[VIllage_Idiot]

I know this is a weird (and maybe "loaded" question) but I am stuck.

I have a couple of old machines that offer playback of some (most) media types.
But they have their own quirks.
They don't support some of the newer formats and are (were?) basically for the analogue TV system.  We are now on digital.
So although they can play back things, it is annoying having to change input to the TV when I want to use them to play things back.

Moving on, KODI offers better support as it also remembers (and shows me) what I have watched and what I haven't.
The other good thing is that if done on a RasPi: it (the unit in the bigger sense of things) also supports HDMI control, so I can use the TV remote to control things rather than YET ANOTHER remote.

Then there is the "Addon" problem/s.
I get it that they are made by people in their own time and all that.
Alas the TV stations are now pushing for more data mining and so you need to have an account and so on.
Sometimes the older addons work, sometimes not.

And so if the old ones don't work and there are no new ones, it detracts from making it universal when watching things.

Then there is the "power" of the RasPi.
It does hold its own for most things, but now some of the newer formats are getting beyond its ability and so I tried KODI on a NUC (as a program not dedicated).   But the downside to that is that I no longer have HDMI control.
Yes, there is an app, but again, that gets down to adding another remote to be used.

Also complicating the matter is I have only just got a "Smart TV" that offers a lot of media playback.
But it too doesn't support all formats.  (I won't go there now)
And it also doesn't show me what I have and not watched/seen.

If I have a RasPi 3B+ and running Buster.....  That should give KODI some power, but I was wanting to check of the AussieAddons are now up to date and working.
Maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but I don't think posting multiple threads is a nice thing to do either.

Could someone please help me with knowing about the addons, and maybe just make sure I don't have any mislead beliefs before I go down this path too far.

Thanks in advance.

[Klojum]

Hmmm... For starters, a Raspberry Pi isn't the only device capable of running Kodi. Even if you wanted one right now, they are in short supply worldwide, both RPi3B+ and RPi4(00). There are other devices, with more grunt if you want, but there will be a different price tag.

Data mining by TV stations: not everything in life is free.
Availability of add-ons: it's open source, done by volunteers. It's not a 9-5 job.
They are both not a new concept, so whining about it is kinda pointless.

What are you referring to when mentioning "HDMI control"? If you mean CEC on a NUC, there is a solution to that, called PulseEight.

Smart TVs have their own challenges. They are improving technically, but still slowly as far as SoCs go. Compared to the latest mobile phones, some TVs look like prehistoric creatures technically.

Raspberry Pi 3B+ and Buster... That's an older OS with an older piece of hardware. I think you need to get your priorities in order and specify what you really want out of Kodi. Running Kodi alone will do it snappier with LibreELEC. If you also want to do other tasks, perhaps a device with more grunt is better suited. I'm running Ubuntu on a very simple PC but with good graphics, and Kodi plays what I need while I also have a full OS at my disposal at reasonable "office" speeds. The RPi3B+ never really fitted that category.

Any knowledge about "the add-ons"? You will need to be very specific on exactly which add-ons you want/need information about. With vaguely mumbling about "add-ons" we cannot pinpoint our answers to you.

[VIllage_Idiot]

Ok, sorry....    I am suffering from 2 years of being locked down/up.

> What are you referring to when mentioning "HDMI control"? If you mean CEC on a NUC, there is a solution to that, called PulseEight.

I'll have to look at/into what PulseEight is.
Yes, sorry.   It is better if I call it by the right name.  CEC.
The NUC I have doesn't support it and they are an order of magnitude more $$ than the RasPi which out of the box supports CEC.

My smart TV is only .... 2 years old so it should be better suited than older ones.   It is 4kUDH - or that's what it says it is.
That's was good enough for me.

> Running Kodi alone will do it snappier with LibreELEC.

Ok.  I am only talking in general terms as to me it is still XBMC. 

But be it is Run Kodi, LibreElec or... what ever....
I'm needing information about the pros and cons.

The addons...
>>  but I was wanting to check of the AussieAddons are now up to date and working.

I had/have KODI on my NUC working and the addons were installed and working.
(As mentioned) but then when I updated the O/S to the latest it brought along its own new version and wiped the working KODI and its addons.

Getting a beefier machine to do things is ok to a point.   But if it doesn't support CEC as I mentioned:   it means another remote control to add to the collection.
And where as a RasPi is sipping power adding a bigger machine means a lot more heat also.  (And real estate to accommodate it.)
Just mentioning things to consider.

> I'm running Ubuntu on a very simple PC but with good graphics, and Kodi plays what I need while I also have a full OS at my disposal
As did I - in the past - until I updated.  (See above)
So that was a step backwards for me.

Does than help with where I am at for working out my confusion?
Thanks.

