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XBMC for Raspberry Pi

Submitted by mgorven on Wed, 2012/10/31 - 00:32

This page describes how to install XBMC on a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian. You can either install packages on an existing Raspbian installation, or you can download a prebuilt image and flash it to an SD card.

Installing packages on an existing installation

I've published a Debian archive containing packages for Kodi/XBMC and some dependencies which it requires. This can be setup on an existing Raspbian installation (including the foundation image).

Installing

The easiest way to install the package is to add my archive to your system. To do this, store the following in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mene.list:

deb http://archive.mene.za.net/raspbian wheezy contrib

and import the archive signing key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-key 5243CDED

Then update the package lists:

sudo apt-get update

You can then install it as you would with any other package, for example, with apt-get:

sudo apt-get install kodi

The user which you're going to run Kodi as needs to be a member of the following groups:

audio video input dialout plugdev tty

If the input group doesn't exist, you need to create it:

addgroup --system input

and setup some udev rules to grant it ownership of input devices (otherwise the keyboard won't work in Kodi), by placing the following in /etc/udev/rules.d/99-input.rules:

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

The GPU needs at least 96M of RAM in order for XBMC to run. To configure this add or change this line in /boot/config.txt:

gpu_mem=128

You will need to reboot if you changed this value.

Running

To run XBMC, run kodi-standalone from a VT (i.e. not under X). XBMC accesses the display directly and not via Xorg.

If you want Kodi to automatically start when the system boots, edit /etc/default/kodi and change ENABLED to 1:

ENABLED=1

Run sudo service kodi start to test this.

Release history

  • 15.2-2: Isengard 15.2 release, and most PVR addons.
  • 14.2-1: Helix 14.2 release.
  • 14.1-1: Helix 14.1 release.
  • 14.0-1: Helix 14.0 release.
  • 13.1-2: Link to libshairplay for better AirPlay support.
  • 13.1-1: Gotham 13.1 release.
  • 12.3-1: Frodo 12.3 release.
  • 12.2-1: Frodo 12.2 release.
  • 12.1-1: Frodo 12.1 release. Requires newer libcec (also in my archive).
  • 12.0-1: Frodo 12.0 release. This build requires newer firmware than the raspberrypi.org archive or image contains. Either install the packages from the raspberrypi.org untested archive, the twolife archive or use rpi-update. (Not necessary as of 2013/02/11.)

Flashing an SD card with a prebuilt image

I've built an image containing a Raspbian system with the XBMC packages which you can download and flash to an SD card. You'll need a 1G SD card (which will be completely wiped).

Flashing

Decompress the image using unx:

% unxz raspbian-xbmc-20121029.img.xz

And then copy the image to the SD card device (make sure that you pick the correct device name!)

% sudo cp xbmc-20121029-1.img /dev/sdb

Customising

The image uses the same credentials as the foundation image, username "pi" and password "raspberry". You can use the raspi-config tool to expand the root filesystem, enable overclocking, and various other configuration tasks.

Updating

Both Raspbian and Kodi can be updated using normal Debian mechanisms such as apt-get:

# sudo apt-get update
# sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Release history

Unstable versions

I've started building packages for the upcoming Jarvis release. These are in the new unstable section of the archive. To install these packages update your source list to look like this:

deb http://archive.mene.za.net/raspbian wheezy contrib unstable

Release history

  • 16.1-1: Jarvis 16.1
  • 16.0-1: Jarvis 16.0
  • 16.0~git20151213.a724f29-1: Jarvis 16.0 Beta 4
  • 15.2-2: Isengard 15.2 with packaging changes to support PVR addons, and most PVR addons.
  • 15.2-1: Isengard 15.2
  • 15.1-1: Isengard 15.1
  • 15.0-1: Isengard 15.0
  • 15.0~git20150702.9ff25f8-1: Isengard 15.0 RC 1.
  • 15.0~git20150501.d1a2c33-1: Isengard 15.0 Beta 1.
  • 14.2-1: Helix 14.2 release.
  • 14.1-1: Helix 14.1 release.
  • 14.0-1: Helix 14.0 release.
  • 14.0~git20141203.35b4f38-1: Helix 14.0 RC 2
  • 14.0~git20141130.ea20b83-1: Helix 14.0 RC 1
  • 14.0~git20141125.4465fbf-1: Helix 14.0 Beta 5
  • 14.0~git20141124.ec361ca-1: Helix 14.0 Beta 4
  • 14.0~git20141116.88a9a44-1: Helix 14.0 Beta 3
  • 14.0~git20141103.d6947be-1: Helix 14.0 Beta 1. This requires firmware as of 2014/10/06 and libcec 2.2.0 (both included in the archive). There are also builds for Jessie but I haven't tested them. PVR addons are also updated.
  • 14.0~git20141002.d2a4ee9-1: Helix 14.0 Alpha 4

Trackback URL for this post:

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#1Submitted by XBMC odpala sie nie na pełnym ekranie - KODI.org.pl (not verified) on Mon, 2021/01/25 - 23:30.

