Kodi is an award-winning free and open source home theater/media center software and entertainment hub for digital media. With its beautiful interface and powerful skinning engine, it's available for Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS and Windows. Kodi® media center is an award-winning free and open source cross-platform software media player and entertainment hub for digital media for HTPCs (Home theater PCs). Kodi Key Features HighLights Uses a 10-foot user interface designed to be a media player for the living-room. Downloads| Kodi| Open Source Home Theater Software Kodi (formerly XBMC) is a free and open source media player application developed by the XBMC/Kodi Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium.
Setting up your own media center PC is a highly personal, quite in-depth task. For this How To, we'll give a basic introduction to Kodi, and talk about how the software provides a simple solution for your media center PC's player needs.
Kodi (formerly known as XBMC) is media player software that can play most video and music file types and other digital media both saved locally and found on the Internet. It's a one-stop-shop for all your entertainment needs once you get it set up right. It takes a little tinkering to get it running, but once you do it'll be smarter than any smart TV on the market.
The software is highly customisable to suit your particular media center needs, and it works with Windows, Linux, OS X, Android, iOS, Raspberry Pi and more, making it flexible no matter what computer you're basing your media center on.
We'll be using the Windows version of the install in this article, although much of the advice is universal once the Kodi software itself is loaded.
Hardware Choices
What's a media center without hardware? Kodi scales surprisingly well, and what you intend to do with it will greatly influence what hardware you'll need.
You're free to use pretty much any computer you choose, from an old, re-purposed beige tower to an off-the-shelf Mac Mini.
No matter what base you build up from, you should keep an eye out for the following:
- HDMI port
- A hard drive (or NAS or external drive if your computer doesn't have a hard drive
- Optical drives (for DVD and Blu-ray)
- USB tuners
- USB optical drives
- High-end graphics card and sound card
Regardless of which path you choose, try to run your operating system off a Solid State Drive. It makes a world of difference in making your media center feel like a responsive appliance rather than a PC pretending to be something else.
Preparing your media center for power
Most remotes, mice and keyboards will start up a media center that's hibernated or suspended with a single keypress. If you want to start a PC that's in a completely off state though, that generally requires extra hardware. With this in mind, you may wish to set your PC to hibernate instead of shut down when you press the power button.
To do this in Windows 7, open the start menu, type Power Options and open the program of the same name. For Windows 8.1, right click on the Windows button at the bottom left and choose Power Options.
In the window that appears, under your current power plan click Change plan settings, then Change advanced power settings to bring up a new dialog box. Head to the Power buttons and lid option, expand it, expand Power button action and change it to hibernate or sleep.
Before you close the dialog, there's one other change you can make -- upon resuming from any form of suspension, Windows is set by default to show a lock screen, whether you have a password or not for the current account. To turn this off and maintain the illusion of a media appliance, we'll first need to activate the option by clicking on Change settings that are currently unavailable, then change Require a password on wake-up to no.
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Installing and Configuring Kodi
To the software itself! Download Kodi, install it and run it for the first time. First, we'll want to set up our hardware to make sure everything is running as it should.
- Step 1: Navigate to System, then select System again from the options on the left.
- Step 2: At the bottom of the screen you'll see something that says Settings level; set it to Expert so everything is exposed.
- Step 3: Head to the Video output menu and select Video calibration. Here you can ensure your video is being displayed on your TV in the intended way, adjusting for distortion, overscan, and setting the height of your subtitles.
- Step 4: If you've connected over HDMI and haven't got any audio, Kodi may have the wrong audio device set. Head to Audio output, and change your Audio output device from Directsound: Default to an entry containing HDMI, and hopefully it should resolve the problem. Here you can also set how many speakers you have from the Number of channels option.
- Step 5: If you'd like the latest weather, head to the Weather option and select Service for weather information. Hit the Get More button, then select your weather plugin of choice. We find Yahoo works particularly well. Once the plugin is installed, return to the weather page, select your chosen weather service, then go into Settings and select Location 1. From here you'll be able to enter your nearest town for localized weather updates.
- Step 6: Head to back to the main settings menu, then to Appearance. Under the Internationalsection, set your Region for localized time, temperature and date formatting.
- Step 7: Note there's a Screensaver setting here too. Kodi has its own set of screensavers, so if it will be the main application you're running, you may wish to turn the Windows screensaver off and customize here instead
The rest of the settings are highly dependent on your personal needs, and we recommend you spend quite some time exploring what's available.
