[Moatu]

Hi,

some months ago I read something about a different approach on profiling/multiple user accounts in Kodi 19. Later on I read there would be no support for multiple user accounts. Now that Kodi 19 has reached RC1 status - and me being unable to find anything related to profiles & kodi 19 except Audio profiles ... - I am wondering if there is multi user support in kodi 19 or not and if yes, are there differences to previous versions of Kodi.

Greetings
Moatu

[GavinCampbell]

19 has profiles.  I use it.  I think they work better in 19 than they did in 18.  In 17 they were the best.  The only down side to the profiles in 19 is that when you log off it loads the master profile.  So to get around that I disable the addons in my master profile and use them in my other profiles and don't use the Master profile at all.

[scott967]

19 has profiles.  I use it.  I think they work better in 19 than they did in 18.  In 17 they were the best.  The only down side to the profiles in 19 is that when you log off it loads the master profile.  So to get around that I disable the addons in my master profile and use them in my other profiles and don't use the Master profile at all.

I don't see that it is significantly better than 18.  Something you can maybe confirm, is if the secondary profile skin is Estuary and you logout it goes to the login window, but if it is an addon skin it auto-loads the master profile.  I also think I have a problem with my custom skipsteps from advancedsettings don't seem to "take" in the secondary profiles.  There was in the past a problem of sometimes the skin labels wouldn't load and think that is fixed.  But the general view is a complete rebuild of the profile system is needed which has not been done for Kodi 19.

scott s.
.

[GavinCampbell]

I don't see that it is significantly better than 18.  Something you can maybe confirm, is if the secondary profile skin is Estuary and you logout it goes to the login window, but if it is an addon skin it auto-loads the master profile.  I also think I have a problem with my custom skipsteps from advancedsettings don't seem to "take" in the secondary profiles.  There was in the past a problem of sometimes the skin labels wouldn't load and think that is fixed.  But the general view is a complete rebuild of the profile system is needed which has not been done for Kodi 19.

Oh 18 was a mess.  19 had something updated that somewhat fixed things but its still a mess when it comes to profiles.  You are correct about the skin loading issue.  I think that was actually fixed in one of the 19 alpha builds.

For the skin, I set the skin I want in the master profile and leave it enabled as well.  That is the only addon I keep enabled.  That way when I logoff I see the skin I want. 

Same with with the advancedsettings.xml if I need to make a change I do it on the profile locations.  I try to keep my master profile as clean as possible.

The profiles feature is a neglected feature, but such a great feature once you get it set up.

[DarrenHill]

Currently, if you're using the menu to select a profile (rather than having Kodi automatically open a specific profile), then that menu runs under the master profile.

Hence if you have stuff configured under the master profile as well as other profiles, those configurations get loaded and then afterwards whatever you have in the other profile gets loaded once you select it.

So if you have items in the master that are not in the secondary profile, then those will still be used (if stuff is either just in the secondary profile or is in both, then the secondary entry will be used as it will overwrite the version in the master profile where it exists).

The trick is either to keep the master profile completely empty of all settings, or at least only put settings in there that you want to apply to all profiles. Most people make the mistake of using the master profile as just another profile, when in fact it's slightly different for those reasons. If you plan to use profiles at all, it needs to be handled as a special case.

[Moatu]

So to get this setup straight:

I am starting with a fresh copy of Kodi 19 (after whimping a little while over my late configuration).
I automatically log into the master profile.
I disable as much addons as possible.
I only select a skin. This skin defines the profile menu.
I dont select sources etc.
I create as much new non master profiles as I need.
I configure the living heck out of these profiles.

I hope that Kodi 19 won't automatically log in the master profile, if I log off of a profile with addon skin.

I can't hide the master profile in the profile menu and I have to live with it.

Right?

[Tattoofreak]

Currently, if you're using the menu to select a profile (rather than having Kodi automatically open a specific profile), then that menu runs under the master profile.

Hence if you have stuff configured under the master profile as well as other profiles, those configurations get loaded and then afterwards whatever you have in the other profile gets loaded once you select it.

So if you have items in the master that are not in the secondary profile, then those will still be used (if stuff is either just in the secondary profile or is in both, then the secondary entry will be used as it will overwrite the version in the master profile where it exists).

The trick is either to keep the master profile completely empty of all settings, or at least only put settings in there that you want to apply to all profiles. Most people make the mistake of using the master profile as just another profile, when in fact it's slightly different for those reasons. If you plan to use profiles at all, it needs to be handled as a special case.

Dear DarrenHill

If this is the case, then why could this happen?
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/13091-...post150796

Don't get me wrong, I've got no doubt in what you wrote but I'm still curious why something like this could happen.

Cheers

[DarrenHill]

I'm not fully sure where the video resolution settings would be set up in relation to when the profiles are being loaded. So it may well be that is a specific edge case.

To be honest the whole profile set-up is rather a mess at the moment. It is one of the topics I know has been proposed to rip out and rebuild, but as we have more things to do than devs to do it, and as no-one has yet stepped up showing an interest in doing it then for now it hasn't been done.

[DarrenHill]

@Moatu - the vanilla Kodi at install will always log into the Master profile, as that is the only one available.

If you create other profiles, you can set it to either automatically log into one of those, or to offer the menu to select which to log into.

Setting it to directly log into another profile will mean that the master profile is never loaded or touched at all.

Setting it to show the menu will log into the master profile, as that is used as part of the presenting of the menu. You can then select which profile to log into, and that will log in and will overwrite any settings made in the master profile that are also set in the new profile. So you will get the settings from master, overwritten in part or in full by the settings in the other profile.

As noted above, this is recognised as being less than ideal, but for now it's how it works until someone takes on the task of rewriting the whole thing.

[Tattoofreak]

I'm not fully sure where the video resolution settings would be set up in relation to when the profiles are being loaded. So it may well be that is a specific edge case.

To be honest the whole profile set-up is rather a mess at the moment. It is one of the topics I know has been proposed to rip out and rebuild, but as we have more things to do than devs to do it, and as no-one has yet stepped up showing an interest in doing it then for now it hasn't been done.

Dear Darren, thank you for clearing this up.
That's kind of sad but I do fully understand that devs do have other priorities.
Nevertheless I have to mention that the profiles options were originally the reason why I switched from other media center solutions to Kodi/LibreELEC as they are providing a precious way to save my children from content which does not belong to them.
Just to mention, because the profiles options may be underrated by some people: At least for family responsible persons like me, they are indispensable.

Thanks again and keep up your great work!