Legal Considerations for Kodi

Just as we’ve had to address legal concerns surrounding copyright with previous entries in this book, there are some things to touch on with Kodi. In the form that is built and distributed by the development team, Team Kodi, and the XMBC Foundation, Kodi is completely legal and free from piracy. This is the same version that is distributed in LibreELEC.

Third-party independent developers will sometimes create add-ons for Kodi that enable piracy or illegal torrenting, similar to issues with Android APKs online. This doesn’t mean that Kodi is bad, since it is not a problem unique to Kodi. The same types of software are constantly being built for basically every piece of software and operating system that allows an Internet connection. Team Kodi and the XMBC Foundation both denounce these illicit add-ons.

Basically, if you stick to accessing your own personal media library that you’ve obtained legally, then you are using Kodi for its intended purpose: to make personal media consumption and library organization hassle-free and convenient. With this public service announcement out of the way, let’s jump into some more background on LibreELEC for the Tinker Board and begin the setup process.

CEC

One notable item not in the checklist is CEC (consumer electronics control) . This feature, in the form of a serial bus, along with HDMI allows you to control multiple devices with the same remote control. If you’ve ever had a remote for your television that can also control functions with a DVD player or cable box that was connected via HDMI, then you were using CEC.

There is a note on the GitHub repo’s feature checklist for the LibreELEC Tinker Board port under “Known Issues/Limitations” that CEC is not connected to the SoC, and as a result is unusable, as shown in Figure 8-2.

This is true for the original Tinker Board. In fact, there was a post on the Tinker Board forum by a user who investigated whether CEC would be functional and discovered that it was not hooked up by tracing the signal on the board.² For the Tinker Board S, however, CEC is connected and ready to use. If this feature is of interest to you, especially for something like Kodi, then the Tinker Board S is a better option than the original Tinker Board in this scenario.

LibreELEC ISO for the Tinker Board

You may have noticed in perusing the repo that there isn’t an ISO available for download; it’s all source files. This is on purpose. Since the community builds are not official releases from LibreELEC, often the developers working on side builds are posting their work as a proof of concept or for other developers to view and contribute with the intention that anyone interested at that time would compile their own build, or ISO, to test on the hardware. So how are we going to use LibreELEC?

So far in this book we’ve downloaded precompiled disk images to burn onto our preferred boot media for the Tinker Board. Before we downloaded those images, someone had to compile them or build from source code. For this LibreELEC build, you’re going to be that person. If you’ve never done this before, it may seem intimidating. But after everything we’ve done in this book so far with the terminal and Linux, you should be just fine running your own cross-compilation.

Ubuntu

Since this process for LibreELEC takes place in Linux, we’re going to need access to a Linux operating system to cross-compile. There are a few options for this, but for this tutorial, we’re going to use Ubuntu, a very popular desktop Linux distribution that many people use as their daily operating system. After using TinkerOS you’re guaranteed to be able to navigate Ubuntu comfortably.

There are a few options for how to run Ubuntu. You can run it from a bootable USB drive on your main computer. This is a very popular option for people who have only one computer and do not want to commit to using Ubuntu full time. The installation process allows Ubuntu to be run live from the USB without affecting your main system. Normally, it doesn’t matter too much what size USB drive you use for a live Ubuntu installation, but for cross-compiling you will want to use one that is at least 64GB in size.

You can also set up a virtual machine (VM) for those who utilize virtualization. Much as with the USB size consideration, you will want to make sure that you allocate enough processes for it. You can also, of course, run a full install of Ubuntu on a computer to have a dedicated Linux system. You can do this by buying or building a computer from scratch for this purpose or by installing Ubuntu onto an internal hard drive and then attaching it to your computer’s motherboard. It is recommended to detach your main system’s hard drives while utilizing this approach to avoid any storage issues. This is also only suggested for people who have experience with desktop computer hardware.

Finally, you could also run Ubuntu on a single-board computer. There are many builds available for different platforms. This avoids touching or affecting your main computer in any way; however, the cross compilation process will definitely be slower than the other options, and storage space could also be a concern in this configuration. There is also a chance that the SoC’s architecture could cause unexpected incompatibilities at points during the compilation and cause a failure.

