2 Pi's, one with OSMC, the other with Volumio2/kodi

General Discussion
1

*** Warning - slightly long and rambling post ***

Okay, I’m not sure this is the best place to discuss this and ask questions, largely because I don’t think there’s a problem with OSMC per-se but I’d really like a better understanding of what’s going on.

Here’s the scenario:

I have a Pi2, a Pi3, an Allo Piano i2s DAC, and an OSMC DVB-T USB dongle.

I had been running OSMC and the DVB dongle on the Pi3 for a while, using tvheadend server and the Kodi HTSP client. It was running ok but for various reasons it had been left unused for a while.

The Pi2 and DAC had been running Volumio2 (Raspbian based) very successfully as my home digital music player.

I had wanted to have everything running from one Pi for a while, mainly due to a shortage of power outlets where the TV and amplifier are, but I had stuggled to install and set up the components that would recreate Volumio on the OSMC Pi3.

Last week, the OSMC Pi3 wouldn’t boot, damaged filesystem maybe, I don’t know -
I decided to move the DAC to Pi3, (the case it’s in fits a bit better) and use that as my Volumio device. I noticed while setting it up again that there’s now a plugin to install Kodi on the same box. Brilliant!

I did that, and it seems to work pretty well, until I decided to install tvheadend server - it didn’t like my OSMC DVB-T dongle, it was detected as a Realtek device but wasn’t recieving channels.

So I thought I’d experiment with the Pi2, put a new OSMC image on it, install tvheadend and set up - BINGO it works - correct driver pre-installed right? I’d imagine so as it’s OSMC branded hardware.

I install the HTSP client on the Pi3 Volumio/Kodi box, point it at the Pi2 box running tvheadend server, and it connects. I get the EPG and can record and playback TV, but I can only play the audio of live TV.

I’ve tested OSMC and tvheadend are working correctly on the Pi2 by also installing the HTSP client and watching live TV through it.

I would however like to know firstly what is different between the OS environment on the two boxes, why the Pi3/Raspbian/Volumio2/Kodi HTSP client is behaving differently from the one on the Pi2/OSMC/Kodi one, and how I can make the installed client (3.4.24) on the Pi3 box behave the same as the one (4.4.21) on the Pi2. Yes I’ve only just looked up the version numbers and my next step is to see if I can find a suitable repository to install version 4…4.21 on the Volumio Pi3

Secondly whether I could simply install the right driver for the OSMC TVB-T dongle on the Volumio box.

I am basically stumbling around in the dark a little bit, but any pointers from any of you more experienced folk would be gratefully received.

2

No idea – ask the Volumio guys perhaps.

From the differences in HTSP add-on versions, it also sounds like a significant difference in Kodi point releases too.

The driver for the OSMC DVB-T2 dongle has been upstream for a while – it just needs a fairly recent (last 18 months or so) kernel to work out of the box.

If you try and run everything under one Pi – things might not be ideal; unless you are happy with a dual-boot system.

3

:laughing: Thanks for the honesty. I’ll try that. I was going to ask over there too anyway.

You’re right about there being a significant difference in Kodi versions.

Osmc Pi2 box
Linux kernel 4.19.122-2-osmc
Kodi 18.9
Tvheadend 4.2.8 (HTSP v27)
tvh hstp simple client 4.4.21

Volumio2 - Pi3 box
Linux version (raspbian jessie)
Linux Kernel 4.19.118-v7+
Kodi plugin build 17.4 Git:20170913-5cc491e-dirty
Tvheadend 4.2.8 (HTSP v27)
tvh hstp simple client 3.4.24

4

That version of Kodi is quite old and not supported.
This will explain the differences.

OSMC is a dedicated distribution. If you want an up to date Kodi, you should probably stick with OSMC and dual-boot to Volumio.

5

Thanks for the replies. I ended up buying a multi-output USB charger and another Pi3. So problem solved in essence. I would have like to have achieved the same result with software, but I wasn’t realistically going to learn what needed to be done before frustration got the better of me. Dual booting is a bit of a pain IMO.