[mrob]

How did the videolan ppa come into your apt sources list?

I installed VLC before, and checking the history, it appears that involved executing "sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/master-daily".

I'm not sure what you mean by "improvise". I thought(?) it was possible to install Kodi on a desktop machine.

Is it not possible on Ubuntu to have more than one application installed (e.g. Kodi and VLC), or use more than one repository?

These are not rhetorical questions. Honestly, I don't know.

[fritsch]

VLC ppa replaces certain base libs with other versions kodi depends on. Therefore the ppa fails for you :-)

[mrob]

Thanks much for clearing this up. Any suggestion about what I should do now?

I see pages on the Net which suggest VLC can be used as a player for Kodi, but I need to get Kodi installed properly first.

Is there a way to uninstall these base libraries or do I need to reinstall Ubuntu (and Webmin, NFS, HDMI audio, PostgreSQL, etc.)...?

[wsnipex]

remove the videolan ppa:

Code:

sudo apt install ppa-purge
ppa-purge ppa:videolan/master-daily

after that try installing kodi again.

[mrob]

That works — thanks!

I started back on the instructions, and got this far:

$ sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/system/kodi.service /etc/systemd/system/display-manager.service
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/etc/systemd/system/display-manager.service': File exists

What to do here?

[fritsch]

You did not start with the ubuntu server edition - therefore the symlink is already there. Just skip it.

[mrob]

OK. I completed the install without any further errors, started Kodi, and tried to connect via the web UI. No response.

Rebooted. Checked the list of running processes with ps -ax | grep kodi, but I don't see anything.

What should I try now?

I noticed that I'm using the Krypton v18 nightly builds and when I set that up there is a warning that these aren't tested. Is it possible that I have a broken build of Kodi?

I also tried logging in as the user kodi via ssh, but I guess(?) that's more for managing permissions.

Edit: I'm wondering more about using Kodi and VLC together, once I get Kodi working, that is. My machine has an optical drive and I've been thinking it would be nice to be able to pop DVDs or BRs in and play them via VLC. Is that going to be possible if I set up Kodi in this standalone mode. Or... what approach would you guys suggest?

[disaacso]

did you turn on control via http in services?

[mrob]

Edit (#2): Okay, I tried the instructions here for "Manually Enabling Remote Control":

https://kodi.wiki/view/Web_interface#Man...te_control

Rebooted the system, tried the web interface, aaaand.... nothing.

According to ps -ax | grep kodi, there's no kodi process running.

Auto start is not working.

[wsnipex]

Autostart is not working, since you didn't follow the howto 100%. Using a ubunut desktop ISO renders a different result then starting with a server iso.
You should see a login mask coming up: Select the kodi session.

[DaVu]

started Kodi, and tried to connect via the web UI. No response.

That has to be enabled in the kodi settings first. The webserver (web UI) is disabled by default.

See: https://kodi.wiki/view/Settings/Services/Control

[mrob]

There is no keyboard attached to the machine. It's headless. Just HDMI output to audio and a projector.

I thought autostart would ... well... just autostart without me typing anything, logging in, etc.

I tried VNC to the server but I don't see anything about selecting Kodi. I guess because VNC is creating its own separate virtual desktop.

Maybe I should ask a general question... I would like to use this machine as a media server. Again, no monitor or keyboard attached. HDMI out to the audio system and projector.

Is there some way it can autostart to Kodi without me typing anything, so I can run Kodi from the web interface, and I can also insert and play DVDs or BR discs, perhaps with VLC?

I guess that's a first question.

Second, several people on this thread told me it's possible to autostart Kodi with the desktop edition of Ubuntu, that the configuration is pretty much the same following Fritsch's guide, but now it sounds like I need to type something in, or select something on the screen, etc.

So, second question: do I need to use the Ubuntu server edition for a seamless autostart? Or, will I still need to use ssh and do something to get Kodi running?

If you guys think I should reinstall everything starting from the server edition or get an IR remote or something, I'm game to try that. I'm just not clear now on what sort of startup experience I should anticipate, or whether (and how) Kodi can interoperate with VLC.

[fritsch]

www.libreelect.tv helping with layer8 issues since a very long time - why not giving it a try?

[mrob]

I would like to stick with Ubuntu so that I can also run other services, such as PostgreSQL, etc.

[wsnipex]

then do yourself a favor and follow the howto 100% from start to finish. Pay special attention to use the correct ubuntu iso.