Bootable USB for Ubuntu

For the purposes of this chapter, we’re going to use the bootable USB option for Ubuntu since it offers minimum risk to your hardware while also having a high chance of a successful compilation. We will go over the basics of creating a bootable USB for Ubuntu, but it is recommended to follow along directly with the resources provided by Canonical, the maintainers of Ubuntu, on the official Ubuntu web site ( https://www.ubuntu.com ) in case there are any changes.

The first step, no matter which operating system you’re working on, is to format your USB drive. You’ll want to format the drive as FAT or FAT32. After that, you’ll download the Ubuntu ISO from Ubuntu and using a disk imaging tool, either Etcher, Rufus, or a built-in program, you’ll write the ISO to your USB drive, the same way we’ve imaged all the operating systems so far for the Tinker Board.

After the USB is all set, you’ll reboot your computer and navigate to either the BIOS, for Windows and Linux, or the bootpicker, for macOS, to choose to boot into Ubuntu on the USB drive. Traditionally in Windows and Linux you’ll hold down F12 to access this. For macOS, hold down ALT to access the bootpicker.

Run the Cross-Compilation

After you finish setting up Ubuntu and feel comfortable with the GUI, we can get started with the cross-compilation process. We’ll be following the cross-compile instructions from LibreELEC.⁴ Check to make sure you have an Internet connection and then navigate to the terminal in Ubuntu. If you haven’t already, run sudo apt-get update followed by sudo apt-get upgrade. Then, to be on the safe side, reboot Ubuntu using sudo reboot.

After that, install the dependencies for the cross-compile by running sudo apt install gcc make git unzip wget xz-utils. Many of these come preconfigured on Ubuntu, but it’s always good to double-check. Next, we’re going to clone the GitHub repository for LibeELEC, just as we cloned the C and Python GPIO libraries in TinkerOS for the GPIO chapter. To do this, we’re going to run git clone https://github.com/LibreELEC/LibreELEC.tv.git .

Next, we’re going to move into the LibreELEC.tv folder by running cd ~/LibreELEC.tv. If you cloned the repo into a different folder than the Home folder, then you’ll of course have to change into that directory.

The next and final step is to initiate the cross-compilation. Again, this will take a minimum of two to three hours, so be sure that you’re ready to commit to the process before starting. The cross-compile for LibreELEC is based in a make file. The make file requires that you select the project, device (if named), and architecture that you’re building for. If you refer to the Tinker Board’s LibreELEC repo page, at the bottom these specifications are listed for the Tinker Board, PROJECT=Rockchip DEVICE=TinkerBoard ARCH=arm, as shown in Figure 8-3. Notice that PROJECT, DEVICE, and ARCHITECTURE must appear in all caps, and there are no spaces between the equal sign and the named parameters. This is all very important to the make file’s syntax.

Once you’re sure you’re ready to begin the cross compile, enter

PROJECT=Rockchip DEVICE=TinkerBoard ARCH=arm make image

into the terminal, and the process will begin. The terminal will have text scrolling by extremely fast and will also seem to suddenly pause and start-up again. This is all normal while all the scripts in the make file run. Do not exit the terminal window, and to be on the safe side don’t try to run any other tasks while the cross-compile is running. It’s best to let all the computer’s resources be dedicated to the build.

Note

If you want to know more about LibreELEC’s compilation process, see their wiki entry on the topic here: https://wiki.libreelec.tv/compile .

Burn the ISO

After the cross-compile finishes, navigate to the LibreELEC.tv folder via Ubuntu’s GUI. Locate the target folder and open it. There you’ll see the ISO file in an img.gz format. You’ll notice that there are a few other file types in the folder, as shown in Figure 8-4.

If you remember the downloads available for Lakka (Figure 7-2 in Chapter 7) for the Tinker Board, you’ll notice that your freshly compiled LibreELEC files are identical file types. This is again related to the fact that Lakka is a fork of LibreELEC.