Banishing Windows
You can launch your machine directly into Kodi using the excellent KodiLauncher. Setting it as the Windows Shell ensures you never so much as hear the Windows startup sound, Explorer not loading until you exit Kodi.
Take in mind if you choose this path, you will have specify helper applications like AnyDVD HD or Virtual CloneDrive to load separately through the External applications settings in KodiLauncher, and select Start First/Second/Third Group Applications with KodiLauncher -- they will no longer autostart otherwise.
Controlling your media center
Here the options are legion, and much like the type of computer you're using, it comes down to preference and needs.
Basics
We'd suggest at least a good wireless, backlit keyboard (like the Logitech K810 ), for when you really need to troubleshoot or do Windows work.
You'll also want a wireless pointing device: A trackpad is fine if you only intend to be briefly in Windows to do maintenance tasks, but you'll need a mouse if you intend to game.
There are handheld devices that combine a keyboard and touchpad, like Rii's Mini N7 and N8 -- they're better than you'd expect, but the size means they're only intended for use in short bursts.
Remote Controls
For non tech-savvy users and ease of use, a regular remote goes a long way. For something new, simple and in the one box, about the last company standing is Hauppauge. Its Media Center Remote Control Kit includes both basic RC6 remote and receiver.
Optional extras
For the gamer, the Xbox 360 controller is one of the strongest options, working out of the box with Kodi. To take it wireless, you'll need to purchase the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver, which may be difficult to find these days outside of eBay. As a plus, the Xbox 360 controller can be used to control basic Kodi functions.
Kodi can also be controlled using your smartphone, although you will have to enable Kodi's webserver through the Services settings first. For Android users we'd suggest Yatse [Play Store link], while on iOS the XBMC official remote [iTunes link] is the way to go.
Closing up
By now, your Kodi install should be up and running. Join us next time for the finer points of using Kodi, getting Blu-ray functionality down and starting to tap in to the myriad customisation options offered by the software.
Plex Kodi Addon is the Server Media Player, which allows the users to organise and watch all the multimedia. You need a Plex account to access and use this Plex Kodi Addon the Kodi Player. This Tutorial also let you know how to create the Plex Account. Plex is one of the Top Kodi Addons, which allows you to use the Plex on the Media Server to organise and manage your video library while letting you access the library from within Kodi. You can get the advantages of the Kodi in the Plex media server and the broad Addons selection of Kodi. The cool thing about the Addon is that it is an “Official” Addon. It is therefore fully supported by both the Kodi and the Plex teams.
Plex Kodi Addon
Related: Placenta Kodi Addon
How to Install Plex on Kodi using the Official Plex Zip file.
Just follow the given steps to install the Plex on Kodi using the Official Plex Zip file.
Step 1: Download the Official Plex Zip file.
Step 2: Launch the Kodi app, and go to Addons section which is available in the left section of the screen.
Step 3: Now choose the Package Installer ( Addons icon ) which is at the Top left of the screen.
How to Install Plex on Kodi using the Official Plex Zip file.
Step 4: Then choose the option Install from the Zip file.
How to Install Plex on Kodi using the Official Plex Zip file.
Step 5: Now just navigate to the Repo, that you have downloaded ( Repo can be downloaded from https://kodi.tv/addon/scripts-video-addons/plex) and then click ok
How to Install Plex on Kodi using the Official Plex Zip file.
Step 6: After that, the Addon will begin to install. Kindly wait until you get the Addon Enabled Notification from the Kodi.
How to Install Plex on Kodi using the Official Plex Zip file.
Step 7: Once the Addon is installed on the Kodi, then it is ready for use in your Kodi Player.
How to Install Plex on Kodi using the Official Plex Zip file.
Things you need to know about Plex Kodi Addon
The Plex Media Server is the excellent solution for managing movies, TV Shows, Family Videos, Music, Pictures, and more from the central location. For those who use the Kodi on regular basis, it has the ability to use the Plex within the same application. The Plex Media Server allows you to organize all the media on a single machine and it also automatically downloads the attractive artwork and information, such as plots summaries, actors, bios and many more. You can also play your media in any location where you are connected to the Internet, including your smartphone.
