Launch Kodi with Button Press

aFriendNamed5

Hey all,

As titled, I'd like to launch Kodi from emulationstation by pressing a single button on the controller - a bit like pressing Y to favourite something or X to get a random game.
In fact, I'd like to have it so pressing Y from ES starts Kodi instead of favouring something.

Does anyone know if this might be possible and can guide me on how to achieve it?

Thanks in advance
5

mediamogul

@afriendnamed5

You could use either jslisten or xboxdrv. jslisten would run in the background, listening for a button press and then execute a script. xboxdrv would create a key-mapping for your controller that would launch a script when the assigned button was pressed. Both solutions are somewhat involved and would take a certain amount of trial and error. The learning curve is probably lower with jslisten, but I've never used it personally.

aFriendNamed5

@mediamogul
Thanks for the reply. I assume it's not just as easy as reconfiguring what ES does when the Y button is pressed? Like, is there a config I can edit that will make it so that when I hit Y Kodi is launched instead of adding a favourite?

mediamogul

@afriendnamed5

Unfortunately, there's no setting of that kind.

aFriendNamed5

@mediamogul

Dammit, ok thanks for your help. Possibly an idea for a future release though, it would be much easier to jump into Kodi with a button press than having to scroll through all your systems.

mitu

@afriendnamed5 If you find yourself using Kodi more than playing games, you can make Kodi the default program started on boot - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FAQ/#how-do-i-boot-to-the-desktop-or-kodi.

aFriendNamed5

@mitu

Thanks, already got that set though. I'm just lazy I guess, hate having to scroll through 10+ systems to get back to Kodi 😁

caver01

Somewhat related to this, I run Kodi on my NESPi setup (Pi3B), and this part a home theater system. I suspect I am not alone there. My question is. . . how should I go about launching Kodi with my Universal Remote?

I am brainstorming, but here are a few more details and ideas/observations :

Whatever the trigger, it seems that the right thing to do is to launch a script that includes some references to the safe shutdown work from @meleu or @cyperghost's multi_switch script. That way, you can safely exit any existing games running, drop back into ES, and then make another call using runcommand if possible so that the safe shutdown hardware buttons can detect and kill the PID for Kodi once launched.
list itemAs far as triggers go, I am using the iRule app on iOS as a universal remote. I am sending commands via WiFi to an ir blaster (Global Cache iTach), but universal remotes can also send Http commands. It makes me wonder if there is a decent, lightweight service I could run on the Pi that waits for a command, then triggers the launch script.
list itemI have not even googled this, so maybe it already exists. If so, perhaps it could be adapted for controller buttons too.

caver01

Ok, I guess my addition above is just webserver and networking 101 kind of stuff with the potential for building a fun little python project. Sorry to hijack. I will mess around with this and see where it takes me. If something cool happens as a result I will post separately and share.

aFriendNamed5

@caver01

No apology necessary, it is kinda related.
Personally I use the Yatse app for Android to control Kodi, so if there was a way to get THAT working in ES to (just purely for easy menu navigation instead of reaching for a controller) then I'd be all over it.

Let us know what happens 😁