[Nosepull]

I always followed this guide when setting up my Kodi box, but as of Ubuntu 21.10 and Kodi 19.0 many of the original instructions (and the additional comments in #5071) are no longer needed, as the graphics subsystem seems to be set up correctly without too much fiddling around. Only full range color has to be enabled. (I did not deal with automount permissions etc., as I handle this otherweise.)

For those still reading this thread, I had success with the following systemd unit (also for GBM):
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...pid3037608

(Obviously, the user Kodi has to be in the right groups, which nowadays contains also "render".)

[hlloyge]

Oh dear lord, I'm stuck again.
So, because Netflix add-on needed higher version of Python, I've decided to install new system. I've installed Ubuntu Server 21.04 on J1900 board, and installation went OK. However, there is no auto login. I've followed the installation instructions on first page, and came to just two obstacles - first one is while installing needed programs at the beginning, there is no libnfs11, but libnfs13, and afterward I couldn't make fake display manager service, as the file already existed. I guess it's OK for now. But - I can't auto login into Kodi. I have login screen and can't seem to find any info on how to automatically login the user now. Anyone got clue?

[hlloyge]

...I will try with previous server, 20.04, to see if there is the same problem. I accidentally rebooted system during configuration, maybe that was the culprit.

...and here we go:

kodi@borg-kodi:/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d$ sudo apt install kodi kodi-x11
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 kodi-x11 : Depends: kodi-bin (= 2:18.6+dfsg1-2ubuntu1) but 6:19.3+git20211024.1813-49a04cd6a7-0~focal is to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

I wonder what happened. I added repository, and I tried to install kodi packages. Is kodi-x11 something that is not needed anymore, as it is not in official kodi repo?
Also, no autologin, and when I enter password, I don't get KODI, but something called Activities. Same thing as from 21.04.
Is there updated how-to for newer Ubuntu servers?

[wsnipex]

sudo apt remove kodi*
sudo apt install kodi

[hlloyge]

sudo apt remove kodi*
sudo apt install kodi

There is nothing to remove. It's fresh installation. I've tried sudo apt remove kodi, kodi-bin and kodi-x11, and there is nothing to remove.
For time being I've installed LibreELEC, but that doesn't even have FTP server (I mean, it has one, but it's half-usable; I don't see configuration items in GUI, and I need to change root folder to media folder where it mounted my disks).

[robertus]

but works 4k HDR ?

[hlloyge]

but works 4k HDR ?

I don't understand - are you asking me?
I have 720p TV, so I can't help you on that.

[Klojum]

For time being I've installed LibreELEC, but that doesn't even have FTP server (I mean, it has one, but it's half-usable; I don't see configuration items in GUI, and I need to change root folder to media folder where it mounted my disks).

What do you need a FTP server for in LibreELEC (OpenELEC)? I never needed that in .. 14 years? LibreELEC has a built-in SMB server.
Changing root folder to media folder? I think you're doing something wrong. Root folders of an OS are never used for (public) access, it's a rule #1 in computer security.

[hlloyge]

For time being I've installed LibreELEC, but that doesn't even have FTP server (I mean, it has one, but it's half-usable; I don't see configuration items in GUI, and I need to change root folder to media folder where it mounted my disks).

What do you need a FTP server for in LibreELEC (OpenELEC)? I never needed that in .. 14 years? LibreELEC has a built-in SMB server.
Changing root folder to media folder? I think you're doing something wrong. Root folders of an OS are never used for (public) access, it's a rule #1 in computer security.

OK.
For the sake of security, almost all my SMB shares on my media box are read-only - the only rw SMB share is Downloads folder. That way, if someone in my household picks up encrypter, it won't encrypt my pictures, backups, music and movies, but they still can listen to music or watch shows. I use FTP to upload new music and pictures from my computer, and ftp root folder (you know, where you land when you login into FTP server) should be in /var/media, where LibreELEC mounts internal HDDs, and where my media files are, and not in it's /storage mount, which is useless in my case.
Is now clearer?
I've solved the problem by installing configurable FTP server through Docker. I'm not happy with that solution, but it works.

[Preacher]

Is now clearer?

