NEWS 250730 about RaspEX Kodi 64-bit
I’ve made a new version of RaspEX Kodi 64-bit. This version is based on Raspbian (Raspberry Pi OS) and Debian Trixie (upcoming Debian 13). The LXDE Desktop is replaced with LXQt , which has a more “modern look” than LXDE. Historically, LXQt is the product of the merge between LXDE-Qt, an initial Qt flavour of LXDE, and Razor-qt, a project aiming to develop a Qt based desktop environment with similar objectives as the current LXQt. In RaspEX Kodi Build 250730 I’ve upgraded Kodi to version 21.2 Omega, which was released 250119. You can now much easier install extra repositories. Read about the best Kodi repos 2025.

INSTALLED PACKAGES in Build 250730
Study all installed packages in Build 250730…

REPLACEMENT
This RaspEX Kodi Build (250730) replaces all previous versions of RaspEX Kodi. You can only run this new version on a Rpi5.

RASPBERRY Pi 5
RaspEX Kodi is made especially for the new Raspberry Pi 5 released October 23, 2023 (4GB and 8GB). You cannot run it on a Raspberry Pi 4 or any other Raspberry Pi model than Rpi5.

NOTE: A Raspberry Pi 5 is about twice as fast as the Raspberry Pi 4.

PERFORMANCE
RaspEX Kodi is now very fast and responsive. And the video performance is brilliant. Almost as good as if you use a new “big” computer.

History
My first version of RaspEX Kodi from 190124 was a replacement for RaspEX Kodi with OSMC, which was released 190117. Sam Nazarko (founder of OSMC) contacted me 190118 claiming that I was “violating” his rights to the trademark OSMC and the rules in GPLv2. I don’t think I did, but I’m also very tired. Therefore I made a new version (190124) of RaspEX Kodi without any traces of OSMC. I would say that all my later versions of RaspEX Kodi are as good as the old one from 190117. I.e. excellent video and sound performance both in Kodi and LXQt. For version 190124 I charged 9 $. My new versions (210829/2103017210211/210205/210904/220218/240215/250730) can be downloaded for free from SourceForge.net. People should not refrain from downloading RaspEX Kodi because of the money issue. I want all Linux and Raspberry Pi enthusiasts to enjoy the system. It runs very well on a the Raspberry Pi 5  (i.e. fast and responsive) with 4GB or 8GB RAM – released October 23, 2023. 
NOTE: All previous versions of RaspEX Kodi are replaced by version 250730.

How do I install RaspEX Kodi in Windows?
Just like any other Raspberry Pi system. I.e.: Unpack the downloaded ZIP file raspex-rpi5-64bit-kodi-21.2-lxqt-2810mb-250730.zip) and transfer the IMAGE file (raspex-raspex-rpi5-64bit-kodi-21.2-lxqt-8000mb-250730.img) to your Micro SD card of at least 16GB. For that you shall use Rufus 4.7 in Windows.

How do I install RaspEX Kodi in Linux?
You can of course also install RaspEX in any Linux system using the dd command. Just open up at terminal and run the following command (as root):
dd if=raspex-raspex-rpi5-64bit-kodi-21.2-lxqt-8000mb-250730.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
Note: Change /dev/sdX to for example /dev/sdc, /dev/sde or…
(Check it carefully before you run the above command so you won’t lose important data).

Log in to LXQt or Kodi
After the boot process is ready you will end up at LightDM‘s login screen. It will look like this – see below. Log in as user pi with password raspberry. You can run Kodi on the LXQt Desktop like any other program or run it in full screen. Just change Kodi’s Settings from Windowed to Fullscreen. Watch this screenshot. You cannot log in as root (superadmin).  The password for root is root (if you should ever need it).

Expand the filesystem on the SD card
If you install many new big programs and/or download large files (for example videos) you may run out of space on the SD card. That is best fixed by running the following command: sudo raspi-config. Click on “Advanced Options” and choose A1 Expand Filesystem – watch this screenshot…
NOTE: That’s all you have to do. Just wait for the script to fix everything. If you use a SD card of 64 GB all the space on it will be used afterwards.

API and Authentication keys
Google and Netflix make it more and more difficult to use the YouTube and Netflix add-ons in Kodi. They demand API and Authentication keys. To create the API key and make it work can be rather complicated. I’ve found two good instructions for it though.
1) Instruction 1
2) Instruction 2
IMPORTANT NOTE 1: Some (most) Add-ons need the YouTube Add-on to work. So I simply had to make YouTube work. Finally I managed to make the API keys work permanently. I have thus included the YouTube Add-on in RaspEX Kodi.
IMPORTANT NOTE 2: For Kodi to work you’ll have to run two commands:
1) sudo chown -R pi:pi .kodi
2) sudo chown -R pi:pi .kodi/*
Watch this screenshot…
If you don’t run the just mentioned commands Kodi will crash.

INSTALL EXTRA REPOSITORIES in Kodi
Read about the best Kodi repos in July 2025. I’ve tried some. The best one is Scrubs V2. Read about how to install Scrubs V2…

WiFi connections
Go to Menu >> Preferences >> Advanced Network Configuration and add your credentials. Then run the command sudo dhclient wlan0 (to get an IP-address).
Watch this screenshot.

Used kernel
Kernel 6.12.40-exton-v8-16k+ (for Rpi5).
NOTE: Build 250730 can only run on a Raspberry Pi 5.

SCREENSHOTS
1. The LXQt Desktop running as user pi
2. Expanding the filesystem
3. RaspEX Kodi 21.2 system info
4. Kodi running showing some Add-ons (including YouTube)
5. Synaptic running in LXQt 2.1
6. Showing video quality in YouTube (in Kodi)
7. Running the NASA Add-on in Kodi
8. Running a movie clip in YouTube in Kodi

DOWNLOAD
This RaspEX Kodi Build has been replaced by Build 260117…

Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

Kodi is a trademark of XBMC Foundation