Kodi Community Forum

Hi there all,

I am yet to delve into the world of 'Kodi' but from the research I have done I am itching to get involved. However, before a dive headlong into it I thought I would seek some advice on how best to set it up.

Basically I have a lot of films stored on an external non-powered USB 2TB hard drive. I believe this is formatted in Fat32 (although I may be mistaken). I appreciate that with Kodi there is the opportunity to stream various programs but I also want to be able to view my current films from the hard drive.

I have the following criteria to consider:

1) I would prefer to transfer all my films onto a NAS (synology possibly) and get rid of the external USB hard drive
2) I therefore would like to be able to access my movies through Kodi from the NAS
3) I don't want to have to run Kodi from a PC and have the PC permanently turned on
4) Do I need a 'media player' to plug into the TV from which to access kodi - i.e, a Kindle Fire TV box or a Matricom G-Box Q?
5) If I do need the media player, does anybody have one they can recommend?
6) I am currently 'Apple' orientated so have no Android devices in the house

The way I see it is that my NAS contains all my films, Kodi is then installed to the Matricom G-Box Q (or similar) which is hard wired to my router (quicker than any wi-fi) and then accesses the films from the NAS. I would then be able to add additional media players around the house that can also access the NAS and play different films.

Does this seem about right or am I just being naive?

I am doing a lot of work to my house so would love to integrate all this into the project rather than running Ethernet cables separately afterwards!

Any advice or guidance really would be appreciated. I want to make sure whatever outlay I spend on hardware is going to work.

Thanks all.

1) I would prefer to transfer all my films onto a NAS (synology possibly) and get rid of the external USB hard drive
2) I therefore would like to be able to access my movies through Kodi from the NAS

NAS or Local drive. KODI don't mind where the files are as long as it can see them.

3) I don't want to have to run Kodi from a PC and have the PC permanently turned on

KODI will need to run on *something*. Maybe get a Raspberry Pi?

4) Do I need a 'media player' to plug into the TV from which to access kodi - i.e, a Kindle Fire TV box or a Matricom G-Box Q?

Yes (see next answer)

5) If I do need the media player, does anybody have one they can recommend?

KODI *is* the media centre attached to the TV. Specifically, KODI is the software that runs the media centre. You then need something to run KODI on. Almost any computer box will do to run it on. Raspberry Pi, Androids, old PCs or old Macs are just as good. You can side-load it to an Amazon Fire too.

IMHO it makes more sense to have a dedicated computer for this which the Pi is a cheap option. Or any old second hand kit like a spare laptop.

The main concept to get into your head is that the computer running KODI should be attached to the TV.

6) I am currently 'Apple' orientated so have no Android devices in the house
Don't need no Androids if you don't want them. Just some form of computing device that will run KODI that can then be attached to the TV. You could even run a test version of KODI on your Mac for a while to help you get used to it.


Also look up the top of this page and you'll see a Wiki. Some New User stuff in there. Ask a few more questions here though and we'lls ee if we can get this clear in your head for you.

Hi BatterPudding, really appreciate the pointers and help.

I have a couple of months before I will start putting together a mini-home media system so will look into the options a bit more.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply and for the advice.

Come back and ask more questions anytime. What I'd suggest early on is just plain install KODI on something, anything, and have a bit of a play with it. Add a few sources, see how that works. This will soon allow you to get your head around the basics.

Initially you want to get the key ideas of how KODI runs on the device and connects to your screen. And how that device can then access the NAS using SMB or NFS.

You can even start by installing KODI on your Mac and then just point it at the external USB drive full of videos. This will let you start getting the hang of how videos need to be organised on the disk.