Run Kodi on Your Raspberry Pi. There are two ways of launching Kodi on your Raspberry: i) From the Raspberry Pi Desktop interface. Sound & Video - Kodi. Ii)By executing the command kodi-standalone on the Terminal. Launching Kodi From the Pi Desktop Interface. Click on the berry icon at the top-left corner to open the Applications menu. The XBMC project spread its wings and was renamed Kodi and now supports a range of platforms including Windows, Linux, Amazon Firesticks, Android boxes and the Raspberry Pi. For Pi users there are a number of SD card images you can use that require almost no configuration. Two of the most common Kodi images for the Pi are OSMC and Libreelec.
One of the most popular media players you can have on your Raspberry Pi is Kodi. Previously, we did a post on How to Set up a Plex Server on Raspberry Pi. Unlike the Plex media server, which allows you to stream media files from your PI using a remote client, the Kodi media player plays files directly from your Pi.
Some fantastic features of the Kodi player include:
- Video player: Kodi media player supports various video formats, including MP4, MOV, WMV, FLV, AVI, AVCHD, WebM, and MKV. It supports videos stored locally on Kodi box, files on external storage such as USB drives and Hard drives, and media files on network-attached storage.
- Audio Player: Kodi supports many audio formats. They include MIDI, AIFF, WAV/WAVE, AIFF, MP2, MP3, AAC, AACplus (AAC+), Vorbis, AC3, DTS, ALAC, AMR, and much more.
- Images and Comic Books: If you have images present on your storage media, Kodi will display and arrange them into a slideshow.
- Live TV: With additional set-top tuners and LAN-connected TV tuners, you will be able to use Kodi to watch live broadcasts.
- PVR/DVR: Kodi can be used as a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) or DVR (Digital Video Recorder). The recorded media files are then stored in the connected external storage media.
Installing Kodi on a Raspberry Pi
In this tutorial, we will install Kodi on the Raspbian OS. However, several Raspberry Pi operating systems come pre-installed with Kodi media player. They include LibreELEC, OSMC, or XBian. Our preferred Pi model for this post is Raspberry Pi 4. The more robust processor and increased RAM, the better Kodi will perform on our small board computer.
Requirements:
- Raspberry Pi
- Raspbian OS
- An active internet connection (Ethernet or WI-FI)
- Reliable Power supply
- Display monitor or screen (optional)
- USB Keyboard (optional)
- USB Mouse (optional)
Some of the equipment is marked as optional since they won’t be necessary for the installation process if you have ssh or VNC enabled on your Raspbian OS. To enable these two features on your Raspbian OS, take a look at our posts Connecting to WI-FI & Enabling SSH without the monitor on Raspberry PI, and How to set up a VNC server on Raspberry Pi.
Step 1: Install Raspbian OS on Raspberry Pi
For this step, we have a detailed post that gives you a step-by-step procedure on How to install Raspbian OS on your Raspberry Pi. Some of the requirements include the Raspbian Image file and Balena Etcher to flash the image on your Pi’s SD card. Os x 10.11 el capitan download iso.
Step 2. Install Kodi on Raspberry Pi OS (Raspbian)
This step can be carried out on the Raspberry Pi OS Graphical User Interface using the Terminal or SSH.
1. Start by updating your Raspbian Operating system. Execute the commands below on the Terminal.
2. Once the update process completes, we can go ahead and install Kodi. Execute the command below:
Install Kodi
The time it takes to install Kodi is highly dependent on your internet speed. You will need to have at least 800MB available space on your SD card.
Step 3. Run Kodi on Your Raspberry Pi
There are two ways of launching Kodi on your Raspberry:
i) From the Raspberry Pi Desktop interface. Sound & Video -> Kodi.
ii)By executing the command kodi-standalone on the Terminal.
Launching Kodi From the Pi Desktop Interface
Click on the berry icon at the top-left corner to open the Applications menu. Navigate to Sound & Video -> Kodi.
Launching Kodi From the Terminal
To open Kodi from the Terminal, execute the command below:
If you don’t want Kodi to take over your Terminal session, include an ampersand at the end.
