embyforkodi (next-gen) 11.X.X support

[quickmic 1730]

45 minutes ago, markdj said:

Any updates on this?

Also, enabling 'Ask to delete file' after watching something shows the dialog box, but just for 1-2 seconds before it disappears on its own. Could this be looked into?

Please update to latest public testing version and check again.

[Heinrich 2]

I am having the craziest problems with Vero V and also Zidoo Z9X Pro. My Windows installation has worked great for years on 11.1.17 right now. I have gone up to 12.4.18 here this morning and am having the same problem on Vero V and Zidoo, with one key difference. The Vero V ran great on 12.3.8 for a week. I watched half of Pirates of Caribbean and stopped and went to bed. I also watched all of Finding Dory with no problem a few days earlier. When I came back last night to watch the second half of Pirates of Caribbean, I get "The file is no longer available. Would you like to remove it from the library?"

 

I have done multiple repair libraries, resets, uninstalls on both devices. I have spent probably 5 hours in a loop just trying to get each to work. I gave up on Zidoo and I have a few days to return it left. I was heartened when the Vero V worked so well, until it didn't. The only thing that really changed in my entire setup was adding a Monitor 2 HDMI cable to my Denon AVR which probably has nothing to do with anything.

 

Most recently I did go down to 11.1.17 on the Vero because I was trying to match the Windows. I also tested Windows again and it's absolutely fine, as it has been for years with no fuss. (same behavior on multiple versions of 12.x.x)

 

Vero log:

 

Emby log 11.1.17 from Vero V

[quickmic 1730]

I need a kodi.log for review, from latest 12.x public testing version.

Is it a multipart video?

Edited April 28 by quickmic

[markdj 53]

On 4/27/2026 at 10:17 AM, quickmic said:

Please update to latest public testing version and check again.

Not sure where to find that version; the version on the first page seems older?

I have tested version 12.x of next-gen, but the issue is still there as well.

 

Edit: talking about the multi-version feature here, haven't tested the other issue yet.
 

Edit 2: videos are laggy and stuttery in version 12.xx making Kodi and the Shield *VERY UNRESPONSIVE*.
Is this a common issue or a setting that needs to be adjusted (default settings + settings from 11.0.27)?

Edited April 28 by markdj

[quickmic 1730]

You can find it here:

12.4.18 is the latest version, and no. Default settings are fine.

[markdj 53]

Yes, I think that's the one I tested. Didn't fix the issue for me personally, so I reverted back to the stable 11.xx version. Videos were unwatchable with version 12.xx for me.

[quickmic 1730]

51 minutes ago, markdj said:

Yes, I think that's the one I tested. Didn't fix the issue for me personally, so I reverted back to the stable 11.xx version. Videos were unwatchable with version 12.xx for me.

The thing is, the plugin has nothing to do with the actual playback. It just syncs the content to Kodi's database, but Kodi is fully responsible for the actual playback. Something else must cause this issues. Not sure what... Did you use a different Kodi version or native mode vs addon mode?

Edited April 28 by quickmic

[markdj 53]

1 hour ago, quickmic said:

The thing is, the plugin has nothing to do with the actual playback. It just syncs the content to Kodi's database, but Kodi is fully responsible for the actual playback. Something else must cause this issues. Not sure what... Did you use a different Kodi version or native mode vs addon mode?

Not sure what the issue is then. Kodi is the same version, and the only thing that changed is Emby. Reverting back solved the problem for me. Maybe I'll try again later.

[Heinrich 2]

16 hours ago, quickmic said:

I need a kodi.log for review, from latest 12.x public testing version.

Is it a multipart video?

I upgraded to 12.4.18 - one video did present me with the option of if I wanted the menu or main title. Once. Then it went back to this title is not availabe over and over.

 

These timestamps are not accurate. UNRAID server is accurate and so is Vero V. Not sure what this is about. 

embyserver(2).txt

[quickmic 1730]

6 hours ago, Heinrich said:

I upgraded to 12.4.18 - one video did present me with the option of if I wanted the menu or main title. Once. Then it went back to this title is not availabe over and over.

 

These timestamps are not accurate. UNRAID server is accurate and so is Vero V. Not sure what this is about. 

embyserver(2).txt 52.68 kB · 2 downloads

I still need the kodi.log not the emby server log for review. please.I cannot see anything in embyserver.log.

[quickmic 1730]

8 hours ago, markdj said:

Not sure what the issue is then. Kodi is the same version, and the only thing that changed is Emby. Reverting back solved the problem for me. Maybe I'll try again later.

