Kodi not working? Most first timers face multiple Kodi related problems. Without awareness and the right kind of knowledge, it becomes really difficult to even solve basic kodi software problems. In this article we try to solve some Kodi related problems that are frustrating but easy to solve using simple fixes.
Let’s get started.
Most Common Kodi not Working Issues
There are few common Kodi not working issues which you can easily fix and run Kodi easily on your devices.
1- Kodi crashes when loading
One of the most common kodi not working problem that users tend to face is that Kodi crashes while loading. It may happen once or repetitively. As you start Kodi, it crashes immediately when it loads. In case crashing takes place consistently, the first thing you must confirm is that you have the most advanced or latest version.
- For avoiding the crashing issue, delete Kodi and download the latest version.
If you wish to continue with older Kodi, you need to identify which setup is incompatible with Kodi.
- For this purpose, locate your folder of userdata and move it away from the Kodi directory.
After the userdata folder is moved away, start Kodi. If it starts right, it means there was something in that folder that caused Kodi to crash.
2- Addons won’t delete
A fundamental issue of Kodi not working is that Addons are not removed or deleted. You try to remove or delete addons from the workshop but it does not happen. A graphic of “processing, please wait” appears and does not go away. Also, when you uninstall some addons, they re-appear offline. There are a couple of ways to fix this issue.
- Go to the Gmod folder. There would be a folder of addon. Delete the addons that you require. It also happens due to your connection with Steam. You have the option of deleting the addons manually. However, you first need to unsub from the item in the Steam workshop.
Finally, remove and delete the local file in the Documents. They may be located in Documents / Sports Interactive / FM17 folder.
3- Issues with hardware acceleration
Hardware acceleration is a major cause of Kodi not working. It crashes the Kodi specifically on Android devices. You need to disable the hardware acceleration that causes cashing of Kodi.
- For disabling it, you need to turn off two options of hardware acceleration. Click on the “gear” icon and go to Settings.
- Select the Player Settings from the list. Another gear icon would appear at the bottom of the page. A word Basic would also appear beside.
- Click it thrice and turn to Expert. Then highlight the tab of Video.
- Scroll down to the end of the list. Disable the option of Allow hardware acceleration – DXVA2. Make sure to restart Kodi and see the issue does not persist.
4- Kodi Buffering Issues
Kodi buffering issues are also among common problems for the users. Kodi buffering problems become prevalent as more streams are added unchecked. This is a harder problem to solve because it cannot be resolved simply by uninstalling and reinstalling it.
However, there are some ways of taking care of this problem.
- You can clear the cache to get rid of Kodi buffering problem. Also, this issue can be resolved by enhancing the size of Video Cache in Kodi.
- You can also use a VPN. Using a VPN allows you to avoid the Kodi buffering. This is the most common solution of this problem.
- You can also fix this problem by using a Code. Plant a file with specific file codes into the userdata folder inside the installation folder of Kodi.
5- Video Stuttering
One problem you may face is that video stutters for a long time frequently. For most of the times, slow internet speed and weak network signals are the roots of the problem. It seems as the playback stutters because the video card is not scalable enough for this.
- A simple way of avoiding this problem is by going to the button of Settings Cog.
- Click on Settings and go to Player Settings. A long list would appear.
- Switch to the Expert Mode. Then make sure to select the Render Method from the list.
- Click on DXVA as the render method. This solution works most of the times on Kodi.
6- Blank Screen or Black Screen
One of the most persisting issues with Kodi includes the Blank screen or black screen problem. This problem creates a black or black screen amid the regular Kodi operation. This issue mostly relates to the users who are upgrading from the version of Kodi 16 to 17+. The transformation from the older confluence skin to the new Estuary skin may lead to a few errors relevant to Addons.db file.
- A major way to fix this problem is by deleting your Addons.db files.
- Deleting this file would not delete any other addons. In case you are using Amazon Firestick or Android box, there is an alternative solution for this issue.
- You can select the option of Force Stop Kodi. This option would take you to another app setting.
- Select the available option of Clear Cache. This would be easier to clear up these particular problems of Kodi not working.
7- Kodi freezes during playback
First open KODI > System > Settings > Videos >( Settings level to Expert ) Playback. Now there are various option under it and you need to check with selecting each option either one by one or select all on it from the list available until issue is resolved as per screen below
Another reason Kodi freezes during video play is because of the quality of HD video stream. If you are streaming content on 720p or higher, you may experience a certain level of stuttering.
