Kodi: How to Install & Configure on Windows

[humprof]

Settings > System > Power Saving - everything set to off

Settings > Interface > Screensaver - I have my Screensaver mode set to 'Dim' and Wait time to 30min (you can make it more, or less, or disable the screensaver entirely


Changing skins might solve your issue with the album art being smaller in the 'Now Playing' screen - to me it looks like it's only 10 or 15% smaller, which is fine with me!

Yeah; all the power saving settings were already off. And the disappearing "Now Playing" seems to be independent of any screensaver settings (mine was set to "dim," too, but after 5 minutes r/t 5 seconds).

Small problems, though. "Minimizing" or "sleeping" on Power Off looks like it'll do the trick for my other issue. Sounds like Homer might have a solution for the first one. Thanks, all of you.

 

[himey]

Yeah; all the power saving settings were already off. And the disappearing "Now Playing" seems to be independent of any screensaver settings (mine was set to "dim," too, but after 5 minutes r/t 5 seconds).

Small problems, though. "Minimizing" or "sleeping" on Power Off looks like it'll do the trick for my other issue. Sounds like Homer might have a solution for the first one. Thanks, all of you.

It is a setting. My screen simply goes dim. I press any button and it un-dim's and I am back on the full screen fully lit.

 

[HomerJAU]

Copy this text into a a new text file named: advancedsettings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<advancedsettings>
   <gui>
    <algorithmdirtyregions>0</algorithmdirtyregions>
  </gui>
  <imageres>9999</imageres>
  <fanartres>9999</fanartres>
  <audio>
    <minimumsamplerate>44100</minimumsamplerate>
    <excludefromscan>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromscan>
    <excludefromlisting>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromlisting>
  </audio>
  <video>
    <excludefromscan>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromscan>
    <excludefromlisting>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromlisting>
    <excludetvshowsfromscan>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludetvshowsfromscan>
  </video>
  <cache>
    <buffermode>1</buffermode>
    <memorysize>524288000</memorysize>
    <readfactor>20</readfactor>
  </cache>
  <videolibrary>
    <recentlyaddeditems>180</recentlyaddeditems>
    <dateadded>1</dateadded>
  </videolibrary>
  <musicextensions>
     <add>.mkv|.mp4</add>
  </musicextensions>
  <musiclibrary>
    <recentlyaddeditems>200</recentlyaddeditems>
    <dateadded>2</dateadded>
    <artistseparators>
        <separator> / </separator>
        <separator> feat. </separator>
        <separator> Feat. </separator>
        <separator> with </separator>
        <separator> ft. </separator>
        <separator> Ft. </separator>
    </artistseparators>
    <artistextraart>
        <arttype>banner</arttype>
        <arttype>clearart</arttype>
        <arttype>clearlogo</arttype>
        <arttype>landscape</arttype>
    </artistextraart>
    <albumextraart>
    <arttype>back</arttype>
    <arttype>discart</arttype>
    <arttype>spine</arttype>
    </albumextraart>
   </musiclibrary>
   <songinfoduration>7200</songinfoduration>
</advancedsettings>

Then copy that new file into your Kodi userdata folder:

C:\Users\[YOUR USER NAME]\AppData\Roaming\Kodi\userdata

Then re-start Kodi (it only reads the advanced settings on startup)

EDIT: <songinfoduration>7200</songinfoduration>

is the setting that stops the 'now playing' from going blank after a few second (default time) - 7200 is number of seconds (very long song!)

 

[HomerJAU]

WAIT THERE'S MORE:

SETTINGS -> MEDIA -> Music (side menu) -> The Enable the setting: 'Switch to visualization on Playback' at very bottom

 

[HomerJAU]

It is a setting. My screen simply goes dim. I press any button and it un-dim's and I am back on the full screen fully lit.

I just turn screen saving off, no dimming.

