Frequently Asked Questions - jbinkley60/MezzmoKodiPlugin GitHub Wiki

Mezzmo and Kodi together offer a powerful combination of capabilities to maximize your media viewing experience. This FAQ page is focused on answering questions related to the Mezzmo Kodi Addon and Kodi integration with Mezzmo. For Mezzmo specific questions or questions related to non-Kodi clients, please see the Mezzmo FAQ page.

This page is still under development with additional questions being added daily. Please check back often.
Last updated January 12, 2025

Q. Are there any Kodi dependencies for the Mezzmo Kodi Addon ?
A. The only requirement is Kodi itself. The addon is written in Python and adheres to the Kodi development standards. No other addons, libraries or similar are required to run the addon.

Q. Will the Mezzmo Kodi addon run on both Kodi 18 and Kodi 19 ?
A. Yes. There is two versions of the addon, supporting Kodi 18 and Kodi 19. They have feature parity.

Q. Do all of my Kodi clients need to be on the same version of software like some other Kodi media sharing options ?
A. No. You can mix and match Kodi 18 and 19 clients, as well as use non-Kodi clients and web clients. All at the same time.

Q. What about Kodi v20 (Nexus) ?
A. The Mezzmo Kodi addon fully supports Kodi v20 (Nexus) using the Kodi 19+ version 2.1.6.3 and higher of the addon.

Q. And what about Kodi v21 (Omega) and Kodi 22 (Piers) ?
A. The Mezzmo Kodi addon fully supports Kodi v21 (Omega) and Kodi 22 (Piers) using the Kodi 19+ version 2.1.8.2 and higher of the addon.

Q. What systems will the Kodi Mezzmo Addon run on ?
A. The addon runs on top of Kodi and should run on anything which runs standard versions of Kodi. It's been extensively tested running with Kodi on Windows, Linux and Android operating systems.

Q. How do I upgrade Kodi with the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. With normal Kodi installations maintaining your Kodi library across upgrades can sometimes be very difficult and complicated (i.e. Kodi 18 to 19) including database exports, imports, piles of NFO files and more. With the Mezzmo Kodi addon you simply need to have the proper version of the addon for the version of Kodi you are running. Everything else is automatic and taken care of by the addon, including syncing your library, maintaining artwork, retaining watched statuses and bookmarks. This is a much simpler approach to managing Kodi. Worst case scenario is that you might have to reset your Mezzmo Kodi addon settings, if they got deleted during the upgrade. Typically they don't unless you completely blow away Kodi and all its settings. For additional information see here.

Q. What about downgrading, how hard is it with the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. Downgrading Kodi with the Mezzmo Kodi addon is no more difficult than upgrading. Once you have completed the Kodi downgrade just make sure you have the right version of the Mezzmo Kodi addon installed and it will take care of the rest automatically. I would suggest you do force a manual sync of Kodi to Mezzmo via the Kodi DB Clear Mezzmo data on startup setting option but it isn't required. A manual sync would just speeds up the full database background synchronization process.

Q. Does the Mezzmo Kodi addon require Internet connectivity ?
A. No. You can play media from Mezzmo with the Mezzmo Kodi addon without any Internet connectivity. Although, it isn't required it is desired mainly for Mezzmo Kodi addon automatic updates (although these can done locally) and for playing trailers on the Internet. Mezzmo needs Internet for metadata scraping and movie trailers but nothing else. Artwork and such is served from the Mezzmo server and cached by Kodi. Artwork cache expiration with the Mezzmo Kodi addon can be immediate or every 30 minutes, depending upon the addon settings.

Q. How does the Mezzmo Kodi addon connect to my Mezzmo server ?
A. The addon uses an autodiscovery mechanism via a network broadcast. Normally this discovery process is automatic. However, if your server can't be found you can enter the IP address for your Mezzmo server manually. Make sure your Mezzmo server has been started in the Mezzmo GUI and see here for more information.

Q. I am running Windows 10 or 11 and the Mezzmo Kodi addon isn't finding my Mezzmo server or any UPnP device on my network.
A. This is likely because you have your network setup for public instead of private. Windows 10/11 blocks broadcasts when running in public mode. You can either add your servers manually or switch Windows 10/11 to private.. Note that if you switch to private for the automatic discovery you can always switch back to public since the addon remembers your servers. You would only need to go back to private if you do a server refresh in the Mezzmo Kodi addon.

Q. I changed the IP address on my Mezzmo or UPnP server and now I keep getting a server not responding error when the Mezzmo Kodi addon starts. How do I fix this ?
A. After you OK the server not responding error message click the refresh option. This will eliminate all current server entries and refresh your server list based upon a new autodiscovery, including the new IP address of your server.

