[SofaKng]

I'm running Ubuntu 16.04 with a minimal install on an Intel i3-6100 CPU.

I've read that it's possible to run Kodi without any window managers (using Linux KMS/DRM) but it immediately crashes and the error log says "FATAL: CApplication::Create: Unable to init windowing system". (http://pastebin.com/em8GMnsa)

What am I doing wrong? I'm running /usr/bin/kodi-standalone.

[jrocky]

have you installed a login manager like lightdm

Am unsure this will work but worth a try time to create a user called kodi
as root
adduser --disabled-password --gecos kodi
usermod -a -G cdrom,audio,video,plugdev,users,dialout,dip,input,netdev kodi
then type this
echo "[Seat:*]" > /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
echo "autologin-user=kodi" >> /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
echo "autologin-session=kodi-standalone >> /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

echo will write it to file am still learning but worth try to help you out

[wsnipex]

you need an X server on x86.

[SofaKng]

Thanks so much for the replies.

I'm primarily a Windows user (and developer) so maybe I am asking for the wrong thing.

My goal is to run Kodi and RetroArch (emulator) on the same machine, but I want the absolute lowest input latency for RetroArch. According to their wiki, the best way to run RetroArch is using KMS outside of Xorg (and without a window manager?)

Is this possible to have a setup where I can switch between Kodi and RetroArch using Advanced Launcher (or something else?) and still have KMS-mode for RetroArch for the low latency?

I'm trying to understand the relationships between Linux and the graphics driver, Xorg, Xsessions, window managers, KMS mode, etc. It's a little confusing even after I've read a few pages about them.

[FernetMenta]

The behaviour when running Kodi without a window manager is undefined and not supported.

[bibi]

You could try this fork of Ligreelec
Https://github.com/escalade/LibreELEC.tv

[fritsch]

What you link also uses a windowmanager (fluxbox)