Finally, after 2 days of fiddling around with this hardware, including testing with Raspbian (Wheezy), Raspbian (Jessie), and OpenELEC OS, I was able to successfully get Kodi 15.2 via OpenELEC 6.0.3 up and running.
I had absolutely no success with the Stalker PVR Client on Raspbian, so I opted for the unified media experience with OpenELEC. It's great. It automatically detects and installs drivers for my wireless network and keyboard / mouse receivers.
Pre-installation requirements:
- Raspberry Pi 2/3 - I bought mine on sale from Amazon for $36.
- HDMI capable display - I used my computer monitor and TV for testing.
- Internet connection - I used the EdiMax USB Wireless receiver from my starter kit.
- 8 GB or larger MicroSD Card - Mine was a Class 10 Kingston from my starter kit.
- Micro USB Charger - Mine was included from my starter kit, but I've seen 5-star recommendations of a 2 amp one.
Now that we have all of those in order, we are going to start by flashing the SD drive with the OpenELEC OS:
- Let's start by downloading the OpenELEC image from their downloads page. Select the "Diskimage" option.
- Unzip the image package you just downloaded.
- Write the disk image to your micro SD card. Use the instructions on this page for the platform you are using.
- Boom! You have now installed an entire powerful, open-source media center OS on your Raspberry Pi.
After a few splash screens and a short welcome tutorial, you should end up at the home screen, as such:
On a side note... Look how tiny that thing is compared to my 40" TV. Here are a few quick links to navigate the menus.
- To setup wireless networking, go to System -> OpenELEC -> Connections and select the network and credentials to connect. It should "State: ready" when it is connected. OpenELEC will automatically connect to this network when it starts up.
- To check for updates, go to [left arrow] -> Check for Updates. This will automatically update your add-ons and your repositories.
- To install add-ons, go to System -> Settings -> Add-ons -> Install from repository -> [select repository] -> [select application] -> Install.
- To launch add-ons, go to System -> Settings -> Add-ons -> My add-ons -> [select application] -> Launch.
To install the PVR Stalker Client (v0.8.4):
- Follow my install instructions to install the client from OpenELEC repository -> PVR Clients -> Stalker Client.
- Enable Stalker Client once you have configured it with your provided settings. (I cannot provide this for you - there are guides online for different services)
- Enable TV and Synchronise channel groups with backend(s) from System -> Settings -> TV -> General.
- This one is IMPORTANT. I experienced constant screen refreshes up until I did this one. Power off the machine and back on again. I used the power icon from Kodi.
Voila. You are all setup and running. Your TV option will be reloaded once channels are loaded - there will be a banner to indicate they are being loaded. Enjoy your cheap media center.
What are you waiting for? Cut the cable. Please comment or email me if you have any questions!