| 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
|
- 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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Troubleshooting
Boot issues
Some Intel GPUs have issues with rc6 it can be disabled via grub.
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Append i915.i915_enable_rc6=0 to:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.i915_enable_rc6=0"
- Press ctrl+X say YES to save file
- Then run
sudo update-grub
Video Device Driver
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INCOMPLETE:
This page or section is incomplete. Please add information or correct uncertain data which is marked with a ?
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- Most of the problems that you encounter with slow display or OpenGL related errors are because you do not have the proper or outdated display drivers installed.
Begin but install the video drivers the Ubuntu Way
- For NVIDIA drivers follow the guide click this (link)
- For ATI drivers follow the guide click this (link)
- For Intel it is simpler since the drivers are open source so they are usually already pre-installed. You need to make sure that you use the newer Intel driver and not the older i810 driver or the 'vesa' driver. This could be verified by checking the 'Driver' value in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
- Make sure your hardware acceleration libva or sna is installed and working.
- Deinterlacing in Intel hardware needs cutting edge drivers like xserver-xorg-video-intel, libva-intel-vaapi-driver
Below, you can find forum discussions on various relevant topics, including complete setups and configuration of drivers. No NVidia forum discussion link exists yet, so please add links if you know of any relevant ones.
Upgrading NVidia drivers in Ubuntu and variants
For Linux, updating your graphics drivers can be a decisive step in resolving some issues. Ubuntu and XBMCbuntu ship with often outdated drivers that do not support a platform fully.
Make sure that old versions of the NVidia drivers are removed if you use other 3rd party PPAs (repositories). For the sake of your sanity, don't remove any Ubuntu sources, as that is likely to break something if you remove them.
sudo apt-get install python-software-properties pkg-config
sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:the_3rd_party_ppa_you_wish_to_remove_here
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings
Intel SNA Acceleration
Intel uses VAAPI for GPU-accelerated video playback decoding, however there are other acceleration methods in the pipeline like SNA.
The use of GPU acceleration is an essential part of getting both smooth video playback and a lag-free interface (GUI).
Create or edit your existing /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add to section Device as below.
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "AccelMethod" "sna"
EndSection
For more information on SNA, see: Intel SNA vs. UXA On Ivy Bridge
Verify OpenGL support
- Once you have your drivers in place, you need to make sure that OpenGL is properly configured. Run the following command:
# glxinfo | grep -i direct
- The result should be:
Direct rendering: Yes
- If the result is "No", it means that the display driver have not been properly configured. Also, you can run the command glxgears and you should see the wheels turning smoothly.
Update XBMC from any PPA
We obviously recommend the use of our PPAs, but we recognise that Ubuntu is only one of the many Linux distributions in use and users will also have Archlinux, Debian or Gentoo (amongst many others). Please feel free to provide details on how you can upgrade packages on these and other distros. The details below are thus really intended for XBMCbuntu and Ubuntu variant (Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Mint...) installations.
Where are XBMC Packages for Ubuntu/Debian?
- Official
- Xvba and improved Vdpau (not mainline)
- 3rd party (contains older Ubuntu support etc)
Ubuntu manual XBMC upgrade process
Below is the process to upgrade XBMC manually and/or change the repository being used if you have a different source PPA (it is recommended to remove any previous PPAs that contain the same package sources). If you use other distros, please update or add a subsection with relevant information.
Connect to your Debian/Ubuntu-based distro via SSH and run the commands below:
sudo apt-get install python-software-properties pkg-config
sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:current_XBMC_providing_ppa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:the_ppa_you_wish_to_use
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get remove xbmc xbmc.bin
sudo apt-get install xbmc xbmc.bin
Arch manual XBMC upgrade process
This part needs to be updated ?
FreeBSD manual XBMC upgrade process
- Upgrading XBMC in FreeBSD is pretty simple, as long as a new version exists in port
- Update you port tree
portsnap fetch update
- Update XBMC
portmaster multimedia/xbmc
Gentoo manual XBMC upgrade process
This part needs to be updated ?
Compiz is not compatible with XBMC
- Make sure Compiz visual effects is disabled. You can do this by going to System -> Preferences -> Appearance -> Visual Effects. Make sure "None" is selected. Alternatively, you can tell Compiz not to interfere with XBMC. Install and run CompizConfig, and under General Options tick Unredirect Fullscreen Windows.
- For NVIDIA-Graphics use Disable composite in xorg.conf, like so:
Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Disable"
EndSection
Or in terminal
sudo nvidia-xconfig --no-composite
- Minimal xorg.conf for NVidia Minimal NVidia xorg.conf
Audio issues
For XBMC v12 Frodo specific settings please see AudioEngine.
Why do I get no audio devices detected ?
If you have installed lightdm this will happen, it's is not a XBMC issue. A workaround exists.
- See: XBMCbuntu no audio devices
Required packages
sudo apt-get install alsa-utils libasound2
No sound in XBMC
Note: Unmute channels in alsamixer in all cases if you're getting no sound via e.g. HDMI. Just for guidance, a couple of quick reference commands are listed below.
Tip: Substitute IEC958 with your device ID depending on your aplay -l
amixer -q set Master 100% unmute
amixer -q set PCM 100% unmute
amixer -q set 'IEC958',1 unmute
amixer -q set 'IEC958',0 unmute
Note: Make sure that your correct sound card is in use in alsamixer. To change your card, press F6 and then try different cards to make ensure it's not something as simple as using the wrong card - sometimes the onboard card may not be the one you want or need.
Note: For systems that have multiple sound cards e.g. Intel Azalia (internal) - GT520 (external), you could try to disable the onboard card in system BIOS if it's not in use. This is suitable where, for example, you're using a Soundblaster or perhaps a video card that also audio e.g. HDA Nvidia.
HDMI Channel Audio remapping
Some combinations of systems (e.g. ION) and receivers may have incorrectly mapped HDMI channels.
- See also: HOW-TO: Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux
Dual Audio setup
This is a grail for some XBMC users and with inclusion of AudioEngine it becomes more complex and even impossible in some cases.
One XBMC forum user, puntloos, posted his finding which seem to work relatively well for his setup. Bear in mind that this will not be universal, though, and thus may not work under other circumstances.
Known issues
See: XBMC v12 (Frodo) issues
General topics