Q. The Kodi website says UPnP is insecure. Is this really true ?
A. Technically yes. UPnP and HTTP, as network protocols, have no inherent security controls. However, the Mezzmo Kodi addon running with Mezzmo provides security to alleviate this concern. Mezzmo provides options to control who can access your library with its Media Devices capability where you can set it up so you must grant access before a device can access your library. All sharing solutions have some form of risk. Misconfigured or complex SMB shares are potentially more risky since they allow native file access to your data. If you have specific concerns, see the support page for help.

Q. Can I use the Mezzmo Kodi addon with my current UPnP server even if I am not running Mezzmo ?
A. Absolutely. While the Mezzmo Kodi addon really shines with a Mezzmo server, it has full UPnP support for non-Mezzmo servers. If enabled it will try to discover and display all UPnP servers on your network and when you access them it will pull all available metadata from them. It will also attempt to stream using HTTP vs. UPnP for improved reliability. But the ultimate experience is the Mezzmo Kodi addon working with a Mezzmo server. Click here to see which UPnP servers the Mezzmo Kodi addon has been tested with. If your UPnP server isn't on this list, it will still likely work.

Q. Will Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon support my large library ?
A. Mezzmo has been tested with up to 500,000 items in its database and over 500TB in media content. The Mezzmo Kodi Addon has been tested up to 20,000 videos and over 90,000 actors / actresses being written to the Kodi DB. The Mezzmo Kodi addon should be able to support any library up to the ability of Kodi to render the number of items via Python. If you have specific questions, please reach out in the support forums.

Q. Does the Mezzmo Kodi Addon interfere or interact with any other Kodi addons ?
A. By design the addon should not interfere with any other Kodi addons. Some of its functionality can be used to replace a number of your current addons thereby reducing your Kodi complexity and overall maintenance. As with any software installation, it is suggested that you backup your Kodi databases prior to installation. The addon cannot account for every Kodi addon possibility, especially ones which write to the Kodi database.

Q. Can I test Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi Addon with my existing MySQL, MariaDB or similar installation ?
A. Yes, and this is recommended if you are wanting to migrate so that you can see the side-by-side improvements. All you need to do is install the Mezzmo server software, point it at your existing library files, let it import them into its library and then install the Mezzmo Kodi client. You can look here to see a better overview of how it works and can run in parallel. There will be a little time up front to build your library and likely play with its organization, now that you'll have a set of powerful tools to customize your layout but you'll free up a lot of time previously spent managing Kodi clients, metadata importing and many other issues often encountered with these other solutions.

Q. Will the Mezzmo Kodi addon work with more than one Mezzmo server ?
A. There are no inherent limits to the number of UPnP servers the Mezzmo Kodi addon will discover and can browse, including multiple Mezzmo servers. However, it will only sync to one right now for a single Kodi profile but you can select a separate Mezzmo sync server for each Kodi profile. The sync server can be selected in the settings. If you only have one Mezzmo server it is selected as the sync server automatically.

Q. Can I share some of my videos across multiple Mezzmo servers ?
A. Yes. You can add the same library across multiple Mezzmo servers and only the library information will be duplicated within the Mezzmo servers without requiring multiple copies of your video, music or image content. With Mezzmo's logical folder feature you can easily combine content from multiple disks, folders and other sources into a single logical library folder.

Q. Why does the Mezzmo Kodi Addon write to the Kodi database ?
A. With the power of Mezzmo, the addon only writes what is necessary to the Kodi DB to offer enhanced functionality like actor / actress searches and such. Most of what you see when running the addon in GUI mode comes straight from the Mezzmo server and not the Mezzmo data written to the Kodi databases. When running the Mezzmo Kodi addon in native mode, you can select with the addon settings what Mezzmo data is synchronized to your Kodi client.

Q. How does the Mezzmo Kodi Addon keep its data separate in the Kodi database ?
A. The Kodi database has a table called path. In this table are specific unique entries created by the Mezzmo Kodi addon for Mezzmo servers and content. All other Mezzmo data in the Kodi database is linked back to these unique entries. All other Kodi DB data is ignored by the addon.

Q. Will the background sync process impact the performance of my Kodi client ?
A. No. The Mezzmo Kodi addon monitors the Kodi client. Even though the background sync process has been tested while playing high bitrate videos, if a file is playing it will skip the sync process for that interval. You will be able to see this and the status of all background sync processing in the sync log viewer.

Q. What is the overhead when running the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. The addon has been optimized to run as fast as possible under Kodi and minimize the overhead and resource requirements. For example the background sync process runs in the background and disables real time checking / updates of Mezzmo media when sync is achieved. The addon also maintains a separate database which tracks overall performance when browsing your Mezzmo library. With this you can see the performance of your Kodi client working with Mezzmo.

