The script is a newer version now. So, this could’ve changed. I have to say: How can an addon be “watched”? Doesn’t make much sense. 
The script is shipped with OSMC now, but it’s not developed or maintained by us. Can’t really help with this, I’m afraid. @Toast is right, the developer would have to help here. But the dev is not properly maintaining the addon anymore atm… 
this is of course a pity then it would be better if OSMC without this scripting would run as usual osmc is so far the best kodi addon for pi and co there should prefer to run with their own scripots I find this addon annoying corallem where I do not need shortcut Even without this widget it should be removed as a standart and left again as a decision 
18.8-4, 18 March 2019: Based off OSMC commit (f71c34965) and newclock5 (ab525816)
OSMC Skin
17.9.3-56
- Revert patch script.skin.helper.widgets
17.9.3-55
- Patch script.skin.helper.widgets
XBMC:
- [Doxygen] Include github markdown file for code guidelines (PR:15756, 1 commit, 5 files changed)
- [GUIControllerWindow] Correctly subscribe to RepositoryUpdated events (PR:15755, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
- [estuary] fix reversed episode / tvshow title (PR:15741, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
- [pyton] update docs for artwork functions (PR:15711, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
newclock5:
New commits in this build:
- Revert “VideoPlayerVideo: Invert stereo flags from codec when option is enabled” (280c202a)
- BaseRenderer: Respect m_StereoInvert flag (93b69aa7)
Includes latest addons:
inputstream.adaptive (b76c81f), inputstream.rtmp (ce68b77, +1), peripheral.joystick (6b2a4dd, +5), peripheral.xarcade (f09a0e7), pvr.argustv (83aa1e9), pvr.demo (964686d), pvr.dvblink (b636726, +2), pvr.dvbviewer (c2c1beb, +2), pvr.filmon (e850633), pvr.hdhomerun (a9d7309), pvr.hts(bd64b9e, +1), pvr.iptvsimple (73feb2f), pvr.mediaportal.tvserver (931afab), pvr.mythtv (c954c7e), pvr.nextpvr (78c6633), pvr.njoy (4467cac), pvr.octonet(203f800), pvr.pctv (b60b971), pvr.stalker (d0170c5), pvr.teleboy (1956113), pvr.vbox (ea20464), pvr.vdr.vnsi (cbb75ab), pvr.vuplus (a445bf3, +13), pvr.wmc(7b28be3), pvr.zattoo (30868ce), vfs.libarchive (2ba1102), vfs.rar (b66c6df, +1), vfs.sftp (ab0dc82, +1)Includes latest addons: inputstream.adaptive (b76c81f), inputstream.rtmp (ce68b77, +1), peripheral.joystick (6b2a4dd, +5), peripheral.xarcade (d218f0d, +2), pvr.argustv (83aa1e9), pvr.demo (964686d), pvr.dvblink (ecc9cfd, +4), pvr.dvbviewer (c2c1beb, +2), pvr.filmon (e850633), pvr.hdhomerun (a9d7309), pvr.hts(8dcd62d, +3), pvr.iptvsimple (73feb2f), pvr.mediaportal.tvserver (931afab), pvr.mythtv (c954c7e), pvr.nextpvr (edc0741, +10), pvr.njoy (4467cac), pvr.octonet(203f800), pvr.pctv (b60b971), pvr.stalker (d0170c5), pvr.teleboy (1956113), pvr.vbox (ea20464), pvr.vdr.vnsi (cbb75ab), pvr.vuplus (97c67ae, +23), pvr.wmc(7b28be3), pvr.zattoo (30868ce), vfs.libarchive (2ba1102), vfs.rar (b66c6df, +1), vfs.sftp (ab0dc82, +1)
I’ve looked into this again… The script did indeed have wrong add-on category information in its addon.xml file. This has been changed now and the script should therefore only show up in the programm add-ons category from the next nightly on.
