Kodi "Matrix" 19.3 Release



Okay, we know that we’ve only just released 19.2, and some of you are probably even still waiting for that, but that’s a big part of the reason we need to push out a new build. We still had some challenges with the Xbox release, and some other issues came to light that we didn’t want to ignore – so, rather than get into platform-specific point releases, we thought we’d just nudge up to 19.3 and go for it.

As with other point releases, don’t go looking for new features, as that isn’t really the purpose here. Full details are on GitHub, but here’s the short form…

  • We’ve had some challenges getting the Xbox version released because of some specific platform requirements needed for 4k/HEVC playback. With the help of @CelesAtXbox (thanks so much!) we think we’ve now genuinely got those covered to Microsoft’s satisfaction, and can finally get this into the Windows Store.
  • There’s also an issue with an expired certificate for 18.9 on Xbox, which effectively takes that version off that platform for new installations, so timing is opportune to fix that.
  • There’s been a long-standing Atmos audio issue on all platforms that support TrueHD passthrough – we know that this this has been irritating people for some time, and we’ve now been able to fix this.
  • We unintentionally introduced a bug in 19.2 that broke Airplay, so we’ve fixed that one.
  • A couple of gaming-related fixes, notably a controller fix and some shader issues on Retroplayer.
  • We’ve fixed a bug that affected thumbnails for watched episodes when hiding episode spoilers.
  • We’ve much improved the metadata shown in Linux app stores.

Thanks, as always, to everyone who has helped by reporting, isolating or fixing issues.

You should be fine to install this straight over the top of your existing Kodi version – indeed, this will happen automatically on many platforms – but, if you’ve any doubts, back up your userdata beforehand. Similarly, this is a minor version bump, so there’s no change to database versions or anything similar on the vast majority of platforms; the exception here is obviously if you’re getting your first taste of a major upgrade (i.e. 18.x to 19.x).

If you’re interested, you can read the merged PRs here. If you want to read back on the full history of v19 itself, or of previous versions, you can find the corresponding articles in the relevant blog posts.

Application deployment on different platforms (notably, Google Play and the Microsoft Store) can vary considerably due to circumstances outside of our control, so just be patient, and the update will inevitably find its way through.



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Kodi "Matrix" 19.3 Release



Okay, we know that we’ve only just released 19.2, and some of you are probably even still waiting for that, but that’s a big part of the reason we need to push out a new build. We still had some challenges with the Xbox release, and some other issues came to light that we didn’t want to ignore – so, rather than get into platform-specific point releases, we thought we’d just nudge up to 19.3 and go for it.

As with other point releases, don’t go looking for new features, as that isn’t really the purpose here. Full details are on GitHub, but here’s the short form…

  • We’ve had some challenges getting the Xbox version released because of some specific platform requirements needed for 4k/HEVC playback. With the help of @CelesAtXbox (thanks so much!) we think we’ve now genuinely got those covered to Microsoft’s satisfaction, and can finally get this into the Windows Store.
  • There’s also an issue with an expired certificate for 18.9 on Xbox, which effectively takes that version off that platform for new installations, so timing is opportune to fix that.
  • There’s been a long-standing Atmos audio issue on all platforms that support TrueHD passthrough – we know that this this has been irritating people for some time, and we’ve now been able to fix this.
  • We unintentionally introduced a bug in 19.2 that broke Airplay, so we’ve fixed that one.
  • A couple of gaming-related fixes, notably a controller fix and some shader issues on Retroplayer.
  • We’ve fixed a bug that affected thumbnails for watched episodes when hiding episode spoilers.
  • We’ve much improved the metadata shown in Linux app stores.

Thanks, as always, to everyone who has helped by reporting, isolating or fixing issues.

You should be fine to install this straight over the top of your existing Kodi version – indeed, this will happen automatically on many platforms – but, if you’ve any doubts, back up your userdata beforehand. Similarly, this is a minor version bump, so there’s no change to database versions or anything similar on the vast majority of platforms; the exception here is obviously if you’re getting your first taste of a major upgrade (i.e. 18.x to 19.x).

