[chilly]

Just wondering if there was any way to lock the settings in their current state - even if they may be invalid from a hardware perspective.
I constantly have to reset my audio config because maybe my AVR wasn't powered on when I started Kodi, for example.  So that audio output was invalid and wouldn't work when I happened to start Kodi.  
Wondering if I can force it keep the settings anyway.
I'd rather have it not work - then remember my AVR isn't on - than have to go through all the config menus again to turn point it to the right device etc.

[Klojum]

You could try making the guisettings.xml file (and other files?) "read-only" but that may have inadvertent consequences.

For AVR-related things you may need to create the EDID bin file for handshakes when it's powered down.

[jjd-uk]

See https://kodi.wiki/view/Advancedsettings....Conversion

[pkscout]

You might look at the Audio Profiles add-on (which I maintain). It won't do what you want, but you can save profiles and switch to them with just a button press.  At least then when you have to turn on the AVR and "fix" the config you could do it with one button.

[chilly]

See https://kodi.wiki/view/Advancedsettings....Conversion

Perfect!  I even unplugged the AVR, rebooted, started Kodi.... silence.   Plugged the AVR back in - windows flashed around re-adding the display.... and kodi just started making GUI noises.... started a movie and pass through worked.  Didn't have to touch a thing.  I was a little worried windows might dynamically assign a different guid (used in the settings files) to the device every time I unplugged it and the settings would be invalid - but nope - worked great.

And with the GUI audio settings hardcoded (not just the pass through) I know up front that if the GUI's quiet I have to sort out my AVR before starting a movie - which is when the most frustrating part usually happens - "hmm... maybe the intro is just quiet" or "did i pick the right stream" or "is that just passing pcm and not passthrough DTS-HD" etc etc...

I've struggled with this for years - Thank you for pointing it out!

[chilly]

You might look at the Audio Profiles add-on (which I maintain). It won't do what you want, but you can save profiles and switch to them with just a button press.  At least then when you have to turn on the AVR and "fix" the config you could do it with one button.

Sounds interesting - I'll definitely check that out - I'm going to be setting up a second zone on my AVR soon and sounds like it could be of some use having different speaker configs.