Tested on FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE
For brevity, this guide doesn’t cover the FreeBSD installation process in depth. The FreeBSD handbook documents this process.
The short version:
The post-installation setup becomes more specific here. This guide uses ports instead of packages because Kodi lacks built-in sndio support by default. This choice makes the post-installation phase more involved.
Log in to the freshly installed FreeBSD system and follow these steps.
Enable and start
powerd(8)
for power management. This reduces power consumption when the
entertainment center sits idle.
# sysrc powerd_enable="YES"
# service powerd start
To make changes take effect immediately, set up
make.conf(5)
before compiling anything.
To stay current, my make.conf lives in git, but don’t copy it without understanding it first. The configuration includes everything needed to compile with sndio, LibreSSL, and Intel Quick Sync Video support.
See the FreeBSD handbook entry on ports for more details.
# portsnap fetch extract
Install a ports management tool. For simplicity, this guide uses
ports-mgmt/portmaster. While ports-mgmt/poudriere also works well,
teaching poudriere exceeds this guide’s scope. Portmaster gets the job
done.
# make -C /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portmaster install clean
Install git, as the source tree checkout requires it. The git-tiny
flavor works well.
# portmaster devel/git@tiny
Check out the source
tree.
Building graphics/drm-kmod requires the source tree.
# git clone https://git.freebsd.org/src.git -b releng/13.0 /usr/src
Install a few tools to make the build process more manageable before
building Kodi. sysutils/tmux proves essential because you can detach
from a tmux session and log out while portmaster builds, then later log
in and reattach to check the build progress.
security/doas provides a more minimalist method of privilege
elevation.
Consider installing a text editor and shell if desired. I like
editors/neovim and shells/oksh.
# portmaster sysutils/tmux security/doas
If you installed security/doas, set up
doas.conf(5). Since FreeBSD
currently lacks persistence support, adding nopass improves usability.
# echo 'permit nopass :wheel' >/usr/local/etc/doas.conf
This step matters for the next section. The one-liner below checks whether the current user has a tmux session open. If not, it first tries to attach to an existing session, and creates a new session if that fails.
$ [ -z "${TMUX}" ] && { tmux attach || tmux; }
Now compile Kodi.
Note: if you don’t want ports configuration beyond what make.conf
specifies, prepend BATCH=1 to the below command. I recommend at least
reviewing the options available for multimedia/ffmpeg and
multimedia/kodi with make config.
Remember to install packages needed for Hardware video
acceleration.
For the Latte Panda Delta, these packages include
multimedia/libva-intel-media-driver and multimedia/libvdpau-va-gl.
# portmaster audio/sndio graphics/drm-kmod multimedia/libva-intel-media-driver \
> multimedia/libvdpau-va-gl x11/xorg misc/unclutter-xfixes multimedia/kodi \
> multimedia/kodi-addon-inputstream.adaptive
After giving portmaster permission to build everything, detach from the
tmux session (CTRL-b d by default. Or create a second window with
CTRL-b c and issue tmux detach). Then, close the SSH connection and
take a fifteen-minute break.
After the initial break, SSH back in and tmux attach to check for
early errors that need attention. Waiting hours only to discover that
portmaster encountered an early error and stopped building is
frustrating.
Now, relax—compiling Kodi and Xorg on a single board computer takes time.
Review installation messages to check for needed interventions.
$ pkg query '%M' | less
Create a separate user for Kodi (named kodi here). Add the kodi user
to the video group.
# adduser
If you didn’t add kodi to the video group during user creation, go
ahead and fix it now:
# pw groupmod video -m kodi
After that, log in as the kodi user.
Create /home/kodi/.xinitrc to configure part of the startup process
for the graphical environment.
The xset commands prevent interference with Kodi’s screen blanking
mechanisms. unclutter hides the cursor when idle. By default, the
cursor stays invisible during ordinary usage, but if you bump a pointer
device, it sticks around. unclutter helpfully hides it again after a
short period of inactivity.
$ cat <<EOF >~/.xinitrc
> . "${HOME}/.profile"
> xset s noblank
> xset s off
> xset -dpms
> unclutter &
>
> exec kodi
> EOF
From a console (not SSH), start X.
$ startx
If X starts successfully, log out of the kodi user and back in to the
user with root access.
Having Kodi start automatically on boot can help. This requires the
kodi user to log in automatically. To enable this, append some
configuration to
gettytab(5).
# cat <<EOF >>/etc/gettytab
> # autologin kodi
> A|Al|Autologin console:\
> :ht:np:sp#115200:al=kodi
> EOF
Edit
ttys(5)
to match the following configuration.
# Virtual terminals
#ttyv1 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" xterm onifexists secure
ttyv1 "/usr/libexec/getty Al" xterm onifexists secure
As the kodi user, append this check to /home/kodi/.profile. The
check makes X start only in the correct terminal and prevents X from
starting if already running.
$ cat <<EOF >>~/.profile
> if [ -z "${DISPLAY}" ] && [ "$(tty)" = '/dev/ttyv1' ]; then
> exec startx
> fi
> EOF
Finally, reboot the system.
# reboot
If everything works correctly, configure the sound system. Set the
default device with
sysctl(8)
if needed (check /dev/sndstat for available devices).
# sysctl hw.snd.default.unit=1 # needed for HDMI in this case
Now, decide whether to use bit-perfect mode and consult the relevant section below. Note that the “Sync playback to display” option in Kodi conflicts with bit-perfect audio. It resamples both video and audio to match the display’s refresh rate.
To use bit-perfect mode, apply two sysctl tweaks. This example uses
the first device, but check which device needs tweaking.
# sysctl dev.pcm.1.bitperfect=1
# sysctl hw.snd.maxautovchans=0
Change hw.snd.feeder_rate_quality from its default value of 1.
According to
sound(4),
the default linear interpolation doesn’t provide antialiasing filtering.
I prefer to start with the highest resampling quality possible and lower
the value if needed.
# sysctl hw.snd.feeder_rate_quality=4
Remember that regardless of which mode you select, to make sysctl tweaks
permanent, you must edit
sysctl.conf(5)
accordingly.
Note that sndiod isn’t needed in either case.
Pull in updates every night at 03:00 using
portsnap(8)
and
freebsd-update(8).
Note that neither portsnap cron nor freebsd-update cron applies
updates. They only download updates.
# cat <<EOF | crontab -
> 0 3 * * * root /usr/sbin/portsnap cron
> 0 3 * * * root /usr/sbin/freebsd-update cron
> EOF
When ready to update, run these commands to apply changes to the ports and source tree. They also apply binary updates to the base system.
# portsnap fetch update
# freebsd-update fetch install
# git -C /usr/src pull
If freebsd-update fetch install installs any updates, rebuild
graphics/drm-kmod per the FreeBSD
handbook.
# portmaster -f graphics/drm-kmod
Always check /usr/ports/UPDATING before upgrading any ports. Then,
upgrade.
$ less /usr/ports/UPDATING
# portmaster -a
Reboot the system.
# reboot
The entertainment center works well once configured. Setup proves involved initially (due to my specific requirements and preferences), but maintenance stays manageable.