how to install PVR IPTV Simple Client and set up on kodi

how to install Simple PVR Client and set up on kodi

The all-consuming Kodi media center can really be anything for all people. It plays movies, music, TV shows, documentaries and can even watch and record live TV. This last feature is the one I'm going to discuss today as I just installed and set up a PVR in Kodi myself. So now is a good time to share it while the knowledge is fresh.

First, for those unfamiliar with the term, a PVR is a personal video recorder. Some people also call it a DVR or digital video recorder. Anyway, it is a device that you can use to record digital media to an external storage device such as a memory card. A PVR is often a separate device that you connect to a television, but it can also be a piece of software that you use next to your media player. Since I'm all about optimizing my Kodi setup, I used a software PVR client.

I use the Simple PVR because it's easy to use, still supported, and works like a charm. In addition, a friend also uses it and guided me through the installation and configuration. Hopefully I can explain it to you just as well now.

There are two types of PVR in Kodi: the type where you connect your antenna to your computer and use live feeds, and the type where you use M3U files from reputable providers. Since I don't really have an HD antenna, I used the latter. It's just a single extra step after adding the PVR add-on and it works like clockwork.

How to Add Simple PVR to Kodi

Adding the PVR to Kodi works the same as adding any other add-on, except you don't have to add a repo first.

  1. Launch Kodi and select the Settings gear icon.
  2. Select Add-ons and set “Unknown Sources” to “on” if it is not already enabled.
  3. Navigate to the Kodi homepage.
  4. Select Add-ons and My Add-ons.
  5. Select PVR IPTV Simple Client and install.
  6. Select Configure and select M3U Play List URL.
  7. Enter either http://ccld.io/atom.m3u from cCloud or https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/36b1wtkkee3mced/iptv.m3u from Fluxus in the box and select OK.
  8. Select OK and return to the home page.

You should see a message stating that a certain number of channels have been loaded. You will then need to restart Kodi for your PVR to work. After it reboots, you should see many options in the TV menu from the home page.

The cCloud M3U source is very good and currently loads 480 IPTV channels. Many of them are non-English, so you'll probably need to filter them by language. To do this, select the Options button at the bottom of the TV Channels page, set Filter to “on” and add English as your filter. You should see many channels removed with over 200 English channels left.

Create your own IPTV channel list for Kodi

The above M3U sources offer a huge range of IPTV channels and are regularly updated, but you can create your own channels if you wish. You need to find some channels first. Then we can create the necessary file to import into Kodi. We will use Pastebin to create the file and URL.

To find channels, Google is your friend. Search for IPTV channels and copy a list of the ones you want to watch. There are also a few Facebook groups dedicated to channel listings.

  1. Navigate to Pastebin . If you don't have an account there, you can do what you need as a guest.
  2. Copy and paste all the IPTV channels you have collected into Pastebin.
  3. Edit the list in the format below so that it is usable by Kodi.
  4. Select Submit at the bottom of the Pastebin page.
  5. Complete the Captcha to prove you are real.
  6. Copy the URL at the top of the page.
  7. Open PVR IPTV Simple Client in Kodi.
  8. Select Configure and paste in your M3U Play List URL.
  9. Select OK and restart the app.

There is a very specific format that you need to use to make your own M3U playlist work.

It should be:

#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:-1,Channel 1 Name

Channel URL

#EXTINF:-1,Channel 2 Name

Channel URL

A working example of an M3U file is:

#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:0,RTMP

rtmp://$OPT:rtmp-raw=rtmp://rtmp.jim.stream.vmmacdn.be app=vmma-jim-rtmplive-live playpath=jim live=1

#EXTINF:0,Live stream for students

http://m4stv.inqb8r.tv/studentTV/studentTV.stream_360p/playlist.m3u8

#EXTINF:0,BipBop example

http://playertest.longtailvideo.com/adaptive/bipbop/bipbop.m3u8

#EXTINF:0,BigBuckBunny 2 levels

http://184.72.239.149/vod/smil:BigBuckBunny.smil/playlist.m3u8

#EXTINF:0,HLSprovider

http://www.hlsprovider.o

( taken from XMTVplayer.com )

You can add other data to your playlist such as language, group category, parental control PIN, audio track options and more, depending on what you find. This page on the Simple IPTV website explains your options. They are not necessary to get this working - they are optional.

It takes some work to create your own IPTV list, but you have full control over what is displayed. The ready-made list covers a wide range of languages and interests. If you want to list just your language and interests, this is the way to do it. Just add it to Kodi as above and see how it works.

When you get IPTV URLs online, not all of them work. Some will work well while others will come and go. It pays to keep your M3U file up to date as much as possible for best results.

Have you made your own M3U list? Know of any other published lists that are better than cCloud or Fluxus? Tell us if you do!