Frequently Asked Questions for XBMCbuntu
Template:XBMC FAQ
General FAQ
- See also: XBMC all platforms FAQ for FAQs that apply to all versions of XBMC.
- See also: XBMC v13 (Gotham) FAQ for FAQs related to the (Gotham) v13 release.
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What is the XBMCbuntu.iso?
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- The XBMCbuntu .iso is a Lubuntu based Linux distro, customised to provide point releases of XBMC like v13 Gotham. can also be used to create a bootable USB disk.
- Because of the nature of Live facilities of Linux distros available in XBMCbuntu, you can also try-it-out without installing, thus not requiring any modifications to the host harddrive.
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What version of Lubuntu is used by the current XBMCbuntu?
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- For Gotham v13, the XBMCbuntu is based on Lubuntu 14.04LTS (Trusty Tahr)
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What are XBMCbuntu's minimum and recommended requirements?
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- Minimum requirements are the minimum to operate Linux and XBMC, though for better results the recommended or better is suggested.
CPU
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x86 or x86-64 processor such as: Intel Pentium 4/ Pentium M, AMD Athlon 64 / Opteron, or newer CPU (that support SSE2, which all CPUs made within the last 10-years does).
- If your GPU/VPU does not support hardware video decoding then you will require a fast modern processor is required to decode some 1080p videos encoded in H.264, VC-1/WMV9, HEVC/H.265 VP9, etc
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RAM
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- Recommended: 1GB or more in a HTPC media player appliance-like computer dedicated for Kodi, and 2GB or more in a computer for multipurpose use.
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Graphics
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Kodi will run on most graphics cards made within the last 10-years or so, though for good hardware video decoding support a little newer graphics cards can be required. This includes most cards from AMD/ATI, Intel, or NVIDIA which support OpenGL 2.0 or later.
AMD/Intel
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Video decoding
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For hardware video decoding, which may be necessary on low-performance CPUs to playback 1080p content, make sure your GPU or VPU supports either VAAPI or VDPAU. For everything but older AMD cards and Nvidia, VAAPI is recommended. On AMD, you might have to start with the environment variable KODI_GL_INTERFACE set to GLX in order to get VDPAU support.
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Drive space
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The Kodi application generally only takes up between 100 to 200 MB of space, depending on how the binary is compiled. Technically speaking, if your hardware supports netbooting, you do not even require a internal storage for either the operating-system or for Kodi.
- Minimum: 4 to 8GB
- Recommended: 16GB or more
- Depending on how big your video library is. Most of the space required for Kodi comes from the images/artwork cache.
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Note: There´s no 304.xxx driver for Ubuntu 18.04 available anymore from the "Graphic Drivers"-ppa. Users who are using GeForce 6-series cards should either stay on an older Ubuntu version or use newer cards
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Installation
How do I get and install XBMCbuntu?
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How do I resolve any install wizard's problems?
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In the event, the XBMCbuntu install wizard isn't working for you, when selecting install from the grub menu options, do the following:
XBMCbuntu
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XBMCbuntu
Upgrading
How do I upgrade XBMC from PPA in XBMCBuntu?
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You dont have to necessarily wipe your current install to try a new version of XBMC, like a nightly version or beta for example, you can just "fire up" Putty or a shell in Linux/OS X
- See below
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Team XBMC PPATeam XBMC PPA
Drivers
How can I Upgrade NVidia drivers in Ubuntu/XBMCbuntu and variants?
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Nvidia as well as drivers suppliers for Ubuntu and variants, recommended user to install these packages via repositories provided!
The maintainers ensure the drivers are correct and compatible to the distro being targeted.
sudo apt-get install python-software-properties pkg-config
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings
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Handling files & Backups
How can I transfer files to/from XBMCbuntu?
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How can I backup all my settings to restore them if something goes wrong?
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You can use the Add-on:XBMC Backup Backup and restore your XBMC database and configuration files in the event of a crash or file corruption.
Alternatively if you do not wish to use a addon, you can navigate to your userdata folder and copy/archive all its contents to a external drive. This can be achieved various ways, depending on your OS.
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Connectivity
How can I connect a bluetooth keyboard/mouse/remote??
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Troubleshooting
What if I have audio issues with XBMCbuntu?
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You can look at the audio troubleshooting page below, if your problems persist, you can always try to search for answers to your problem in forums and if none are found open your own thread.
Remember to have Debug log handy in pastebin, in such cases.
- See: Audio Troubleshooting
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Can't install, because the install window is too big?
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Can't install because the text is too small?
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Linux FAQ
Upgrading XBMCbuntu
How do I upgrade the XBMCbuntu base OS?
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To actually upgrade the underlying Linux which "XBMCbuntu" is based on, it is possible to do so via release upgrade.
There are advantages and disadvantages to doing so. It's not a method recommended lightly to inexperienced users, doing so means you understand and accept responsibility for breaking your system.
BACKUP! Never attempt any upgrades without having proper backups of the files you consider important or value or have a full system image/backup of working system you can restore.
RECOMMENDED! It is possible (in order to preserve systems tweaks) to just upgrade XBMC itself by treating it as a normal Linux package and update/install via: Upgrading XBMC via ppa in XBMCbuntu
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Known issues
See: XBMC v12 (Frodo) issues
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