make any dumb tv a smart tv - smart

Would you like your standard TV to be connected to the Internet?
When your phone is out of reach, you can stream to fly, Hulu, or look for anything on Google.
All your music and movie files can be automatically linked to your TV.
Buying a brand new smart TV is a very expensive change.
What if you could turn your dumb TV into a smart TV for about $35? $45?
Keep reading and learn how to use Raspberry Pi with some names called Kodi (formerly XBMC).
This article is for beginners with lots of details, pictures and non-
Technical language.
There are many steps to this article, but many are optionalons. Part 1 -
Basic Settings section 2-
Optimized Kodi this article was originally posted on Tech 4 noobs and apologized for some bad images.
It's hard for me to make them look right.
The screen looks bright and clear. What is Kodi?
Kodi is a free Linux-based operating system dedicated to organizing and presenting media in a simple navigation format.
It can be used on a computer, but it stands out on TV.
It can organize and present music, video, Internet and pictures easily.
Kodi has a variety of free apps to download (
More information about this below).
The best thing about Kodi, though, is that it can look completely customized with new skins.
The list of hardware required for this project is very simple and direct.
Some items can be found around the house and others can be purchased cheaply.
Once Kodi has downloaded to the SD card and collected all the materials listed above, read Amazon's original article on these product deals and you are ready to launch and install Kodi on your TV.
Keep in mind that the Raspberry Pi must be connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable.
The total time of installation may be 20-
30 minutes, so be patient.
We have included many pictures of the installation process to show that there are many different screens that take a while.
Plug in all components and turn on the TV.
You might see a bunch of rainbow colors and then a black screen with lots of code and words on it.
After that, you may see an installation progress bar that looks like these pictures.
So you might want to have a drink.
The screen can switch from the progress bar to the Red R multiple times.
The Red R looks like this picture.
This is normal.
Wait patiently and let it continue.
In the end, you will see a screen that looks like this.
Remain patient.
You're here right away!
Finally, about 20-
After 30 minutes, Kodi will launch and ask what language you want.
Choose one that suits you. Congrats!
Kodi is now installed and you have turned your dumb TV into a smart one.
This completes the initial setup of Kodi.
Read on and learn how to make the most of your new TV.
Now that Kodi is installed, what can I do with it?
Kodi is very basic but the good news is that you can customize it completely.
The first way to add features to Kodi is to use add-ons.
Think about the apps in Google Play store.
There are some very nice extras
Kodi's ons, including Pandora on the music side and wikieshark on the video side, the best Youtube, Hulu and iTunes movie trailers on the video side, as well as a series of image additionsons.
This is just a few examples.
There's a lot more, so check it out.
Here is how to install an Add-on.
In this example, we will add the Apple iTunes Trailer to our video addons.
Use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate to the video section. Highlight Add-ons.
Press enter to select.
Since you haven't installed the add-
The only option is "get more ".
Click enter to click this.
You will be taken to Kodi 'store' where there is a range of different add-ons
Available ons.
We will pick the Apple iTunes Trailer (
Use the arrow keys to navigate and enter the selection).
When selected, the description page will pop up.
Click enter to click install.
Now you can watch the Apple iTunes trailer easily from your TV.
To add to this-
Open from home screen, just go to video> add-
The Ons and Apple iTunes trailers will be on the list.
We will watch the trailer for the new movie "entourage.
There are a lot of other extras
Ons to pick.
Tell me which one you like best in the comments.
Kodi looked a little dull at first.
The blue background is not very attractive, and the navigation bar feels a little outdated.
The good news is that the appearance of Kodi can be easily and completely customized in less than 5 minutes.
This can be done by installing a new skin to change the look.
For instructions on how to do this, see below.
Use the mouse or keyboard arrows to scroll from the home screen to the system, and then select settings from the drop-down list.
It should look like this: in the settings, click enter or click once you enter the appearance.
The first choice is the skin.
Click enter or click on it, then click on the skin again on the next screen.
This will take you to where all downloaded skins are located.
We currently have a total of three, but if this is the first time you're on this screen, you may only have the default Confluence theme.
If you want to download other topics, a list of downloadable topics will appear by simply clicking "get more.
We downloaded the other two we liked. AppTV (
This looks very similar to Apple TV)and Nebula.
Note: The nebula is customized.
You can change the background picture, the title picture (
Movies, music, etc. )
You can change the color scheme.
Overall, we enjoyed the theme, but we did experience some lag.
Some of you might think, "Well, it's cool to have an easy way to create my own smart TV, but now my living room has a keyboard and a mouse, this is really troublesome. "Don't worry!
Android phones or tablets can be used as remote controls along with the official Kodi app called Yatse.
Below is a description of setting up Yatse using the Raspberry Pi running Kodi.
Make sure your phone or desk is connected to home WIFI.
Make sure your Raspberry Pi is also there.
Download the Yatse app to your android phone or tablet.
Open the Yatse app.
This should be the case. Click add host.
This will be the next screen you see. Click manage -
It's small, near the top right-hand side.
This will be the next screen you see.
Click in the lower left corner of the plus sign.
You will be taken to a screen we can't shoot.
Click "XBMC/Kodi ".
This is the best choice.
Note: your Raspberry Pi must be opened.
If everything is done correctly, you will be taken to a screen that looks like this.
Click on the host found.
The IP and post information will appear on another screen.
Click Add host at the bottom ".
If you have a file to share with Kodi, the best and easiest option is to set up Samba (
A way to share from Windows to Linuxfile share.
This is very easy and there is nothing to download.
We think this is the best way to share because when you get the new file (
Assuming most files go through the main home computer)
Put them in a folder and they will automatically update to Kodi on your TV.
In our case, we will share the entire hard drive with our Raspberry Pi Kodi media player.
First, right-click the hard drive you want to share.
Share with> Advanced sharing.
This photo is supposed to be.
Right-click hard drive> share with> advanced click share this Folder Add share name by clicking add and then click app go to Raspberry Pi on TV.
Navigate to music (
Or video, depending on what you want to add)and add files.
This screen will appear.
Click browse.
This will be the next screen.
You will select Windows network (SMB).
After clicking, you may be asked to enter your username and password ,(
The one on your Windows computer)
You will then be taken to your shared folder.
We recommend organizing with the name of the Big Content folder.
For example, there is a folder called "movies" with all the movies, which is probably the easiest.
Then you can share all your movies at once.
Once you have reached the folder you want to share, click OK on the right ".
Then click add on the next screen ".
Then click OK at the bottom.
This can be tricky.
Please comment below if you have any questions.
In many cases, using Ethernet is faster than WIFI, but it can severely limit the placement of Raspberry Pi.
If the TV you want to use is in a different room from the router running the cable, it is not practical and may cause a trip hazard. Not to fear!
It is very simple to use WIFI on Kodi.
You need a usb wifi dongle though.
Here are the steps to start and run WIFI.
Plug the usb wifi dongle into the Raspberry Pi.
Navigate to the programs tab, and then click on raspbs' settings ".
It will look like this picture.
The first thing that appears should be the network settings.
The first option is to select a wired or wireless connection.
Change this to wireless.
Scroll down until you see the SSID and password.
The SSID is the name of the router and the password is the WIFI network password.
Enter these and click OK ".
We were really happy to see this setup on TV, but there are also some drawbacks.