The work around?
Go to Main settings of the device. Select display settings or Screen resolution > Disable auto-detect HDMI on it
Manually set output mode settings to 1080p, 50hz under the HDMI configuration. You can set other settings well depending on your experiments.
Buy a Device with More than 2GB RAM
Another option is to buy a device that has more than 2GB of RAM available. This is because 2GB is very limited RAM for running a higher version of Kodi application. You can get any device that supports Kodi, but the best one in the market is Amazon Fire TV 3.
Another option to reduce Video buffering is to set up an unrestricted downloader for faster file sources for your Kodi application. Most people are using Real Debrid application for media playback.
You can also go with a VPN service that offers more servers. This way you can choose a server that is nearest to the file steaming location. Sometimes ISPs throttle the internet speed so the users don’t download video streams. A VPN service will help you get consistent speeds throughout the streaming.
8- Kodi Is Too Slow
If the Kodi application is working slow, then there are a few things you can check:
– First make sure that the internet is working properly and that no other application is eating the bandwidth. If you are on Windows simply open the task manager by typing ctrl+alt+del and then clicking the Performance tab > Open Resource Meter > Network
Now check which system processes are taking the bandwidth of your application.
Next, check if Kodi is already running any other addon. If so, close that addon and restart Kodi application. Now, try streaming the video that was running slow in Kodi.
Sometimes, the problem can be with your system itself. Only way to check this is through the task manager. So, repeat the same process. Open resource monitor in Windows and then check how much bandwidth your system is consuming.
If it is close to 100%, you may need to get more RAM for the system.
Also, if you have fast internet, try streaming content from 4KTV sites.
9- Kodi Takes up Too Much Hard Drive Space
Kodi maintains a repository of files in the ‘XBMC’ and ‘KODI’ folders. You can simply clean the unused files by going to these folders within the userdata folder on the device.
Some type of files that you can delete on Kodi include:
– Actor images
– Fan art images
You can decrease the size of these images because most of the time they are in MBs and take a lot of space. Especially on small devices, the size of image doesn’t actually matters.
The best way to fix this is by creating a file called ‘Advancedsettings.xml’ file with the following code:
<advancedsettings>
<imageres>720</imageres>
<fanartres>1080</fanartres>
</advancedsettings>
Make sure that the file is ‘.xml’ and not ‘.txt’.
Now open the userdata folder and paste new plain text file it.
You can change the size of ‘imageres’ and ‘fanartres’ to a lower number depending on your requirements.
10- Kodi Build Stops Working
There are two reasons for Kodi build not working.
The first reason is the corruption of repositories. This happens if the remote server where Kodi’s repository data is present is corrupted. Sadly, there is nothing much you can do about it because it is a remote server issue.
You can try another repository that has the same features.
Second issue relates with Kodi build. if the Kodi folder is not working properly, then this may be because the installation has corrupted.
You can try to reinstall the whole software because this is the only way to get around Kodi in most cases. Apart from that, there isn’t much you can do to get it working.
If the Kodi installation is corrupt, none of your addons will work. If there is an error generating, simply copy the error code and look for a solution on Google. The build is saved on the local drive, but data of the addons is fetched from remote server. In both cases, it is a problem at your end.
Again, reinstalling the software is the best solution available to you.
Please make sure that your device is connected to the internet during this whole process.
11- Kodi not loading
In the above two solutions, I have repeated that you should install Kodi if it is not working properly. But in most cases, you can simply reset the Kodi device to deploy the same files that had corrupted.
Here is how to do it:
Reset Kodi to system default using the Ares Wizard. First of all, download and install Ares Wizard on Kodi.
Go to Add-ons > Program add-ons and run Ares Wizard.
You will see the Ares Wizard interface.
Now, click ‘Erase all data/Fresh Start’ button.
You will get a prompt. Simply click Yes to start the fresh start process.
You have the option to keep your settings and sources saved. But, I personally recommend to do a fresh start with no files saved. This will provide you a better experience later on since no old files will become a clutter.
Click ‘Proceed’ button on the bottom once you have selected your desired settings.
Here is the Video to fix no stream available error on Kodi
Conclusion
That’s pretty much all the problems you face in Kodi. We have tried to be as detailed as possible in answering them to fix Kodi not working problems.
As is known, one can clear most Kodi related issues by reinstalling the software/fresh start. You can even try rebooting the device to clear up most basic system level issues. However, clearing server issues is beyond the domain control.