To make things simple, you can burn the ISO directly in Ubuntu to either an SD card or the eMMC on the Tinker Board S. Download Etcher from etcher.io and then launch the program. As discussed in Chapter 3, the GUI is identical in Etcher across platforms. Then, load the img.gz file, select your media, and then burn the ISO. After Etcher finishes, you’re ready to boot into LibreELEC on the Tinker Board.

First Boot

During the first boot of LibreELEC, you’ll be brought through a setup wizard that will help you get started, as shown in Figure 8-5.

In the first step, you’ll be asked if you want to change the hostname to reflect where the device is located. This is helpful if you have multiple devices running LibreELEC, since the default hostname is simply “LibreELEC.” For this chapter, we’re going to leave the default hostname.

Next, you’ll be prompted to connect to a Wi-Fi network. A list of available networks will appear at the bottom of the window. Select your network and enter your password to connect. After that, you’ll have the opportunity to turn SSH and Samba services on. If you don’t turn them on now, don’t worry—we’ll be going over all these important settings shortly; including SSH and Samba.

Finally, to close out the wizard, the final window acts as a thank you from LibreELEC for choosing to run LibreELEC. It also lists some information on the LibreELEC project that we also discussed at the beginning of this chapter.

After going through the initial setup, you’ll see the default GUI layout, as shown in Figure 8-6.

On the left, there are media categories, such as Movies, Music, TV Shows, and so on. In the top-right corner, you’ll see a clock, and in the top-left corner below the Kodi logo you’ll see icons for Power, Settings, and Search. The Power icon allows you to shut down the system, shut down the system with a delay by setting up a timer, and reboot the system, as shown in Figure 8-7. The Shutdown with delay option allows you to enter in the delay in the form of minutes, similar to shutdown timers you may have seen on televisions.

System Settings

The cog wheel icon brings you to the System settings page, as shown in Figure 8-8. On this page you can access a variety of settings to fully configure and set up Kodi. We’re going to look at a few important settings that we’ll be referencing throughout the chapter.

System Info

First let’s look at System Info, which will display everything you need to know about your Tinker Board while it’s running Kodi. The Summary page shows how much memory you have available, the IP address (which we’ll need shortly), the screen resolution, and system uptime. At the bottom of the screen for all the categories in System info you’ll also see a live status bar showing system CPU usage and system memory usage, as shown in Figure 8-9.

Storage shows you the storage devices currently connected to the Tinker Board and their index address. Network shows you more detailed network information, including the MAC address. Video shows information on the GPU and OpenGL version. Finally, Hardware shows information on the CPU along with the current temperature of the CPU.

One important note about LibreELEC currently for the Tinker Board is that it causes the Tinker Board to run a bit hot, with an average temperature of 150° to 160°F or 65° to 71°C with the stock heatsink installed. If you’re planning to run this long-term, especially in an enclosed area, you may want to consider adding a fan or larger heat sink to the Tinker Board’s cooling solution.

System

The System category holds settings for video, audio, controllers, and other similar options. Under Display, you can change the resolution and refresh rate, as shown in Figure 8-10. The Tinker Board can push 4K/30 comfortably, but anything above that is not guaranteed to play back smoothly.

Under Audio you can change the audio output device, with choices for HDMI, 3.5mm jack, and Bluetooth Audio, as shown in Figure 8-11. You can also change volume settings and GUI sound effects.

The Input tab lets you change peripheral and control settings. Kodi supports the use of mouse and keyboard, gaming remotes, and traditional remote controls. Basically, if it can connect successfully, then you can use it. If you want to use a keyboard but not a mouse, you can use the arrow keys along with the Enter, backspace, and Esc keys to navigate.

Internet access allows you to further configure your connection settings for more advanced users. Power saving has settings for saving energy, such as putting the display to sleep when the device is not in use, Add-ons has options for updating any add-ons you have installed, and Logging has settings for debugging. If you’re interested in tracking event logs and other logs, you’ll want to take a closer look at these settings. These logs can be especially helpful if you’re planning to contribute to LibreELEC.

LibreELEC Settings

The LibreELEC icon in the bottom-right corner holds a lot of the main system settings. Under System, you can set up backups for Kodi and configure system updates. Network has more advanced Network settings beyond those available under System. Connections shows all the Internet connections available to the Tinker Board, as well as their IP addresses, states and connection types.

