Stock

So, is there a decent "Kodi for stupid ******* beginners" guide or anything? I scanned through there yesterday looking for the Saints/Vikings game but came up empty again, I don't think I've ever successfully watched anything using that app...

lsc224

iTrader: (13)

I use Troypoint.com very easy to follow.

Unfortunately there is no live streaming within Kodi. Maybe there is but I've never tried, but SETTV is what I use for live streaming. The game was on SETTV.

Stock

Good to know. I got the stick off my local Craigslist with everything pre-loaded, It's got Mobdro and Redbox TV that do live TV but they're both kinda "meh" so I was hoping a better alternative existed.

Looking into SETTV now.

lsc224

iTrader: (13)

Well the $20 a month SETV was shut down last night due to lawsuits. Looking to get SlingTV to replace it.

lsc224

iTrader: (13)

Well that did not take that long. SETV is now TVSTREAMSNOW for $25 a month. Good thing I did not sign up for SlingTV yet.

Skamba

Anyone interested in a write-up from me on how to create your home server including automatic downloads of latest tv episodes and movies?

I use Kodi/Plex for intranet/internet streaming from my own server at home (have a 500 mbit up/down connection), Deluge (torrents) for downloads which are automated by Sonarr/Radarr. It runs on Windows, but AFAIK all these run on Linux too. End result is that I have a free (besides initial investment to buy some hardware), high quality way of watching whatever series/movie I want to watch.

Girz0r

iTrader: (1)

Nice!

Yes!

Feel free to post the Kodi related content Here

Skamba

Below you can find a quick write-up of my setup and how you could reproduce it. If I need to further elaborate, let me know.

[Hardware]
So the first thing is making sure you have the hardware for a server that you can use. It doesn’t have to be very specialized, but considering the power consumption could lower the TCO, as it’ll probably be on 24/7.

If I had to buy something now, I’d get an i3, a simple motherboard, 4 GB of ram, a 300W 80+ gold PSU. Dedicated GPU not needed. Hard disks depend on how much you want to use, but probably at least 2 3TB disks. I would recommend hard disks that are made for storage more than speed, e.g. WD Red.

[Operating System]
My OS of choice is Windows 10 because I’m more used to it. However, if you feel more comfortable using Linux you could make that work too.

I disabled the Windows Firewall as it sometimes gets in the way of the stuff we’re trying to do here. I also set up a static IP for the server to make port forwarding at a later stage easier.

[Basic file storage]
So before we start installing applications, you have to create a basic layout of your disks. You’ll need:

1. A folder for downloads. I usually put this on the same disk as the OS as that disk will be spinning anyway.
2. A folder for movies
3. A folder for tv series

I’d recommend putting 2 and 3 on different disks.

Furthermore, I set up an FTP server for folders 2 and 3 so I can remotely access it. In my case I use FileZilla, but there’s plenty of other options.

[Deluge]
In my case I use deluge to download my media using torrents. If you’d rather use usenet, that’s an option too. You would probably want to check out SABnzbd.

Install Deluge. In Deluge, you want to turn on the WebUI so that other applications can use it. Set the password to your liking. Furthermore, I’ve installed the AutoRemovePlus plugin to delete the download itself after seeding for a good amount of time. Oftentimes, the download will contain rars and besides seeding there’s no reason to keep them.

Set up deluge to download files to a temp-dir while downloading, and have it to be moved upon completion to the folder 1). https://i.imgur.com/A1S9JYT.png .

Also I use ExtractNow to monitor the download folder, and have it extract any rars that might get downloaded by Deluge.

[Sonarr]
Sonarr is an application that monitors new tv series, automatically searches for the relevant torrents, has them downloaded, and puts them neatly into where you want them to be.

Install Sonarr as per instructions, and go to the web interface. Here you’ll have to tie some of the previous steps together. Under settings, there’s a bunch of tabs that we need to configure:

• Media Management. I found the following settings to best work for me: https://i.imgur.com/njyZAdA.png
• Profiles as default
• Quality as default
• Indexers: Here you want to add your sources. I use some private torrent sites (e.g. iptorrents), but I guess public torrent sites could work too. If your favorite site is not included, take a look at Jackett ( https://github.com/Jackett/Jackett ). Jackett is a wrapper for many torrent sites and allows them to be added to Sonarr as a custom torznab server.
• Download client: Add deluge here. Should look something like this https://i.imgur.com/5qT77EV.png
• Connect: leave empty.
• Metadata: I like metadata so I turned most of this stuff on.
• General: If you want to open up Sonarr to the internet so that you can add series on the go, I would suggest setting a login and password.
• UI: No need to change

Now Sonarr should be set up. If you go to the Series tab, you’re able to add series and select where you want it to go. Select folder 3) from earlier. Sonarr should then look for it. Any downloads it finds should be sent to Deluge, tracked by Sonarr and moved to the folder you’ve selected.

