Ok, Kodi is awesome! Take my word on this and download it here - then install it.
A side note everything on this post assumes that you followed the set up given here , there are so many ways to set up Kodi/XBMC the info here may not work on some of the other set ups.
This article is a work in progress. I will be coming back and editing this article, adding to it as I discover new processes, find tweaks, and more.
This first set up will get you most of the really good stuff in a hurry.
The downloads page will let you know that it's available on a variety of platforms the set up is similar regardless of the platform. Just choose your platform, download it, and get it installed.
Note: If you have an i-device, you'll need to jailbreak it first and install Kodi from Cydia. This is the ONLY way to get Kodi! --P
Phase 1: Adding Fusion
After Kodi is installed, go to system --> sub menu file manager. Next, click on add source --> a box comes up wanting a path, in this box type"http://fusion.xbmchub.com". There is also a box at the bottom of the window that popped up for naming the media source. You must put something in here! Name it something apt like ".fusion". It really doesn't matter what you name it. Finally, click OK &
go back out to the main menu and into the "system" --> sub menu "settings".
Phase 2: Installing What We Need to Get Started
Under settings (near the bottom) is a button that says add-ons, click it. Next, click on the install from zip file item. This will bring up a list. Then, you need to find the source you added (it will be the name you chose). If you followed me exactly it will be ".fusion". Once you click inside your file find the folder "start here". Next, you will see a list of files. Choose plugin.program.addoninstaller-1.2.0.zip, then click it and hit OK. It will take a few seconds and you will get a message in the bottom right saying it was installed. Then, go back and do the same with plugin.video.hubwizard-1.1.9.zip. Note: The #'s may change. As before, you'll get a report in a few seconds saying it has installed. Finally. go back and install the third one as well.
Phase 3: The Setup
After they have all installed --> exit out to the main menu and go to programs -> config wizard click in and find your operating system. Most of us will be using Windows but most platforms are supported. Note: I run Kodi on my tablet and my phone (Android) as well. At this point, the config wizard will run and install the most common add-ons for each category and install their basic configuration.
Tweaks:
Now, I'm going to cover some basic set-up settings & tweaks for Genesis, this is the best plug in available(IMO) as it actually pulls its streams from many sources. It covers a lot of ground 100% on its own.
So, from the main menu go to Video --> add-ons --> find Genesis. Next, right click on it and go to Add-on settings. Then, go to the "Playback" tab. The first item is "Auto-play" tick the bubble on the right --> click OK. This will find a working stream for you and you won't have to pick from the piles of links manually when you pick a movie, which can get frustrating as there can be many dead links, this removes that issue.
Note: This only takes care of Standard Def Stuff. If you'd like to have the HD content work the same way you need to tick the HD Hosts (Might already be ticked) and HD Hosts in Auto-Play options.
OK, the next big setting for Genesis: click into Genesis --> Movies --> Genres. Now, go to the menu on the left side of the screen that pops out when your mouse gets near. At the top of that menu it says View: it usually defaults at list but it could be a few things, click on it until it says "media info". Then, right click on any movie in the list and click set Movies View. This will give you a description of the movie your mouse is on similar to how Netflix gives movie descriptions when you hover over a particular title.
Windowed mode - go to System->settings->system. top line is Display mode hit one of the arrows on the right till it says Windowed.
Leave comments or ask me on Facebook if you have questions or something is not clear.
**Update(s)**
The Awesomeness of NAVI-X
I was messing around with some of the new features that Chris found and I decided to give Navi-X another go. It's incredibly popular and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I was never able to get any of the search results etc. to work properly and it was clunky to navigate. Here's the secret:
Start Navi-X --> Start Here (Big Green Button) --> Most Viewed Last 24 Hrs --> Choose one of the sources and test out it's content. If you like it go back to the list --> Right Click on it (or options button) --> Add to Favorites. There are a ton of Live TV and Movie Streams. -P. You can also sign up on the Navi-X website and create your own links page click here.
Stopping the Twitter Feed
System --> Settings --> Addons --> Enabled Addons --> Services --> Disable Twitter
Changing the Wallpaper
Programs --> Addons - Maintenance Tool --> System Tweaks --> Wallpaper Downloads --> Pick a category --> Pick a wallpaper --> It will ask you to set the download location the first time. I used my c:\Username\Pictures folder --> ok --> After the download finishes you'll notice Kodi's background go black --> Exit Kodi and Restart it --> Voila! Your new wall paper is set!
Changing the Bottom Quick-Links
System --> Settings --> Appearance --> Skin / Settings --> Add-on Shortcuts --> Click the one you want to change and pick it's replacement!
Opinions and some general info on Add-ons
Crunchyroll (Netflix of Anime)-> If your a big anime fan or named Manny you should get his add on. go to video -> add ons -> get more -> roll down to Crunchyroll and install it. It has the options to load your account, I would do so. Right click add-on settings to add your account info. Huge selection of anime here.( you will need to sign up on the Crunchyroll website for an account.) My one complaint about the Crunchyroll plug-in is it lacks a search feature(unless I missed it), let me know if any thing is incorrect I will get it corrected.
1Channel/PrimeWire - This is my back up to Genesis I find that if i can't find it on Genesis I find it here. If you go in the Settings right click on 1Channel and go to Video Playback tab, tick the automatically play sources circle. If you are like myself and don't like having to pick through links.
EarthCam - This is a neat add-on as it will let you view web cams from all over. While it's cool to look at some of them it's more a novelty in my opinion I generally uninstall it.
Ice Films - Another movie/ TV site not much different than Genesis or 1 channel. It's my third in line go to for movies. A note on Ice films when you first run it, It will want to install a meta container hit yes, It fails often but keep hitting yes whenever it asks eventually it succeeds, no idea why it does this but it does.
Fix Excessive Buffering / Cache Full Error
First, there's a couple of things to remember:
1. These fixes aren't a magic bullet.
2. If you have a poor internet connection: tweaking all the settings in the world won't fix your issues. Head over to speedtest.net and check your speed - you'll need at least 2MBPS for SD and 5 for HD. If you don't have the speed: it will work - it'll just buffer a lot.
3. Some sources are slow and cannot keep up with streaming so they buffer... a lot.
4. The Amazon Fire TV has a bug with being hardwired. Just unplug it and go wireless if you have a good enough signal.
5. If you are using 2.4GHZ wireless: check for and change to an available channel to avoid interference. Or, you can switch over to 5GHZ.
6. 5GHZ has more bandwidth / speed than 2.4. Try switching your wireless to N from G (or AC if you have money to burn).
The tweaks:
Start Kodi and go to --> Programs --> Addons --> Maintenance Tool --> System Tweaks --> Create / Edit Advanced Settings --> Edit Settings --> Network Settings --> Network and adjust the following:
cachemembuffersize set to 204000000 (it will use 408MB of your devices RAM - cut that in half for lower end devices)
NOTE: If you have a good mechanical drive and you don't care about how much space Kodi uses: Set this to 0. That will tell Kodi to use you HDD for Cache space. If you don't have a fast mechanical or if you have and SSD/FLASH drive: Set it to the number above **DO NOT SET THIS TO 0!** It will prematurely murder your drive in it's sleep.
buffermode set to 1 (This tells it to basically cache everything)
readbufferfactor set to 20
Next go back approximately 3 screens and choose Write XML File. Finally restart Kodi - Done!
** Settings tested on an Amazon Fire TV & Stick, A P4 w/ HT PC (1.2GB RAM, 160GB Sata, Windows 7 Starter), and an I5 2500k PC (16GB RAM, 2x120GB SSD's RAID0, Windows 8.1 PRO & some other awesome stuff).
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