VNC client in Kodi
#1
Question 
I've been using Kodi on Raspberry Pi for 3 years and am grateful to the team and community for having created such an outstanding piece of software!

Every now and then, I need to view some non-media content (usually web browser) on my TV. I've tried a few things:
  1. Dual-boot Raspbian & OSMC (NOOBS) and boot into Raspbian to browse - However, for some reason, OSMC updates don't work reliably with such a setup
  2. I could try to install Kodi over Raspbian but from what I've learnt, the repository only has Isengard
  3. Stream content via RTSP using a .strm file - In this case, there's too large a delay (about 10 seconds) for it to be usable

As of now, the only way I can achieve the desired result, is by connecting my laptop directly to the TV via HDMI, after which I need to also connect a wireless keyboard/mouse in order for the setup to be usable.

Theoretically speaking, what would be the best approach for creating a VNC client for Kodi?

I've had a look at the add-on documentation and I don't see a way to render to the screen directly. The only way I can think of trying to achieve this using the add-on framework, is generating images and rendering those on-screen based on a timer. But that just seems extremely inefficient.

The other solution that I can think of, is implementing a VNC codec that establishes a connection with the server, receives VNC messages and renders content as a video stream. Connection information could be stored in a .vnc file (similar to .strm). Having said that, I have no experience with codecs and I realize I could be headed in absolutely the wrong direction with this idea. Do let me know if that is the case.

I'd love to hear some thoughts on these ideas and other ideas on the subject. I'll definitely consider implementing this if someone can point me in the right direction.

Thanks!
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#2
Thread moved to the Pi section - discussions is not for support requests
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#3
Install a browser in OSMC?
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#4
(2016-07-20, 10:21)DarrenHill Wrote: Thread moved to the Pi section - discussions is not for support requests

This is not a support request. I just wanted to discuss the possibility of implementing a VNC client in Kodi.

(2016-07-20, 10:55)nickr Wrote: Install a browser in OSMC?

As far as I can see, there are no browsers for OSMC yet.

Are discussions regarding VNC on kodi severely discouraged? If so, I'll drop the idea.

Thanks.
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#5
OK, fair point. Add-on development may be a better place for it. Discussions isn't the place though, that's for discussion about Kodi itself.

It depends whether you're aiming this at Pi specifically or something more general. I guess the former, as other platforms would have a solution in place already. But if you're trying to actually view things over VNC I think you may struggle for bandwidth and with how Kodi does its output. But there are others far more clued up on this than I am.

I'll put this into add-on development and see what happens.
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#6
I was considering implementing this across all platforms, but I see your point. As you rightly pointed out, most other platforms already have VNC solutions in place.

I guess I should post this on the osmc forums instead.

Could you point me to the correct files in the Kodi source repo or alternatively some documentation to better understand how Kodi handles output?
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#7
osmc should simply include a browser.
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#8
@singhaxn - from looking in the LE forums, there is the dispmanx add-on in their repo which is supposed to be a VNC client.

Not sure if it's in OSMC or the more general Kodi repo, but it could be something to investigate perhaps?

See this thread for a little more discussion about it (although not much). There's also an old thread on the subject here on the OpenElec forums.
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#9
OSMC runs on top of debian, you should be able to install, say, firefox or chromium.

Pretty sure dispmanx is a server, ie the opposite of what you want.
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#10
(2016-07-20, 17:09)DarrenHill Wrote: @singhaxn - from looking in the LE forums, there is the dispmanx add-on in their repo which is supposed to be a VNC client.

Not sure if it's in OSMC or the more general Kodi repo, but it could be something to investigate perhaps?

See this thread for a little more discussion about it (although not much). There's also an old thread on the subject here on the OpenElec forums.

I did come across the first link while looking for a solution. The LE link was new to me. The trouble with those solutions (as has been pointed out in the LE conversation as well), is that OSMC, LE, OE do not use x11 on RPi. Every existing linux based solution that I know of, relies on x11.

(2016-07-20, 23:47)nickr Wrote: OSMC runs on top of debian, you should be able to install, say, firefox or chromium.

Pretty sure dispmanx is a server, ie the opposite of what you want.

As I said, there is no x11 in OSMC. Therefore, getting an existing browser to run is certainly not trivial. I'd be better off installing Kodi and a browser on Raspbian instead. I'd still prefer remote desktop though, because RPi struggles to run chromium. I'll try that out this weekend and report back on how it goes...

I agree. Apparently, dispmanx is an API used to directly access the GPU on the RPi. dispmanx_vnc is a VNC server built using dispmanx. My guess is, it picks up frames directly from the GPU, which is why it works even without x11.
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