Radarr is a fork of Sonarr, and can be used for movies. Configure it in the same way as Sonarr. Make sure that you don’t try to use the same port for Sonarr and Radarr, as that will not work.

[Plex]
Plex is an application that allows us to consume the media on the server on a lot of devices, including anything with a web browser, mobile phones and tablets. It’s definitely a great application, as it gives a Netflix-like experience to your home server.

Install as per instructions. It should work out of the box. Add the directories 2 and 3 to it and have it scan. If you want to include subtitles, I would suggest setting up the Sub-Zero subtitles plugin.

Also install the app or go to plex.tv from another PC. It should work already!

[Port forwarding]
To access all that we’ve installed, you’re going to have to forward some ports in your router. If you’re unsure on how to do it, I would suggest looking up your router at https://portforward.com/router.htm.
Make sure you port forward:

• FTP
• Sonarr
• Radarr
• Plex

[Kodi]
You can either connect the server to your tv and use Kodi locally, or use a simple Kodi box to play your media. I’ve used a raspberry pi as well as a Chinese android box with success.

Install and start Kodi as per instructions. We need to add the 2 media folders that we have used to the Kodi library. To do so:

• Go to ‘add video source’
• Select ‘browse’
• Select ‘Add network location’
• Scroll until you see ‘ftp server’
• Add your ftp settings. From your internal network, it should look something like this https://i.imgur.com/Qdq9hFK.png . If you are connecting via the internet, make sure you note the internet ip address of your home first, by going to https://www.whatismyip.com/ while on your home connection.
• It should then look something like https://i.imgur.com/IcjOfYq.png
• Tell Kodi that there’s tv series in there. Should look like this: https://i.imgur.com/HVyUk5f.png. Have it scan all the files. Could take a while.

After this, it should work! Happy watching. Let me know if there’s any further questions.

Girz0r

iTrader: (1)

Very valuable info. Thanks for the write up!

In my Kodi thread linked I mentioned that I just came across a free i3 dell machine. Fast dual core, 4gb ram. Some hdd that's inside. 2 large WD Red drives would be a great addition as there are 2 spaces available inside the case.

Would you recommend an SSD for the OS? I have some spare drives laying around but not sure if I'll be able to mount them inside if the WD Reds are taking up those spaces. I could find a 5.25" mount

Skamba

I would first try to get the setup you want working without spending extra money. Then figure out if the performance is adequate (Plex transcoding can be demanding at times), and whether it's something you want to invest in. I can also recommend a power cost calculation, if you do end up running the machine 24/7. A new basic server uses about 15 watts, wheres older machines can use 100+ watts at idle. That's about 2 kWh per day difference. Depending on where you live that could be a significant amount.

In regards to the SSD: It's not really necessary, but could be nice. Will also have a lower power consumption - and your OS disk will always be spinning. Wouldn't be the first thing to upgrade though. Might be smarter to get a cheap motherboard and an Intel G5400 for that money.

lsc224

iTrader: (13)

That's a lot of trouble just to do streaming!

Girz0r

iTrader: (1)

Might be limited to the case config since what I have is housed inside a dell.

If I recall, the i3 I have has a TDP of 75w

Skamba

Takes a bit of effort to set up, but there's plenty of advantages too :-) Mostly that you never have to worry whether your current subscriptions cover what you want to watch next.

Skamba

Yeah, the cpu won't be all that bad. TDP is the thermal design power, meaning that that is the absolute maximum amount of power (and therefore heat) it can use. It's usually dedicated GPU's that'll take a bunch of power, and your motherboard will take some of it too.

lsc224

iTrader: (13)

WARNING!!! TVSTREAMSNOW does not work

Update: 6/23/2018 - TVSTREAMSNOW does work, apparently its the same SETV under a different name. I previously downloaded the wrong app to my FireTV, I downloaded the correct app and put in my device code. YAY!

jonboy

If you aren't planning on accessing any of those services outside your network (ie. you don't feel the need to add hello kitty movies to your download queue sat on the throne at work), don't bother forwarding them. If you do forward them, PUT A PASSWORD ON THEM and make sure they use HTTPS / SSL if the app supports it and forward that port instead.

The exception to that rule is Plex - that already uses HTTPS by default and can also configure your router automatically if you have UPNP enabled.

A 'neater' way is to use the 'PlexKodiConnect' addon - this makes your plex library integrate directly into your Kodi library. Upside over adding folders / FTP is that If you start watching something on your phone via the native plex app, or in another room on another Kodi setup, stop, then start watching it on Kodi on the big screen it will pick up from where you left off, things like next unwatched episodes will work, all that good stuff...

z31maniac

What are the advantages?

Skamba

1) Free
2) Availability of movies that are not yet available on any of the streaming services
3) TV Series regardless of where they were aired, whether they are available on streaming services etc

lsc224

iTrader: (13)

Same advantages with the FireTV and FireStik which is what the Thread Title is about.

z31maniac

Ahhh, you mean theft.

Got it.