Hi all
I am very new to the world of Raspberry Pi and set it up a couple of months ago mainly to run Kodi on.
I was running fine using Kodi 15.2 on Raspbian on my Pi2 and had installed a build running multiple add ons.
Recently though all of the add ons are not working correctly and anything I try to stream fails. Having trawled a few websites over the last 48 hrs I think this could be due to not having Kodi 16 (Jarvis).
So I visited the kodi download page to see how to upgrade 15.2 to 16 but have read on there that Raspbian does not support v.16.
Unless I am being completely stupid (which is possible!) it looks like my only option is to install a new OS and it looks like OSMC is my best option.
I have a spare SD card that I can install OSMC on to. But to be honest I have no idea what I should do next. Does anyone have an idiots guide on how to go about it correctly?
I would really appreciate any help that you can give me on this. If I am being stupid and there is an easy fix to get my current set up working again please tell me.
Thanks in advance.
James
I don’t see why Raspbian couldn’t support Kodi 16, I guess it might just not be pre-built and hosted in the repository yet. If you wait long enough then it may make an appearance.
Do you use the Pi for anything other than Kodi? Or anything that couldn’t be set up again on a different OS? My preference would probably be to try and make the switch to OSMC and use that instead, avoid ‘builds’ as they can contain all sorts of bloat. There are some things that OSMC can’t currently do so if having a desktop environment or a web browser is important ot you then OSMC might not be right for you just yet, these may come in time but they are not there currently.
Who is your internet service provider? They may have just started blocking the sites you are streaming from. BT and Sky do this for sure.
For the install, do you have a PC or Mac or something wit ha card reader in it? You ideally want to download the installer from here (Download - OSMC) and run it on your PC/Laptop/Mac where it’ll write the installation to the SD card for you. Then it’s just a case of putting the SD card into the Pi, booting it up and letting the install complete.
Hi jb2cool. Thank you for your reply.
I don’t use the Pi for anything other than Kodi so I am more than prepared to switch to a new OS. I like what I have read about OSMC so far so am happy to use that. Am I right in saying that it automatically updates Kodi versions for you?
My ISP is Sky. That worries me what you say about them blocking sites. Would they blanket block all of them? Is there any way of checking what is blocked by them? I guess the only real way of knowing is to install OSMC and see if it makes a difference…
I do have a windows laptop with a card reader. So should I download the Windows version of OSMC on that link you sent me? Then copy that download to the card having wiped whatever is on there already and then literally just put that in to the Pi and boot up? I won’t have to do anything else? Do I need to worry about “disk images” (it mentions that on that link you sent that’s all…).
Sorry for all of the questions.
Yes, the system auto updates both for security updates as well as Kodi versions. The Kodi updates don’t come out instantly when a new version of Kodi is released but it’s usually bundled into the next available update, these are typically monthly but sometimes more or less frequent.
There is a list of blocked sites on the Sky website but I don’t think it’s complete (http://www.sky.com/help/articles/websites-blocked-under-order-of-the-high-court), I guess just try browsing to the website you are trying to stream from (if you know what site it is) and see if you get a blocked message.
For the install,;
1, Put your SD card into the laptop
2, Download the Windows installer program from here (http://download.osmc.tv/installers/osmc-installer.exe)
3, Run the installer
The installer will download the latest install image, format the SD card and put the install image onto the SD card for you, there is additional configuration you can perform but you probably don’t need to.
Once the installer has finished (it doesn’t take very long) then take the SD card out of the laptop, put it into the Pi and boot the Pi up (Make sure the Pi has network connectivity). The Pi will then download the rest of the install and set itself up. This bit takes a little while, the installer only puts on just enough for the Pi to boot and then go and fetch the rest of the stuff.
You do know that Kodi can run on Windows too don’t you?
For troubleshooting your ISP you could install Kodi directly onto your laptop and try your streams from there. I myself wouldn’t bother though and would proceed with OSMC as that can be used for other stuff too (like a DIY NAS, playing local content etc.)
Thanks for all of that info, I really appreciate it!
I first tried installing Kodi on to my laptop but it is old and has Vista installed so didn’t run properly. I assume that OSMC will download ok using the same laptop will it?
My Pi currently has connectivity via a USB dongle. But will inserting a different SD card into it mean that the connectivity stops? How do I ensure that it is connected to the internet when I change the card?
Sorry (again)!
The download and preparation of the SD card will be fine even on an old laptop.
For the initial install can you run a network cable (just temporarily)? that’s by far the easiest way you can then switch over to WiFi once it’s all installed. If a cable is not possible then I think as part of the installer you can pre-seed the WiFi info so that it auto connects and Icarus on the install with no user intervention. I’ve not used that though so can’t really comment.
We will prompt you to connect to WiFi on first boot if its not configured via the installer
Sam
Thank you so much for all your help. Got the new OS working on the Pi now! Very happy!