[GUIDE] Kodi on Volumio 2.x -> Install on a nonvolumio image

[Saiyato]

@balbuze

warning !!!
firts installation was fine on volumio 2.041
But I did it three time with last dev version and it kills the system : after installation and doesn’t boot anymore !

First of all, thanks for testing! Did you use the attached zip or the one in the repo? I think the repo one was not updated correctly…

Also I’m re-investigating the DAC problem, thought I had solved it, but it turns out I didn’t… If you find a solution, please let me know

[balbuze]

Hi!
I use the zip attached.
For the dac, I commented bcmxxx in modules. I also added dtoverlay=iqaudio-dacplus in /boot/config.txt. Not sure the second one is useful but now it is ok.
Remains the problem with dev version of volumio. Afte plugin install it can’t boot anymore. And at a very early stage of boot, before screen initialisation - so no message.

[Saiyato]

Hi there! I’m not sure I follow your reasoning everywhere, so let me see if I understand it correctly first

But there is no need to use pass-through or is there? Kodi shares the soundcard with mpd, shairport or other services you throw at it. If the sound card is used by another program, kodi will fallback at another option (usual HDMI), which is annoying, but it doesn’t influence sound quality.

Well that was my question a bit, it depends on your receiver really. I use Kodi with passthru, so the sound over HDMI should not be tampered with and my receiver will decode the sound. Meaning I use the add-on board for Volumio and passthru for movie watching.
I cannot really find an answer to the question: is passthru really lossless and should a good DAC sound as good (or better, depending on quality obviously) as using for example a hifiberry board?

Which connection is more prone to lossy transfer:

rPi > HDMI (passthru) > DAC > Amplifier > speakers
or
rPi > I2S > Amplifier > speakers

Great! The KALI buffers the audio for exactly 0.7 seconds to replace the clock data, to reduce jitter. So it’s always 0.7 no matter the source, since this delay is made by the hardware. I’m not really sure what you mean by ‘even if you re-install.’ You mean if you reinstall Volumio alltogether? It should, as long as the KALI is present.

Yes I meant to ask if the delay changes upon reinstalling/reimaging volumio. To save time I wanted to make a toggle switch (off = no delay, on = delay) on the config page.

Ideally you’d be able to do this indeed. I tried this, however, the asound.conf settings seem to be overridden by something. At least in my setup (RPI 2 > KALI > Piano DAC). I suspect /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf overrides the asound.conf but I couldn’t find any documentation on it (and I didn’t dig thru the code yet).

Maybe someone else know this?

I’ve been tinkering all day now, finally I think I got it right… Adding either the .asoundrc or asound.conf did change the default ALSA output device (is this what they call the ‘sink’?). I tested this using the following command:

aplay -D default /volumio/app/startup.wav

But Kodi only seemed affected by changing the alsa.conf, it almost seemed as if Kodi loads it’s output settings from that file only. Adding the asound.conf as mentioned on many sites does give an extra option (ALSA default), but playback is sent to HDMI nonetheless.

However the contents were not right for our situation, the asound.conf does in fact override settings from the alsa.conf. So all we need to do it put those exact settings in the override file:

asound.conf

defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.ctl.card 1

I have checked the code in locally, will upload to github later tonight.

Updates:

1. Added the ALSA override (also in the installscript, if you upgrade you need to write the asound.conf once).
2. Added the delay (as a toggle switch) for the Kali reclocker for Kodi.

Still todo:

1. fix the first run pop-up…

[Saiyato]

Attached the latest version, just uploaded all new code to github

[Saiyato]

Wow, major bug! Accidentally removed the 99-input.rules by copying too much for the asound.conf… Mi scusi!

You can either run:

echo "SUBSYSTEM==\"input\", GROUP=\"input\", MODE=\"0660\" KERNEL==\"tty[0-9]*\", GROUP=\"tty\", MODE=\"0660\"" | sudo tee -a /etc/udev/rules.d/99-input.rules

!!Please keep the EOL in mind (must be UNIX).

Or install the attached version (1.1.4).
volumio-kodi-plugin_1.1.4.zip (207 KB)

[fai]

Hi Saiyato. Thank you and great job on the Kodi plugin, especially for a Linux noob like me.

I created a fresh install of Volumio 2.041, set the soundcard output, rebooted.

Then installed the kodi plugin, rebooted.

Volumio starts up but screen is stuck at volumio login:_

Kodi does not launch.

Did I do something wrong?

[Saiyato]

Hi Fai,

After successful installation and reboot you need to ‘start’ the plugin. You can do this on the plugins page, just ‘flick the switch’.
If you are using a Pi3 it might take a few seconds (some wifi errors can occur).

If you really doubt it you can SSH into the pi and type “systemctl start kodi”.

Please post back if you have any troubles.

[fai]

Hi Saiyato.

