[k468093]

I've been struggling with this problem for months now. Kodi absolutely refuses to launch on my Windows operating system. I dual-boot with Mac and have no problems on that OS with Kodi, so I don't believe it's hardware related.

Here's the kicker: Kodi doesn't even launch far enough to add anything to the log file. Regardless of the level, it only creates a new completely blank kodi.log file after each crash. Windows gives me the generic message "Kodi has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Please close the program."

Things I've tried include restarting, reinstalling, launching with other compatibility modes (including as administrator), installing old versions of Kodi (16.0, 15.0, 14.0), installing beta builds and nightly builds of Kodi, deleting Kodi AppData folders, deleting Kodi registry entries, installing third-party builds of Kodi, downgrading graphics driver, changing graphics card (GTX 760 -> 1070, also tried integrated graphics), and updating to the new creators update of Windows 10.

I've found the Windows Event Viewer logs to be pretty unhelpful, but in case someone is better at deciphering the log than I am, here's the log from Kodi installed from Windows Store: https://pastebin.com/mKy2ui4B

...and from regular Kodi installer: https://pastebin.com/qwDmBh82

Again, I have indeed created a new advancedsettings.xml with different levels of debugging and log reporting for each different installation of Kodi I've tried, and though Kodi does create a log file before crashing, nothing is written to it, it is a completely empty .log file.

As a matter of fact, every directory in the Kodi AppData folder is empty, besides the root of the kodi AppData folder containing the .log and .old.log, and the userdata folder which has advancedsettings.xml and RssFeeds.xml (I did not create this file).

I'm running Windows 10 Pro (Creator Update) with Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4670k, 16Gb RAM.

Sorry if info was overkill, and if I seem impatient; like I said, I've been struggling with this one for a while...

[Karellen]

Hello k468093,

Well, you certainly seemed to have tried enough variations to try to get Kodi working. One missing though... The good old Portable Install. I know you are probably at your wits end, but could you try this method... http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Install_Kod...table_Mode It may not reveal anything, but at least we can say we tried.

With the debug log, maybe others have, but I have never heard of an empty log file. Here are some other instructions, can you confirm this is the procedure you carried out to create the log file... http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2572642 Regardless, a log file should have been written anyway even if debug was not enabled. Maybe you have some left over versions installed and you are looking in the wrong directory?? Just an idea.

Also tell us more about your hardware and OS
Age
Purchased or self built
Laptop/destop/other
CPU
Memory etc... you get the idea.

[Fail$tyle420]

Have you tried the non windows store version?

[k468093]

Hello k468093,

Well, you certainly seemed to have tried enough variations to try to get Kodi working. One missing though... The good old Portable Install. I know you are probably at your wits end, but could you try this method... http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Install_Kod...table_Mode It may not reveal anything, but at least we can say we tried.

I uninstalled my current Kodi installation, reinstalled a portable one on an external hard drive, and recreated the advancedsettings.xml. The program still does not launch, and still leaves a completely empty log file.

With the debug log, maybe others have, but I have never heard of an empty log file. Here are some other instructions, can you confirm this is the procedure you carried out to create the log file... http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2572642 Regardless, a log file should have been written anyway even if debug was not enabled. Maybe you have some left over versions installed and you are looking in the wrong directory?? Just an idea.

I can confirm that that is the procedure I carried out to create the log file, and when that didn't work, I went through every option for log levels as described in the advancedsettings.xml wiki page. The timestamp on the newly created empty log files after each crash indicates that I'm looking in the correct directory.

Also tell us more about your hardware and OS
Age
Purchased or self built
Laptop/destop/other
CPU
Memory etc... you get the idea.

This installation of Windows 10 Creators Update is less than a week old.
Self Built
Desktop
i5 4670k
16 GB of RAM
Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU

Have you tried the non windows store version?

As described in my original post, yes. I have tried the windows store version, the "non windows store version" straight from the official Kodi download page, older versions (16.0, 15.0, 14.0), beta builds, nightly builds, and third-party forks of Kodi, none of which launch, and none of which leave more than a blank log file.

[Powerhouse]

Turn off (or temporarily remove) any virus software you may have installed (especially McAfee) which have been shown to prevent Kodi from running (stupid Anti-Virus programs). Also, in Windows 10, make sure Defender has Kodi on the approved (whitelist). https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help...-antivirus

Remove the advancedsettings.xml file to verify that isn't causing an issue (since Kodi 17.x has changes to advancedsettings).

You've switched from one video card to a different one (GTX 760 -> 1070), but did you do a complete removal of all the graphic drivers from the system. https://superuser.com/questions/1147790/...completely

Besides the above driver cleaning, you also have an integrated video card. Disable this in Windows, reboot, and try again.

Even more info that may be useful...
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=290726

[Powerhouse]

When in doubt, install a USB version of Kodi (like OpenElec)...
http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php/Installation

If it boots and works fine, then you know there is a driver issue with your system.

Also, if you have any Codex packs installed (Shark007, K-Lite, etc) remove these, reboot, and try Kodi again.