Kodi was overkill for a phone-driven "play this video" box: a full media
center (web server, CEC, library DB) whose surface area is exactly what
wedged the Pi -- a video-decode session left Kodi stuck in an
uninterruptible firmware-mailbox call after a kernel keyring Oops, dead
until a power cycle.
mpv is just a video player: hardware-decoded straight on KMS/DRM, no
media-center baggage. It runs as its own --idle systemd service holding
the playlist, so playback keeps going even if the app/phone/WiFi drop --
the same autonomy Kodi's native playlist gave us. The app talks to it
over its JSON IPC Unix socket.
PlayerStateManager keeps the exact same public API, so the Flask routes,
templates, and UI are unchanged (only the engine underneath swaps out).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- After Kodi starts, set audiooutput.audiodevice to the HDMI sink via JSON-RPC
(Kodi otherwise defaults to the analog jack). Waits for the web server, is
overridable via MEDIAPI_KODI_AUDIO_DEVICE.
- mkdir the configured MEDIAPI_MEDIA_ROOTS so browsing works and there's a spot
to copy content into.
Verified live on the Pi: playback + HDMI audio work end to end via the app's
Player.Open path.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Playback moves to Kodi (standalone on GBM/KMS -- the smooth, hardware-decoded
LibreELEC path). mediapi becomes a thin remote: it browses media and controls
Kodi over its JSON-RPC HTTP API. This drops every mpv/DRM/X-mirror problem
(DRM-master exclusivity, gpu-next "export failed" wedges, X-mirror A/V desync,
software-decode choppiness) -- none of which had a working single config.
- new mediapi/kodi.py (stdlib JSON-RPC client); player.py rewritten to poll
and drive Kodi (Player.Open/PlayPause/Seek, Application.SetVolume,
Player.GetProperties), same public interface + keep-playing auto-advance
- config.py: KODI_* settings replace MPV_SOCKET; __init__ + api_routes updated
- delete mpv_ipc.py, the mpv/X units, start-mpv/session scripts
- new systemd/mediapi-kodi.service.template (standalone Kodi on tty1) +
scripts/configure-kodi.py (headlessly enable Kodi's JSON-RPC web server)
- install.sh now bootstraps a BARE Pi OS Lite end to end: apt base packages,
installs uv, installs Kodi, enables its web API, configures the AP, installs
+ starts services (only git need be preinstalled). Auto-seeds .env from the
example on first run.
- README + .env.example updated for the Kodi architecture
Dual HDMI is handled in hardware (external splitter off one port); no software
mirror -- see git history for why that can't work smoothly on this Pi.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Move user-specific config (login, media roots, port, AP ssid/psk, service
user) into a gitignored .env; add .env.example template.
- config.py reads .env at startup via a tiny zero-dependency parser (works for
both `uv run` and systemd), and fails loudly if required vars are unset.
- load_secret_key falls back to an ephemeral key on a read-only filesystem
instead of crashing.
- systemd units become .template files; deploy.sh renders them with the
.env-derived user/paths.
- deploy.sh: refuses to run on a read-only overlay, git pull --ff-only,
uv sync, ensure secret key, re-apply the AP from .env, install units,
restart, health-check with automatic rollback to the previous commit.
- Scrub literal credentials/ssid out of the README; document .env + deploy.sh.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
