Kodi running in the background as a UPNP-DLNA renderer
#1
I need Kodi to be loaded and run at system start up, and act as a DLNA media renderer in the background even if no windows user is logged in.

I tried to set up a scheduled task in Windows' administratin tools, and it apparently starts an instance of Kodi, but the programs does not show up as a DLNA renderer on the network (while instead it does, when run manually).

Why is that so?
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#2
You can't run a renderer in the background, as a renderer has to, well, render to the screen.
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#3
(2017-03-19, 02:16)nickr Wrote: You can't run a renderer in the background, as a renderer has to, well, render to the screen.

In fact, I need to render just the audio output, whic can and should perfectly run in the background.
In fact, I already tested many other renderers, each with its pros and cons:
- Foobar2000 with FooUPNP addon works fine, but with some DLNA control points has troubles in handling position
- Mediamonkey (the one I am using now) works fine, but the standard audio out module stuttesrs when playing online streams, and other modules take some seconds to load
- WMP, quite surprisingly being the built-in player for Windows, has only limited capabilities when it comes to DLNA (it won't handle volume control from remote, for instance)

They all can be loaded as scheduled tasks and run in the background perfectly.

I wanted to put at test Kodi too, as its audio out configuration is very complete (it fully supports 5.1 channel audio, to say the least), and works very well when I load it manually.

Maybe Kodi developers think that having Kodi as a player module on a self starting, multi tasking and multi user PC is pointless?
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#4
Tried using Plex? it supports running as a service (with an addon from their forums) and provides a DLNA server
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#5
(2017-03-19, 02:16)nickr Wrote: You can't run a renderer in the background, as a renderer has to, well, render to the screen.
I think you're confusing something there... UPnP (media) renderer is an official term.
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#6
(2017-03-19, 20:12)jools5000 Wrote: Tried using Plex? it supports running as a service (with an addon from their forums) and provides a DLNA server

well i tested plex and i was unable to connect two devices in my LAN without creating an account on the plex website and be logged into that account all the time.
that is fine when you want access from the outside but i see no reason to be connect to a data gathering server all the time when i only want a DLNA server for my local network.
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#7
I am now confused as to whether you seek a server or a renderer?
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#8
(2017-03-19, 20:42)HeresJohnny Wrote:
(2017-03-19, 02:16)nickr Wrote: You can't run a renderer in the background, as a renderer has to, well, render to the screen.
I think you're confusing something there... UPnP (media) renderer is an official term.

Exactly, HeresJohnny.
I am testing several renderers running under Windows, but each one has its very peculiar problems:
- WMP is heavy, and won't handle volume control from remote
- Foobar2000 is great, light, and blazing fast when loading, but i doesn't let the remote controller point at the correct in-track position (fine if you just need to play a webradio stream, but not if you have started beethoven's 5th, stopped it upon receiving a phone call, and then have to start from the beginning!)

Kodi is very nice and works great when I launch it manually (I don't like seeing so much memory eaten up, but all the DLNA-UPNP functions are working fine). The problem is, when I try to run it as a scheduled task upon computer start, there's no way I can get it to start DLNA service...
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