User Guide

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3 – Building a Media Center with OSMC
3.1 OSMC
Open source media center (OSMC) is a free media player that is
based on Debian Linux and the Kodi media player. You can use
it to play music and video files on your TV. These files can be on
USB sticks, hard disk drives, other computers on your local
network, and the Internet.
OSMC can play media files in many formats, including: 3GP,
AAC, APE, AVI, CDDA, FLV, MIDI, MKV, MP3, MP4, M4A,
MPEG, OGG, WAV, WMA, WMV, and many more.
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It can even
play DVDs from ISO disc images.
Many people have a Raspberry Pi specifically for running OSMC
or Kodi. The Pi’s low cost, support for USB devices and
networking, and built-in HDMI output make it an excellent
choice for a media player that sits next to the TV and does not
take up a lot of space.
In this chapter, you can see how to install OSMC on your Pi. You
will also learn the basics of how to work with the user interface,
and how to add media files to the system.
To complete this tutorial, you need:
• A Raspberry Pi, connected to your router using an
Ethernet cable.
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• A keyboard and mouse.
• A USB storage device, such as a memory stick or hard
drive.
1. For the complete list of container formats and codecs that OSMC supports,
see http://kodi.wiki/index.php?title=Features_and_supported_formats
2. After you install OSMC, you can remove the cable and use Wi-Fi.