If you’re interested, you can read the merged PRs here. If you want to read back on the full history of v19 itself, or of previous versions, you can find the corresponding articles in the relevant blog posts.

Application deployment on different platforms (notably, Google Play and the Microsoft Store) can vary considerably due to circumstances outside of our control, so just be patient, and the update will inevitably find its way through.





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Kodi "Matrix" 19.2 Release



It’s been some time since we released 19.1, and numerous issues have revealed themselves and been resolved in the intervening months. As such, we’re probably overdue a formal release of the updates, so, without further ado – here’s the latest release in the “Matrix” series.

As with other point releases, don’t go looking for new features, as that isn’t really the purpose here. Full details are on GitHub, but here’s the short form…

PVR

  • Fixed: crash when accessing invalid PVR channel from favourites
  • Fixed: crash on startup while searching for missing channel icons
  • Fixed: crash on startup caused by missing timer type
  • Fixed: “Delete permanently” of recordings from trash
  • Other, more minor bug fixes

Video Library

  • Fixed a bug that deleted UniqueID’s when scraping the library, which caused unexpected behaviour for addons relying on those ID’s

Games

  • Added translations for emulators and game controller add-ons

JSON-RPC

  • Expose icon path of EPG tags as ‘thumbnail’ property
  • Expose series number of EPG tags as ‘seasonnum’ property.

Network

  • Websocket: handles partial messages

Add-ons

  • Fixed: display logic for official and third-party modules

Windows specifics

  • Fixed: possible crash when switching monitors due to adding/removing hardware.
  • Fixed: audio passthrough not working (randomly) on some systems when display refresh rate match is enabled.
  • Improved: flip discard swap chain is used on all Windows 10 systems even if graphics driver does not support latest DirectX feature levels.
  • Improved: 10-bit swap chain is used by default on Windows 10 systems when HDR display is detected (for 8-bit SDR video sources too).
  • Fixed: possible crash related to WS-Discovery when non-computer devices (e.g. IP cameras) are attached to the same network.
  • Fixed: possible crash when HDR is toggled on/off externally from Windows 10 display settings.
  • Fixed: no picture or wrong black level with some video drivers when limited range output is enabled in conjunction with hardware acceleration DXVA2 and HDR passthrough.

Android specifics

  • Fixed: external storage volumes not visible on devices running old Android versions

Xbox specifics

The big news here is that we can finally make 19.x “Matrix” available on the Xbox – thanks for putting up with the delay while we fixed the blockers!

  • Fixed: crash on playback of 4K HEVC videos due to out-of-memory condition.
  • Fixed: GUI rendered at 1080 and upscaled to 4K instead of native 4K.
  • Fixed: 4K resolution is incorrectly reported in logs as 1920×1080.
  • Fixed: crash when “Switch display refresh rate at Start/Stop” is enabled with 4K resolution.
  • Fixed: tone mapping not used by default at playback HDR videos.
  • Fixed: missing display refresh rate info on Video Debug Info OSD (Alt+O).
  • Fixed: Internet SSL connectivity not working due not usable path to built-in CA certs bundle.
  • Improved: swap chain performance using DXGISWAPEFFECTFLIPDISCARD.
  • Improved: 10-bit swap chain surfaces are used if an HDR-capable TV is detected (even for 8-bit SDR videos).
  • Improved: HEVC DXVA2 decoder performance using 128 byte aligned decoder surfaces.

Thanks, as always, to everyone who has helped by reporting, isolating or fixing issues.

You should be fine to install this straight over the top of your existing Kodi version – indeed, this will happen automatically on many platforms – but, if you’ve any doubts, back up your userdata beforehand. Similarly, this is a minor version bump, so there’s no change to database versions or anything similar on the vast majority of platforms; the exception is obviously Xbox, where users need to be aware that, for them, this is a major upgrade (18.9 to 19.2).

If you’re interested, you can read the merged PRs here. If you want to read back on the full history of v19 itself, or of previous versions, you can find the corresponding articles in the relevant blog posts.

Application deployment on different platforms (notably, Google Play and the Microsoft Store) can vary considerably due to circumstances outside of our control, so just be patient, and the update will inevitably find its way through.





