Installing Kodi 15.1

[smartroad]

Hi All :)

I know that RetroPie has the ability to install Kodi but it is version 14.something and has the black screen on exit bug. I found this page https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=109088 which has a tar file with 15.1 for Wheezy (which apparently will be the last one for Wheezy as they are moving onto Jessie).

Is it just a case of installing as instructed from that site and having a .sh file to run Kodi in the Ports hub (like the script one does)?

Here is the method I used to install on a fresh RetroPie 3.1 Image.

Installing Kodi on RetroPie 3.1 which is based on Raspian Wheezy

From webpage:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=109088

Using 15.1 as that is the last supported build for Wheezy. Currently the SD image 3.1 is based on Wheezy.

wget http://steinerdatenbank.de/software/kodi-15.tar.gz
tar -xzf kodi-15.tar.gz
cd kodi-15
sudo ./install

Wheezy users only and only if you want to control Kodi via your TV remote:
kodi-15 now requires libcec version 3.0 for CEC (remote control) support, at least for compilation. But it has been reported, that it may still work with older versions. Just test it. If CEC doesn’t work and you need it, you can install libcec3. Run

sudo ./install_cec3

Warning: this will remove all CEC-related software (libcec1, libcec2, cec-utils, libcec-dev) from your system and install the following:
libcec3, cec-utils (Version 3.0), libcec-dev (Version 3.0), python-libcec

If you are using software, that depends on libcec1 and libcec2, it will not work any more. You might try installing the libs again (but not cec-utils!), but I haven’t tested it.

Create:

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/99-input.rules

and add:

KERNEL==tty[0-9]*, GROUP=tty, MODE=0660

at the end. [CTRL]+[X] then [Y] then [ENTER] to save

Create:

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-permissions.rules

and add:

# input
KERNEL=="mouse*|mice|event*",   MODE="0660", GROUP="input"
KERNEL=="ts[0-9]*|uinput",     MODE="0660", GROUP="input"
KERNEL==js[0-9]*,             MODE=0660, GROUP=input
# tty
KERNEL==tty[0-9]*,            MODE=0666
# vchiq
SUBSYSTEM==vchiq,  GROUP=video, MODE=0660

at the end. [CTRL]+[X] then [Y] then [ENTER] to save

run the following commands (if you have changed the user swap out ‘pi’ to be your username)

sudo usermod -a -G audio pi
sudo usermod -a -G video pi
sudo usermod -a -G input pi
sudo usermod -a -G dialout pi
sudo usermod -a -G plugdev pi
sudo usermod -a -G tty pi

There are two options for getting kodi to launch from Emulationstation.

To start Kodi you need to add an entry into the ‘Ports’ folder (this is the default method). This can be done using the method you use to load roms onto the device. From the command line you can do the following.

nano ~/RetroPie/roms/ports/Kodi.sh

and enter:

#!/bin/bash

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 "kodi-standalone" "startkodi"

[CTRL]+[X] then [Y] then [ENTER] to save

The second method is to create a system entry for Kodi to launch from the main menu. You need to edit the es_systems.cfg and add in a Kodi system. On my newly installed system from 3.1 image the Kodi directory was already in the Roms folder and a template entry existed in the Carbon theme. All that was needed was to tell ES that it was available to use.

sudo nano /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

once it is open you need to add:

  <system>
    <name>kodi</name>
    <fullname>Kodi</fullname>
    <path>~/RetroPie/roms/kodi</path>
    <extension>.sh</extension>
    <command>%ROM%</command>
    <platform>kodi</platform>
    <theme>kodi</theme>
   </system>

within the structure and where you want the system to be positioned on the main menu. I added it to the end so that the Kodi entry is always one left of the start position when ES loads :)

You may also want to rename the Kodi.sh to Start Kodi.sh and the permissions may need to change so that the script will execute.

cd ~/RetroPie/roms/kodi

mv Kodi.sh "Start Kodi.sh"

chmod 775 "Start Kodi.sh"

Please note, despite the above I am not a specialist and have only copied others work or existing stuff in RetroPie to make this work for me. YMMV but I will try and answer any questions if I can.

[herbfargus]

You could do that or you could just change contrib to unstable in the install script. Or you could wait until the upstream repo is updated to kodi 15

[epe9686518]

His releases work great and install just find, just follow the steps listed if you want to install, or do as Herb suggested and just wait for the upstream to be updated…

You can completely skip the libcec version 3.0 update if you don’t plan on using a TV remote with kodi, I use my Xbox 360 controller to control it and had no interest in using a TV remote so I didn’t install it.

[smartroad]

Added a guide on how to install (partly for my reference and for anyone else who may want to try and see if it works for them!)

[herbfargus]

for anybody else who is interested I scripted the kodi 15 build to automatically include cec support as well as its own entry in emulationstation though the build listed above may be more up to date. You can just replace the following in /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/ports/kodi.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# This file is part of The RetroPie Project
# 
# The RetroPie Project is the legal property of its developers, whose names are
# too numerous to list here. Please refer to the COPYRIGHT.md file distributed with this source.
# 
# See the LICENSE.md file at the top-level directory of this distribution and 
# at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/master/LICENSE.md
#

# http://www.gtkdb.de/index_36_2176.html
rp_module_id="kodi"
rp_module_desc="Install Kodi"
rp_module_menus="4+"
rp_module_flags="nobin"

function depends_kodi() {
    getDepends libcec3
    echo "deb http://archive.mene.za.net/raspbian wheezy contrib unstable" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mene.list
    apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-key 5243CDED
}

function install_kodi() {
    aptInstall kodi
}

function configure_kodi() {
    echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="input", GROUP="input", MODE="0660"' > /etc/udev/rules.d/99-input.rules

    mkRomDir "kodi"

    cat > "$romdir/kodi/Kodi.sh" << _EOF_
#!/bin/bash
/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 "kodi-standalone" "kodi"
_EOF_

    chmod +x "$romdir/kodi/Kodi.sh"

    setESSystem 'Kodi' 'kodi' '~/RetroPie/roms/kodi' '.sh .SH' '%ROM%' 'pc' 'kodi'
}

[dishins]

does this kodi 15 build works on Rpi1?

[herbfargus]

dont see why not

[smartroad]

I don’t think it should be a problem. The post I linked to just says Wheezy, nothing specific to the PI2 :)

[dishins]

its RPI2 only, compiled for ARMv7 with NEON support. Got it from the author itself.

[herbfargus]

That’s the first build. The script I posted may be fine for both as its the main repo we currently pull from except its the newer version.

[Omnija]

Are there any working version of 15.2 yet? All other binaries are for jessie and im still on wheezy unless it’s safe to upgrade>?

[labelwhore]

My understanding is that 15.1 is the last release for wheezy. Retropie uses wheezy.

[Omnija]

Purposely avoiding it, since i had tons of lag last time i attempted at using it.

[pattaboy]

is retropie upgrading to jessie any time soon?

[smartroad]

[quote=109570]is retropie upgrading to jessie any time soon?

[/quote]

I think there is a start made to it. I believe you have to run the compile option though rather than being able to download the binaries.

[pattaboy]

[quote=109571]

pattaboy wrote:

is retropie upgrading to jessie any time soon?

I think there is a start made to it. I believe you have to run the compile option though rather than being able to download the binaries.

[/quote]

hmm I hope there is.. the user who compiles kodi packages normally to wheezy now doesn’t support wheezy no more. he does only do jessie packages. hopefully we will see a update of retropie soon..

[Omnija]

Times like this is why i like arch linux (rolling releases) over any of the other distro’s. It saddens me when a new version is released and the old one drops support.

[Author]

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