[Matt Devo]

Thanks for the feedback!

No, I haven't browsed the SMB shares from outside the Kodi interface. I SSH'd into the box and when I go to ~/Movies (for example), the directory is empty because everything is stored remotely. I don't know enough about SAMBA to understand how Kodi is gaining access to the server, so I don't know where to go to see the network. Given some directions, I'll happily follow them!

open up your file manager in Ubuntu and go to: smb://<NAS IP address>

A couple of questions about your response:
1) What's the difference between Open & Libre ELEC? I recall OpenELEC from a number of years back, but don't know anything about the LibreELEC version.

the founder of OpenELEC wanted to maintain absolute control over the project, but had a habit of disappearing for periods of time leaving the developers in a bind. So they forked the project, formed LibreELEC, and that's where all the development happens now. OpenELEC is essentially dead.

2) If I recall, OpenELEC wouldn't support a number of (possibly any) different skins. I've become a big fan of the various Aeon skins and would prefer to continue to use it if possible, but if leaving it behind is going to be the best/only recommended solution for going forward, I guess I'll live.

I don't recall this ever being the case; there are no limitations on what skin can be used as that's a Kodi function, not an OS one.

3) If I go this route, what are the steps to update the BIOS? When I originally ran your script, I selected option 3 to install XBMC/KODI on the internal drive, so I don't believe I even have the ChromeOS option at boot anymore. This is my "TV appliance" so I definitely don't need anything remotely like a full Linux install.

from Ubuntu, open a terminal and run the EZ Setup Script again. Update the firmware, power down, boot up the LibreELEC install media, and off you go. Obviously you'll want to back up your Kodi userdata and create the LE install media before flashing the firmware.

4) If I go this route, will the 16GB drive not fill rapidly again with thumbnails, potentially causing the slow browsing issues or at least disk full issues if/when I attempt to update?

potentially, but you can always have Kodi store the thumbnails on the NAS - that's what I do. Just add the following to advancedsettings.xml in your userdata folder:

Code:

<pathsubstitution>
     <substitute>
          <from>special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/</from>
          <to>smb://<IP of your NAS>/<path>/Thumbnails/</to>
     </substitute>
</pathsubstitution>

Doing some actual reading here: http://kodi.wiki/view/Chromebox#OS_and_K...stallation it looks like the GalliumOS+Kodi option may be my better bet for what I want. I'll wait for input, though.

I really think LibreELEC is the best option from what you've told me so far.