Yes I did start the plugin. Something I failed to mention. So the sequence is as follows:

Flash volumio, boot up, select sound card. Reboot.
Install Kodi plugin. Reboot.
Activate Kodi plugin. Reboot.
Volumio successfully starts up. HDMI screen display stuck at volumio login:_

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance once again.

[Saiyato]

@fai

Hi Saiyato.

Yes I did start the plugin. Something I failed to mention. So the sequence is as follows:

Flash volumio, boot up, select sound card. Reboot.
Install Kodi plugin. Reboot.
Activate Kodi plugin. Reboot.
Volumio successfully starts up. HDMI screen display stuck at volumio login:_

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance once again.

It sounds like installation failed, did you wait the installation out? There’s a bug in the plugin-installer that causes another ‘pop-up’ to show, you need to wait 'till the top one shows ‘installation successful’.
The close button should not be visible, this will be fixed later on obviously, instead just refresh the page (this causes the pop-ups to disappear), don’t do this during installation though!

The correct sequence should be:

1. Flash the SD-card
2. Configure volumio (select a DAC and so on)
3. Install the Kodi plugin → wait it out, this might take a few minutes
4. Reboot the Pi
5. If need be reconfigure using the plugin settings page, updating the hdmi/gpu settings will need another reboot, the rest just needs a restart of Kodi

Can you check if the kodi executable is there?

volumio@volumio:~$ ls -al /usr/bin/kodi
kodi             kodi-standalone
volumio@volumio:~$ ls -al /usr/bin/kodi-standalone
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2003 May  1  2016 /usr/bin/kodi-standalone
volumio@volumio:~$

If not, then installation failed. The last step in the script is creating the systemd unit, the following command should output text:
“cat /etc/systemd/system/kodi.service”

The process tree should show Kodi when the plugin is activated:

volumio@volumio:~$ pstree systemd-+-2*[agetty] |-avahi-daemon---avahi-daemon |-dbus-daemon |-2*[dhcpcd] |-dhcpd |-dnsmasq |-hotspot.sh---hostapd |-kodi-standalone---kodi---kodi.bin-+-2*[{AESink}] | |-{ActiveAE} | |-4*[{CECAdapter}] | |-{CRBPWorker} | |-{EventServer} | |-{FDEventMonitor} | |-{HCEC Notify} | |-{HDispmanx Notif} | |-{HTV Notify} | |-{ILCS_HOST} | |-{LanguageInvoker} | |-{PeripBusUSBUdev} | |-{TCPServer} | |-{Timer} | |-{VCHIQ completio} | `-9*[{kodi.bin}] |-mpd-+-{decoder} | |-{io} | |-{output:alsa} | `-{player} |-netplugd |-nmbd---nmbd |-node-+-sh---node-+-3*[node-+-4*[{V8 WorkerThread}]] | | | `-{node}] | | |-4*[{V8 WorkerThread}] | | `-{node} | |-4*[{V8 WorkerThread}] | `-7*[{node}] |-ntpd |-polkitd-+-{gdbus} | `-{gmain} |-rpc.idmapd |-rpc.statd |-rpcbind |-shairport-sync---2*[{shairport-sync}] |-smbd---smbd |-sshd---sshd---sshd---bash---pstree |-systemd---(sd-pam) |-systemd-journal |-systemd-logind |-systemd-udevd |-udisks-daemon-+-udisks-daemon | `-{gdbus} |-udisks-glue |-upmpdcli---7*[{upmpdcli}] |-upowerd-+-{gdbus} | `-{gmain} |-volumio-remote- `-winbindd---3*[winbindd]

If all the above doesn’t provide a solution you can check the Kodi crashlog, which is located here: /home/kodi/kodi_crashlog-yyyyMMdd_hhmmss.log

[Saiyato]

For the new people to this thread:

Q: How do I start Kodi?
A: Just start the plugin in Volumio

Q: The plugin doesn’t install properly, help?!
A: This is a known issue in the latest image (2.041), just let it run until the ‘installed successfully’ message appears, reboot and you’re good to go.

Q: What settings require a reboot?
A: gpu_mem and hdmi_force_hotplug require a reboot, the other settings just require Kodi to be restarted.

Q: Why must I configure the DAC before installing the Kodi plugin?
A: Because Volumio rewrites the /boot/config.txt, meaning all changes are lost, the most important settings is gpu_mem, 16MB is far from enough.

Q: Does this plugin run on my BBB/rPiB(+)?
A: It should run, but don’t expect it to run smoothly, I gave up on testing on the Pi1 some months ago due to performance issues.

Q: Can I use my DAC for both Volumio and Kodi?
A: Yes, but I advise you to turn off the keep-alive in Kodi (as a matter of fact I will try to do this in the next version of the installation script).

Q: I keep getting the first use pop-up in Kodi, is this normal behavior?
A: Yes and no, exiting Kodi once using the exit button should fix this problem, if not check the logs, you might not have enough rights to write the setting.

