Kodi v15 (Isengard) FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions for upgrading to the upcoming Kodi v15 (codename Isengard) from a previous version. Includes how to enable some of the new features, where some controls got moved to, etc.

General FAQ

 * See also: All platforms FAQ for an FAQ that applies to all versions of Kodi.

What is Kodi? What is Isengard?

 * Kodi is the new name for XBMC media center. "Isengard" is the codename for version 15, just as "Gotham" was the codename for XBMC v13 and "Helix was the codename for Kodi v14". You will often see "v15" and "Isengard" used interchangeably in the community. It might be a little confusing with so many new names being used, but this is simply the new version of Kodi/XBMC. As long as you call it version 15/v15/Isengard, then everyone in the community will know what you are talking about.
 * Kodi is the new name for XBMC media center. "Isengard" is the codename for version 15, just as "Gotham" was the codename for XBMC v13 and "Helix was the codename for Kodi v14". You will often see "v15" and "Isengard" used interchangeably in the community. It might be a little confusing with so many new names being used, but this is simply the new version of Kodi/XBMC. As long as you call it version 15/v15/Isengard, then everyone in the community will know what you are talking about.

Changelog

 * See: Kodi v15 (Isengard) changelog. Add-on developers should also see Isengard API changes, and skinners should also read the sticky posts in the Skin Development Forum for full changelog on changes to the skinning engine).

What are some of the noticeable new features?

 * In addition to many "under the hood" improvements, some of the visible additions to v15 include:
 * Improved and expanded the internationalization and regional settings options in the GUI. Settings → Appearance → International
 * Easier to navigate audio and subtitle selection lists during video playback.
 * Added adaptive skipping/seeking through audio and video playback, also known as skip steps.
 * Added a universal skip/seek step command to allow an unlimited number of specific time seeking buttons. e.g., a dedicated "small step forward" now possible.
 * Added a chapter selection window with visual thumbnails. See bookmarks and chapters.
 * Audio nodes for audio library customization.
 * Automatically jump to the first unwatched episode in a TV show. Settings → Videos → Library → "Select first unwatched TV season/episode"
 * "Hide watched" now works with non-library video files.
 * PVR add-ons can now auto configure using zeroconf when the PVR server supports it.
 * The default touchscreen skin, re-Touched, now has PVR/Live TV support.
 * Support for ATSC closed captions for PVR.
 * Add-ons can now add to the context menu.
 * Added Android HEVC/H.265 hardware video decoding. See Android hardware.
 * UPnP improvements including external subtitle support.
 * New season posters are now added automatically when updating existing TV shows.
 * Local translations are now add-ons and can be updated with improvements more quickly.
 * Improved add-on manager with better categorization that makes it easier to find and manage add-ons.
 * Subtitle downloading can now automatically download the first subtitle search result.
 * ...and many more
 * ...and many more

SmallStepBack doesn't seem to work

 * In Keymaps the  action ID has been replaced by  . Users with custom keymaps should apply this change as well.   will still work, but it will default to the first back step in skip steps.

Kodi for Android is now in the Google Play store

 * Kodi is now available in the Google Play store. If your Android device already has the Google Play store installed, and you are using an official version of Kodi from kodi.tv, then you can update directly from the Play store.
 * Kodi is now available in the Google Play store. If your Android device already has the Google Play store installed, and you are using an official version of Kodi from kodi.tv, then you can update directly from the Play store.

Android 4.2 required

 * Android 4.2 is now the minimal supported version for Kodi to run on Android platform. Kodi can now be installed from the Google Play store.

iOS 5.1.1 required

 * iOS 5.1.1 is now the minimal supported version for Kodi to run on a jailbroken "iDevice".

Mac OS X 10.7 required

 * Mac OS X 10.7 is now the minimal supported version for Kodi to run on the Mac platform.

OUYA needs OS upgrade to run v15

 * Due to the new system requirements and lack of needed updates from the OUYA company, OUYA's Android-based OS is unable to run Kodi v15. The OUYA hardware can still be used for Kodi, but will need a replacement for the OUYA OS. There is a work-in-progress guide in doing so at HOW-TO:Install CyanogenMod on OUYA. It might even be possible to still use OUYA games on CM 11, or at least have some kind of dual booting option for users who want to retain access to their old OUYA games.

Apple TV 2 is no longer supported

 * Apple TV 2 is no longer supported as of v15. See here for details.

How do I upgrade from v14 to v15?



 * ANDROID USERS: Don't uninstall an earlier version of Kodi/XBMC before installing the new version. Uninstalling first would remove all of your settings. Just install the new version and it will replace the older version and retain your settings.


 * In most cases you can just install Kodi v15 over Kodi v14. All your settings and library are saved and will continue to work in the new version. See Installing for specific install instructions.


 * Interface skins that worked in Kodi v14 should still work in v15.


 * Most other add-ons that worked in Kodi v14 should still work in v15.


