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NuxRo · 2021-11-30, 15:32

Hello,

As per the subject, I want to have a Kodi installation on a Rpi (Libreelec etc) where it will be used only for playing music, online radio, youtube (audio) etc. I need to fit this in a tight space and there is no place for a screen.
Maybe I could employ VNC for remote control.. Also Yatse will be handy.

My questions are, has anyone done this before, any gotchas, any pointers?
Since I have no screen I won't care whether video will render or not, but is there a way to actually not display the video at all? Just save a few CPU cycles and electricity.

Cheers

Dennis_H · 2021-11-30, 15:53

Have you looked at RuneAudio for that? I have a Pi3 with a DAC playing networked FLAC files. Works great. I know it does internet radio also, but haven't used any of those functions. Easy web interface and does a good job.

NuxRo · 2021-11-30, 16:07

No, I want to stick to Kodi for familiarity (we already use Yatse etc).

Thanks anyway.

LongMan · 2021-11-30, 17:02

I have such a setup in my car. I use yatse and kore to control. No video output is connected and no problem so far. I use a raspberry pi 4 which is quite quick for the job.

ileenback · 2021-12-02, 17:30

I've ran Kodi headless 3yrs now?... It has a HiFiBerry DAC soundcard (RCA) plugged into Yamaha AVR. I use Sybu Kodi app on phone.

NuxRo · 2021-12-27, 16:16

I'm now successfully running a headless Kodi, everything is great and as luck would have it, the Youtube addon has a "audio only" setting which is absolutely spot on for my needs!

Thanks all.

RobinTW · 2021-12-27, 17:31

(2021-11-30, 15:32)NuxRo Wrote: I want to have a Kodi installation on a Rpi (Libreelec etc) where it will be used only for playing music, online radio, youtube (audio) etc.

You should try piCorePlayer instead for your needs.

**DaVu** · 2021-12-28, 17:11

Simply install LibreELEC.

It might be that you have to fake the EDID or do some specific configurations via config.txt to avoid boot problems because of the missing video connection.

Beside that, how much CPU or electricity do you think a not displayed GUI will consump? Running Kodi headless does not mean that there's no GUI rendered at all if a monitor is attached.

Just be aware that you might need a monitor to do initial configs. For other configs you might set up something via VNC in case you will need it.

The rest should run somewhat fine. Beside the fact that Kodi is an application which expects to be GUI-driven.

NuxRo · 2022-01-06, 12:42

(2021-12-28, 17:11)DaVu Wrote: Just be aware that you might need a monitor to do initial configs. For other configs you might set up something via VNC in case you will need it.

The rest should run somewhat fine. Beside the fact that Kodi is an application which expects to be GUI-driven.

Cheers, I did indeed install VNC server on CoreElec, for the few times when maybe some error is displayed and requires some "OK" or what not.
So far things are very stable, very happy with my setup.
As mentioned earlier, the Youtube addon "audio only" option just made my day and it's what I needed.