How to Set Up Kodi 21 with YouTube Add-on and HDMI-CEC on Raspberry Pi 5

This guide covers how to set up Kodi 21 (Omega) with the unofficial YouTube Add-on, Chorus2 web interface, and intelligent HDMI-CEC control on a Raspberry Pi 5 running Raspberry Pi OS (Debian 12/13).

1. Installing Kodi 21

Raspberry Pi repositories provide both kodi (v20) and kodi21 (v21 Omega). Install Kodi 21 along with the adaptive streaming library to prevent playback stuttering:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install kodi21 kodi21-inputstream-adaptive -y

2. Installing the Unofficial YouTube Plugin

cd ~/Downloads
wget https://ftp.fau.de/osmc/osmc/download/dev/anxdpanic/repositories/repository.yt.testing_unofficial-2.0.7.zip

1. In Kodi: Settings → Add-ons → Install from zip file → Home folder → Downloads → repository.yt.testing_unofficial-2.0.7.zip.
2. Under Add-ons, open the context menu / options at bottom left and select Check for updates.
3. Select Install from repository → YouTube Test Repo (Unofficial) → Video add-ons → YouTube → Install.

3. YouTube Personal API v3 Keys

To avoid hitting shared API quota limits, generate personal Google Cloud credentials (Setup Guide):

• Create a project in Google Cloud Console with YouTube Data API v3 enabled.
• Create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Application type: TV and Limited Input devices) and an API Key. Ensure the Publishing Status in OAuth Consent Screen is set to Production.
• In Kodi: YouTube → Settings → API and enter your API Key, Client ID, and Client Secret.

4. Installing the Chorus2 Web Interface

Install the latest Chorus2 web control interface:

tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
curl -L -o "$tmp/chorus2.zip" https://github.com/xbmc/chorus2/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
unzip -q "$tmp/chorus2.zip" -d "$tmp"

mkdir -p ~/.kodi/addons
rm -rf ~/.kodi/addons/webinterface.default.new
cp -a "$tmp"/chorus2-master/dist ~/.kodi/addons/webinterface.default.new

if [ -d ~/.kodi/addons/webinterface.default ]; then
  mv ~/.kodi/addons/webinterface.default ~/.kodi/addons/webinterface.default.bak.$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
fi

mv ~/.kodi/addons/webinterface.default.new ~/.kodi/addons/webinterface.default
rm -rf "$tmp"

5. Fine-Tuning HDMI-CEC Power Behavior

To prevent your Raspberry Pi from turning on your TV every time it reboots, add this parameter to /boot/firmware/config.txt:

hdmi_ignore_cec_init=1

Configure automatic playback pausing in Kodi when you switch TV inputs or turn off the screen:

• Navigate to: Kodi → Settings → System → Input → Peripherals → CEC Adapter
• Set Action when switching to another source → Stop playback
• Set When the TV is switched off → Stop playback

6. Wayland Autostart / Remote Launch Script (/scripts/youtube.py)

To launch Kodi remotely over SSH, DBus, or a Telegram bot under Wayland without display collisions:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import os

os.chdir('/home/pi')
os.environ["DISPLAY"] = ":0"
os.environ["WAYLAND_DISPLAY"] = "wayland-0"
os.environ["XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"] = "/run/user/1000"
os.environ["DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS"] = "unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus"

# Terminate competing browser windows before launching media center
os.system("pkill -9 -f 'chrome|chromium|google-chrome|kodi|kodi21.bin'")
os.system('/usr/bin/kodi &')