[justonequestion]

Hi there,
I am puzzled by the fact that once kodi starts, there's no way to switch and view desktop or any other running applications on Raspberry pi 3 running latest raspbian.
I don't have the option "Display Mode" in Settings > System Settings > Display all I have is a window that looks like this:
https://kodi.wiki/view/Settings/System/Display
I tried alt+tab (using a windows machine and with vnc connection) and it doesn't work.
Tried backspace "\" with no success.
Please help.
Thanks in advance.

[ActionA]

You clearly didn't read this thread from just 3 days ago?

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=331307

[justonequestion]

Thanks for the reply.
I didn't see that one. There seems to be no solution for this issue until now. Too sad
I have had nothing but bad experiences with Kodi, in fact, nothing ever worked properly for me with it. (and even if it does, the journey from starting the app until you reach the desired movie/show is long and annoying (choose add-on (if it happens to be working) > choose type (tv/movie)> choose genre > choose film > choose source (source not working/requires subscription or payment > find another source) .... etc ... etc... I find its user experience (regardless of the skin used) to be mindnumbingly annoying.
The only reason I have it installed is to use the Popcorn time addon, since it can't be natively installed in pi (as far as I know).
It sucks that even having it for such a simple thing doesn't come hassle-free!

[DaVu]

I have had nothing but bad experiences with Kodi

Let us keep the facts...You have a very good experience with Kodi, because it just works!!! The add-on you are talking about has 100% nothing to do with Kodi at all. Beside the fact that add-on (popcorn time) is on our banned list. So if your only reason to install Kodi is watching movies and tv shows from illegal sources, then you clearly don't understand what Kodi generally is about. Hint: It's not meant for pirating movies and tv shows

If you are facing problems using this service you

- won't get support in here
- have to ask those who provide this add-on
- are in the wrong forum

Discussions about those add-ons in here is neither wanted nor tolerated. Just re-read the forum rules you accepted at registration.

[justonequestion]

Well, the add-on I mentioned has nothing to do with the issue I am facing with Kodi not exiting full screen, and I am not asking for support for this add-on, or any other add-on. My issue is with the main functionality of the software.
Just read the main post to which you are replying.

[DaVu]

(and even if it does, the journey from starting the app until you reach the desired movie/show is long and annoying (choose add-on (if it happens to be working) > choose type (tv/movie)> choose genre > choose film > choose source (source not working/requires subscription or payment > find another source) .... etc ... etc... I find its user experience (regardless of the skin used) to be mindnumbingly annoying.
The only reason I have it installed is to use the Popcorn time addon, since it can't be natively installed in pi (as far as I know).

I'm replying to this claim of yours.

The rest is already answered.

Kodi works pretty fine obviously as it starts and works (beside of the mentioned add-on which is banned anyway). And if you have problems how your OS handles Kodi, then you have to claim at the OS and not at Kodi. It's fine reporting issues. But you also need to understand that your problem is not Kodi-related rather than OS related.

The main functionality of Kodi is generally playing media. Hence it's called a "media center software": https://kodi.wiki/view/Kodi

So if you can't minimize Kodi to use some other application, it's not a Kodi problem. I can do that pretty fine using Ubuntu on some x86 machine, or on Windows, MacOS and so on. So, if you can't do that while using raspbian, I guess you should have to ask them what to do in that case.

Edit:

And for the reason you said that the only use of Kodi is to use Popcorn Time, then unfortunatley you didn't understand what Kodi is all about. The reason you have that add-on installed (no matter which issue you have) is enough for not supporting you in any way. That's what our forum rules are saying.

[rascas]

Window mode is not possible on Kodi on Raspberry Pi like explained here many times. The problem is not really on Kodi but on the RPi. In a brief and more technical explaination, by default Kodi on the Raspberry Pi is compiled with OpenGLES ( like in Android devices) and there is no X11 windows standard/support for this. That's the way you get the most performance on the Pi.
It is possible to compile and run Kodi with OpenGL and X11 windows support, like in x86 machines, but it runs much slower, remember that the Raspberry Pi is 35 dollars SBC. You also loose hardware video aceleration, so many videos that run perfect on the "normal" version, may not play perfect in it. That's why almost all OSs for the Raspberry Pi have Kodi with OpenGLES.

Also you seem to be having problems that are not normal. Since Raspbian is an all propose, full OS, you need some manual configuration for it to work fine. Check this guide for it:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewt...6&t=192499
Or if you just want to run Kodi on it, try some Kodi centric OSs which are "plug n play", like LibreELEC or OSMC.

[justonequestion]

Thank you for this detailed explanation! Much appreciated.

[Klojum]

Next time, justonequestionmark (in your topic title) will also suffice.