The LibreELEC Services are very important. Here you can configure settings for Samba, SSH, Avahi and Bluetooth, as shown in Figure 8-12.

You’ll want to enable Samba, since we’ll be using it for sharing files over the network. You’ll want to make note of the minimum and maximum supported protocols. By default, the minimum is SMB2 and the maximum is SMB3. Depending on the system you’re trying to connect to, you may need to change the minimum support protocol to SMB1.

SSH, of course, allows us to access a terminal to communicate directly with LibreELEC. Be sure to enable this if you need to do that. You would follow the same instructions that we went over when accessing Lakka via SSH. And finally, if you have any Bluetooth devices that you want to use, you’ll need to enable Bluetooth at the very bottom of this menu. Otherwise you won’t be able to connect. After enabling Bluetooth you’ll be able to go to the Bluetooth tab directly underneath Settings to configure any devices, whether they be controllers, speakers, or other items.

Note

To use Bluetooth audio, you’ll need to configure it both here and under Audio in the System category that we just went over.

Services

The main feature found in Services that we’ll be utilizing is UPnP/DLNA. Under that section you can enable UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) support and affect settings associated with UPnP. We’ll be using UPnP to stream media from a Windows computer later, so if this is of interest to you then you should turn this service on; otherwise it will not work.

The settings for the File Manager, Add-ons, Player, Media, PVR & Live TV, Interface, and Profiles are all meant to customize Kodi to your preferences and needs. As a result, we won’t go in-depth for these menus. It’s recommended to reference documentation from Kodi to go fully in-depth on everything that is available.

Note

You’ve probably noticed that a lot of these category and settings names are a bit repetitive, which can be confusing. Once you get more familiar with Kodi, the navigation for settings will become more intuitive.

USB Storage

Utilizing a USB drive, whether a flash drive or an external hard drive, is probably the easiest method for accessing media with Kodi. First, you’ll need to prepare your files. It’s recommended to label all of your media files in a cohesive way and organize them by folder where applicable; especially when separating video files from audio files. Once that’s all set, load your files onto your USB device and plug it into one of the Tinker Board’s USB ports.

After you connect the drive, a pop-up window will open, asking whether you want to browse videos, music, pictures, or files. You can access your files directly like this or navigate to one of the menu items, such as Movies, and navigate to the drive from there. The menu item categories will show the USB drive with its name next to a small USB port icon, as shown in Figure 8-13. Clicking on it will allow you to go through the file directory of the drive. As long as your USB device remains connected to the Tinker Board, your media will remain accessible in Kodi.

Loading Media to Local Storage over the Network

In the previous chapter, we loaded ROMs over the network from a computer to Lakka’s file directory. LibreELEC has that same ability using the same steps. First, find your Tinker Board’s IP address by navigating to Settings ➤ LibreELEC ➤ Connections or Settings ➤ System Info ➤ Summary. Then, if you haven’t already, make sure that Samba is enabled by checking Settings ➤ LibreELEC ➤ Services.

After everything is all set on the Tinker Board side, navigate to your computer’s file directory and connect to the Tinker Board using the IP address that we just looked up. After connecting you should see Kodi’s file directory, as shown in Figure 8-14.

Now you can drag and drop media files to be played locally in Kodi. If you have a USB device connected to the Tinker Board, that device will also show up in the file directory and will have read/write abilities so that you won’t have to worry about filling up your SD card or eMMC.

Network Streaming

Network media streaming is more complicated than our previous two methods. Successfully streaming media over the network depends on a variety of factors, including the platform you’re streaming from, whether it be Windows, macOS, Linux, or a third-party NAS box. However, network streaming is a big reason to use software like Kodi, especially running on the Tinker Board. When it’s running properly, you can have access to your entire media library from a device that fits in the palm of your hand.

