r/kodi • u/sylvainsab • 8d ago
Kodi unable to connect to local media/file server
Hello,
I installed Kodi on my new Thomson 55MG7C15 smart TV with the intention to watch my film/series collection that is hosted on a local OpenBSD server.
Unfortunately, Kodi seems unable to connect to my server. I have first tried to connect via SFTP (add-on), then via NFS (natively supported), with the same error : Unable to connect : “The connection to the network location couldn't be established This could be due to the network not being connected. Would you like to add it anyway?” Yes/No.
The only reason I can think of for this is that I would not use an address of the correct format. What else could it be ? And how can I be sure that the address I enter is in the correct format for either SFTP or NFS ?
Cheers
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u/activoice 8d ago
Are you using the server name when adding the location or are you adding it by IP address (your server needs a static IP). I always had good success using IP address.
I don't have any experience with NFS as I use SMB but did you add the NFS source using the format from the wiki
nfs://192.168.1.x/path/to/folder
Replacing the numbers above with the IP address.
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u/sylvainsab 8d ago
Yes, I use my server’s local IP address, 10.0.0.1. I can’t type in the colon though.
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u/btimmins42 8d ago edited 8d ago
You must have a : Try copy/paste as suggested or possibly change your TV soft keyboard or connect an external keyboard using Bluetooth or USB. You could also install Samba on your server and try SMB. PS if you use Browse you don't have to type the :
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u/DarkEther66 8d ago
Can the TV see anything on the network? If not then it's not a Kodi problem.
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u/sylvainsab 8d ago
Yep, that’s what I thought but VLC detects my laptop. So no network problem. Strangely, neither can I view the media files on my SFTP or NFS server from VLC though, although it seems it can connect to the servers. Other devices access the files without trouble. I’m trying to diagnose if this might be an Android TV problem.
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u/DarkEther66 8d ago
what I is mean share something and then see if the TV can see that not using your Kodi install. (If it's a smart tv I'm guessing it'll have it's own file browser for network shares) Does that work with just TV and source media? .if the TV can see that then it sounds like a Kodi setup issue or authorisation issue. If it can't then you need to look somewhere else other than Kodi.
Just as an aside, setup a user on the server/nas for kodi specifically which only has read-only permissions to your folders.
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u/Serious-Syrup-8141 8d ago
Just shot in the dark here but some vpns block all local traffic unless you set it to allow LAN.
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u/DavidMelbourne 8d ago
Start fresh, do all of this manually...
Create a new user on linux called kodiuser with a short password, then create new share say TV, add permissions to that share and the folder to that new kodiuser. Figure out what your PC IP address is eg: 192.168.0.x
Then in Kodi (system\media) add a new source, browse for new share, where is says <none> press enter, enter the network location manually, must be this format; smb://192.168.0.x/TV username & password is that new Linux user kodiuser
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u/GrahamPhisher 8d ago
J e l l y f i n
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u/sylvainsab 8d ago
Jellyfin as a server isn't supported by OpenBSD. It could be a nice exercise to be run in a VM though.
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u/sylvainsab 3d ago
So I successfully installed Jellyfin in a Docker container in an Alpine vm, and got it to work, except I have audio delay (about 400ms).
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u/GrahamPhisher 3d ago
Sounds like you're watching directly from the VM container. Why not just roll headless ubuntu (probably would be lighter than Alpine, which I assume light is your goal since you picked Alpine) and watch the from a hosted address in a web browser from your main OS.
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u/sylvainsab 3d ago
Yes that’s right, I have a headless server on which I installed Alpine in a vm (since neither Docker nor Jellyfin are supported under my OS), and then a Docker container on Alpine for Jellyfin. I watch from my Thompson smart Google TV however, can’t / don’t really want to use a web browser but the native app. But you assume headless Ubuntu would correct the audio delay ?
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u/GrahamPhisher 2d ago
No I assumed you were already using a GUI and watching on a VM w/ GUI and audio was delayed through it. My assumption was wrong.
I think best bet is to try watching from your phone and seeing if the delay persists there, if not the issue is most likely your TV.
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u/member_one Team-Kodi 8d ago
https://discourse.osmc.tv/t/using-osmc-kodi-to-connect-to-my-friends-sftp-server/72149/5