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[...] pakiet z tego miejsca: michael.gorven.za.net/raspberrypi/xbmc XBMC stoi na raspberry pi/Rasbian. Jest to wersja [...]
#2Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2017/02/05 - 15:39.

Kodi 17 Krypton

Kodi 17.0 Kripton final available! any chance to update it on the repo?
#3Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2017/03/08 - 10:34.

Kodi 17.0 Krypton final

Michael, still working on this? Your repo still seems to be on of the most reliable sources for Kodi on the Raspberry...
#4Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2016/11/04 - 20:05.

Kodi 16.1 Still unstable?

When Will Kodi 16.1 (Jarvis) be stable? Can't wait!!
#5Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2016/10/18 - 23:53.

ArgusTV addon?

Hi, First of all, thanks for your outstanding work!

I installed your Jarvis build on an RPi 3 and I'm having trouble getting the argus-tv-pvr-addon to work correctly?

I get this error when I try to start a stream, any idea what to do?

/usr/lib/kodi/kodi.bin: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/kodi/addons/pvr.argustv/pvr.argustv.so.1.11.6: undefined symbol: _ZN7ArgusTV9CTsReaderC1Ev
#6Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2016/08/22 - 17:01.

Kodi 17 Beta 1 is out.

Can you please compile this new version ? It has alot of changes and improvements since Kodi 16.

Thanks
#7Submitted by mgorven on Sat, 2016/09/24 - 22:51.

Now available in unstable!

Now available in unstable!
#8Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2017/01/19 - 10:07.

No Kodi 17 in unstable branch

Hello Michael! Kodi 17 doesn't seem to be in unstable anymore - unstable branch seems to be empty. Any reason for this? Thanks for all your work!
#9Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2016/10/01 - 00:50.

Thank you! I updated and it

Thank you! I updated and it runs perfect! Love the new theme of Kodi 17!

If I find Raspberry Pi specific bugs, I'll tell you!(Hopefully that wont be necessary :D)
#10Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2016/09/27 - 08:20.

PVR HTS add-on not working in 17 unstable?

Hi,

I did not get the kodi-pvr-hts add-on working in the unstable release - it mentions an API mismatch:

22:18:50 T:1946485312 ERROR: PVR - Add-on 'Tvheadend HTSP Client' is using an incompatible API version. XBMC minimum API version = '5.2.0', add-on API version '4.1.0' 22:18:50 T:1946485312 ERROR: UpdateAddons - failed to create add-on Tvheadend HTSP Client, status = 6

It is working well in 16.1.

Could you have a look if the PVR add-ons need an update as well?

Thanks for your amazing work! Andreas
#11Submitted by mgorven on Tue, 2016/10/04 - 08:14.

I haven't rebuilt the PVR

I haven't rebuilt the PVR addons for 17 yet, I'll do that when I find the time :-)
#12Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2016/11/08 - 18:58.

PVR addons for Kodi 17

Please rebuild the PVR addons for Kodi 17, atleast IPTV Simple, I think it is the most used one. Thanks
#13Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2016/07/14 - 18:28.

Torrent has no sources?

hi I'm trying to download the raspbian kodi Jessie torrent but isn't progressing ?
#14Submitted by mgorven on Thu, 2016/09/15 - 02:22.

Whoops, both my torrent

Whoops, both my torrent clients died. They're back up now.
#15Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2016/05/08 - 17:59.

16.1 broken?

Kodi throws me this: /usr/lib/kodi/kodi.bin: error while loading shared libraries: libEGL.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (libegl should be installed... old version did work!)
#16Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2016/05/07 - 22:44.

Hi Michael, thanks for your

Hi Michael, thanks for your efforts to bring kodi to raspbian. If you can't update your build to the latest version (which woud be great), can you explain, how to switch from your version to another one? I heard something about a repo called "pippleware", which holds a recent build of kodi, but i'm not a unix- nor a kodi-pro and i'm afraid of screwing up my installation when i switch repositories. Thanks!
#17Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2016/05/07 - 02:03.

Jarvis for wheezy

Hello, do you plan to release a stable version of kodi 16 for raspbian wheezy ? Thank you
#18Submitted by mgorven on Thu, 2016/09/15 - 02:23.