 

[humprof]

Copy this text into a a new text file named: advancedsettings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<advancedsettings>
   <gui>
    <algorithmdirtyregions>0</algorithmdirtyregions>
  </gui>
  <imageres>9999</imageres>
  <fanartres>9999</fanartres>
  <audio>
    <minimumsamplerate>44100</minimumsamplerate>
    <excludefromscan>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromscan>
    <excludefromlisting>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromlisting>
  </audio>
  <video>
    <excludefromscan>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromscan>
    <excludefromlisting>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludefromlisting>
    <excludetvshowsfromscan>
      <regexp>\@eaDir</regexp>
      <regexp>\#recycle</regexp>
    </excludetvshowsfromscan>
  </video>
  <cache>
    <buffermode>1</buffermode>
    <memorysize>524288000</memorysize>
    <readfactor>20</readfactor>
  </cache>
  <videolibrary>
    <recentlyaddeditems>180</recentlyaddeditems>
    <dateadded>1</dateadded>
  </videolibrary>
  <musicextensions>
     <add>.mkv|.mp4</add>
  </musicextensions>
  <musiclibrary>
    <recentlyaddeditems>200</recentlyaddeditems>
    <dateadded>2</dateadded>
    <artistseparators>
        <separator> / </separator>
        <separator> feat. </separator>
        <separator> Feat. </separator>
        <separator> with </separator>
        <separator> ft. </separator>
        <separator> Ft. </separator>
    </artistseparators>
    <artistextraart>
        <arttype>banner</arttype>
        <arttype>clearart</arttype>
        <arttype>clearlogo</arttype>
        <arttype>landscape</arttype>
    </artistextraart>
    <albumextraart>
    <arttype>back</arttype>
    <arttype>discart</arttype>
    <arttype>spine</arttype>
    </albumextraart>
   </musiclibrary>
   <songinfoduration>7200</songinfoduration>
</advancedsettings>

Then copy that new file into your Kodi userdata folder:

C:\Users\[YOUR USER NAME]\AppData\Roaming\Kodi\userdata

Then re-start Kodi (it only reads the advanced settings on startup)

EDIT: <songinfoduration>7200</songinfoduration>

is the setting that stops the 'now playing' from going blank after a few second (default time) - 7200 is number of seconds (very long song!)

Much obliged! I'll give it a shot. (Found a similar answer here, by the way--but I didn't know how to go about creating and placing that advanced settings xml file, so thanks.)

 

[himey]

I just turn screen saving off, no dimming.

It goes dim if inactive which is how I want it. Simply press any button on the remote and it lights right up. No sense wasting energy.

 

[humprof]

Here's another minor annoyance that I haven't been able to resolve by searching the online manuals and user groups.

On my old Toshiba laptop, Kodi is really resource intensive, and I think it's primarily a question of video resources.

To begin with, in "Windowed" mode, Kodi will only open if the screen resolution (in both the laptop's and Kodi's "display" settings) is 1920 x 1080. If I set both to the laptop's preferred resolution, 1366 x 768, then in Windowed mode, Kodi starts to open (in the form of a small, blank window) and crashes.

In full-screen mode, it'll open in 1366 x 768 just fine.

But regardless of the mode/resolution, Kodi seems to eat up a lot of system resources, to the extent that the laptop's cooling fan is running continuously. Any way that you know of to address either of these problems?

 

[HomerJAU]

Sounds like it’s doing software decoding on old hardware. Maybe check the video and audio settings? Newer hardware supports decoding on the graphics or main cpu.

Do you have latest DirectX installed?

 

[humprof]

Sounds like it’s doing software decoding on old hardware. Maybe check the video and audio settings? Newer hardware supports decoding on the graphics or main cpu.

Do you have latest DirectX installed?

Do have the latest DirectX, as far as I know (12?). The laptop's AMD Radeon display adapter hasn't always played nicely with Windows 10 updates, and at least once I've had to roll back the Radeon driver to the previous version. I'm not seeing anything obvious in the Radeon settings that I could change, but (alarmingly?) it reports that it's using 100% of the GPU, which is operating at 94 degrees Celsius--which must be what's triggering the cooling fan.

Settles right down as soon as I close Kodi, though, and I don't get the same problem with foobar (for instance). Any settings in Kodi itself that could be affecting this? I feel like I've run through them all, but it's possible I've missed something--or that I don't always know how to interpret what I'm seeing.

