The Magical Builds of Kodi (formerly known as XBMC). Enjoy awesome premium media for free!

[Overmind One]

XBMC was the full-featured media center for Linux for many years. For almost that long, it has been possible to build XBMC into smart TVs as their base software, it has been the root of Android based TV set boxes, and it has an app in the Play store which allows you to control it easily by using your phone as a remote.

XBMC is now Kodi, and with that change has come awesome new capabilities. Amazon's FireStick is loaded with this, but in Linux you can do even more with it.

If you already have XBMC, installing Kodi will replace it. To do that (or to install it), run these commands. Linux Mint is assumed in this example, but it will work in Ubuntu as well:

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install kodi

Once done, create your shortcut and then you can install the new sources/repos which will give you the premium features. Here is a video of the one I used for SpinzTV Premium Lite (funny, NSFW!)


I have done this, and I have also installed the EXPAT live TV add-on


This is not Netflix folks! There can be dropouts because you are streaming your selections, and many of them which are released when the films are released will get shut off. But there is no legal liability because you are only streaming and not downloading this material.

IF YOU CAN>>>>

Install this in a virtual machine (can be Linux) and use it as an appliance rather than including it in your natively installed software.

 

[Overmind One]

This has turned out to be an awesome addition to my media watching experience! Kodi is open source GNU licensed software, and it's free and nothing compares to it even remotely. Windows Media Center came very close. You can build Kodi in Linux OR Windows easily.

The Kodi for Windows install is easy. Get Kodi here (executable)

https://kodi.tv/download/

Then install it. There is no malware or adware or any kind of bundle installed. Just Kodi. Once there, you can easily add the free SpinzTV addon and your computer will be a veritable entertainment fusion engine (plus do whatever it is already doing). There are some unique features in SpinzTV that make it completely worth installing. There is no spyware, no ads and some content you can't even get anymore on Netflix. Of course, there are streams of current shows and even movies that are currently running in theaters! There is lots of HD stuff on there, and even 3D. Sound is excellent.

In Windows it's just like in Linux, in terms of adding SpinzTV.


All versions of Kodi can be controlled EASILY from your phone, and does not require IR transmitters. Remote control does require network access to your Kodi installs. This may not mean internet as much as it means your home network. I use my LG mobile for remote. On the remote you get your remote controls, plus a thumbnail of the artwork for whatever you are watching or listening to.

Kodi is Music, Video, Pictures, Internet Radio, LiveTV, Movies, Podcasts and even games. You already know forms of it if you have certain smartTV sets which were using XBMC. We are talking full blown media features like complete synopses, artwork, casts lists, production information, year of release, etc. If you add local sources in your collections, Kodi will fetch all of that for you as well.

 

[Overmind One]

The latest build: Ares Wizard. It allows you to install multiple builds ibstead of being stuck with one. This video shows you how, but it's NSFW!


The guy is grating, but funny. I may start making more straightforward ones, but not sure I have the energy for that. This is the same as on Windows (once Kodi is installed).

 

[Overmind One]

Already, a major glitch...but easily resolved. Have you followed this guide and been watching Kodi with SpinzTV, then since Friday, it opens for a few seconds then crashes? Kodi's Community knows about this and has determined the issue. You can fix it easily (worked for me in Windows and Linux, the instructions are exactly the same):

http://bestforkodi.com/kodi-crashing-fix/

Open that page or have this one open before going offline, so you have it handy. You can toggle Kodi from Windowed to Fullscreen by hitting the / key.

Im working again in Windows and Linux! This was caused by a Kodi update.

 

[Overmind One]

Kodi is a whole new world of video! What is so cool about it is the add-ons. They are complete services which might stream you cartoons in foreign language, or independent movies in English, or full on HD movies which have not even been released yet! I think the music part of Kodi is not as good as say...Spotify. But the video part of it is all over Netflix and Hulu, even if not as neatly organized. Kodi is a very colorful, very easy to modify framework. If you have an Amazon Fire Stick or Amazon TV, you can install Kodi on it easily and open it up to monster capabilities as well as use your remote. I find that using my phone as a remote (or the keyboard) is all you need. You can do just fine with only a mouse.

So, I am now able to watch The 100, Daredevil, Sense8 and many Netflix shows as well as current TV Series and Classic TV. There is Stargate and Star Trek and BSG (Old and New), old stuff like The Invaders and Planet of the Apes TV Series (remember that?!) Logan's Run TV Series (that one too!). There are great documentaries and all sorts of stuff you will watch now because they are in the menu.

 

[Tripler]

Ooops . Should have posted my issue here . Kodi will not allow me to install areswizard . It says I am not connected to the internet yet in systems it says I have internet connection .

 

[Overmind One]

Ooops . Should have posted my issue here . Kodi will not allow me to install areswizard . It says I am not connected to the internet yet in systems it says I have internet connection .

How are you running it, natively or in a VM? It works in both. Screenshot?

 

[Tripler]

Native

 

[Tripler]

 

[Overmind One]

View attachment 32995

Interesting. I was helping my neighbor to install this and we had the same issue. But mine works perfectly. Let me check my settings.

 

[Overmind One]

Okay, what's happening is that the ares zip file it wants is at a new URL. In the first step in Kodi, go to System > File Manager > Add Source > click the long box that says <none> and type in the correct URL below:

Do NOT use: http://areswizard.co.uk

Please use : http://areswizard.uk/aw_zip/

Follow the rest of the instructions as shown step by step with pictures here:

https://seo-michael.co.uk/tutorial-how-to-install-ares-wizard-kodi/

Once that is installed, go to System > Addons, then install the Ares Wizard. Once that is in, install SpinzTV Lite, and you will have a service with more choices than than Netflix. FREE.

Mine is working because I already installed the zip file when the original URL was working, and my build of Ares does not need the install zip anymore. For a new install on Windows or Linux, I would have to get the zip from the new URL too.

 

[Tripler]

Hey , been a while . Having a busy summer . I was able to finally install ares . No idea how I did it but I got it going . Then by accident somehow I installed a program called Apollo 7. Wow . Its pretty cool . I have not had much time to use it tho but ended up using it to watch GOT in HD

 

[Overmind One]

Check out Turk's TV shows. There is all sorts of great stuff in there!