Kodi Steam Deck development

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Development

Kodi Steam Deck development

See also: HOW-TO:Submit_a_patch and Steam Deck

Kodi is easily installable on the Steam Deck via Flatpak, but if you're looking to do development on the Steam Deck, this article is for you.

Environment Setup

The first step is to disable the read-only filesystem. If you're reading this, it's assumed that you know what you're doing. If not, seek safety.

The following steps will allow you to compile Kodi on the Steam Deck:

Disable the read-only filesystem

sudo steamos-readonly disable

Initialize the pacman keyring

sudo pacman-key --init

Populate the pacman keyring with the default Arch Linux and Holo keys

sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux holo

Update the system packages

sudo pacman -Syu

Get/build the source code

Clone Kodi

git clone https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc.git ~/Documents/kodi

Bootstrap depends

cd ~/Documents/kodi/tools/depends
./bootstrap

Configure depends

./configure --prefix="$HOME/kodi-deps" --with-rendersystem=gl

Build depends (this takes about 25 minutes)

make -j8

Create CMake files

Optionally, link with LLD because ld.gold complains about newer DWARF formats:

cd ~/Documents/kodi
make -C tools/depends/target/cmakebuildsys CMAKE_EXTRA_ARGUMENTS="-DCORE_PLATFORM_NAME=wayland -DENABLE_LLD=ON"

Build Kodi (this takes about 18 minutes)

cd build
make -j8

Build binary add-ons

make -j8 binary-addons

Installation

Create launcher script

First, create a script directory:

mkdir -p ~/bin

Then, write the script:

cat <<'EOL' > ~/bin/kodi-dev.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# Kodi needs this when running from the build tree
export SSL_CERT_FILE=/home/deck/Documents/kodi/system/certs/cacert.pem

# Disable SteamOS gamescope Vulkan implicit layer for this app
# (prevents CreateSwapchainKHR "bad Vulkan layer" popup in Gaming Mode)
export VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE="${VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE:-}:VK_LAYER_FROG_gamescope_wsi"

# Clear any explicit Vulkan layer env that may be set
unset VK_LAYER_PATH
unset VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS
unset ENABLE_GAMESCOPE_WSI

KODI_BIN="/home/deck/Documents/kodi/build/kodi-wayland"

# Gaming Mode: already inside gamescope (do NOT nest gamescope again)
if [[ -n "${STEAM_GAMEPADUI:-}" ]]; then
  export WAYLAND_DISPLAY="${WAYLAND_DISPLAY:-gamescope-0}"
  exec "${KODI_BIN}" -fs
fi

# Desktop Mode: provide a Wayland compositor via nested gamescope and force 4K
exec /usr/bin/gamescope --expose-wayland -f -b -W 3840 -H 2160 -- "${KODI_BIN}" -fs
EOL

Finally, make it executable:

chmod +x ~/bin/kodi-dev.sh

Create desktop entry

Write the desktop file:

cat <<'EOL' > ~/.local/share/applications/kodi-dev.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Kodi (dev)
GenericName=Media Center
Comment=Manage and view your media (dev build)
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Categories=AudioVideo;Video;Player;TV;
Icon=/home/deck/Documents/kodi/tools/Linux/packaging/media/icon256x256.png

Exec=/home/deck/bin/kodi-dev.sh
EOL

Make it executable:

chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/kodi-dev.desktop

Update the launcher database:

update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications 2>/dev/null || true

Copy the launcher to your desktop:

cp ~/.local/share/applications/kodi-dev.desktop ~/Desktop/

Add to Steam (Gaming Mode)

Switch to Desktop Mode.

Open Steam.

Select "Add a Game" -> "Add a Non-Steam Game..."

Click "Browse..." and select: /home/deck/bin/kodi-dev.sh

After it is added, open Properties and set:

• Name: Kodi (dev)
• Compatibility: ensure "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" is unchecked.