Q. What databases in Kodi does the Kodi Mezzmo Addon sync to ?
A. Currently just the Video database. Most of the content seen when browsing a Mezzmo server playlist comes from the Mezzmo server and not Kodi itself, this includes artwork. The video database sync is to support things like actor look-ups and similar functionality in Kodi. Syncing the music database has been tested a few times but due to Kodi's limited music support and the significant support for music in Mezzmo, there was no perceived value in syncing Mezzmo the Kodi music database when running in GUI mode. This can be reexamined if there is enough demand and more folks would like to see music in Kodi native mode. Kodi doesn't have a picture database to sync.

Q. My Kodi client is messed up how do I recover my Mezzmo views ?
A. No problem. This is another real powerful feature of the Mezzmo and Mezzmo Kodi addon solution. Simply rebuild or restore Kodi and then install the Mezzmo Kodi addon. After that everything is automatic. No need to do anything else. Use this same process for new Kodi clients. Simply install Kodi and install the Kodi Mezzmo addon then sit back and enjoy your free time.

Q. With other solutions if my client blows up or is rebuilt I could lose my Kodi database. Is that the same with the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. No. The most you could lose, if you rebuild a Kodi client and don't have a backup which can be restored, are the Logs & Statistics data and your Mezzmo Kodi addon settings. Logs & Statistics stored locally in a separate database on each Kodi client but have no effect on your Kodi database and library viewing which are controlled by the Mezzmo server. New Logs & Statistics will begin being created as soon as the Mezzmo Kodi addon is restarted on the rebuilt Kodi client.

Q. Does the Mezzmo Kodi addon work with Kodi profiles ?
A. Yes, Kodi profiles are fully supported and beginning with versions 1.1.6.6 / 2.1.6.6 you can selectively synchronize what portions of your Mezzmo library is synchronized to each profile.

Q. Will my Kodi backup software backup the Mezzmo Kodi addon Logs & Statistics data ?
A. Maybe. Kodi doesn't have a standard backup solution. As long as the backup solution you are using backs up the Databases folder in Kodi then the Mezzmo Kodi addon Logs & statistics data will be backed up. Backups have been successfully tested with LibreElec and OSMC.

Q. Does the Mezzmo Kodi addon create its own interfaces in Kodi ?
A. No, the Mezzmo Kodi addon is fully integrated into Kodi and looks like any other Kodi addon and content. See here to view sample screenshots of a Mezzmo library in Kodi.

Q. Will the Mezzmo Kodi addon work with my current skin ?
A. Yes, the Mezzmo Kodi addon has no skin requirements and is designed to play nicely with all skins. It has the ability to manage views centrally by content type which can greatly improve your viewing experience and simplify managing Kodi views. See here for more details.

Q. Why isn't the Mezzmo Kodi Addon available via the Kodi repository ?
A. The current Kodi Repository standards do not allow for submitting Python addons which leverage direct database access and suggests using JSON RPC calls. This method of accessing the Kodi database is too slow, not extensive enough and would cause issues with the Mezzmo Kodi addon. This issue has been acknowledged by Team Kodi.

Q. Where can I get the latest versions of the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. The latest versions of the addon can always be found on GitHub.

Q. If the Kodi Mezzmo Addon is not in the Kodi Repository, how do I get updates ?
A. Starting with versions 1.1.4.4 and 2.1.4.4 the addon will do automatic updates against GitHub. This is a standard third party repository feature in Kodi. Note that automatic updates must be enabled in Kodi for this to work or you can manually update the addon via the Mezzmo repository in Kodi. Otherwise you can download the latest versions from GitHub .

Q. Are there plans to stop development on the Kodi 18 version of the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. Development of the Kodi 18 version of the addon ended with version 1.2.0.6 in June of 2024. You can download it here. There are no known major bugs in this version but you should be looking to migrate to Kodi 19 an higher by now.

Q. A number of Kodi addons have seen development wane or stop. Is the Mezzmo Kodi addon being actively developed ?
A. Yes, the development activity has been continuous and was one of the primary reasons for adding the automatic update capability. For a complete history of development activities please see the readme.txt file. You can also view the Proposed New Features Wiki page for potential upcoming new features.

Q. Some addons have a lot of dependencies which are hard to manage and often break. Does the Mezzmo Kodi addon have dependencies ?
A. Currently the Mezzmo Kodi addon does not leverage any other dependencies other than Python which is provided native to Kodi. Like you I do not want to manage a lot of other things which could impact stability of the addon. My goal is to make everything native to the addon itself.

Q. How do I get help ?
A. The Mezzmo Kodi addon has two support forums, one of Kodi and another on Mezzmo. Please see here for more details.

Q. What kind of media content is supported by Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon
A. Almost all kinds of video, audio and picture content is supported. For a complete list see the Mezzmo website for containers and media type support or contact Mezzmo support if you have questions.