Can you please send me a kodi.log from 12.X for review including the playback issue.

Edited April 29 by quickmic

[Heinrich 2]

12 hours ago, quickmic said:

I still need the kodi.log not the emby server log for review. please.I cannot see anything in embyserver.log.

This is from the Zidoo Z9X Pro. The Vero V I got working with the current prod 11.x.x with a full system reset. I think there are ghosts of data left behind on some of these versions even after a full reset from within the Emby plugin. I'm not sure if that's fixed with 12.4.18 until 12.4.19 comes out but complicates the problem somewhat

 

I can do a full backup of the Vero V I think and then do another test with 12.4.18 but I am loathe since it's working. The Zidoo I just cannot get to work.

kodi.log

[quickmic 1730]

57 minutes ago, Heinrich said:

This is from the Zidoo Z9X Pro. The Vero V I got working with the current prod 11.x.x with a full system reset. I think there are ghosts of data left behind on some of these versions even after a full reset from within the Emby plugin. I'm not sure if that's fixed with 12.4.18 until 12.4.19 comes out but complicates the problem somewhat

 

I can do a full backup of the Vero V I think and then do another test with 12.4.18 but I am loathe since it's working. The Zidoo I just cannot get to work.

kodi.log 176.15 kB · 0 downloads

I can see , you are using iso files which means this is native mode (at least for iso's). Do you have experience with native mode? Is it mounted correctly on Kodi? Also you use "com.zidoo.player" accessing "smb://UNRAID/Movies/1917/1917.4k.uhd.iso" You have a very tricky setup and I hope you know how to deal with native mode..

However, when Kodi is capable accessing this files, Kodi has full control about playback! It like Kodi is playing a file.

 

Edited April 29 by quickmic

[Heinrich 2]

3 hours ago, quickmic said:

I can see , you are using iso files which means this is native mode (at least for iso's). Do you have experience with native mode? Is it mounted correctly on Kodi? Also you use "com.zidoo.player" accessing "smb://UNRAID/Movies/1917/1917.4k.uhd.iso" You have a very tricky setup and I hope you know how to deal with native mode..

However, when Kodi is capable accessing this files, Kodi has full control about playback! It like Kodi is playing a file.

 

I’ve been using native mode very successfully for about 10 years with Windows. It was finicky for the first couple of years, but it’s been rock stable for me for a very long time. I will do a complete reset and try native mode on these two devices tomorrow. I do again think that there is some lack of success with resetting the database when uninstalling. Or pressing reset database function. That’s been part of the problem. I’ve had to reset the entire device and start over from scratch in order to truly reset the database (yes even after restarting Kodi.)

[Heinrich 2]

16 hours ago, Heinrich said:

I’ve been using native mode very successfully for about 10 years with Windows. It was finicky for the first couple of years, but it’s been rock stable for me for a very long time. I will do a complete reset and try native mode on these two devices tomorrow. I do again think that there is some lack of success with resetting the database when uninstalling. Or pressing reset database function. That’s been part of the problem. I’ve had to reset the entire device and start over from scratch in order to truly reset the database (yes even after restarting Kodi.)

Native / Zidoo / 12.4.18. I don't get "file no longer available" but I do get no video or error, just a flash back to the library.

kodi.log

[quickmic 1730]

Did you try the Ip address and not "UNRAID"? I think your external player cannot resolve the DNS and probably also not allowed to log in, but first I would check DNS/IP. You use an external player. I'm not sure if this works, but this is all related to Kodi.

Did you try Kodi's internal player?

Edited April 30 by quickmic

[Heinrich 2]

1 hour ago, quickmic said:

Did you try the Ip address and not "UNRAID"? I think your external player cannot resolve the DNS and probably also not allowed to log in, but first I would check DNS/IP. You use an external player. I'm not sure if this works, but this is all related to Kodi.

Did you try Kodi's internal player?

I’ll try the IP. The whole point of the Zidoo is to get Dolby and 3D from their player. I’m at the point of giving up on it if IP doesn’t work.

[quickmic 1730]

That's the reason I never recommend native mode. IP address and smb share without login credentials could work, but probably zidoo needs a different connection string (different format other than smb://XXXXXX, that's Kodi's format).

Some external players do not even support http streams (addon mode would not work either). Who knows...

The best chances to make it work is mounting the drive on OS level.

 

Edited May 1 by quickmic

[vidkun 13]

I am having an issue where the quality or resolution of the posters is absolutely terrible. They're like they are "static-y" or terrible resolution. I have looked at previous threads on here and on the Kodi forums related to this issue and it doesn’t seem too uncommon. However, the one difference for my use case is that i am using the Emby for Kodi add-on (in add-on mode, not native) so I’m not too sure how much that would impact or change things. Using the stable 11.x release of Emby for Kodi in first post here.

