[popy]

i have my clean setup with AURA Skin, which is just not compatible with Kodi 19 (aura skin). Kodi was updated automatically from the play store on my shield tv, and destroyed my whole setup.
so i deinstalled kodi, and downloaded manually the apk for 18.9 from kodi website and then sideloaded (via downloader) it to the shield, in hope that would not trigger manual update (sideload vs. play store).
spend few hours so setup every widget and setting as my family is used to.... fast forward to this morning:
Kodi was updated to 19 for whatever reason and killed again my whole setup.

but i do not want to turn off auto update from the whole play store. since non of my apps would be updated then. that would be a pain in the ass, to turn off auto updates for all apps just because of ONE app.

i think changing the app signature could help but I have no idea how that works. Since the internet is full with this issue, did somebody already recompile the 18.9 version so auto update for Android does not work anymore?

tl;dr:
How can i install a Kodi 18.9 version on my shield tv, that does NOT get automatically Updated?


edit:
can somebody (with the proper knowledge), change the signature of the latest official Kodi 18.9 APK? This would prevent automatical Update from playstore after sideloading and installing. and we could still leave the auto update for other apps from playstore ON.
THANK YOU

edit2:
so changing signature of the apk stops auto update.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.xbmc.kodi/

the f-droid version of Kodi 18.9 seems to be signs by themselves. this should stop auto update from playstore or?

Version 18.9 (1809000) suggested Added on 2020-11-09
This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.
It is built and signed by F-Droid, and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.

Also will go back on my two android TV's to 18.9 because of to much troubles (PVR timeshift doesnt work, estuary gets harder to read every update, kodi sometimes freezes, ...).
The WAF is very low and dont have time to jump on the 19 train yet. Will do that if it has matured.

Also thinked about just changing the signature to prevent auto update from play store.
When i got xou right, the f-droid build has changed signature so play store did not auto update it?

thx a lot

[Bidule200]

My parents just called me, they say Kodi on their Shield is now completely unusable. It updated automatically to v19.
A simple prompt "Do you want to update to v19 ?" would have been enough to avoid any trouble...

Now I have to travel hundreds of kilometers just to restore what they had, and redo hours and hours of fine tuning to their taste. Because they're old, they won't take changes easily.

[DarrenHill]

OK, to say it yet again - it's not Kodi that is doing the auto-updating. It is the Play Store or whatever other store is on the device which is automatically downloading and updating Kodi.

It's entirely outside of our control to stop that happening, as it's a user setting on the device. There are entries in the Store or app manager to enable or disable automatic updating, although unfortunately in the Play Store it's either auto-update everything or switch entirely to manual updating iirc. But this is not something we can influence or set, and by default it is normally set to auto-update for everything (for security reasons).

The only way we could do anything would be to publish an entirely separate app every time we had a version update, which would be a logistical nightmare and then many more users would complain as every time they had to do any updating they would lose their complete database, addon configuration, app configuration and watch settings as essentially they would be starting from fresh every time.

[popy]

@DarrenHill
Some of us (when not all) have got you regarding auto updates of stores depending on OS.

But why not really distribute major versions like'Kodi Leia', 'Kodi Matrix' as separate apps?

If any one wants they could delete Leia and install matrix from store.

As we know kodi is running everywhere with millions of addon/configuration. Don't get me wrong, but with breaking changes like python 3 in v19, this would be the hassle free way of doing it.

Just my thoughts.

[DarrenHill]

@popy - as I mentioned above - they would be entirely separate apps, and so their configurations would be separate.

So there would be no update at all unless people went to look for and install the new one, but more importantly there would be no easy way to maintain addons, databases, watched status and suchlike between versions.

And as I'm sure you can appreciate, if people lost everything and had to restart their libraries from fresh every time there was a major update, then there would be even more complaints.

Plus the Matrix switch from Python 2 to Python 3 is something of a one-off event (I hope!). It is doubtful that such a breaking shift will be needed in the near future, limiting the issue to mostly this upgrade only.

[Bidule200]

You made a choice, we get it
We disagree on wether or not it was the right one ^^

[DarrenHill]

It was a choice that had to be made, as Python 2 is end of life and some environments/OS's are going to start actively removing it and possibly even blocking apps that do still use it on security grounds.

It's not so dissimilar to the removal of SMB1, again for security issues.

We understand that it's a pain for the users, but at least for addon authors it should not be a surprise as it's been known and informed for many years (Py2 was initially going to be EOL in 2015, but it got delayed) and it's affecting the whole software ecosystem, not just Kodi. We've done all we can to prepare, but as a number of addons (especially many of the banned addons (wiki)) are either no longer supported or yet to be updated, there's nothing we can do.

[djthedj_prouddad]

At least I see I'm not alone in the issues, as on the 22nd, numerous people are complaining over Google Play. While it makes sense to advise KODI is not doing the auto-updating, the play store is, at the same token, there is no way to roll back, at least for me, who is using it on a Sony Android TV. I hate leaving less than 5-star reviews, but I don't know how to feel when you've relied on something working right for so long, to see it go up in smoke.

