[Quastenflosser]

Hello I am on OSMC 2020.11 Kodi 18.9 on a RPI3 and I would like to update.
However, I feel my installation is somehow deficient:
A lot of plugins don't work properly.
No TV related media services ("Mediatheken") works.
No update notification pops up.
YT is a nightmare.
The TV recognises KODI only after restarting KODI.
...

There are two ways to update:
1. Update the current version through KODI itself. How would I best do this?
2. Install KODI on another SD-card afresh. This is my preferred option. However there are two issues with this. I really wish to retain some user data - first and foremost the seen/unseen-status but also playlists. How would this be possible? I would also like to switch from OSMC to OpenElec.

Related to #2 is the following problem: I tried to copy my old KODI installation to my harddrive under Ubuntu 21. But I could not access the files because the owner is "root". Is it really impossible to read the SD-card outside the original KODI environment? I hoped I just could copy the user data from the old to the new sd-card and just plug it in.
Any help would be appreciated.

[wastis]

I would also like to switch from OSMC to OpenElec.

I think OpenElec is dead. Go for LibreElec or "Kodi on Raspberry OS Lite".

But I could not access the files because the owner is "root". Is it really impossible to read the SD-card outside the original KODI environment?

It is possible. I would recommend to tar the directory in question in command line with sudo.
You can also change the ownership of the files on the sd-card with chown.
 

Code:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER path_to_e.g.kodi_folder

You mainly need the database under the .kodi/userdata however better to backup the entire .kodi folder under ubuntu folder with
 

Code:

sudo tar -czf /home/$USER/kodi.tgz .kodi

Also visit HOW-TO:Install_Kodi_on_Raspberry_Pi (wiki)

[Klojum]

Hello I am on OSMC 2020.11 Kodi 18.9 on a RPI3 and I would like to update.

LibreELEC 10.x for RPi3 is not fully functional. For example, support for HEVC decoding is broken, and may not be fixed at all, given that LibreELEC now has a new video driver standard in use.
Unless it's absolutely necessary, I recommend you stay at Kodi 18.9.

However, I feel my installation is somehow deficient:

The RPi 3 has had a great run, but is basically EOL. It is missing support for the new(er) formats such as HEVC, 10bit, etcetera.

[Quastenflosser]

Thank you for your replies. I have managed to copy the KODI installation!! So there is no way to go for KODI 19 or KODI 20 on a RPI3? I thought this would be pretty easy. I would not insist on using LibreELEC, I just thought this might be easier and I had mixed experiences with OSMC.

[Klojum]

So there is no way to go for KODI 19 or KODI 20 on a RPI3?

The RPi 0-3 have an outdated video graphics card that will very likely no longer be supported. There are some Kodi 19/20 testbuilds for the RPi3 AFAIK, but expect breakage.
Running Kodi 18.9 on the RPi3 should be rock solid. I can't imagine what would require the need for upgrading further. It's either that, or upgrade your hardware.

[wastis]

Is possible, I have Kodi 19.4 running on RPi 2 & 3. It works very smooth as long as you stick to x264 coded material.  I did an installation on RPi OS Lite, Kodi 19.4 works out of the box, no issues so far. I can't tell for LibreElec.

[wastis]

I can't imagine what would require the need for upgrading further.

1. Addon support
2. Shared database on the network.

[Quastenflosser]

Is possible, I have Kodi 19.4 running on RPi 2 & 3. It works very smooth as long as you stick to x264 coded material.  I did an installation on RPi OS Lite, Kodi 19.4 works out of the box, no issues so far. I can't tell for LibreElec.

So I should check my material for its codes... Basically the experience with 18.9 hasn't been so great so I thought an update would help...

[wastis]

whatever you where able to play in Kodi 18.9 will play on Kodi 19. Most stuff is x264 anyway, unless you want 4k, however 4k/x265 is not possible on Pi3, regardless of kodi version due to hardware limitations.

[Nachteule]

I would now like to add my contribution:

I never understood why native Rpi support was kicked to the curb with Kodi 19. Dropping a well working solution was a very very stupid decision for me.

Of course you can argue that with Kodi 18 blah blah blah it works. But for me its very poor reasoning. What do users do with a central database for example?

But anyway

For this reason, I had decided to keep this support in XBian. This is still happening today.
So, 1080p HEVC playback (8 and 10bit with limitation) still works fine (assuming Kernel 5.4.x) up to Kodi 20 A3 on my Pi3B+.

HTH