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Hacktoberfest 2021


Hacktoberfest 2021 Logo

October… the month that gave birth to the world’s most famous and traditional beer festival. What’s possibly better than two weeks of collective beer drinking? Under normal circumstances…probably nothing. In the so called new normal? Let’s pretend we can tolerate a bit more of this social awkwardness and find an alternative way: let’s just celebrate beer… and open-source. Or in Team Kodi’s dictionary: just another month at the office :)

For yet another year, Kodi is participating as a project in Hacktoberfest. Hacktoberfest is a month-long celebration of open source software run by DigitalOcean. During the month of October, individuals are invited to join open-source software enthusiasts, beginners, and the developer community by contributing to open-source projects. Additionally, Hacktoberfest also promotes several meetups, virtual events or hackatons to celebrate our beloved FOSS. Free swag (or planting a tree with your name if you feel inclined) usually comes to those who are able to finish the challenge (4 valid code contributions/pull-requests to eligible repositories) throughout the month of Hacktober.

How to get started?

Head over to the event website and have a read over the provided resources. For Kodi, a good starting point is our exhaustive list of open issues. Team Kodi members (maintainers) will make sure that all the code submissions that take place during the month of October towards our eligible repositories are labeled with the hacktoberfest-accepted label in case they are valid. Please don’t abuse your luck: spam contributions will be tracked and marked invalid, making you ineligible for the competition!

What are Kodi-eligible repositories?

If you’d like to do some C++ you can send your code contributions to:

If you want to work on Java/Android:

More of an iOS/objective-c person:

Typescript/Gatsby?

Pythonista over there?

Are you a Kodi addon developer?

You can submit your addon (or updating your existing addons with new features or bug fixes) to the Kodi official addon repository:

What you should do after reading this blog post

Fill your beer glass, cheers to open-source and… start hacking!





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Important Things To Prepare For A Holiday

When planning your next holiday, there are a lot of things to get ready as well as things to consider doing before you leave. Going on holiday is always exciting but you also need to take the time to prepare a few things ahead of time to make your life easier. 

Today we are going to take a look at some of the things you can prepare in advance of your next trip away. 

Gather essential phone numbers 

The first thing you should consider doing before you go away on holiday is to find out some information about your destination. In case of an emergency it would be good for you to have phone numbers for the local doctors, hospital, chemist, and local taxi service should you need this while you are away. 

Check the weather 

The next thing you should do in the week leading up to your holiday is check a weather api to ensure that you are prepared for the climate and weather conditions when you get to your destination. It is likely that you will be going somewhere warmer, but always be aware of harsh storms at certain times of the year and be sure you have a raincoat with you! 

Pack for every occasion 

Packing your bag for your holiday might seem easy, but a good way to organise your thoughts is to write a list of what you are packing and ensure you check things off as they go into your bag. You can also take a list with you at the other end to ensure that when you pack up to go home you don’t forget anything important. 

Clean the house 

As you approach the last few days before you head on holiday – one thing you should consider is cleaning your house. Now is the best time to give your house a proper clean and it will allow you to come back to a home that is clean and tidy instead of one full of dust, dirt, and clutter. Clean now, and you’ll be thankful for it later on. 

Bring some food 

When you head off for your plane, it is important to bring some food along with you that you can snack on. You might end up with a plane meal during the flight however you can’t guarantee how long it will take before you are able to get on your plane. Bringing along a few different snacks such as a sandwich, fruit, and nuts will make your wait a little less painful and will also ensure that you have something healthy and nutritious along the way. 

Plan travel 

Travel is the most important and sometimes the most stressful part of your holiday. You first need to plan your flights to your chosen destination and then from this you’ll need a taxi to the airport as well as some way of getting from the destination airport to your hotel. Take the time to decide whether or not a rented car would be worth it, and ensure all of your travel plans are set in stone a little way before you go. 