There are a few available protocols to create a network connection within Kodi. You can use NFS, SMB, UPnP, or a dedicated server protocol such as FTP or a web server. Here we’re going to discuss NFS, SMB, and UPnP.

macOS NFS Configuration

Here you’re selecting the file path for the folder you want to share and then listing the permissions. For this example, we’re using -ro, which is read only, -mapall=nobody, which allows all users to have the same clearance, and then -alldirs 111.111.1.1, which gives access to all the file directories within the specified path if you’re accessing it from that IP address; it should be the IP of the Tinker Board.

After you’ve finished editing /etc/exports, save and close the file. Return to the terminal and enter sudo nfsd restart to restart the NFS shared folder. Any time you edit /etc/exports, you’ll need to reboot the server so that the new settings go into effect.

Linux NFS Configuration

Here, much as in macOS, you’re listing the file path for the folder you want to share, followed by the Tinker Board’s IP address, and then in parentheses the parameters for the file share. We’re using some default options suggested by Kodi in their wiki for NFS that allow for read/write and all UIDs. The insecure parameter allows Kodi to access the folder without root privileges. Notice that there are no spaces between the parentheses or commas.

Save and exit the file by typing control+X, agreeing to save by entering Y. This will bring you back to the terminal. Next, reboot the server to have the changes go into effect by entering sudo service nfs-kernel-server restart. Now we can head back to the Tinker Board to connect to an NFS file share.

Connecting Kodi to an NFS Share

On the main Kodi landing page, select the media type associated with your setup’s NFS file share, whether it be movies, music, or whatever. Once in that folder, go down to the bottom of the page and select +Add [videos/music/etc]. This will open a window to add a source, as shown in Figure 8-15. Select the Browse button. This opens a list of available file share types to create a new share. Select Network File System (NFS).

After a few seconds, if everything is configured properly, a new window should open, listing the IP address for the device on which you just set up an NFS share. Select that IP address and then click OK. This will bring you back to the original Add source window, this time with your NFS share selected, as shown in Figure 8-16.

The syntax should show nfs://111.111.1.1/. If everything matches, enter a name for the NFS share and click OK at the bottom of the window. You should then see your newly named NFS file share listed as a file source, as shown in Figure 8-17.

Note

The NFS setting examples that were used for both macOS and Linux are not secure. For experimental use they are fine, but for long-term use you’ll want to research security settings that are right for your setup.

Windows Setup

On your Windows 10 computer, navigate to the Network and Sharing Center in the Control Panel. Select “Change advanced sharing settings,” which will bring you to the Advanced Settings page. Here you’ll want to turn on the first two options available: Network Discovery and File and Printer Sharing. After enabling both of those options, scroll down to the section that says All Networks. Expand that section and under Media Streaming click “Choose media streaming options,” as shown in Figure 8-18.

A new window will open with a dialog box about media streaming. Click the “Turn on media streaming” button as shown in Figure 8-19. This will open a new window that shows a newly created media library server. You can rename the server to anything you want here. You’ll also be able to see other network-connected media devices. If your Tinker Board is on and running Kodi, you will also see a Kodi LibreELEC device. Click OK to save your changes, which will bring you back to the Network Settings page. Double-check that both Network Discovery and File and Printer Sharing are turned on and then click Save Changes to exit the window.

Now navigate to the File Explorer. Click the Network option on the side panel and you should see your newly created media library as a Media Device, as shown in Figure 8-20.

Connecting UPnP Media Server in Kodi

Before connecting to the shared library, make sure you’ve enabled UPnP on Kodi by going to Settings ➤ Services ➤ UPnP/DLNA. Then, just as you did setting up NFS in Kodi, navigate to Add a Media Source and click Browse. In the list of new share options, scroll down to the UPnP devices. You should see your Media Library appear in the next window as an option to connect to, as shown in Figure 8-21.

Once you select the Media Library, you’ll be able to target specific folders. It’s recommended to map the Music folder to the Music category in Kodi and the Videos folder to the Movies or TV Shows category in Kodi. You can also target specific subfolders as well.

After you select your folder, you’ll be brought to the main Add Source window with a upnp:// address specific to your Media Library, as shown in Figure 8-22. Give your source a name and then click OK to connect to the Media Library. After that you’ll see it as an option in your media list.