Hope, this solves the issue for you 
See post below.
ok thanks that is very good, hope the problem is solved 
thanks
Should be sync’d to the mirrors within the hour:
OSMC Skin 17.9.3-55
- Patch script.skin.helper.widgets
1 Like
Ok thanks
@Schninemaus, had a closer look again and did some testing on my Vero, running the @gmc v18 nightly with OSMC skin 17.9.3-54 (with the non-patched Skin Helper Widgets script). Disabled the script under Settings/Add-ons: Script disappeared under Videos/Video add-ons. Created a widget for the Videos home menu entry pointing to Video library/Video add-ons: Skin Helper Widgets script showed up when enabling the add-on and disappeared when disabling the add-on.
Conclusion: I can’t reproduce the behaviour you’re experiencing.
The add-ons sections are filled with all kinds of add-ons/scripts that you can download and install from the Kodi repo and they will show up in the categories they’re placed in by the add-on devs. It simply isn’t feasable for us to deactivate or patch add-ons not maintained by us just because they would clutter a widget - I’m sorry to say this. What I will look into: how we can allow for the Skin Helper Widgets script to be disabled and still allow for home menu customisation.
1 Like
yes I know if I have disabled the addon but the “customize Home Menu” does not work anymore. since the update everything works as before, thanks for the fast fix
I have a Raspberry pi3 b+
The Problem has fixed to me, I had the problem at 4 pi3 2 with reinstallation and 2 without the problem is gone on all 4
I’ll change things so we can allow for customization AND disabling the Skin Helper Widgets script. That should solve it for you as well without the need for us to patch the script.
1 Like
that would be an idea never used it because it bothered when it is in the list at least the problem is gone for the time being
18.8-5, 19 March 2019: Based off OSMC commit (a48249ec94) and newclock5 (ab525816)
OSMC Skin v17.9.3.-57
- Skin scripts fix
XBMC:
- [JSON]Add “dynpath” as property returned by Player.GetItem (PR:15585, 1 commit, 3 files changed)
- [estuary] fix title for non episodes (PR:15766, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
- Handle signals by setting atomic flag instead of pop-up thread (PR:15730, 1 commit, 11 files changed)
Includes latest addons:
inputstream.adaptive (b76c81f), inputstream.rtmp (ce68b77, +1), peripheral.joystick (6b2a4dd, +5), peripheral.xarcade (f09a0e7), pvr.argustv (83aa1e9), pvr.demo (964686d), pvr.dvblink (b636726, +2), pvr.dvbviewer (c2c1beb, +2), pvr.filmon (e850633), pvr.hdhomerun (a9d7309), pvr.hts(bd64b9e, +1), pvr.iptvsimple (73feb2f), pvr.mediaportal.tvserver (931afab), pvr.mythtv (c954c7e), pvr.nextpvr (78c6633), pvr.njoy (4467cac), pvr.octonet(203f800), pvr.pctv (b60b971), pvr.stalker (d0170c5), pvr.teleboy (1956113), pvr.vbox (ea20464), pvr.vdr.vnsi (cbb75ab), pvr.vuplus (a445bf3, +13), pvr.wmc(7b28be3), pvr.zattoo (30868ce), vfs.libarchive (2ba1102), vfs.rar (b66c6df, +1), vfs.sftp (ab0dc82, +1)Includes latest addons: inputstream.adaptive (b76c81f), inputstream.rtmp (ce68b77, +1), peripheral.joystick (6b2a4dd, +5), peripheral.xarcade (d218f0d, +2), pvr.argustv (83aa1e9), pvr.demo (964686d), pvr.dvblink (ecc9cfd, +4), pvr.dvbviewer (c2c1beb, +2), pvr.filmon (e850633), pvr.hdhomerun (a9d7309), pvr.hts(8dcd62d, +3), pvr.iptvsimple (73feb2f), pvr.mediaportal.tvserver (931afab), pvr.mythtv (c954c7e), pvr.nextpvr (edc0741, +10), pvr.njoy (4467cac), pvr.octonet(203f800), pvr.pctv (b60b971), pvr.stalker (d0170c5), pvr.teleboy (1956113), pvr.vbox (ea20464), pvr.vdr.vnsi (cbb75ab), pvr.vuplus (97c67ae, +23), pvr.wmc(7b28be3), pvr.zattoo (30868ce), vfs.libarchive (2ba1102), vfs.rar (b66c6df, +1), vfs.sftp (ab0dc82, +1)
now this addon is back after update to 18.8-5 and I can not deactivate it after every update it is back “Skin Helper service widget” again on all 4 pi 3
the only way was to delete the folders
sudo rm -r /usr/share/kodi/addons/script.skin.helper.widgets
sudo rm -r /usr/share/kodi/addons/script.skin.helper.skinbackup
Why would you want to? The skin helper widget is used by a lot of skins to make them function properly… Disabling this widget could have negative effects…
I’ve never used the widget and it just bothers me that there is video addon with it in there is nothing I do not use when I set up custom menu under Video / manage widget / video addons for home screen is the skin helper with in the list looks ugly
and I have no negative effect racks can everything works as usual ???