I see the effort put in to Kodi 19, and understand it is free, I am a little upset I cannot get help with just one issue. The rest, any other bug I may find, I could either find a workaround or use something else entirely.

My issue was posted, with no response, regarding CULRC lyrics. It refuses to view lyrics that are embedded in to a MP3. I have worked tediously on adding these to many of my MP3 files just for the sole purpose of having Kodi play it on my TV, ran through my entertainment system, and display lyrics, to see my work was futile. It had been working all this time, until the update.

I also see a huge problem as well, but I don't know if it was avoidable since I am not a developer. But as soon as I loaded Kodi that day, several error messages produced, addons not compatible. Likely some are dependent on others, and maybe they changed names (such as "addon-x" to "addon-x-v4") that the main addon is still pointing to the old, incompatible one. I don't know. BUT, I believe, if all of the addons were already updated, as they usually do in the background, unnoticeable to us, THEN this version of Kodi released and installed, we wouldn't be presented with a barrage of errors; Kodi 19 would have picked up the new, updated addons, and we'd be living life in amazement of the new Matrix style visualation.

I believe this, as one of the errors was "Google Earth screensaver disbabled", and it showed in the addons as incompatible. YET, despite my previous settings, regardless of any screensaver settings I tried to change, within a few minutes of playing anything, video or audio, Google Earth screensaver came on. I thought it was incompatible, why is it on my screen? I had to go back to the settings and completely uninstall it, and now Kodi will behave in the manner it is set to, per my screensaver settings. This incompatible addon did not know the settings so it was overriding everything, which is a pain if you are trying to watch something.

Everyone has their issues with it. I just hope the issues are being addressed.

[DarrenHill]

And for a large proportion, we (Team Kodi) don't make the addons. They are made by our community here, and we are grateful for the effort that those who volunteer their time and effort to do so.

But the flipside of that is that we cannot control the ecosystem, nor can we (or would we wish to) make people update their addons to Python 3 to be compatible with Matrix. Those that are in our official repo are updated where possible, and those which are either no longer applicable or no longer supported are dropped. It's unfortunate, but that's how it has to be. We need to move to Python 3 for the reasons I already mentioned. We have given the authors as much notice as possible, and made nightly/alpha/beta/rc versions of Matrix available for over a year. We also have tried to assist in the transition and upgrade where possible, as can be seen in the development section here. The line had to be drawn somewhere, and with the depreciation of Python 2 at the start of the year, it was drawn there.

Generally speak, if people wish to take the security risk of Python 2 and want/need to keep their old addons, that's their affair. I accept that in some cases the update to Matrix was done automatically, but again as already mentioned that is beyond our control. We do not run the Google Play Store, and we cannot in good faith leave the majority of our user base there on a knowingly insecure app. That is of course if Google would even allow that longer term, given the drive to depreciate Python 2 from devices. It is known that certain OS's are pushing to remove it completely, and it may be that other entities like Google follow suit.

The other alternative would just be to let Kodi freeze at Leia and Python 2, and it would then die over time. And I'm sure that's not something anyone would want.

[popy]

@popy - as I mentioned above - they would be entirely separate apps, and so their configurations would be separate.

So there would be no update at all unless people went to look for and install the new one, but more importantly there would be no easy way to maintain addons, databases, watched status and suchlike between versions.

And as I'm sure you can appreciate, if people lost everything and had to restart their libraries from fresh every time there was a major update, then there would be even more complaints.

Plus the Matrix switch from Python 2 to Python 3 is something of a one-off event (I hope!). It is doubtful that such a breaking shift will be needed in the near future, limiting the issue to mostly this upgrade only.

Easy fix, guide them to copy the org.xbmc.kodi folder to the org.xbmc.kodi19 folder. Done.

This way they have also backup to go back, just in case.

[popy]

i have my clean setup with AURA Skin, which is just not compatible with Kodi 19 (aura skin). Kodi was updated automatically from the play store on my shield tv, and destroyed my whole setup.
so i deinstalled kodi, and downloaded manually the apk for 18.9 from kodi website and then sideloaded (via downloader) it to the shield, in hope that would not trigger manual update (sideload vs. play store).
spend few hours so setup every widget and setting as my family is used to.... fast forward to this morning:
Kodi was updated to 19 for whatever reason and killed again my whole setup.

but i do not want to turn off auto update from the whole play store. since non of my apps would be updated then. that would be a pain in the ass, to turn off auto updates for all apps just because of ONE app.

i think changing the app signature could help but I have no idea how that works. Since the internet is full with this issue, did somebody already recompile the 18.9 version so auto update for Android does not work anymore?

tl;dr:
How can i install a Kodi 18.9 version on my shield tv, that does NOT get automatically Updated?


edit:
can somebody (with the proper knowledge), change the signature of the latest official Kodi 18.9 APK? This would prevent automatical Update from playstore after sideloading and installing. and we could still leave the auto update for other apps from playstore ON.
THANK YOU

edit2:
so changing signature of the apk stops auto update.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.xbmc.kodi/

the f-droid version of Kodi 18.9 seems to be signs by themselves. this should stop auto update from playstore or?