[heysoundude]

I've an old non-smart HD plasma flatscreen, and turning it into a smarter entertainment portal than I could commercially obtain (for $100 or so!) has been magnificent.  (4GB RasPi4...the original 1500MHz, not the 1800MHz - get the big 8GB for that one)
Remotes: What you're not describing is the Audio side of your HTPC setup - are you relying on the internal speakers of the tv, or do you have a soundbar or AV system?  This changes setup/operation directives to an extent, but basically, you should be able to set it once and not have to re-address it until something changes.  The only thing I use my TV's remote for is turning it on and off - control of kodi is done by my phone over wifi (my kodi machine is wired to my router). And that brings me to another point:  people should be buying DISPLAYS for kodi rather than TVs, smart or not -  any commercial/industrial Audio/Video contractor will have access to displays without tuners, "smart" aspects and speakers, allowing a FULLY bespoke custom home theatre.  When my plasma goes, you can bet I'll be going that way than to the BestBuy.

[VIllage_Idiot]

The TV has an amplifier plugged into it via the HDMI ARC port.

I do have another setup working on a TV acting as the display and using it's speakers.
I too use the app on a phone to control things as it offers ALL the options where as the TV remote only offers some.

But in saying that:  that is if I am wanting to mess around with random playback and all that sort of stuff.

I'm wanting to set up a machine where KODI - preferably on a machine that has HDMI-CEC input on the port - can be used to watch stuff either from my NAS drivers (as in single movies) or I use KODI and it's plugins to stream stuff from TV stations.

But this introduces me to the grey area for playback.
Most of my stuff is .. ."old".   H264 standard definition stuff.  No big deal.

But as I now have (as my main TV) a 4kUHD TV, there are more options.

It would be silly to use the existing RasPi for this - as it is only a 2B I think - and it would fall over if I try H265 format.

I believe - though I have known to be wrong - that the RasPi does support 4K out of the box, which is good.
Just does it support H265 formats?
(Ok, maybe not for this forum...  Sorry.)

It is just it would be nice if I could get a known machine that supports that and make it THE go to device for playback.
Watching live TV:  Nah.  I'll do that from the TV itself.
But any playback of stuff from the NAS, or youtube, etc.....    Via THAT machine.

I could buy a beefy machine that will play back "anything" but if it doesn't have the CEC input it gets back to the thing of "Yet another remote to use".
Although it has been said you can get devices to give you CEC....  It wasn't said which OS's are supported either.  (Ok, not too hard for me to find out.)

I feel I am repeating myself - sorry.
I am trying to be as helpful as I can and tell you in ONE post the scenario.  Rather than making you have to read the entire thread.
Though you may have done that to get here, you also may have seen the title; wanted to help and skipped the previous stuff.

Now again for clarity:  I'm saying KODI.   That could be any flavour of it.  Be it LibreELEC or what ever.
I don't mind dedicating a RasPi to be specifically for this.  As in:  It won't be running RasPi O/S and then have KODI installed on top of it.
So the "build" will be specifically for that.

[Klojum]

I believe - though I have known to be wrong - that the RasPi does support 4K out of the box, which is good.
Just does it support H265 formats?

The RPi4(00) supports 4K and h265 out of the box. Any h264 videos will be software-decoded (by the CPU), but that shouldn't be a problem.

LibreELEC is a small vanilla Linux setup that runs only Kodi. There is also OSMC. The "full" Raspberry Pi OS running Kodi is another option if you need more than just Kodi. But then CEC control will not be enough, a keyboard/mouse will be necessary.

[VIllage_Idiot]

I believe - though I have known to be wrong - that the RasPi does support 4K out of the box, which is good.
Just does it support H265 formats?

The RPi4(00) supports 4K and h265 out of the box. Any h264 videos will be software-decoded (by the CPU), but that shouldn't be a problem.

LibreELEC is a small vanilla Linux setup that runs only Kodi. There is also OSMC. The "full" Raspberry Pi OS running Kodi is another option if you need more than just Kodi. But then CEC control will not be enough, a keyboard/mouse will be necessary.

The last bit....

Ok, as the machine will be pretty much  only for media playback LibreELEC looks the way to go.
But then you mention:
> The "full" Raspberry Pi OS running Kodi is another option if you need more than just Kodi. But then CEC control will not be enough, a keyboard/mouse will be necessary.

So long as I get Kodi to run on boot why would CEC not be enough?
I seem to get my browsing things with ..  Kodi on another machine quite happily and don't need the keyboard/mouse.

[Klojum]

If you only need/use Kodi itself, then LibreELEC with a remote would be enough.

[VIllage_Idiot]

Thanks very much.

the "remote" to which you refer is the TV's remote (as I will be plugging it into the TV directly.) yes?

[Klojum]

Yep.

[grb5521]

Honestly for around the same money, install Kodi on a CCwGTV. Far superior experience.

[popcornmix]

Honestly for around the same money, install Kodi on a CCwGTV. Far superior experience.

You should probably read https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=357396 first.
Sounds like no refresh rate (or resolution) switching, which is a deal breaker for most.
Also not HD audio passthrough.

[VIllage_Idiot]

I haven't worked out all the tricks on the forum, but...

>  install Kodi on a CCwGTV. Far superior experience.

Sorry, but what is a CCwGTV?

[VIllage_Idiot]

Ok, sorry.  Found what it means.

[DarrenHill]

ChromeCast with Google TV, just for future reference in case anyone else wonders.