To be honest, I’d rather like to see that all the PVR and language addons that are installed, get removed from the default setup. I have no need for Farsi or Japanese or what other exotic language. And on the Pi it’s not standard to have PVR functionality, so why is it included by default?
Please make the default install as lean as possible, so only the most basic of language support (English would be enough, since the site it self is also in English, or install just the selected language that is selected during setup) and everything else via the add-ons, the way Kodi is set-up be default.
Again, the Skin helper service widget is very small and doesn’t impact anything really when it’s installed. It’s part of the skin-requirements and as fas as I know, every skin uses it in some manner.
If the add-ons are not enabled, they cause no footprint on the system. I don’t have any plans to change how we distribute binary add-ons. Languages are included by default so people can take advantage of internationalisation without an Internet connection.
@Schninemaus, you can deactivate the Skin Helper Widgets script and it will disappear from the Video add-ons section under Videos as well as from widgets pointing to that directory. I’ve tested this on my setup here (using the v18 nightlies) and it works like a charm. In the stable release they shouldn’t be re-activated after each reboot, but deactivating should stick. We’ll look into that 
We have to ship the scripts to make sure that the correct minimum versions are installed for our skin to work under v18.
As those scripts are not provided by the Kodi repo in the newest version atm, we can’t rely on automatic installation via internet.
What bothers me about the skin helper is the constant error message at every boot caused by:
2019-03-20 16:34:33.572 T:1686098672 NOTICE: Skin Helper Service Widgets v1.0.38 → Backgroundservice started
2019-03-20 16:34:33.606 T:1702884080 ERROR: EXCEPTION Thrown (PythonToCppException) : -->Python callback/script returned the following error<–
- NOTE: IGNORING THIS CAN LEAD TO MEMORY LEAKS!
Error Type: <type ‘exceptions.ImportError’>
Error Contents: No module named simplecache
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/usr/share/kodi/addons/script.skin.helper.service/service.py”, line 10, in
from resources.lib.main_service import MainService
File “/usr/share/kodi/addons/script.skin.helper.service/resources/lib/main_service.py”, line 13, in
from listitem_monitor import ListItemMonitor
File “/usr/share/kodi/addons/script.skin.helper.service/resources/lib/listitem_monitor.py”, line 14, in
from simplecache import SimpleCache
ImportError: No module named simplecache
–>End of Python script error report<–
I tried deactivating it (I only use Estuary) but every reboot it’s back again with the error message. So I opted for an rm -rf.
As I said… In our stable release you should be able to deactivate it, if no other skin prevents it (because of it being a dependency). Our skin specifically doesn’t handle the script as a dependency. Therefore it should be possible to deactivate it. That it’s re-activated after each reboot in our nightlies atm is not the behaviour we want eventually. Maybe @gmc knows why this is happening
The error message is because of an unresolved dependency of the pre-installed scripts. This issue is known and it will be fixed 
Keep in mind, these are nightlies, so some things won’t work properly. 