Q. With other streaming solutions like Plex, there are separate addons for native Kodi support and a Plex GUI. Does Mezzmo have separate addons ?
A. No. With the Mezzmo Kodi addon you can choose GUI mode, native mode or both simultaneously. The default is GUI mode but native mode can be enabled in the addon settings. From the native mode Mezzmo context menu item you can launch the GUI for advanced features provided in GUI mode.

Q. What about h265 and bitstream audio ?
A. Both are fully supported, including at 4K at full UHD bitrates with no stuttering or buffering types of often seen similar issues.

Q. Can Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon discover and play ISO files ?
A. Yes, both DVD ISO and Blu-Ray ISO formats are fully supported by Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon. Note that the ISO file must not be encrypted and menus are not supported.

Q. Will Mezzmo with the Mezzmo Kodi addon eliminate the stuttering issues I am seeing with my SMB mount solution ?
A. Likely, yes. SMB mount solutions require each client to grab chunks of the file via SMB from a file share and then process the video in Kodi. SMB wasn't designed to be a streaming protocol and these solutions often require very stable networks, more powerful clients or complex tuning. With Mezzmo, Mezzmo will read the SMB mount once (vs. every client) and then will stream to the clients via HTTP. This reduces the overhead on the clients and provides a smooth streaming experience. Mezzmo adjusts its buffering based upon the speed of the network connection. I've successfully tested full bitrate 4K HEVC video over 5ghz wireless to a Raspberry Pi 4 running LibreElec with no stuttering or buffering issues. Here's a performance test with 6 - 1080P / UHD streams running concurrently.

Q. Will Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon address my Kodi database errors and maintenance issues ?
A. With Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon your current Kodi data isn't needed and all Kodi database data is managed by the Mezzmo Kodi addon. You no longer will need to do any Kodi database maintenance activities so you can likely delete your current Kodi video database (assuming you don't have other addons writing to the Kodi database) and let the Mezzmo Kodi addon manage it for you or you can keep it as is and just not perform Kodi DB maintenance. Note with the later approach you will end up with duplicate entries in the database but the Mezzmo Kodi addon will ignore your prior data. In either case I recommend doing a backup of your current Kodi database before installing the Mezzmo Kodi addon.

Q. What about gapless audio ?
A. Mezzmo lets you create music tracks and stream them with gapless playback to your devices. Simply select a set of music files and create a Gapless Multi-File. Mezzmo will stream them to your device without any gaps for seamless playback. MP3, FLAC, OGG and WAV audio formats supported.

Q. Can I still use my Kodi PVR ?
A. Yes, you should be able to. Please see the Mezzmo Kodi Addon with PVR Wiki page for more specific details.

Q. Do I still need my Kodi movie trailer addon ?
A. Movie trailer support is automatic with Mezzmo. Trailers will be scraped with the other metadata by Mezzmo. While Kodi itself is limited to viewing only one trailer via the video information view, the Mezzmo Kodi add provides for managing multiple trailers per movie (up to 20). It will also note which trailers you have already viewed.

Q. Do I need the Kodi You Tube addon to view trailers ?
A. The Mezzmo Kodi addon has a design theme to minimize the number of dependencies. This includes the You Tube addon, which is not required to play movie trailers. Your Mezzmo server will handle pulling You Tube movie trailers and streaming them to Kodi.

Q. Can I host my movie trailers locally ?
A. Yes. There may be a number of reasons why you might want to host some or all of your movie trailers locally. This can be done on a movie-by-movie or trailer-by-trailer basis. You have full control of which movie trailers you host and their ordering. You can mix / match Mezzmo scraped trailers with your own. See here for more details.

Q. With Kodi I have a problem with artwork caching and not being updated when I make changes. Does the Mezzmo Kodi addon solve this ?
A. Yes, this is a key feature of the Mezzmo Kodi addon. You can select the Mezzmo Kodi addon to not cache any artwork and download it on every browse function from your Mezzmo server or allow the Mezzmo Kodi addon background cache refresh timer to expire out cached artwork every 30 minutes. I recommend leaving it set enabled and allow the cache timer to operate. This reduces overhead on the Mezzmo server and improves browsing speed. You can see the cache timer operating in the Logs & Statistics general logs.

Q. How do I manage resume points ?
A. With Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon, it is all automatic. No more extra resume point addons should be required. While a file is playing the Mezzmo Kodi addon stores the resume point on the Mezzmo server every 30 seconds, just in case a Kodi client hangs, looses power, is rebooted etc. In addition any time playback is paused or stopped, the resume point is stored immediately. When a file plays to the end the resume point is automatically cleared.

Q. How do I share resume points across Kodi clients ?
A. This is handled via a one time simple setting in your Mezzmo server configuration. Please see here for more details.

Q. Does the resume point feature have a look-back / rewind feature ?
A. Yes, this is a setting in the Mezzmo Kodi addon where you can rewind back up to 30 seconds prior to where you paused watching. See here for more details on the addon settings.