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LibreELEC (Matrix) 10.0 RC1



LibreELEC 10.0 RC1 is released! bringing Kodi (Matrix) v19.1 (+ additional fixes) to LibreELEC users.
Changes from LibreELEC 10.0 BETA 5 are listed here. As discussed in the recent Upcoming Changes blog post it, the 10.0 release is a disruptive and limited hardware release. If you have not read the blog post – please do – because we are not releasing images for all hardware. In summary: this is a stable release for Generic (x86_64 PCs). Stable-Beta for Allwinner and Rockchip. Stable “Alpha” for Raspberry Pi 4 as the code is still very new. RPi 2/3 are still in development targeting an LE10.2 release. RPi 0/1 are discontinued. All others hardware is still in development and not in a state for formal releases.

WIDEVINE

LibreELEC 10 RC1 is out of the box compatible with the new widevine version (4.10.2252.0 or newer) and no manual changes are required anymore to make it work.

** DO NOT UPGRADE! **

Yes, we mean that. The team are super keen for you to run the latest LibreELEC release but we recommend you clean install not upgrade an existing installation – unless you are upgrading from a recent nightly image, i.e. you are already using Kodi 19.

The two simple (but complex) reasons for this advice are:

a) Python3 changes in Kodi v19 mean 99.99% of add-ons stop working. Most official Kodi add-ons now have Matrix compatible versions in the Kodi repo, but the transtion to them is not always smooth. Incompatible Python2 add-ons are disabled automatically on upgrade and users need to find/update add-ons to Python3 versions before re-enabling them. Banned/piracy add-ons are heavily impacted by the Python3 change, and while we don’t care about them breaking, we do care about the abuse that’s often hurled at staff when we refuse sympathy or support to that subset of users.

b) Kernel changes for RPi4 users combined with no release for RPi2/3 users and discontinued support for RPi0/1 users means signifant changes in the user experience (Raspberry Pi users are a combined 80% of our active installed base). We are pretty confident RPi4 users will like the update since it brings HBR audio and initial HDR video support, but it’s still a big change. Generic (where there is a lower level of change) and Allwinner/Rockchip (which already run on modern kernels) are less impacted.

SPARE CARDS AND BACKUPS

Using a spare SD card or USB stick to clean install onto makes “rolling back” in the event of problems simple. If you will reuse the same boot media, make a backup first and move it off-box so you can clean install an earlier release then restore from the backup. Kodi does not support in-place downgrades and it ever worked for you in the past it was luck not design (and Python3 guarantees problems this time). Your failure to make a backup is not our problem!

So unless you are already running an image with Kodi 19 inside, a clean install is preferred. We apologise for the inconvenience but we expect a much higher than normal support effort with in-place upgrades so it’s sensible advice.

CHANGES

You can read the official Team Kodi release announcement for Matrix/v19.0 here and (again) the recent Upcoming Changes blog post for more info on Kodi changes and the transition to GBM/V4L2. You probably (and hopefully) won’t notice, but every package that goes into the LibreELEC OS has been updated to a latest or recent release. It’s been two years since Kodi 18 was released so the changeset is too large to list. GitHub has the full history.

SUPPORT

Project staff are available in the forum to answer questions and provide advice. If you have a problem, technical issues are best accompanied by system and Kodi debug logs – help us to help you.

Enjoy! 🙂

Click here to go to the download page.

 



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LE 9.2 fix #2 for widevine


Today we are releasing a LibreELEC update for the 9.2 branch to primarily fix Widevine, its that piece of software that allows playback of Netflix, Amazon Prime and other paid video services.

The new version of widevine (4.10.2252.0 or newer) is mandatory to keep it working after the streaming services finally switched to the new version.
With that new version (that is taken from ChromeOS) all ARM devices need additional libraries to make it work again.

The update is only available for Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 4 and Slice 3. The fix is already included in our LE10 builds too.
The Generic (PC / Intel / AMD / Nvidia) images need no changes.

SUPPORT

Project staff are available in the forum to answer questions and provide advice. Please remember this is a beta. We are expecting some minor bugs/issues to be found. If you have a problem, technical issues are best accompanied by system and Kodi debug logs – help us to help you.

Enjoy! 🙂

Click here to go to the download page.



