts

  • Live TV
    1. Set label to “TV”
    2. Change Action to “ActivateWindow(TVChannels)
    3. Add YouTube, Chromium, and SportsDevil Video Add-Ons to Submenu
    4. Arrange order to Chromium, SportsDevil, Last TV channel, Search, Guide, Recordings, Channels, Timers
    5. For my requirements, I renamed “Chromium” to “FirstOneTV”, and set the home page of the browser to that TV streaming service
  • Movies
    1. Add Video Library –> Files to Submenu
    2. Add YouTube, Velocity to Submenu
    3. Add Kodi Command “Update video library” to Submenu
    4. Add “Missing Movies” add-on from Kodi repository to Submenu
    5. Add Video Library –> Movies to Submenu and rename it to “Search…”
  • Music
    1. Remove Radio [ActivateWindow(radiochannels,return)] from Submenu
    2. Remove Music add-ons [ActivateWindow(10502,addons:/ /sources/audio/,return)] from Submenu
    3. Add Radio Music Add-On to Submenu
    4. Add “TuneIn Radio” Music Add-On to Submenu
    5. Add Kodi Command “Update music library” to Submenu
  • YouTube
    • removed
  • Videos
    • removed
  • Add-on browser
    • removed, incl. submenus:
    1. Programs [ActivateWindow(Programs,Addons,return)]
    2. Video add-ons [ActivateWindow(Videos,addons,return)]
    3. Music add-ons [ActivateWindow(10502,addons:/ /sources/audio/,return)]
    4. Picture add-ons [ActivateWindow(Pictures,Addons,return)]
  • Add menu entries Thai movies, Concerts, and Billiard, and select background picture
  • Pictures
    1. Add pictures… folder <myPics>
    2. Change Shortcut to Pictures –> <myPics>
  • Settings –> System Info
    • Change Shortcut to Settings System Info [ActivateWindow(SystemInfo)], which will change the name from Settings to System Info
    1. Keep Settings Settings [ActivateWindow(Settings)] in Submenu
    2. Keep Settings Skin settings [ActivateWindow(SkinSettings)] in Submenu
    3. Add LibreELEC Configuration Program (Add-On) to Submenu
    4. Add Programs Add-ons Keymap Editor to Submenu
    5. Add Programs Add-ons SpeedTester to Submenu
    6. Add Programs Add-ons Backup to Submenu
    7. Keep Settings File manager [ActivateWindow(FileManager)] in Submenu
    8. Keep Kodi Command Events [ActivateWindow(eventlog)] in Submenu
  • Customize power menu
    1. Remove Settings

List of original menu assignments

Label Action Background Widget
Live TV ActivateWindow(TVGuide) Default Recordings
Movies ActivateWindow(10025,videodb:/ /movies/titles/,return) Random movies background In-progress and recommended movies, Recently added movies
TV shows ActivateWindow(10025,videodb:/ /tvshows/titles/,return) Random Tv Shows background Next Episodes, Recently added episodes
Music ActivateWindow(10502,return) Random music artists background Recently added albums, Recently added songs
Music videos ActivateWindow(10025,videodb:/ /musicvideos/titles/,return) Random music videos background Recently added music videos
Weather ActivateWindow(Weather) Weather Weather
YouTube ActivateWindow(10025,plugin:/ /plugin.video.youtube,return) Default -none-
Pictures ActivateWindow(Pictures,return) Random pictures background -none-
Add-on browser ActivateWindow(Programs,Addons,return) Default -none-
Videos ActivateWindow(Videos,return) Global media fanart background -none-
Settings ActivateWindow(Settings) Default System info

Chromium Browser

Clone to new device

As the setting up of a Kodi box with an alternative skin requires a lot of tweaking, you might think of cloning the device once it is fully setup. Here are some hints how to do this efficiently:

  1. Boot the set up Kodi box into an external USB stick with CloneZilla installed on it. Before booting, plug in a second USB stick which will hold the backup files.
  2. Backup the disk which holds the Kodi install.
  3. Boot the new device into the external USB stick with CloneZilla installed on it. Restore the backup taken in the previous step.
  4. Boot the new Kodi box and change the device name (Settings –> Services and LibreELEC Settings). Change other basic settings such as location etc. as required.

The following steps are only required, if you run the new box with a different media server:

  1. Remove all Favorites.
  2. Remove all media sources (videos, photos, music).
  3. Add all media sources from the new media server.
  4. Create new movie sets if required, and then add them to Favorites.
  5. If the Favorites do not show up in your menus, go into Skin Settings and change Action for the respective menu item.

Kodi

SEO Michael

Live TV

Others

Kodi on Ubuntu