I'm afraid not. It requires

I'm afraid not. It requires newer versions of some system libraries, and I don't have the time to backport those appropriately.
#19Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2016/04/29 - 02:39.

Kodi 16.1

Kodi 16.1 is out. Can you please update it ? Even if it is only to "unstable" it would be great!

Thanks
#20Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2016/05/06 - 01:03.

You can grab it from the

You can grab it from the incoming folder.

Regards,
#21Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2016/04/26 - 14:49.

Kodi Comes with Raspbian

If you're trying to follow this instruction with a new Raspbian installation, then ignore the initial instructions to "add my archive to your system" and simply start:

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install kodi

Otherwise it generates broken package dependency errors.
#22Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2016/04/02 - 09:41.

Kodi 16 Jarvis

Hi Michael,

will we see a newer build next time based on latest jarvis-release ? In latest Jarvis-Release from your repo for example visualization is missing.

Thx
#23Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2016/03/29 - 14:55.

udev rules

just a noob, went to add to input. and told its not a directory, should i make new dir or alter rules/99.com
#24Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2016/03/15 - 06:26.

How to set kodi don't autostart on Raspbian Jessie (V.20151230)?

I want to start raspbian GUI and Kodi isn't autostart, I will run kodi only when needed? How can I config It? I use Raspbian Jessie with a prebuilt image from this site (V.20151230)

Thank You So Much!
#25Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2016/03/14 - 14:58.

instructions

mene.list doesnt exist, instead there is a raspi.list _ so i created mene.list, not sure if that was right..? next the install complains of unmet dependencies

E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
#26Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2016/03/13 - 12:28.

Old versions

By any chance that you do have any old versions lying around (source/binary)?
#27Submitted by mgorven on Sat, 2016/09/24 - 22:52.

There are some old versions

There are some old versions in the pool directory backups here: http://archive.mene.za.net/raspbian/
#28Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2016/03/06 - 21:35.

Installing Kodi 16.0 on Raspbian Jessie (RetroPie)

I successfully managed to install Kodi 16.0 on Raspbian Jessie (RetroPie) using these instructions.

As package source I used

"deb http://archive.mene.za.net/raspbian jessie contrib unstable"

Anonymous (on Thu, 2016/02/25 - 19:24): Did you probably just misspell "jessie"?

Cheers
#29Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2016/02/25 - 19:24.

16.0 on jessey

Hey, i tried to install kodi 16.0 jarvis on my pi (latest raspbian jessey) with sources as: "deb http://archive.mene.za.net/raspbian jessey contrib unstable" but with that i installed 15.2 isengard on my pi. Any advice on how to install kodi 16.0 jarvis.

Since airplay is not working with kodi 15.2 and El Capitan, I hope 16.0 will help.

Kind regards
#30Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2016/02/22 - 21:09.

shutdown missing kodi 16

Hi Michael, thank you for the great work. I'm running the kodi 16 version now on my raspberry B+ One thing I can't figure out; the shutdown menu only shows [EXIT]. How can I add the other items like reboot and Shutdown? I've added the user kodi to the sudo group and gave ALL permission to shutdown. Also the xml menu file in Kodi states the items correct.
#31Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2016/03/14 - 23:34.

Hello I had the same issue.

Hello I had the same issue. EXIT only. I installed Kodi but was starting with user 'kodi' and not pi. I set /etc/default/kodi

Set this to 1 to enable startup

ENABLED=1

The user to run Kodi as

USER=pi

and I was all set.
#32Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2016/02/22 - 15:05.

Hifiberry support

Hi,

is your prebuilt image capable of using the Hifiberry Digi+ as a passthorugh device? The regular version from the raspbian repository (jessie) is not, obviously a patch is needed as Kodi recognizes the Hifiberry Digi+ only as an analogue device. There are some threads in the hifiberry forum, the links cannot be pasted here as they are evaluated as spam...

Thanks for helping!
#33Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2016/02/07 - 23:01.

Kodi bootscreen

Hi there,

i followed the instructions, but when i start kodi, there is just a blue bootscreen and it freeze.

How does i fix this?
#34Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2016/02/06 - 01:27.

Custom AMC image

Any chance of a build with filebot preinstalled and a headless torrent client for a fully automated media centre experience? Great work keep it up!
#35Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2016/01/15 - 16:46.

Raspbian Pre built image

Hi

I'm looking to flash an SD card with a Prebuilt image to install on an RPi 2, I may just be missing it but I don't see the link to download. Thanks.

Andrew
#36Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2016/01/15 - 17:04.

Found it! Sorry my bad -

Found it! Sorry my bad - eyesight isn't the greatest and missed the links in the "release history"
#37Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2016/07/14 - 08:53.