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Switching Translations to Weblate


Photo by Edurne Chopeitia on Unsplash

The moment is here to move to an even more optimal translation service for our application. Ultimately we have chosen Weblate, and its service will be hosted at https://kodi.weblate.cloud/.

This is done to optimize our workflow and to allow easy inclusion of all add-ons in the official Kodi add-on repository.

The transition has taken its time during at least the last year, so if you have made any requests at Transifex for new languages or team additions in that period, we’re sorry we couldn’t implement them.

All current translations have been transferred to Weblate, and we would like to thank you for all your efforts in making Kodi the multi-lingual success it is. We hope you will join us in our revived efforts to make Kodi accessible to even more languages using Weblate.

For now, our most current resources at Transifex are locked, meaning translators will no longer have access. The final switch over to Weblate is planned for July the 14th, 2021. We hope to see you all there.

Please sign up at Weblate here:

https://kodi.weblate.cloud/accounts/register/

You can visit this forum post to let us know which language team you would like access to (and if you are a coordinator for that language): https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=363132

We encourage all add-on developers with add-ons in the official Kodi add-on repository to submit their add-ons for translation: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=363251&pid=3045468#pid3045468

Best regards,

The Kodi Translations Team





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,

A Few Ways That Everyone Should Be Using Digital Technology

In today’s world, virtually everyone spends a major chunk of the time, on a daily basis, interacting with digital tools, technologies, and devices of various sorts.

For some people, this is more or less limited to things like online banking and checking emails, while for others it involves pastimes like coding, managing an ecommerce business, cryptocurrency trading, or any number of other things.

Certain ubiquitous manifestations of digital technology raise concerns among psychologists and public commentators. For example, the popular Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma” shines a light on some of the potential negative consequences of the major social media platforms, and the fact that they are so widely used around the world.

One way or the other, however, it’s clear that digital technologies are here to stay and will only become increasingly more sophisticated and embedded in our lives and societies for the foreseeable future.

Keeping that in mind, here are a handful of ways that everyone should be using digital technology in order to improve and uplift their lives in a variety of different ways.

Exploring different creative pursuits

There are all sorts of different creative pursuits out there that you might choose to try your hand at, ranging from graphic art, to making music, to building a website, to name just a few.

One of the great things about the digital technologies that are so widespread today is that they open all sorts of doors to engaging in various forms of creative expression.

If you wanted to try creating music, for example, there are all sorts of software programs out there – many of them free – that can allow you to get started experimenting from the comfort of your own bedroom. The 2000’s era Swedish DJ Basshunter is just one example of a musician who got his start in this way.

Likewise, there are a huge number of different courses, resources, and tutorials available online across different digital channels that can help you take up a wide range of different hobbies, and see whether a particular creative pursuit is right for you.

Rather than just using digital tools and technologies for passive entertainment, why not also try to use them for active creation as well?

Cataloguing significant life moments and events

Once upon a time, a handwritten paper journal was about the best way anyone had at their disposal of commemorating the significant events of their day-to-day lives – and in the more recent past, family photo albums helped to expand things.

Today, however, there are an enormous number of different digital tools available to help us to catalogue and commemorate the most significant moments and events of our lives, so that we can reminisce for years to come, and share our personal stories in detail with our loved ones both today and in the future.

Of course, photo management apps can help you to more seamlessly and effectively curate the pictures that you accumulate over time, While specific journaling apps and programs such as “Day One Journal” for Apple can help to give you a great and seamless way to get started.

As we often forget the details of significant events in our lives, and since “a picture is worth a thousand words” as the saying goes, everyone should consider cataloguing the significant moments and events in their lives in this manner.

Tracking and pursuing goals and habits

While there has been a lot of fair criticism made in recent years of the excesses of “productivity culture,” and while some people certainly do become hyper-zealous in pursuing their goals, to the extent that they miss out on the beauty of the present moment, goal setting can still be remarkably powerful way of helping to keep yourself aligned with your priorities, and to live your best life.

Today, there are all sorts of different digital tools and resources on offer to help you track and effectively pursue your goals, in addition to managing your habits. And once you have systems in place for effectively tracking and pursuing both your goals and your habits, you can really make some amazing things happen in your life.