Kodi Window
That’s it! We now have Kodi up and running on our Raspberry Pi. To better your experience with Kodi, you might want to read our post on How to build a Raspberry Pi NAS (Network Attached Storage).
Wrapping Up
I believe this post has given you a clear guide to installing Kodi on your Raspberry Pi. Also, look at our post on How to install OSMC on your Raspberry. OSMC is a media player operating system based on the Kodi project. If you have any questions regarding this post, feel free to leave a comment below.
Kodi is one of the most popular media center applications on earth, and for good reason. The open-source program makes it easy to organize local files and watch streaming media on a wide variety of devices, all with the same highly customizable interface and user-friendly features. And for all of its abilities, Kodi is actually quite a lightweight program, perfectly suited for running on old PCs and other devices – including the tiny and versatile Raspberry Pi. Our favorite little computer is a very popular choice for Kodi users, which is why we’re here to show you how to install Kodi on the Raspberry Pi.
Kodi isn’t an operating system, of course, but there area number of lightweight operating systems that work on the Raspberry Pi while using Kodi as their front end and user interface. The most popular of these are LibreELEC and OSMC. Today, we’ll be showing you how to use LibreELEC. OSMC is very similar, and if for some reason you have strong feelings about this sort of thing, you can find our OSMC guide at Cordcutting.com. For LibreELEC, you’ll have two choices: NOOBS or a direct installation.
How to install Kodi on the Raspberry Pi using NOOBS
LibreELEC is one of the most popular methods for putting Kodi on a Raspberry Pi, so it’s no surprise that we find LibreELEC among the options in NOOBS, a popular operating system installation program for the Raspberry Pi. NOOBS works pretty simply. You just put it on a microSD card, boot your Pi to the card, and choose which operating system you’d like. For a detailed description of how to install NOOBS on the Raspberry Pi, check out our article on the subject.
Once you have NOOBS up and running, you’ll see a list that looks like the one below. LibreELEC is easy to spot – it’s second on the list, with the colorful box-top logo.
To install Kodi on the Raspberry Pi, choose LibreELEC. You can also choose OSMC if you wish – as we mentioned earlier.
How to install Kodi on the Raspberry Pi using LibreELEC
If you don’t want to use NOOBS to install LibreELEC, you can choose to install the operating system directly. The method is pretty similar to one we used to install NOOBS on the Raspberry Pi. We’re going to download LibreELEC, put it on a micro SD card, and then boot the Pi to the SD card (you can also use a USB drive and follow these same instructions).
Step 1: Download and open the LibreELEC’s installer app
First things first. Hop on a computer with a SD card drive and download the LibreELEC USB/SD creator app. Just choose the right download for whatever type of computer you’re using.
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Download finished? Great – go ahead and open that new app! You may have to have administrator privileges to do this.
Step 2: Download the right disc image
LibreELEC’s app makes this process very simple. When you open the creator app, you’ll see four colorful steps. We’re dealing with steps one and two here: select the right version for your Raspberry Pi and then hit “download.” The app will download the right disc image for you. Foolproof, right?
Step 3: Select your SD card
Go ahead and tell the app about your SD card (or USB drive) by choosing it from the drop-down menu.
Step 4: Write to the SD card
This is the easiest step yet: just hit the “write” button and wait for the magic to happen! Once your SD card is created, eject it safely from your computer.
Step 5: Put your SD card into your Raspberry Pi and boot it up
Put everything together and boot up your Raspberry Pi with the SD card in it. You’re home free now – your Pi will boot to Kodi and hit you with a pop-up welcoming you to LibreELEC. Enjoy!
Kodi Raspberry Pi 4 Image
Try out add-ons
Imagen Kodi Raspberry Pi 3 B+
Kodi has a ton to offer to Raspberry Pi users. Though the service made its name as a way to manage local content, there are lots of ways to enjoy streaming content and other types of entertainment on Kodi. Kodi has a ton of “add-ons,” which essentially act as apps within the app. They can allow you to use popular streaming services within Kodi. Just be sure that you’re getting legitimate add-ons – thanks to a number of pirate add-ons, Kodi is now taking pains to certify certain add-ons and disavow others.
For more tips on choosing the right add-ons, check out our list of the best Kodi add-ons over at Cordcutting.com.