The application allows you to share the media libraries with friends and family which enables for fun collaboration in no time. You can give your media the Hollywood treatment which deserves on the big screen. You can share your Photos, music, personal videos, and more belong on all of your devices. You can also organize all your media on one machine. You can play your media in any location where you are connected to the Internet which includes your smartphone. The Plex allows the user to access the plex from a fully configured Kodi setup, with the same experience across all the Kodi supported devices. The Plex for Kodi brings a best in class Plex experience to the open source platform.
It can be used as a media hub. You can create the libraries of content which can be nicely organized into different categories. It is based on two separate components such as the Plex Media Server and various Plex applications. The core of this application is the Media Server. This acts as the media hub from where you store the collection of media. The Plex automatically indexes the media files. You can filter the available content in various different ways.
FAQs
How Does Plex Work?
- Install and run Plex Media Server on your computer, where all your media is stored and managed in a movie, home video, TV show, music, and photo libraries.
- Install and open the Plex App on virtually any device including smartphone, Smart TV, game console, tablet, streaming device, personal computer, or any browser. Wherever you are, press the play and enjoy your media as it streams from the Plex Media Server to your device.
How to Get Plex Web App?
The Plex Web is the web-based Plex streaming service, which allows you to stream all your stuff to all your devices from anywhere. You can access the Plex Web App through two main methods:
- Hosted from Plex.tv website
- You can get locally through the Plex Media Server
Both of these methods offer you the same basic web app.
How to Add Channels to Plex?
Open the Plex Web App, choose the channels in the sidebar. Then click the install channels button and select the Category if you need to install specifically, then click the channel to Install, and Confirm the Installation. Once the Channel has been installed, it appears in the Channels list.
What are the Top 10 Plex Plugins of 2018?
The top 10 Plux Plugins of 2018 are listed below.
- Tautulli
- Web Tools
- Sub-Zero
- Plex2Netflix
- Plex Export
- TheaterTrailers
- Plex-Sync
- Transmogrify
- IPTV
- Trakt Scrobbler
What is Plex Pass?
Plex Pass is the subscription service, which gives you the best Plex experience available. It gives you early access to new Plex features, Mobile sync, Camera Upload, Cloud Sync, Premium music libraries, Trailers and Extras and many more.
How to Know the Registered Devices on Plex?
- You can find all the registered devices of your Plex account, You can see the list in the Plex Web App.
- Then visit the Plex.tv official website
- If you are not already signed in, click Sign In and sign in to your Plex account.
- Once signed in click the Plex Web App loads
- Click and then choose Devices, which are listed.
How to Install Icefilms on Plex?
To install the Plex Icefilms channel. You should have the Plex Unsupported Appstore provided by the Web tools channel installed on your Plex Server. Once it is installed head to your server dashboard by right-clicking the Plex tray icon and selecting Open Plex.
Best Alternatives for Plex Kodi Addon
Check out below for the top 3 alternatives for Plex Addon
Chronos Addon:
Chronos Addon
The Addon Chronos is the part of Skydark Repository. The Addon that allows you to view all sort of videos, TV, radio, and much more. When you are comparing with other, this addon has Austrian channels as well. If you love to speak German, then you never miss this Addon. Chronos Kodi Addon is one of the well rounded Kodi addons, and this contains live IPTV, direct link, and scraper contents. All the contents that are streamed from the Addons are pulled from the public internet, same as like as every other Kodi addon.
How to install Chronos Kodi Addon?
Nemesis Addon:
Nemesis is the excellent all-in-one Kodi Addon, which has all the content. It is the great collection of Live TV, Sports, TV Shows, Movies, Kids Zone, Music, Documentaries and many more. The Nemesis Kodi Addon uses a PIN system to grant access to the users. Without using the PIN system, you couldn’t use Nemesis. Nemesis Kodi Addon is one of the most famous Kodi Addon which is used by a vast number of people all over the world.
How to install Nemesis Kodi Addon?
cCloud TV Addon:
cCloud TV Addon
Kodi software download, free
cCloud TV Kodi Addon is an IPTV addon which has the most extensive collection of the TV channels, and You can live-stream the main channels such as ABC, ESPN, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, NBC, Sky, and many more. Additionally, you can even access a large number of radio stations from all over the world at cCloud TV Kodi addon. You can also quickly select from various categories, which is given at the cCloud TV and watch your favourite movie or TV show whatever you want.
Plex
How to install cCloud TV Kodi Addon?
Kodi Download
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