Q. Can I stop paused playback after a certain amount of time ? And activate the Kodi screen saver ?
A. You can stop paused playback of video and music with the Mezzmo Kodi addon. The Pause Autostop addon setting allows adjustment from 0-60 minutes in 5 minute intervals. Activation of the screensaver isn't currently supported but could be added upon request. You can also use the more full featured Kodi Autostop addon which is written from the same code but has more features, including screensaver activation. Note that the Autostop addon is only available for Kodi 19 and higher.

Q. Does Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon support external subtitles ?
A. Yes. Mezzmo has broad support for many different external subtitle formats. Embedded and external subtitles are streamed to the Mezzmo Kodi addon and are fully playable by Kodi. You can specify how subtitles are streamed via Mezzmo settings for the media being streamed.

Q. Can I set a preferred audio track for my media with Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi aoon ?
A. Yes, there are three ways to do this. First, you can set it at the system level in Mezzmo which will apply to all media and all clients. Second, you can set it at the media level using the Mezzmo properties feature and lastly you can use your typical Kodi selection on your Kodi client's audio settings. I recommend option 1 or 2 if you have multiple Kodi clients or non-Kodi clients. This allows central control.

Q. Why don't I see all of my non-Mezzmo UPnP server metadata when using the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. There are two possible reasons. The first is that while the DLNA/UPnP standards exist, not all authors and manufacturers have implemented them the same. I've done my best to present as much information as available from the tested UPnP servers. See here for the tested list. If you have questions on any of these please use the addon support forums . The second, more likely option, is that the UPnP server isn't making the metadata available. Most UPnP servers offer a minimal amount of metadata and functionality. This has given UPnP solutions a bad name. This is where Mezzmo shines because it makes all metadata available across all media types across many different UPnP clients.

Q. Why don't I see a context menu option for Logs & Statistics when browsing my UPnP server ?
A. Logs & Statistics currently are only available when connected to Mezzmo servers. This could be added to the Mezzmo Kodi addon for non-Mezzmo UPnP servers if there is enough demand.

Q. What about streaming radio station addons ?
A. Like PVR addons, streaming radio addons should work fine with Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon. However, you might want to look at the radio station plugins available in Mezzmo. Here's an example of the iHeart radio channel being added to a Mezzmo library. This channel provides access to all iHeart streaming radio stations with categories for genre, geography etc.

Q. Can I use Kodi favourites with the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. Yes. The addon can be started on any playlist via a Kodi favourites or you can use the autostart feature to start the addon on your favourite playlist when Kodi starts.

Q. Can I run the Mezzmo server and Kodi with the Mezzmo Kodi addon on the same Windows machine ?
A. Yes, absolutely. As long as the machine has enough CPU, memory and storage it should run fine. Transcoding of media is the biggest issue with any system resources, especially larger high bitrate Blu-Ray type files. I highly recommend those be converted into a format where transcoding is not required. This is where Kodi shines, since it can play natively almost any media format without transcoding.

Q. Can I run Mezzmo on a virtual machine (VM) ?
A. Yes. Mezzmo has been fully tested running on Windows as a GuestOS in a virtualized environment. The Host virtualization OS can be Linux, Windows or something else. Caution should be exercised with allocating the appropriate amount of Guest OS system resources and avoiding transcoding. Library media should be hosted external to the virtual machine and mapped as a file share or similar.

Q. Will Mezzmo work with my NAS ?
A. Yes, Mezzmo can access your NAS share with your media. It is more secure. more stable and less complex than having each Kodi client access your NAS and Mezzmo will be the only thing accessing your shares, allowing for tighter security and improved performance. See here on how to add content to your Mezzmo library. Typically Mezzmo will not run on top of your NAS because it is Windows based and NAS operating systems tend to be some form of Linux variant. NAS processors and memory are often under powered for running applications, except for the most basic.

Q. Is there a Linux version of Mezzmo ?
A. Not currently but Mezzmo has been tested using WINE under Linux. Please contact Mezzmo Support for more information.

Q. How many Kodi and non-Kodi clients can Mezzmo stream concurrently ?
A. There are no built-in limits but Mezzmo has been tested streaming 8 concurrent Blu-Ray quality full bitrate streams (over 350mbps) with no issues. The only known limitation is the speed of the LAN interface on the Mezzmo server. You can click here to see the latest performance stress test with Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon.

Q. Can I use Mezzmo to push music, videos or pictures to my TV or Kodi device ?
A. Yes. In addition to Chromecast Mezzmo supports the DLNA Play-To functionality which allows pushing content to most DLNA DMP or DMR devices. The Play-To functionality is available via the Mezzmo web interface, Management GUI and Android applications. See here for more details.

Q. Can I access my Mezzmo library with a browser ? Outside of my home network ?
A. Yes, to both questions. Mezzmo has a built-in web server for local and remote access to your library using a browser. See here for a screenshot of the web interface.

