User Tutorial: Kodi with the XBMC-Wrapper on Zidoo

Discussion in 'General - Guides and FAQ' started by Reelyator, Dec 24, 2018.

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  1. Reelyator

    Reelyator Active Member

    As the combination of KODI with the XBMC Wrapper seems to be pretty unknown to Zidoo Users I wanted to provide you a tutorial how to make this combination work on your Zidoo Player.


    Benefits:

    Kodi is THE Media Center Software with an incredible amount of functions, possibilities and options how to organize your whole Media Library (Movies, TV Shows, Music, Music Videos…..) under one Surface. It has hundreds of AddOns, Skins, etc wich allow you to design Kodi specificly for your needs. Compared to Kodi the Zidoo Hometheater/Music Player looks like a file browser from the 80`s;-)

    Kodi has a preinstalled mediaplayer but as Kodi runs on multiple platforms, the Kodi-Player is not fully optimized for the Hardware of the Zidoo Box. Here the XBMC Wrapper becomes important.


    What is the XBMC Wrapper?

    The Wrapper allows Kodi to use the Native Zidoo Mediaplayer as an EXTERNAL Player for Media Playback.

    - After Selecting the desired Video from your Kodi Library you just hit the Play Button.

    - The Wrapper then hands over the media file to the Zidoo player wich takes full advantage of the Zidoo Hardware.

    - When stopping Playback the Player returns to Kodi and the Media is marked as “seen” in your Kodi Library

    The Wrapper works with ANY Version of Kodi, Krypton, Leia, Beta Versions, RC´s, SPMC, anything is possible.
    1 wrapper.JPG


    Prerequisites:

    Rooting of your Zidoo Box is MANDATORY!

    For purchasing the XBMC-Wrapper you need a google Playstore connection and about 8€.


    Instruction:

    - Download the desired Kodi Version from www.kodi.tv. Use the 32bit Android apk for your Zidoo Player. Put the apk on a USB Stick and install it on your Zidoo.

    - Lauch Kodi, go to Settings and adjust the Language and Keyboard-Settings depending on your location. Then exit Kodi.

    - Download the XBMC-Wrapper from Google Playstore and install it. Launch it and make the following settings:


    Main Settings:
    2 wrapper main.JPG
    Samba Settings:
    3 wrapper Samba.JPG
    Other Settings:
    4 wrapper other.JPG
    NFS Settings:
    5 NFS.JPG
    Save Changes:
    6 save.JPG

    Return to Main and install Playercorefactory.xml (PCF).
    7 PCF.JPG

    After that the message on Top should change to something like “PCF is installed and up to date with your Settings”.

    This should be enough for 99% of all users but if you desire you can modify the playback behaviour of your player by adding “Rules” to the PCF. E. g. all mpeg Files to go through the VLC Player (if installed), and all other files to the Zidoo Player…..

    When Launching a Movie from Kodi a window pops up saying that an external player is active. At the end of the movie you hit ok and you are back at Kodi.
    8 externer player.JPG

    Next Steps:

    I would update this tutorial with some information how to best import your media filet into the Kodi Library.

    If desired I can provide additional information how to export your Kodi Database on a NAS Drive. This allows you to synchronize your Kodi-DB with multiple Kodi Clients.

    Or I could offer to provide some information on the CinemaVision Add-On. This can tweak your Home Theater Experience by adding e.g. commercials, Movie Trailers, Audio Format Bumpers etc. to your Movie.


    References:

    All I know about Kodi is coming from the german website www.android-mediaplayer.de

    www.kodinerds.net

    www.kodi.tv

    www.futeko.com
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2018
  2. Reelyator

    Reelyator Active Member

    ....looks like this is not interesting for anybody here. Therefore i will not waste my time keeping this topic alive.
     
  3. Icy

    Icy New Member

    This is very interessting! ... Thank you :)
    I totally think the Ziddo HC2 is crap.
    I'll certainly use it with a X9S.

    Maybe the topic need to be more shared on other forum sections :eek: (like on the XBMC forum section)
     
  4. Reelyator

    Reelyator Active Member

    Hi Icy,
    thank you for your Feedback, the first since >160 acesses to this thread. Glad to hear that this is not completely useless. 99% of the Zidoo Users seem to be fully satisfied with the Home Theater.

    I am not shure if moving this topic into an other section, this is a guide for Kodi, therfore it could rest either in the GUIDES or in the XBMC/KODI Section.

    If you need suport on Kodi just let me know i can update this topic if required...
     
  5. Zwanzig

    Zwanzig Member

    Hello
    I think the topic is very useful.
    I wonder if you can get a Wrapper somewhere without installing Playstore on Zidoo x20?
     
  6. Reelyator

    Reelyator Active Member

    Hi Zwanzig!
    To my knowledge this is not possible. The XBMC Wrapper is NOT Freeware, therefore you need a Playstore acount for paying and installing the App.
     
    gymnos likes this.
  7. wk11739

    wk11739 New Member

    Hi,

    Will this work with playlists on Kodi? Currently using the external player with ZDMC playlists will not work properly as it defaults to the playback settings in Zidoos player. So playback will stop after 1 video.

