I’ve mentioned the official Kore Android remote control for Kodi media centers before, and it remains my favourite Kodi/XBMC remote by far!
I did however encounter a small problem.
I’ve moved things around a little, shifting the Kodibuntu linux box away from the TV and closer to the router so that a) it’s out of the way, and b) it gains from the better Ethernet connection. This simple old PC box hosts all of our media content, which is then shared via UPnP and Samba shares. I’ve installed Kodi on both Chantelle and my laptops (both are Windows 10), and set their movie and TV sources to the SMB shares. (Works a charm!)
Also, the two laptops and one desktop all have static IPs assigned through my ancient Mega 105WR Telkom router (you know, I really should get that upgraded some day…).
Anyway, the problem is that Kore can see the Kodibuntu box with no hassle, but not a chance can it spot either of the Windows 10 laptops on the network – which is exactly what this post is all about solving then!
Kodi and Kore require Zeroconf (aka Bonjour), a group of technologies to “automagically” discover systems and services on a local area network, to communicate with one another, and naturally (because Bonjour is an Apple implementation) Windows doesn’t have Zeroconf support out of the box.
Now some popular applications ship with it slipped in for their own purposes, and installing them should technically grant you access to Zeroconf on your system (like Skype, iTunes and Photoshop), but if you’re just looking for a basic, older version without the need to install yet another unused full application on your system, your best bet would be to download the small Bonjour Print Services for Windows v2.0.2 package from Apple.
Install that, ensure that the Zeroconf option is enabled under Kodi’s services/network menu option, and you should be good to go: Kore will now quite helpfully pick up your Kodi instances in its search!
Related Link: Kore | Kodi | Zeroconf | Bonjour Print Services