[fai]

Hi Saiyato,

I’m not sure if I am doing this right:

volumio@volumio:~$ ls -al /usr/bin/kodi -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5197 May 1 2016 /usr/bin/kodi volumio@volumio:~$ ls -al /usr/bin/kodi-standalone -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2003 May 1 2016 /usr/bin/kodi-standalone

“cat /etc/systemd/system/kodi.service” results below:

[code]volumio@volumio:~$ cat /etc/systemd/system/kodi.service
[Unit]
Description = Kodi Media Center

# if you don't need the MySQL DB backend, this should be sufficient
After = systemd-user-sessions.service network.target sound.target

# if you need the MySQL DB backend, use this block instead of the previous
#After = systemd-user-sessions.service network.target sound.target mysql.service
#Wants = mysql.service

[Service]
User = kodi
#Group = root
Type = simple
#PAMName = login # you might want to try this one, did not work on all systems
ExecStart = /usr/bin/kodi-standalone -- :0 -nolisten tcp vt7
Restart = on-abort
RestartSec = 5

[Install]
WantedBy = multi-user.target[/code]

[Saiyato]

The fact that the script is there should point towards successful installation. Are there any crash logs in /home/kodi/? And are more created every time you stop and start the Kodi plugin?

[balbuze]

Hi
With a small modification in install script I managed to install the plugin on pine64 (aarch64 CPU). It fails to start because it can’t find libEGL . Maybe it is missing in the last version? I have no time now to investigate. But it may be a issue for the problem above.

[fai]

The fact that the script is there should point towards successful installation. Are there any crash logs in /home/kodi/? And are more created every time you stop and start the Kodi plugin?

Here’s what I got. Seems like there’s no crash logs generated?

volumio@volumio:/home/kodi$ ls -a . .. .kodi volumio@volumio:/home/kodi$ cat /home/kodi/kodi_crashlog-yyyyMMdd_hhmmss.log cat: /home/kodi/kodi_crashlog-yyyyMMdd_hhmmss.log: No such file or directory

[Saiyato]

Update: the plugin doesn’t work with image 2.092, will be tending to that this weekend.

As for your question fai, could you post the results of “ls -al /home/kodi/”?

[fai]

As for your question fai, could you post the results of “ls -al /home/kodi/”?

Hi Saiyato. I’ve placed this endeavour on hold for now as I was intending to use volumio as a dlna renderer. To simplify things I’m using a diet pi / kodi setup now which achieves the same with kodi as a dlna renderer.

I am helping another Friend with his volumio / kodi setup and will post the results in due course.

Thank you for the help thus far.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Saiyato]

After some successful tests I think it’s now ready to be used, the problem with the new images (2.092/2.096) should be fixed. I also added new settings which were needed to solve the problem:

gpu_mem_1024 (rpi 2b and higher)
gpu_mem_512 (rpi a+, b, b+ and zero)
gpu_mem_256 (rpi a)

Happy testing!
volumio-kodi-plugin_1.2.3.zip (207 KB)

[fai]

Great news Saiyato. The new plugin works and kodi launches. Great job and thanks.

However now the kodi plugin settings in volumio does not show options to choose sound card audio output. It’s just a blank page when selecting plugin settings. So kodi only works on HDMI audio out for now.

Did I miss something here? The sound card output was set to iqa dac+ before installing the plugin.

Brilliant!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jedail]

@fai

Great news Saiyato. The new plugin works and kodi launches. Great job and thanks.

However now the kodi plugin settings in volumio does not show options to choose sound card audio output. It’s just a blank page when selecting plugin settings. So kodi only works on HDMI audio out for now.

Did I miss something here? The sound card output was set to iqa dac+ before installing the plugin.

Brilliant!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great job Saiyato,
Do you plan to use plugin option to setup choose sound card audio output for Kodi ? I’m currently using Hifiberry DAC for Volumio and HDMI for Kodi as I don’t want to share the same audio output for both ?

[Saiyato]

@fai

Great news Saiyato. The new plugin works and kodi launches. Great job and thanks.

However now the kodi plugin settings in volumio does not show options to choose sound card audio output. It’s just a blank page when selecting plugin settings. So kodi only works on HDMI audio out for now.

Did I miss something here? The sound card output was set to iqa dac+ before installing the plugin.

Thanks fai! Did you use the latest version I uploaded? You might need to wait a bit, if the plugin was installed seconds ago the pi can still be quite busy.
Attached you will find the plugin settings screen, please note that I made some last minute translation changes, these will be in the next release.

@jedail

Do you plan to use plugin option to setup choose sound card audio output for Kodi ? I’m currently using Hifiberry DAC for Volumio and HDMI for Kodi as I don’t want to share the same audio output for both ?

Hi, this should work out-of-the-box. Because that is exactly my setup at the moment. Same goes for you, if you go into the settings page you will find the setting “Enable DAC output for Kodi”, if that setting it set to false you will have HDMI output for both video and sound.