 * If you have any issues (settings not being copied over, blank screens, etc) when updating from versions older than v14: remove the new version, install the older version of Kodi/XBMC from http://mirrors.kodi.tv/releases/, and then upgrade to the next version. In other words, if you have v13, first update to v14, and then install v15.

MySQL

 * As long as your MySQL server is set up to allow XBMC/Kodi to make new databases for the upgrade itself (see MySQL/Upgrading) then you don't need to do anything for upgrading a MySQL set up for Kodi. Even if you use "XBMC" in your advancedsettings.xml file, you can leave this the same and everything will still work.
 * As long as your MySQL server is set up to allow XBMC/Kodi to make new databases for the upgrade itself (see MySQL/Upgrading) then you don't need to do anything for upgrading a MySQL set up for Kodi. Even if you use "XBMC" in your advancedsettings.xml file, you can leave this the same and everything will still work.

advancedsettings.xml changes



 *   - For both the  and   sections, this is replaced by a GUI option in v15 Isengard
 *  - In v15 the  action ID has been replaced by   in default keymaps. See skip steps for details. When the original   action ID is used it defaults to the first backwards additive seeking value.
 *  /  - In v15 these tags are replaced by GUI options via additive seeking, which is configured in the GUI. See skip steps for details.

Add-on manager: navigation changes




Add-on manager: checking for new updates



 * In most Kodi interface skins, including the default skin Confluence, the button to check for new add-on updates has been moved to the lefthand sidebar menu. When you've gone into Settings → Add-ons you can press (left) to show the menu and update button.

Automatic crop black bars setting

 * The video playback setting for cropping black bars has been removed due to various bugs. Team Kodi is looking for any developers who might be interested in creating replacement code and is willing to guide them. Please inquire on the development forum for more information.

Apple File Protocol (AFP) has been removed

 * Unfortunately, the AFP client has now been removed from Kodi. When AFP was first added to Kodi (then called XBMC) it was to help those Mac users who had issues with SMB sharing. However, the AFP client has always had major crashing issues, and the open source project behind it was no longer maintained. Team Kodi looked for a replacement and even tried to make our own replacement AFP client code, but in the end it didn't work out.


 * Users who have AFP file servers can use path substitution to change those URLs into another formatted protocol. We recommend using NFS or getting SMB to work by reading SMB/Mac.

HTSP has been removed

 * The HTSP protocol was a way for older versions of Kodi/XBMC to access Tvheadend before PVR/live TV features were officially added to Kodi/XBMC. Now that PVR/live TV has been supported since v12.0 (January 29th, 2013), and replaced the need for HTSP support, the HTSP protocol has finally been retired. Please see our PVR guide for details on how to set up the Tvheadend PVR add-on.

Tuxbox protocol has been removed

 * Same reason as the removal for HTSP support mentioned above. The VUPlus PVR add-on can be used for continued Tuxbox support. Please see our PVR guide for details.

Where can I get more help?

 * The general and platform specific FAQs, the Kodi support forums: http://forum.kodi.tv, and/or the #kodi IRC chat channel on irc.freenode.org.

The "o" screen doesn't show the video FPS anymore

 * In the codecinfo window, the one that shows when you press on a keyboard, the FPS data no longer reports video FPS.


 * In past versions of Kodi/XBMC (before v15) this value reported the estimated frames per second for the actual video itself, but was horribly inaccurate most of the time. Due to those inaccuracies, and various other code changes, the setting has been changed to only report what FPS the graphical interface (the buttons, menus, etc) is being rendered at. This doesn't actually mean anything for most users, but just understand that this no longer has anything to do with the video FPS.


 * If you want to check if your video playback is working as it should, watch the skip and drop values. If those stay low, nothing to worry about. Increasing skip value means, that video frames cannot be rendered in time. If you even see dropping, then it's our last resort, as the system seems to be too slow to play that video and we told the decoder to throw away complete frames. Also take care that the codecinfo window byself puts more pressure on the hardware. Open it from time to time only and compare the skip / drop values.

ANDROID: Amlogic playback issues (zoomed in, 1/4 screen, no video, etc)

 * Kodi will no longer ask to fix incorrect video decoding permissions on Amlogic-based decides that have incorrectly configured firmware. This might cause an issue in some situations, and if this happens to you, first try to manually disable amcodec and only use mediacodec and libstagefright under Settings -> Videos -> Acceleration. If videos still won't play correctly then the device might a firmware/OS update for things to work properly.


 * Why was this changed?
 * As of v15 and later, Kodi doesn't try to manually fix the permissions anymore. Doing so was a hack that the devs didn't feel comfortable with, and venders need to fix this on the firmware level, not the app level. Some hardware venders are still unwilling to set the necessary permissions because of a misconception on "security", which ironically requires granting apps root-level access, which is far less secure.


 * However, the mediacodec "path" to decoding doesn't require the permissions changes, and mediacodec support has improved both in Kodi and in most firmware (even in some of the flawed ones). So now when amcodec fails it falls back on mediacodec, which normally works. In that sense it is "fixed". Eventually mediacodec will be the single standard, and there won't be a need for amcodec, but the option is still there for some special situations.