By all means, you should try out a handful of different tools and approaches for goal setting and habit tracking.

Enjoying great stories

As human beings, we are all deeply moved by powerful storytelling, and great stories – in the form of novels, fireside tales, anecdotes, and also films, TV shows, and even well written video games – can give us profound insight into the human experience and the course of our own lives.

So, enjoy some of the great forms of digital storytelling that are out there, whether that means watching TV shows, or playing some games. As long as you strike the right balance, these things have the potential to really enrich your life.

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LibreELEC (Matrix) 10.0 BETA5



LibreELEC 10.0 BETA 5 is released! bringing Kodi (Matrix) v19.1 (+ additional fixes) to LibreELEC users.
Changes from LibreELEC 10.0 BETA 4 are listed here. As discussed in the recent Upcoming Changes blog post it, the 10.0 release is a disruptive and limited hardware release. If you have not read the blog post – please do – because we are not releasing images for all hardware. In summary: this is a stable release for Generic (x86_64 PCs). Stable-Beta for Allwinner and Rockchip. Stable “Alpha” for Raspberry Pi 4 as the code is still very new. RPi 2/3 are still in development targeting an LE10.2 release. RPi 0/1 are discontinued. All others hardware is still in development and not in a state for formal releases.

WIDEVINE

LibreELEC 10 Beta5 is out of the box compatible with the new widevine version (4.10.2252.0 or newer) and no manual changes are required anymore to make it work.

** DO NOT UPGRADE! **

Yes, we mean that. The team are super keen for you to run the latest LibreELEC release but we recommend you clean install not upgrade an existing installation – unless you are upgrading from a recent nightly image, i.e. you are already using Kodi 19.

The two simple (but complex) reasons for this advice are:

a) Python3 changes in Kodi v19 mean 99.99% of add-ons stop working. Most official Kodi add-ons now have Matrix compatible versions in the Kodi repo, but the transtion to them is not always smooth. Incompatible Python2 add-ons are disabled automatically on upgrade and users need to find/update add-ons to Python3 versions before re-enabling them. Banned/piracy add-ons are heavily impacted by the Python3 change, and while we don’t care about them breaking, we do care about the abuse that’s often hurled at staff when we refuse sympathy or support to that subset of users.

b) Kernel changes for RPi4 users combined with no release for RPi2/3 users and discontinued support for RPi0/1 users means signifant changes in the user experience (Raspberry Pi users are a combined 80% of our active installed base). We are pretty confident RPi4 users will like the update since it brings HBR audio and initial HDR video support, but it’s still a big change. Generic (where there is a lower level of change) and Allwinner/Rockchip (which already run on modern kernels) are less impacted.

SPARE CARDS AND BACKUPS

Using a spare SD card or USB stick to clean install onto makes “rolling back” in the event of problems simple. If you will reuse the same boot media, make a backup first and move it off-box so you can clean install an earlier release then restore from the backup. Kodi does not support in-place downgrades and it ever worked for you in the past it was luck not design (and Python3 guarantees problems this time). Your failure to make a backup is not our problem!

So unless you are already running an image with Kodi 19 inside, a clean install is preferred. We apologise for the inconvenience but we expect a much higher than normal support effort with in-place upgrades so it’s sensible advice.

CHANGES

You can read the official Team Kodi release announcement for Matrix/v19.0 here and (again) the recent Upcoming Changes blog post for more info on Kodi changes and the transition to GBM/V4L2. You probably (and hopefully) won’t notice, but every package that goes into the LibreELEC OS has been updated to a latest or recent release. It’s been two years since Kodi 18 was released so the changeset is too large to list. GitHub has the full history.

SUPPORT

Project staff are available in the forum to answer questions and provide advice. Please remember this is a beta. We are expecting some minor bugs/issues to be found and there will probably be a BETA2 release before we reach 10.0. If you have a problem, technical issues are best accompanied by system and Kodi debug logs – help us to help you.

Enjoy! 🙂

Click here to go to the download page.

 



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