Version 18.9 (1809000) suggested Added on 2020-11-09
This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.
It is built and signed by F-Droid, and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.

Thx, the f-droid apk working like a charm. No more updates from play store.

[DarrenHill]

Easy fix, guide them to copy the org.xbmc.kodi folder to the org.xbmc.kodi19 folder. Done.

This way they have also backup to go back, just in case.

In theory yes, in practice that would be beyond most of our user base, from experience of helping people here (and those are the ones savvy enough to find here in the first place).

[Lunatixz]

I believe this, as one of the errors was "Google Earth screensaver disbabled", and it showed in the addons as incompatible. YET, despite my previous settings, regardless of any screensaver settings I tried to change, within a few minutes of playing anything, video or audio, Google Earth screensaver came on. I thought it was incompatible, why is it on my screen? I had to go back to the settings and completely uninstall it, and now Kodi will behave in the manner it is set to, per my screensaver settings. This incompatible addon did not know the settings so it was overriding everything, which is a pain if you are trying to watch something.

Everyone has their issues with it. I just hope the issues are being addressed.

Hello, I'm the developer of the Google Earth Screensaver....

At the time of your update, the matrix version of Google Earth was not available, if it were... you would have received the update rather than the script being disabled.

I would love to view a log of your error! in no way should the screensaver interfere with playback in Kodi. It can only trigger during idle periods after your set elapsed screensaver time...

It sounds to me as if you could be running a third-party screensaver? not the one found in the official repository?

[djthedj_prouddad]

I believe this, as one of the errors was "Google Earth screensaver disbabled", and it showed in the addons as incompatible. YET, despite my previous settings, regardless of any screensaver settings I tried to change, within a few minutes of playing anything, video or audio, Google Earth screensaver came on. I thought it was incompatible, why is it on my screen? I had to go back to the settings and completely uninstall it, and now Kodi will behave in the manner it is set to, per my screensaver settings. This incompatible addon did not know the settings so it was overriding everything, which is a pain if you are trying to watch something.

Everyone has their issues with it. I just hope the issues are being addressed.

Hello, I'm the developer of the Google Earth Screensaver....

At the time of your update, the matrix version of Google Earth was not available, if it were... you would have received the update rather than the script being disabled.

I would love to view a log of your error! in no way should the screensaver interfere with playback in Kodi. It can only trigger during idle periods after your set elapsed screensaver time...

It sounds to me as if you could be running a third-party screensaver? not the one found in the official repository?

Thank you so much for your reply! You are correct in regards to the time of the update and how it all happened. 

This issue has been resolved though. I was just explaining the weird things that had happened along the way, what led me to believe what. I then disabled auto-update for the addons so I can view for myself what is updating.

It was from the Kodi repository, and later, it showed an update available. Literally within  a few hours, I was able to update this, and everything in regards to Google Earth screensaver is perfect.

.....and, nice to meet you by the way. I don't know how to get the log file as this all transpired on a Sony TV that runs Android. For my main gripe, I've been recreating the symptom on my phone to extract a log file. Your screensaver is only installed on the television.

[djthedj_prouddad]

 

I would love to view a log of your error! in no way should the screensaver interfere with playback in Kodi. It can only trigger during idle periods after your set elapsed screensaver time...

You inspired me ... to find a way. Good news, using the native file explorer, sending files to a zip, then using "send files to tv" it let me send the zip file out, over wifi. Very helpful to know, and I have much needed info in case anyone needs to know version and OS type thing:

Code:

(https://android.googlesource.com/toolchain/llvm 3c393fe7a7e13b0fba4ac75a01aa683d7a5b11cd) for Android ARM 32-bit API level 21 (API level 21)
2021-02-24 09:25:11.811 T:30497    INFO <general>: Running on Sony BRAVIA 4K GB with Android 8.0.0 API level 26, kernel: Linux ARM 32-bit version 3.10.79
2021-02-24 09:25:11.814 T:30497    INFO <general>: FFmpeg version/source: 4.3.1-Kodi
2021-02-24 09:25:11.815 T:30497    INFO <general>: 4 CPU cores available
2021-02-24 09:25:11.815 T:30497    INFO <general>: Product: BRAVIA_ATV2_UC, Device: BRAVIA_ATV2, Board: BRAVIA_ATV2 - Manufacturer: Sony, Brand: Sony, Model: BRAVIA 4K GB, Hardware: mt5891!!

Bad news, that is the earliest the log file is showing. The error happened on the 22nd.

But much appreciated that you took an interest! I imagine that error would have been insane to view. Also, thanks for fixing it before anything crazier happened