Q. Do I need to enable Kodi UPnP services to run the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. No. The Mezzmo Kodi addon leverages its own UPnP discovery and streaming functions and code. You only need to enable the Kodi UPnP services if you wish to leverages them for other Kodi uses

Q. My Kodi client runs multi-netting (i.e. the network interface has multiple IP addresses across multiple subnets) and the Mezzmo Kodi addon isn't finding my Mezzmo / UPnP servers. What do I do ?
A. The Mezzmo Kodi addon leverages the UPnP multicast broadcast function to find UPnP content servers. Some operating systems (i.e. Windows 10) will not send a multicast broadcast to all subnets when multi-netting is enabled. You can temporarily disable the IP address on your Kodi client that does not have your Mezzmo and UPnP servers or you can manually add your servers with the Mezzmo Kodi addon.

Q. How do I add content to my Mezzmo library and the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. With a Mezzmo and Mezzmo Kodi addon solution you only need to add content to your Mezzmo library. The Mezzmo Kodi addon will see content from Mezzmo and display it using Kodi. it will also pickup any new Mezzmo content during the hourly sync process and update Kodi automatically in the background. See here for how to import content into Mezzmo.

Q. Does the Mezzmo Kodi addon sync all or part of my Mezzmo library to Kodi ?
A. Beginning with versions 1.1.6.6 and 2.1.6.6 of the Mezzmo Kodi Addon you also have the ability to sync all or portions of your Mezzmo library to Kodi with the Mezzmo Selective Sync Tag option. Selective synchronization can be useful when you are running multiple profiles on a Kodi instance in native mode and want each profile to have a different view of your Mezzmo library or if you want different views across Kodi devices. The Mezzmo Selective Sync Tag option is found in the Native Mode settings in the addon.

Q. Can Mezzmo automatically scan for new and changed content in my library vs. doing it manually ?
A. Absolutely yes. Mezzmo allows you to set a timer in a library folder by folder basis. You can set your PVR folders to a couple of minutes, popular movie folders to a few hours and other folders never. You have total control. See here for more information.

Q. Deleting content from my Kodi library has always been a bit problematic. Is it easier with Mezzmo ?
A. It should be. The Mezzmo interface and underlying database is very fast and tuned for integrity and high performance. See here for complete details on how to manage deleting old content from your library.

Q. How do I backup my Kodi database and will it compress my artwork ?
A. With the Mezzmo Kodi addon and Mezzmo your Kodi video database, across all clients, is centrally maintained and always in sync with Mezzmo. So there is no need to backup your Kodi video databases. The background sync process will ensure your Kodi video database is always current. Artwork is stored in its original format on your Mezzmo server and served to Kodi. Mezzmo has a date stamped backup and restore capability and all artwork is backed up in its native format. If you have a local Kodi music database, instead of running off of the Mezzmo music library, you will still need to back it up until the Mezzmo Kodi addon supports music database synchronization.

Q. Can I have multiple entries in my library with the same name ?
A. You can but it is not recommended. This will cause the Mezzmo Kodi addon to see duplicates and thus see metadata changes against the same name. It is preferred that you distinguish the names and make them unique (i.e. add the year etc..).

Q. Does Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon support multiple versions, releases or similar of the same movie ?
A. Yes, The Mezzmo Movie Collection feature was added with versions 1.1.7.4 / 2.1.7.4 of the Mezzmo Kodi addon. This feature allows quick access to all movies in a user defined movie collection. Other solutions either don't support movie collections (sometimes called versions) or require complicated file naming conventions, folder structures and similar. The Mezzmo Kodi Addon approach requires nothing complicated and is simply driven by Mezzmo keywords which contain the string ### in a keyword. Movie collections can be different versions, releases, formats or any other movie collection grouping you wish to define. They don't need to have anything in common other than the same keyword containing ###.

Q. Does the Mezzmo Movie Collection feature support Music Videos ?
A. Yes, beginning with Mezzmo Kodi addon versions 1.1.7.5 / 2.1.7.5 music videos are fully supported in the Mezzmo Movie Collection feature for both GUI and native mode operation.

Q. How can I find duplicates in my library ?
A. The easiest way is to enable duplicate reporting in the Mezzmo Kodi addon. Each day during the daily sync process duplicates will be logged and can be seen in the Logs & Statistics duplicate logs. You can also export the duplicate logs to a CSV file.

Q. Can I still play all of my media even though there are duplicates ?
A. Yes, everything will play normally but you will see metadata change errors in the Mezzmo Kodi addon logs. This is just indicating that the Mezzmo Kodi addon saw two titles with the same name but different metadata. Also, you may run into issues with Mezzmo playlists that filter on titles. You will end up with both entries in your playlist and have to make the choice yourself on which to play.

