Sunday, May 17, 2015

A guide to cutting the cord...AKA F*&% Cable!!!!

I haven't posted anything for quite some time now, mainly due to the simplicity of modern jalbreaks and the fact that the new cell phone unlocking law was passed, making all new devices usable on any network. So this post is going to be a bit off topic, and concentrate on "Cord-Cutting", or using Kodi media player to eliminate the need for cable TV. This will be a tutorial. A complete guide with links to get you set up to be able to watch any TV show or movie on demand via stream, and also be able to watch live steaming HD cable channels. Let's begin.
  Firstly, we need to discuss which type of device you are going to use to run Kodi. Your options are many. You can use an old laptop, an old desktop, an Apple TV 1 or 2, or a Raspberry PI (if you buy a Raspberry PI, make sure it is a RPI2). It is also possible to use Kodi with Android devices, such as Amazon Fire TV's, and Android TV boxes, but I'm not going to touch on those. They are very unstable, and I HIGHLY recommend against you attempting it. That said, when I say that you can use an older PC, I don't mean one running Windows XP and with 512MB RAM. That won't work. You need at least Windows 7, 2GB RAM, and a decent video chipset-whether it be dedicated graphics or integrated. Typically, the Intel GL40 works on SD, but forget about HD. Honestly, the best bet for you, if you want full functionality, ease of use, and a device that can for sure run Kodi well....invest $120 in a Raspberry PI 2 and use it. Here are links for all you need for a Raspberry PI2. First you will need a raspberry PI 2. Get one from eBay that already has a case with it. These are the best deals I have found, with the best case. Other cases that you assemble yourself are cheap, and break easily. http://www.ebay.com/itm/201322325219?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Next you will need a few more things. A USB WiFi Dongle, a remote keyboard for controlling your Raspberry PI2, a MicroSD card to use as it's SSD (Solid State Drive), a micro USB to USB 2.0 cord (standard Android charging cable), and an HDMI cord. I am not posting links for the micro USB to USB 2.0 or the HDMI cable because they can be found pretty much anywhere. Here are links to the USB WiFi dongle and the MicroSD card. Please note that even though you may have a MicroSD card lying around, you probably don't have the right one. Not all are made equal. You need a class 10 one to play HD content reliably.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301380783079?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251819458549?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Now that you have all your parts, we can move on.

If you are using a Windows PC to run Kodi, you will want to install Kodi as a program in Windows. Here is the link to the site. http://kodi.tv/download/ There are also installs here for other platforms, but if you are using a Raspberry PI2, you won't want this install, you will want OSMC. You will install it to the MicroSD card while it is plugged in to your computer via an installer program. That way it will run as the operating system of the Raspberry PI2. Here is the link for OSMC Installer. https://osmc.tv/download/

By this point, I am assuming that you have your device ready with Kodi or OSMC up and running. If you are running OSMC on a Raspberry PI2, we need to change the skin to Confluence at this point. You will need to go to the center icon in the round configuration of the OSMC home. That is "My OSMC". So go to My OSMC and scroll down to settings. Select it and then select "skin". Change it to the only other option.."Confluence". For future reference, I will be be using filepaths to get you to a certain place in the operating system. So the path to where we just went in OSMC would look like this. My OSMC/Settings/Skin/Confluence. Much easier to write, and it's an easy road map to follow.

 Now we set up Kodi. You will need to add a source. So go to System/File Manager/Add Source. In the field where you see "<None>" written, click and enter "srp.nu" without the quotations. Then in the field To enter a name for the media source, type in "Super Repo"...once again without the quotes. After you have done that, you will need to go to System/Settings/Add-ons/Install from zip file. Select Super Repo/helix/video/repository.superrepo.org.helix.video-latest.zip. That will download all the add-ons you need. Now you just need to enable them. Now go to Videos/Add-ons/Get More.../ and find these three add-ons. 1Channel. Icefilms. Navi-X. With 1Channel you can watch any movie, any TV show....EVER. The only thing is that it's in SD (Standard Digital). For HD content, use Icefilms. Once you find your movie or show, you will see a list of sources to stream it from. If using Icefilms, try to use Hugefiles. Usually no buffering, but you do have to enter a Captcha code. My backup for an Icefilms source is 180Upload. In 1Channel, Vidzi is usually good, and you can also go by how many times it has been streamed...(the number in parentheses off to the right of the source).

  Now we need to set up for live streaming of Cable TV. You will need to go to System/Settings/Live TV and make sure it is enabled. You should be prompted to install a PVR Client. Select PVR IPTV Simple Client. If you are not prompted to install it, go to System/Settings/Add-ons/Disabled add-ons and enable it.

 Now we will go into Navi-X. Go to Videos/Add-ons/Navi-X. Select "Navi-X start here". After the next screen loads, go to "Most recently updated". Now scroll down and find (Live International TV) All Working!...it will have a dish world screen display to the left when scrolled to. Right click it and download the .plx file. After that, select it again and open it, and you will see live streaming cable TV. Keep in mind that this is always a work in progress, some things may not always work, and it may take a while for the buffering to catch up, depending on your internet speed. For the most part, I have found that this is better quality than the cable I was paying for!!!

SUMMARY....So there you are. All set up with Kodi installed. On demand ANYTHING. Watch TV the way you want, not the way anyone else wants you to. No commercials. Complete series back-to-back-to-back episodes without missing a beat. No more paying to rent movies or for Netflix or Hulu. ENJOY!!!

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