New to Kodi: Multiple TVs in home
#1
I have Kodi working on a PC in our home. We have multiple HDTVs in our home. Would like to be able to browse through the videos from any of our HDTVs (and without having to do anything from the PC)

Can someone please direct me to instructions/options on how I can get our HDTVs to tap into the PC with Kodi, and browse the videos with a remote control on the HDTV? (with as few wires, network cables, and/or expensive external equipment as possible)

Thanks very much in advance!!!!

Joey
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#2
The Kodi way is to put a device on each TV, and those devices run Kodi directly. For multiple TVs on the cheap, something like Raspberry Pis or Amazon Fire TV sticks are good. The Amazon Fire TV sticks include a remote and everything, can run Kodi without any hacking, and have built-in wifi.

Then the PC or something else becomes a file server for all the Fire TV sticks.
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#3
Yeah. one way is to buy a Raspberry pi per TV and load openelec or OSMC on to them. Then setup a shared MYSQL database on either the Windows PC or one of the Pi's (really easy to do on the pi). Edit each of the kodi instances "advancedsettings.xml" file to point to the shared mysql db. This would then sync all media to all devices including watched status, resume points etc. You would need to make sure you share the media using the full unc path rather than a drive mapping so that all remote devices can access the media correctly.

For remote control you could either use IOS/Android or buy a Flirc USB IR receiver for each of the PIs and use that with your existing remote.
Kodi 16.1 on main HTPC Win 7 64-bit, 8 GB RAM, Quad Core 2.4 Ghz
3 x Pi2 running Kodi 16.1 (OSMC)
TVHeadend PVR server providing Freeview HD and Freesat HD
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#4
Emby is also a good method to share your library on multiple devices
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#5
Thanks to all 3 of you very much for this start!!!

I just spent the last several hours setting up Emby, and trying to get it to stream content through a Roku 3 box, and had lots of frustration. (I left a message on the Emby forum asking for help. Not sure if I am going to keep the Roku box, my local store told me I could return it in 30 days. On my PC, the Emby is not nearly as nice as Kodi, but I guess they do different things.)

I could not find a Kodi ap on the Roku 3 box. Is there a Kodi ap on the fire stick? Does it run independently, or can I share media files on all of the TVs in our house?

The Raspberry Pi, is that an independent PC for each TV? They appear to be pretty cheap, so it may be something I will ultimately want to do, but right now I just want to build this up in baby steps, and get something working first. Is running Kodi on a Raspberry Pi going to be superior to running it on a firestick? (I assume it would be.) Is there a good description somewhere on how to set this up?

Thanks, and I look forward to any more feedback (or links to good instructions) you guys can share.
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#6
From the point of view of needing less to install, the firestick solution will involve less cabling and power supply messing around.
I don't know about the RPi v firestick operational aspects
Derek
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#7
I would suggest you set up MySQL on the windows pc:
http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL/Setting_up_M...ab=Windows
Use that as your central db and then you could run either raspberry pi's or fire sticks etc on your other tv's. If you run the raspberry pi (I would defo go for the pi2 - way quicker) I have had great success running OSMC - https://osmc.tv. Really quick and fairly easy to install. You would need to then point each of the remote pi's to your central MySQL server and away you go.
Kodi 16.1 on main HTPC Win 7 64-bit, 8 GB RAM, Quad Core 2.4 Ghz
3 x Pi2 running Kodi 16.1 (OSMC)
TVHeadend PVR server providing Freeview HD and Freesat HD
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#8
(2015-06-06, 09:38)dandnsmith Wrote: From the point of view of needing less to install, the firestick solution will involve less cabling and power supply messing around.
I don't know about the RPi v firestick operational aspects

Main difference is that OSMC runs Kodi as a kind of appliance on the pi. I.e turn it on and it will boot straight into the Kodi interface. With the fire stick, you would side load it as an app from the regular interface. Fire stick would come with a remote (I believe) whereas you would need separate usb ir receiver (e.g. Flirc) and remote control for the pi or use an iOS/android app remote control.
Kodi 16.1 on main HTPC Win 7 64-bit, 8 GB RAM, Quad Core 2.4 Ghz
3 x Pi2 running Kodi 16.1 (OSMC)
TVHeadend PVR server providing Freeview HD and Freesat HD
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#9
(2015-06-06, 03:26)Joey04 Wrote: Thanks to all 3 of you very much for this start!!!

I just spent the last several hours setting up Emby, and trying to get it to stream content through a Roku 3 box, and had lots of frustration. (I left a message on the Emby forum asking for help. Not sure if I am going to keep the Roku box, my local store told me I could return it in 30 days. On my PC, the Emby is not nearly as nice as Kodi, but I guess they do different things.)

I could not find a Kodi ap on the Roku 3 box. Is there a Kodi ap on the fire stick? Does it run independently, or can I share media files on all of the TVs in our house?

The Raspberry Pi, is that an independent PC for each TV? They appear to be pretty cheap, so it may be something I will ultimately want to do, but right now I just want to build this up in baby steps, and get something working first. Is running Kodi on a Raspberry Pi going to be superior to running it on a firestick? (I assume it would be.) Is there a good description somewhere on how to set this up?

Thanks, and I look forward to any more feedback (or links to good instructions) you guys can share.
If you can't get your money back on your Roku you can still use it to stream
For stupid reasons I have a Roku, Raspberry Pi2 & chromecast
And the Roku streams as good as the Kodi I have on the raspberry pi.
Where are you streaming your content from? Is it a PC, Android phone, IPhone
If like me it's Android I suggest looking on your Roku and installing Twonky beam and then you need to install it on your Android device.
It's not on the play store anymore though so you need to google there website.
But if you're streaming from a PC I suggest installing plex media server onto your PC and create a free account and add the media you want to stream and then install it on your Roku and sign in and your media will be there.
But saying all that Kodi looks and performs much better for me on my Raspberry Pi2 Smile
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#10
I am looking at doing the same thing but I want to use Kodi with live TV and a DVR too. Can I have live TV come into the PC with Kodi and then also watch live TV in other rooms using WIFI. I like what I hear about Firestick and installing Android Kodi on it. How well does this seem to work for streaming video via WIFI? I have wireless N running.

Looking forward to this new setup and getting rid of my $100 a month TV bill.
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#11
Well, my problem is different:
Imagine that you are watching a futball game on your living room TV. Suddently your wife calls to scream from the top of her lungs "DINNER IS READY".
Best thing would be an option "Send to Kitchen TV" so that you could start a fight with your wife who hates football.

Any ideas?
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#12
(2016-03-12, 17:36)Atreyupt Wrote: Best thing would be an option "Send to Kitchen TV" so that you could start a fight with your wife who hates football.

That sounds like the "Play To" concept with UPnP (wiki).

TV in Kitchen would need a KODI instance running as a UPnP Client.
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