I have done multiple tests of stop mediacenter, adjust imageres and fanartres in advancedsettings.xml, delete Thumbnails dir and TexturesXX.db, start mediacenter without any luck. Kodi screenshots show the terrible quality present. I’ve changed views, changed skins. No luck.

I have resynced artwork cache from Emby addon and that sometimes seems to resolve the issue temporarily, but then it returns.

The stranger thing is that the actual files in Thumbnails dir look just fine when viewed on my computer.

Kodi resolution is set to 1080p as recommended. TV is 4k, but again kodi screenshot shows the issue present so that’d be before it’s sent to the TV. Should rule out the TV settings itself.

I’m running out of ideas of what to test here. I'm not sure how the posters are handled with the Emby for Kodi add-on and what Emby presents to Kodi here, but again shouldn't matter since the Thumbnails on disk are just fine.

Not sure if it comes through that great in this pic, but you should see that D3 is not that badly impacted, but the others are very grainy/static-y.  You can also see it in the kodi screenshot and compare the thumbnail file for the Battleship poster to how it looks in the screenshot.

Any other ideas? Or should I open a separate thread here?

kodi.log

[quickmic 1730]

On 5/13/2026 at 7:52 PM, vidkun said:

I am having an issue where the quality or resolution of the posters is absolutely terrible. They're like they are "static-y" or terrible resolution. I have looked at previous threads on here and on the Kodi forums related to this issue and it doesn’t seem too uncommon. However, the one difference for my use case is that i am using the Emby for Kodi add-on (in add-on mode, not native) so I’m not too sure how much that would impact or change things. Using the stable 11.x release of Emby for Kodi in first post here.

I have done multiple tests of stop mediacenter, adjust imageres and fanartres in advancedsettings.xml, delete Thumbnails dir and TexturesXX.db, start mediacenter without any luck. Kodi screenshots show the terrible quality present. I’ve changed views, changed skins. No luck.

I have resynced artwork cache from Emby addon and that sometimes seems to resolve the issue temporarily, but then it returns.

The stranger thing is that the actual files in Thumbnails dir look just fine when viewed on my computer.

Kodi resolution is set to 1080p as recommended. TV is 4k, but again kodi screenshot shows the issue present so that’d be before it’s sent to the TV. Should rule out the TV settings itself.

I’m running out of ideas of what to test here. I'm not sure how the posters are handled with the Emby for Kodi add-on and what Emby presents to Kodi here, but again shouldn't matter since the Thumbnails on disk are just fine.

Not sure if it comes through that great in this pic, but you should see that D3 is not that badly impacted, but the others are very grainy/static-y.  You can also see it in the kodi screenshot and compare the thumbnail file for the Battleship poster to how it looks in the screenshot.

Any other ideas? Or should I open a separate thread here?

kodi.log 93.34 kB · 0 downloads

I would try upgrade to 12.X beta and I also a plugin factory reset (including the plugin/addon settings) / everything back to default.

Edited May 22 by quickmic

[danzigman 6]

I've been trying path substitution to set the thumbnails folder to an external USB drive formatted as removable storage, but the thumbnails are not being written to the thumb drive.

Do I need to to put an xbmc_env.properties file in the root drive to allow Kodi write access to the external drive? If so, would that mean all user data would be written to the drive?

 

Edited May 25 by danzigman

[quickmic 1730]

4 hours ago, danzigman said:

I've been trying path substitution to set the thumbnails folder to an external USB drive formatted as removable storage, but the thumbnails are not being written to the thumb drive.

Do I need to to put an xbmc_env.properties file in the root drive to allow Kodi write access to the external drive? If so, would that mean all user data would be written to the drive?

 

You mean via kodi's advancesettings.xml? This not respected by the plugin when yout trigger cache all artwork by the plugin menu. Actually it's Kodi's API, anyway.

You need to symlink or even better mount the external drive directly into Kodi's thumbnail folder.

 

Edited May 25 by quickmic

[danzigman 6]

OK, I didn't know that. Thanks!

 

 

[danzigman 6]

I just realized that the thumbnails folder uses up only around 8 MB but the database files more than 500. That means I have to keep using the flash drive as device storage. (I use Kodi with Emby because Kodi has very good smart playlist features.) Another is to get a cheap Android TV box with lots of storage, or invest in an expensive one.

[quickmic 1730]

Did you mount the drive into the thumbsnail folder?