Q. Can I import external playlists and iTunes into my Mezzmo library ?
A. Yes, both are supported. See here and here for more details. Once they are in your Mezzmo library the Mezzmo Kodi addon will present them to Kodi for display.

Q. What naming formats will Mezzmo support for TV series episodes ?
A. Mezzmo has support for a broad set of episode naming formats. Please see here for more details. The Mezzmo Kodi addon doesn't care about the naming format since it receives metadata from Mezzmo telling it that a file is associated with a particular series, season and episode.

Q. Can I export my Mezzmo database ?
A. Not directly. Mezzmo currently doesn't have a full database export utility. However, you can use one of many SQLite tools to browse the Mezzmo database and export tables. I typically use DB Browser for SQLite. Mezzmo does allow metadata exporting for individual items by right clicking on any item in the Mezzmo library and clicking on Export Metadata. The output files will appear in the folder in which the file is located. You can also use the Mezzmo Kodi addon data export utility to export Mezzmo data which has been received and stored into the Kodi database.

Q. Can I use NFO or external metadata sources with Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. Yes, Mezzmo supports a wide range of external metadata sources. See here for the complete list. The Mezzmo Kodi addon will accept metadata from the Mezzmo server and write it to the Kodi database. You no longer need to worry about getting metadata into the Kodi database. That is automatic. Mezzmo has a wide range of options for metadata retrieval including specific file naming for artwork and metadata. See here for complete details. You can use the Mezzmo Kodi addon CSV export utility to do metadata reporting.

Q. Will Mezzmo import my play counters and resume points from my Kodi NFO files so I don't lose them ?
A. Yes, beginning with Mezzmo version 6.0.7.17, Mezzmo will import play counters and resume points / bookmarks into Mezzmo and then resync them back to Kodi via the Mezzmo Kodi addon sync processes.

Q. Kodi's video database backup utility places a bunch of NFO files in my media folders. Does the Mezzmo Kodi addon eliminate them to keep my video folders and filesystem cleaner ?

A. Yes, Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon do not need those NFO files other than for an initial Mezzmo library import of your Kodi data. If your Kodi library isn't as clean as you'd like you can eliminate them altogether and allow Mezzmo premium scrapers to rescrape your Kodi library. After your library setup is complete Mezzmo has its own, far superior, backup and restore capability.

Q. How do I configure my Kodi scrapers with Mezzmo ?
A. You don't. With the Mezzmo Kodi addon and Mezzmo all metadata scraping is done by Mezzmo's premiere scraping solution. You no longer touch or mess with Kodi scrapers. With NFO files you can use whatever metadata tools you'd like and have Mezzmo import the NFO file information.

Q. Can I still use Ember Media Manager, Media Companion, Tiny Media Manager or similar with Mezzmo ?
A. Yes, they can still be used to generate NFO files which Mezzmo will import. None of them will write directly to Mezzmo's database. After using Mezzmo you may find that you no longer need those third party metadata tools due to the power of Mezzmo's GUI based library management tools. They typically exist due to Kodi GUI limitations, additional functionality or scraper challenges with native Kodi.

Q. Can I still use Kodi scrapers with Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. You can but not easily. You can use Kodi scrapers to create metadata and then create NFO files but it is not suggested to do it on a Kodi system with the Mezzmo Kodi addon because you will likely end up with lots of duplicate entries. While I don't recommend using Kodi's scrapers with Mezzmo, if you do want to use them then I'd suggest using them on a standalone system or with a separate Kodi profile, then export the NFO files from Kodi and import them into Mezzmo. However, this is very complex and I believe you'll find the Mezzmo library tools more than adequate once you start to see their full capabilities..

Q. Which databases do the Mezzmo metadata scrapers use ?
A. Mezzmo's built-in solution uses the following scrapers: Movies: The Movie Database Television: The TVDB Music: FreeDB

Q. Can I continue to use Kodi library nodes with the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. Yes. Kodi library nodes are fully supported with a minor exception of paths. With Mezzmo, the paths are owned and managed by Mezzmo and not seen by the Kodi client. All other criteria should be supported. Library nodes are a way to deflatten the Kodi database. Before you go down the library nodes route, it is highly suggested that you explore the Mezzmo library management tools, which I believe are far superior, GUI based and are perfect for allowing you to design your library layout just how you want.

Q. How can I clear the resume pointer and play count indicators on a partially watched file ?
A. The Mezzmo Kodi addon adds context menu items including a Mezzmo mark watched and Mezzmo mark unwatched option. Just access the item context menu and click on Mezzmo Mark Unwatched. This will clear the play counter and resume pointer.

Q. How can I create a playlist which has the last 100 items I have viewed ?
A. Mezzmo has what are called Smart Playlists which provide a powerful set of query capabilities allowing you to select content from your library by the criteria you set. You can adjust how many items, how they are sorted, how they appear in your Kodi listings and more. You will create the Smart Playlist once in Mezzmo and never need to touch your Kodi and non-Kodi clients again. Once created in Mezzmo it is available to all clients immediately.

