Xubuntu 17.04, Kodi 17.1

Well the bedroom pc (AMD E350) had to be reinstalled because it needed more disk space for storing videos etc and I had assigned the larger disk entirely to Linux (500 GB) and only left a 320 GB partition for my stuff which was almost full. I reinstalled completely with the latest release of Xubuntu after having ensured all the stuff on the computer was backed up, and this time I gave Linux  50 GB partition on the 320 GB disk and ensured all of the 500 GB disk was assigned to /home. There is still the option of the unused part of the 320 GB disk being partitioned at a later date and used if necessary.

As this computer is wirelessly connected to the other computers on my home network, I have mapped a network share to mediapc and have set up grsync to sync in both directions so that whenever new content is added onto mediapc’s /home/patrick/Media folder (which contains the Music and Video folders), it can be downlinked automatically to the E350 by running the appropriate Grsync session. And for those times when I have downloaded content from the Internet onto the E350 (which has happened various times), it can be uplinked to MediaPC by running another Grsync session. This provides for the backup of content on the E350 as well as ensuring I have access to all the content on MediaPC for local playback as the wireless network is a bit slow.

Kodi 17.1 has been installed as 16.x is not available for Zesty. However, I have experienced some issues with video playback stuttering and stalling with the Kodi 17 / Xubuntu 17 combination. Kodi 17 also introduces a new GUI and I have seen some navigational issues with an edition of it that I tested earlier this year. It will be interesting to see how I get along with Kodi 17 on this computer, as in the earlier installation of the E350 I deliberately installed Kodi 16 instead of 17 which had been released at that stage. So far it looks good. The stuttering was happening earlier and doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment and it may have well been because the system was busy rsyncing content down from mediapc at the time. A good thing about the new Kodi is that it can update its file lists in real time when you paste new stuff into a folder. This is relevant for me as I always use the Files areas rather than the library to find content to play.

UPDATE: I decided that 17.1 (which has fixed the navigational issues) was good enough to put onto the media PC so as a result I am now using it all the time. The overall interface is in some respects better than 16, and in some respects much the same. One of the nice features is that clicking the right mouse button instantly takes you to the home screen, and you can also customise the subareas of this screen to a minimum of just Music, Pictures and Videos. At the moment one of the main questions I have is that having chosen to configure Music just for files, I want it to be like Videos and just give me the subfolders straight away instead of showing a Files button and telling me my library is empty and that I need to populate it. I have not seen the video stuttering issues with 17.1 on the media PC that have occurred on the E350 so probably the later edition of Xubuntu is where the problems lie.