Yes - now you've removed a lot of ambiguity.  So AIUI:

• the SMB shares off the media server are read-only, so any connecting client cannot change content
  
• you are used to using FTP to transfer files to this media box - a read/write account
  
• you want to change the FTP root so that incoming connections are chrooted
  

So, the problem here seems to be a restricted way to write to the media server to populate content... correct?  In which case, you've got the following options:

• create another SMB share that's read/write and restrict it tightly so that only authorised accounts/devices can upload content
  
• consider an NFS share for read/write (and configure security accordingly)
  
• look at SFTP connections, so you can continue to use an FTP client but with different port and protocol
  

FWIW, I use a combination of all three... my NAS is connected to my media server over NFS so Kodi sees mount points as local directories, but my Windows tower sees the media folders as drive mappings. However, I often use scp/lftp to push content over to the NAS.

Hope that helps!

[hlloyge]

look at SFTP connections, so you can continue to use an FTP client but with different port and protocol

LOL I can't, as I have J1900 CPU, and when I engage SFTP, I get 15 MB/sec transfer rate...

[Preacher]

LOL I can't, as I have J1900 CPU, and when I engage SFTP, I get 15 MB/sec transfer rate...

fender:/home $ more /proc/cpuinfo
processor    : 0
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 55
model name    : Intel® Celeron® CPU  J1900  @ 1.99GHz
stepping    : 8
microcode    : 0x838
cpu MHz        : 1332.855

Oddly... I'm in the same boat - but yet I can. I get a slower speed than that, mind. 

If I needed faster, I'd get something more powerful, but it'd be more power-hungry.. and I opted for something that's lower-power to reduce the running costs.

[hlloyge]

Oddly... I'm in the same boat - but yet I can. I get a slower speed than that, mind. 

Oh, I didn't mean that I can't use it, I can, but a) speed is way too slow for transferring anything larger, and b) wife can't watch anything when I upload stuff , as CPU is busy decoding ssh encryption.
I have it set up to software decode everything, because I have some strange bugs when using VAAPI for x264 on that CPU - it is quite old now, so it doesn't matter, really.

Anyway, I hope we will get updated how-to when next LTE of Ubuntu Server comes out

[DaVu]

Anyway, I hope we will get updated how-to when next LTE of Ubuntu Server comes out

You can give up hope. Fritsch wasn't active since months and he already said, that he's not going to support this thread any further. So there's nothing to complain if anything from the how to doesn't work if you don't use the OS versions mentioned at the how-to. Btw..this thread wasn't updated since over a year ago. So...what do you expect

I've installed Ubuntu Server 21.04

This thread is for 18.04 and 20.04 only. If you choose to install 21.04, you are on your own. But I see, that you mentioned to install 20.04 but obviously you are now running LibreELEC. So this is the complete wrong thread to discuss LibreELEC related questions. Please open a new thread (probably at the LibreELEC forums) and mention your problem over there. 

If you want to get your install-problem solved, then install Ubuntu 20.04 again and get us the following ouputs:

apt-cache policy kodi

[hlloyge]

You can give up hope. Fritsch wasn't active since months and he already said, that he's not going to support this thread any further. So there's nothing to complain if anything from the how to doesn't work if you don't use the OS versions mentioned at the how-to. Btw..this thread wasn't updated since over a year ago. So...what do you expect

I'm sorry, first thing I've read is the first page, and never did I saw that information there. When I posted, there was 5 months old post there. Do you really want to know what do I expect? 

This thread is for 18.04 and 20.04 only. If you choose to install 21.04, you are on your own. But I see, that you mentioned to install 20.04 but obviously you are now running LibreELEC. So this is the complete wrong thread to discuss LibreELEC related questions. Please open a new thread (probably at the LibreELEC forums) and mention your problem over there. 
If you want to get your install-problem solved, then install Ubuntu 20.04 again and get us the following ouputs:
apt-cache policy kodi

I solved the problems I had, which were based purely on my lack of knowledge about LE inner working. But that is not the thread's theme. I did try 20.04, yes, but it didn't work. Doesn't matter now. I am sorry Fritsch quit supporting linux installation, and I am more than sorry for you dropping KodiBuntu. Oh well, times change. But please, the info that Frisch doesn't support this thread anymore should be at the top of first post.