Download link

Sorry, but I also can't find the link. Please give me a hint.
#38Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2016/01/15 - 23:51.

Next silly question, how do I

Next silly question, how do I get out of Kodi and boot the raspbian gui to set up WIFI ? this preinstalled image would be perfect other than the fact that I have to run a cable.

I was trying to make Kodi run on Raspbian, had it working then it stopped so decided to try this instead.

My wifi adapter is raspbian compatible, and works out the box (again I have had it working fine) but I guess I am still learning the joys of linux command line and am a bit stuck.

Andrew
#39Submitted by mgorven on Sun, 2016/01/17 - 00:30.

Select the power icon in Kodi

Select the power icon in Kodi and choose Exit; you should then get a console with a login prompt.
#40Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2016/01/17 - 19:40.

Thanks Michael ok I've done

Thanks Michael

ok I've done that.

I get

Kodi login: Password:

if I do pi and raspberry as my username and password here I login as pi@kodi:

which is great but I cant run startx from here I need the pi@raspberrypi prompt obviously...

so where to from here ?

sorry about this :)
#41Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2016/01/06 - 16:17.

WiFi

Hi Michael,

I wrote about Jessie 15.2-2 a few days ago. Would I be right in thinking you use an Ethernet connection rather than a WiFi connection for much of your Kodi viewing? With Ethernet your 15.2-2 works very well but not so well with WiFi. I have at least 3 different WiFi adapters, some supported by Raspbian and some not. I mainly use model B Pi's with the low powered 2 USB ports but even with a powered hub the WiFi drops out a lot. I'm currently watching Kodi with one of my WiFi adapters and I'll see how it goes. Thank you for all your excellent work with Kodi over the years.

Costas
#42Submitted by mgorven on Wed, 2016/01/06 - 20:45.

I use wifi on my production

I use wifi on my production setup without issues, which runs 15.2 on Wheezy. I'd be surprised if there's a difference on Jessie since the kernel is the same (although the chipset firmware might be different).
#43Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2016/01/06 - 11:25.

Kodi 16 PVR Addons not working

Hi

I have tested Kodi 16 and some PVR addons (IPTV Simple and TVHeadend/HTS) in the unstable repo, and I can confirm that they aren't working. Changing manually the variables @PLATFORM@ and @LIBRARY_FILENAME@ at /usr/share/kodi/addons/$pvr/addon.xml makes them work. All the PVR addons seems to suffer from this, so maybe you need to change or define these variables at compile time.

Thanks
#44Submitted by mgorven on Wed, 2016/01/06 - 20:43.

Thanks for pointing this out,

Thanks for pointing this out, that file isn't being interpolated correctly.
#45Submitted by mgorven on Fri, 2016/01/08 - 07:59.

I just uploaded new packages

I just uploaded new packages which should fix this.
#46Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2016/01/02 - 01:32.

Jessie Kodi 15.2.2

Hi Michael,

I downloaded version 15.2.2 for Jessie today and it crashes with:

pi@kodi:~$ sudo kodi-standalone [sudo] password for pi: /usr/lib/kodi/kodi.bin: error while loading shared libraries: /usr/lib/arm-linux -gnueabihf/libpython2.7.so.1.0: invalid ELF header /usr/lib/kodi/kodi.bin: error while loading shared libraries: /usr/lib/arm-linux -gnueabihf/libpython2.7.so.1.0: invalid ELF header /usr/lib/kodi/kodi.bin: error while loading shared libraries: /usr/lib/arm-linux -gnueabihf/libpython2.7.so.1.0: invalid ELF header /usr/bin/kodi --standalone has exited uncleanly 3 times in the last 1 seconds. Something is probably wrong

Any ideas what the problem is?
#47Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2016/02/10 - 17:09.

My Rpi2 can't start kodi the

My Rpi2 can't start kodi the error is a relocation error between libxslt and libxml. Any idea how to fix it?

Thanks a lot,

Gianpaolo
#48Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2016/01/13 - 22:05.

is this issue solved?

I'm afraid to upgrade and be left with a broken setup...
#49Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2016/01/17 - 13:27.

ok works fine

I just went ahead anyway after a backup and everything works for me (I don't use PVR)
#50Submitted by mgorven on Thu, 2015/12/31 - 08:29.

PVR addons for 15.2, new images, 16.0 beta

I've finally had time to update the packaging for the new PVR addon repo structure, so there are now packages for most PVR addons compatible with 15.2. I've therefore promoted 15.2 to contrib, and built new images for both Wheezy and Jessie.

unstable now has packages for 16.0 beta 4, but only for Jessie for now (and I may actually drop Wheezy support). I'm still working on PVR addons for 16.0.