 

[HomerJAU]

I was reminded about this and thought I’d post another link:

Here's a Kodi Music Remote App (iPad) demo I did a few years ago, not the best demo but still gives a good idea of what you get (it’s a true game changer IMO, so easy to play anything in your music collection):

https://reva.blob.core.windows.net/demos/kodi/MusicRemoteForKodi.mp4

EDIT: How does that compare to playing your ripped music on an Oppo?

 

[riskylogic]

I'm trying to play Atmos from my laptop with mixed success. My test files are mt2s, mp4, and m4a. After installing the Dolby Access app, the Windows movie player will play the mt2s and mp4 in Atmos. Groove will play the m4a but only in 5.1. I can't get anything but 5.1 from any of them with Kodi. With DirectSound the receiver registers 7 channels but only plays 5. With Wasapi/HDMI it registers 5.1 and that's what I get. I have the number of channels set to 7.1, an it doesn't seem to matter whether pass through is on or off. Any suggestions?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I'm trying to play Atmos from my laptop with mixed success. My test files are mt2s, mp4, and m4a. After installing the Dolby Access app, the Windows movie player will play the mt2s and mp4 in Atmos. Groove will play the m4a but only in 5.1. I can't get anything but 5.1 from any of them with Kodi. With DirectSound the receiver registers 7 channels but only plays 5. With Wasapi/HDMI it registers 5.1 and that's what I get. I have the number of channels set to 7.1, an it doesn't seem to matter whether pass through is on or off. Any suggestions?

Use the WASAPI driver. Passthrough needs to be on. Be sure the playback device as well as the pass through device is your AVR.

 

[riskylogic]

Use the WASAPI driver. Passthrough needs to be on. Be sure the playback device as well as the pass through device is your AVR.

It's my TV that is listed as the playback and pass through device. My receiver isn't one of the options.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

It's my TV that is listed as the playback and pass through device. My receiver isn't one of the options.

Is the TV Atmos compatable?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

It's my TV that is listed as the playback and pass through device. My receiver isn't one of the options.

But wait. How is the AVR connected into the system?

 

[riskylogic]

But wait. How is the AVR connected into the system?

Between the PC and the TV; I use the AVR to switch inputs. The TV is Atmos compatible, but I don't think that should matter. Then again, I don't understand why the TV is listed in the Kodi settings instead of the receiver.

 

[HomerJAU]

@riskylogic

I suspect your Kodi System Audio settings are not set to HDMI Passthrough or you have not set in Kodi that your AVR is Atmos capable.

What version of Kodi. You need 19.2 minimum for Atmos in .m4a support

 

[jamesc]

I was reminded about this and thought I’d post another link:

Here's a Kodi Music Remote App (iPad) demo I did a few years ago, not the best demo but still gives a good idea of what you get (it’s a true game changer IMO, so easy to play anything in your music collection):

https://reva.blob.core.windows.net/demos/kodi/MusicRemoteForKodi.mp4

EDIT: How does that compare to playing your ripped music on an Oppo?

That app looks excellent! I've looked for it before on the Android side and have seen it so far. Thinking about grabbing a used ipad just for that app. Looks like you can do most things without even turning on the TV.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Between the PC and the TV; I use the AVR to switch inputs. The TV is Atmos compatible, but I don't think that should matter. Then again, I don't understand why the TV is listed in the Kodi settings instead of the receiver.

What Homer said about the version.

When its correct, the passthrough device should be something like WASAPI - HDMI - AVR name.

Are you using any ARC or eARC?

There are tick boxes to define AVR compatibility for different formats, (ie: Dolby AC3, DTS-MA, Dolby True HD, etc) I don't remember it asking about Atmos compatibility specifically, but I could have missed it. I just tell it to pass everything.

Be sure the channel setup is 7.1, even if the AVR is only 5.1. Let the AVR do the downmix if needed.

If ever you start things up and its not playing channels correctly, check the playback and passthrough device. These settings can sometimes change when windows updates and/or it dosent see the proper driver on bootup. It will default back to the DirectSound driver.