Q. How can I get a view of my library content by the year it was released or by name ?
A. Mezzmo has what are called Active Playlists which make this extremely easy and quick. With a couple of steps you can create your own active playlists which are great for managing collections of content in your library. You no longer need to try and do this in Kodi across each client. Once created in Mezzmo all clients can view the active playlists with the Mezzmo Kodi addon.

Q. Does Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon support movies sets ?
A. Absolutely and the process is typically automatic. No more managing complicated NFO files and other complex solutions. See here for more details on the easy way to do movie sets. Beginning with versions 1.1.5.8 / 2.1.5.8 of the Mezzmo Kodi addon and higher native mode syncing of Kodi movie sets to the Mezzmo series information is supported when Kodi Native Mode Sync is enabled in the addon settings.

Q. Can Mezzmo update my Kodi Tags ?
A. Yes. Beginning with versions 1.1.5.7 and 2.1.5.7 of the Mezzmo Kodi addon you can enable a setting that will sync Mezzmo Keywords to Kodi Tags giving you an easy and centralized way of managing Kodi Tags across all clients. The primary use here is with Kodi Native Mode. Keywords with Smart Playlists are an easy way to manage content in the Mezzmo GUI mode of operation. The Mezzmo Keywords feature pretty much eliminates the need for syncing Kodi tags from Mezzmo.

Q. How does Mezzmo Kodi addon handle music videos ?
A. Kodi is limited to three main video category types, while Mezzmo has an unlimited number, including creating your own types. Beginning with Mezzmo Kodi addon versions 2.1.6.9 and 1.1.6.9 a native mode setting was added to allow selecting how music videos are treated, either as movies or music videos. Note that some Kodi skins do not support music videos and a resync of the Kodi database from Mezzmo is required after changing the music video setting. The default is to treat music videos as movies.

Q. Can I stop the Mezzmo Kodi addon from syncing my home movies or similar content to Kodi ?
A. Yes. The Mezzmo Kodi addon will not sync any video that has nosync in the category. Mezzmo offers two easy ways to mark your videos for nosync. See here for more details.

Q. Can I adjust the size of my poster and backdrop files from Mezzmo either because they are fuzzy or take up too much space on my Kodi device ?
A. Yes, the default poster and backdrop sizes can be changed in the Mezzmo streaming options. Note that you will need to perform maintenance on your Mezzmo library in order to change existing files to the new size. Also, these are global settings. If you want a different device setting you will need to update the profile for your device. Contact Mezzmo support if you are unsure how to do this.

Q. With other solutions it becomes very difficult to add storage space to existing paths / folders, often requiring rescraping of my library. Can Mezzmo help with this ?
A. Yes, absolutely. Mezzmo has a logical folder concept which allows you to easily leverage multiple underlying storage mechanisms into a single logical folder. See here for more information. Mezzmo also has a maintenance tool rename utility to allow you to move content between folders with different names and avoid the need to rescrape your metadata.

Q. How do I manage path table entries in Kodi when I am using Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon ?
A. The short answer is, you don't. The Mezzmo Kodi addon takes care of all Kodi database entries including path tables. You no longer need to worry about them. Your media library is all hosted by Mezzmo and Mezzmo handles access your paths and library folders.

Q. What if I want to travel and have some local Kodi content that I want to take with me to play ?
A. There are two options for handling this. The first is to scan your local travel content into your Kodi library like you normally do under your existing Kodi profile. This isn't the recommended approach since you might get unwanted results if you end up selecting the local content instead of your Mezzmo content when you are at home. The second suggested approach is to create a new Kodi profile, scan your local content into it and either don't install the Mezzmo Kodi addon into this profile or disable the Mezzmo Kodi addon background sync process for this profile in the Mezzmo Kodi addon settings. Specifically change the Mezzmo Background Sync option to off. I'd also suggest disabled Kodi DB actor information copy and Kodi Db change detection, just to be safe but the easiest option is to not install the Mezzmo Kodi addon into your Kodi travel profile.

Q. How do I add personal content like home movies and such to Mezzmo and will the Mezzmo Kodi addon sync the content to Kodi ?
A. You can easily add home movies and personal content to Mezzmo. See the Importing Home Movies link in the Managing Your Library - Adding Content section of this Wiki. For metadata you can provide your own via the Mezzmo GUI or create your own NFO files which Mezzmo will import. The choice on whether to sync your Home Movie content to Kodi for native mode browsing can be controlled by the Mezzmo no_sync functionality. The default is to sync to the Kodi Movie database. It is recommended to use the User Poster feature if you want to add artwork for folks in the movies (i.e. relatives etc..)