    Thanks!
     
  8. Reelyator

    Reelyator Active Member

    Hi wk11739!
    I do not have much experience with Kodi Playlists but i assume they would not work. The challenge is the fact that from Kodis perspective an external Player is used. At the end of the first Video the external player Ends and application returns to Kodi. I see no way to make Kodi proceed to Video 2, 3... on the external Player again.

    But for Playlists created by CinemaVision there is a Workaround by creating "Rules" in the Playercorefactory.xml (PCF). All the Intro Videos, Trailers, Trivia, Audio Bumpers are played through the Kodi Player. Only the main movie at the end of the Playlist is played through the external Player. This works pretty well.

    Not sure if this Approach is something for you.
     
  9. wk11739

    wk11739 New Member

    Interesting. I had a feeling this was the case. I wonder if there is a way for the development team to implement a workaround?

    I have been trying some demo files on the native Kodi player. Files with Dolby Atmos/DTS-HD actually work very well. However, I have several trailers encoded with 5.1 LPCM and when I play them on the native Kodi player on my Zidoo Z9S, the files only play as 2.0 PCM stereo on my Denon receiver. I changed the settings in Kodi to 7.1 and 5.1 but this made no difference. The files play fine on Zidoo external player. I'm not sure why they don't play in 5.1 on the Kodi native player.
     
  10. Clint74

    Clint74 Member

    Hello,
    installed Kodi 18.6 + XBMC wrapper (latest) on Z1000.
    It does work redirecting to the Zidoo player but it's unusable no matter the setting (http or mount) as it lags, freezes skips and if you try ffw it gets stuck....

    Files are through SMB on PC (win 10).

    Any insight?

    Thanks.
     
  11. DAVEYBROTHERS

    DAVEYBROTHERS New Member

    Ce sujet m'intéresse grandement @Reelyator . Merci
     
  12. mike413muo

    mike413muo New Member

    Bonjour @Reelyator

    Je cherche une solution pour utiliser l'addon Cinemavision avec mon zidoo X20 Pro et si je comprends bien ce qui est écrit plus haut dans les discussions avec le wrapper serait-ce possible ? si oui
    pouvez-vous poster un tutoriel et le fichier Playercorefactory.xml (PCF)

    pour m'aider à comprendre

    Merci d'avance pour votre aide

    Mike
     
  13. horvinek

    horvinek New Member

    Playing 5.1 and more channel audio on kodi get with other kodi setting = you must set on kodi stereo audio (if you use Toslink/Spdif - optic fiber audio out). After change setting on stereo (only in Kodi, not in android), kodi will send thrue optic fiber all audio channels in pre-set/allowed (in Kodi) audio format (AC3, DD, DTS, ...). This knowledge is only from xiaomi mi tv box s with kodi, so sorry, if dont work too on zedoo.
     
  14. Reelyator

    Reelyator Active Member

    Hi Mike!
    Once again in english language, please!
     
  15. hdmkv

    hdmkv Active Member Beta test group

    Will this work with SMB vs using NFS?
     
  16. Reelyator

    Reelyator Active Member

    Hi hdmkv!
    Up to now i have worked exclusively with SMB without any problems. i never tried NFS.

    The only current problems that i am aware of is that the Wrapper CAN ocassionaly (very seldom) have problems with special characters in the path name or in the media file name. But this problem is more related to the wrapper, not to the network protocoll used. The Author of the wrapper is already aware about this and has confirmed that this will be adressed in a future update.
     
  17. hdmkv

    hdmkv Active Member Beta test group

    Excellent, thanks.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2022
  18. ChatPpuCcino

    ChatPpuCcino New Member

    Hello @Reelyator,
    Thanks for this topic. I have many questions. Would you be kind enough to provide me some help, I would greatly appreciate.

    First of all, you should know I am not Kodi user. So I am not familiar at all with it. However, I have been advised to use it with my Zidoo UHD3000 so that it would solve my problems. I had indeed created a database of my media with TinyMediaManager, and I am kind of frustrated that Zidoo still try to scrappe my Medias when all information are stored in a file I created thanks to TinyMediaManager. I have been said that Kodi can avoid scraping if NFO is stored as it is with my database.

    1. Can you confirm it is possible ?

    2. If possible, can you indicate me if it is possible to install directly Kodi on Zidoo and to use it with Zidoo remote control ? If so, how to proceed ? Simply installing by USB and we are done ? Where to find correct Koki version ?

    3. You wrote: "If desired I can provide additional information how to export your Kodi Database on a NAS Drive. This allows you to synchronize your Kodi-DB with multiple Kodi Clients." For sure, I am greatly interested by this possibility, did you make any tutorial ?

    4. You wrote: Rooting of your Zidoo Box is MANDATORY! Any tutorial ?

    5. XBMC-Wrapper should be installed on Zidoo or/and other device using Kodi ?
     
  19. Edworld

    Edworld Member

    azon1951 likes this.
  20. azon1951

    azon1951 Active Member

    Is this still working? I mostly using Kodi for streaming with Real-debrid...
    How to root Z9X?
     

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