[Tinwarble]

ok so cloning the drive didn't work, the new drive was assigned a new unique code.

Which is because Android assigns the drive ID based on the drive, not what's on it. You can't just simple clone a drive.

Unfortunately, my kodi can't write to external drives! It just went through the whole process while Export failed alerts kept appearing for each and every movie.

Once again, and as I have explained many, many times already. This is because of Androids Storage Access Framework.

It has NOTHING to do with how your drive is formatted, it has to do with that fact that (at least as of Android 6.x) apps can NOT write to external drives unless they ask permission. KODI DOES NOT DO THIS!!.

The only exception is that apps have permission to write to their folder on the drive. Once you plug in the drive and open an app (in that order) it will create a app folder. For Kodi the path would be /your_drive/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/, Kodi has full permission to this location, but no other. You have to use this location for your files if you want Kodi to have full access.

[Tinwarble]

Only possible if you have root access. If you have it, I can send you simple instractions how to enable write/erase files on USB disk.

It is a Kodi thing, because during the instalation it does not ask/require access to "WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE", needed on new Android versions.

 Or you could just submit a PR and see if it gets accepted.
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/67c3ce...est.xml.in

[Sholander]

ok so cloning the drive didn't work, the new drive was assigned a new unique code.

Which is because Android assigns the drive ID based on the drive, not what's on it. You can't just simple clone a drive.

Unfortunately, my kodi can't write to external drives! It just went through the whole process while Export failed alerts kept appearing for each and every movie.

It has NOTHING to do with how your drive is formatted, it has to do with that fact that (at least as of Android 6.x) apps can NOT write to external drives unless they ask permission. KODI DOES NOT DO THIS!!.

 Why does Kodi not do this??

Why do I have to alter Kodi permissions myself to get Kodi to write/erase files on local USB disk? Because Kodi developers don't care about new Android requirements!

[Sholander]

Only possible if you have root access. If you have it, I can send you simple instractions how to enable write/erase files on USB disk.

It is a Kodi thing, because during the instalation it does not ask/require access to "WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE", needed on new Android versions.

 Or you could just submit a PR and see if it gets accepted.
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/67c3ce...est.xml.in 

 Don't need to, I know how to enable Kodi to work as it should on new Android versions...

[Tinwarble]

Why do I have to alter Kodi permissions myself to get Kodi to write/erase files on local USB disk? Because Kodi developers don't care about new Android requirements! 

Because of the way Android 6.x handled permissions.  It took you out of the app to grant the permission and it was deemed unacceptable.  There's a whole long discussion about this in another thread.

Android 7 added Scoped directory access which eliminated the need to out side the app.  But I can't tell you why it wasn't added then.  However, with Koying living the project we no longer have a dedicated Android dev.  But even before that we have had only a few devs contributing to Kodi on Android.

[Karellen]

Only possible if you have root access. If you have it, I can send you simple instractions how to enable write/erase files on USB disk.

It is a Kodi thing, because during the instalation it does not ask/require access to "WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE", needed on new Android versions.

 Or you could just submit a PR and see if it gets accepted.
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/67c3ce...est.xml.in 

 Don't need to, I know how to enable Kodi to work as it should on new Android versions...

Well, as long as you know how to do it, that is ok.

Maybe get into the spirit of the community and share the knowledge, or take up the suggestion made by tinwarble.

[neongas]

@Tinwarble sorry about that, after further research, yes i appreciate that the question has been asked to death many times. my experience with android Kodi is limited, so I'm enlightened now.

@Sholander thanks for that, but I'm not comfortable (or capable enough) to root Android on my TV.

On another note, where does Kodi store the metadata for movies? Is it possible for me to grab the metadata from there? I can ftp into my Android TV and see the userdata folder.
- After I wrote the above I did some googling and realised this might be a convoluted way for me to get metadata, unless there's a program or method to extract from it.

Moving on, I think I can tackle this in a couple of ways.

1. Use Trakt.tv plugin. I think this would be only useful for watched status, and I still need to get metadata/thumbnails out somehow.
   
2. Use an external media manager like TinyMediaManager or MediaElch, generate everything on my laptop with the new bigger drive, then add as new source to Kodi. I would have to do this everytime I upgrade drives (hopefully not often), which could ostensibly get more inconvenient as my movie collection grows. That being said, I can (and probably should) keep whatever NFO/thumbnail files I have when I do this for the first time so I only have do it progressively. I think MediaElch has the ability to sync with Kodi over network, but I think that is only inwards to Kodi and not outwards from Kodi. If I could sync out from Kodi that would make things a lot easier.
   
3. Is there a plugin that can store my movie metadata/thumbnails to the cloud? (i'm browsing Kodi addons as I write this)
   

Given that Kodi already has the ability to generate this metadata, it is annoying to have to do these workarounds because of Android TV. Maybe if Kodi allowed the user to choose the place for export this could be mitigated, but of course it makes sense that its exported to where the movie files are in the first place.

However, thanks everyone for their input.

[Tinwarble]

Well, as you seem to have already found, Kodi metadata is compressed.  It's not the same as it would be if you exported it and would be mostly unusable for migrating drives.

1. Trakt has nothing to do with your metadata.

2. Is an option.

3. No, not that I'm aware of and you would still need to export it first.

Here's your alternate options.

1. Install Kodi on your PC, move your data to your new drive then on your PC run Kodi.  Add your drive as a source and let it scrap the metadata and artwork.  After it has finished export your library.  Then unplug your drive from your PC and plug it into your Android device.

2. (Most recommended)  Don't use external drives with Kodi, buy a NAS.  Then you don't have to worry about the limitations of Android and managing you files is a much easier task.

[neongas]

1. Install Kodi on your PC, move your data to your new drive then on your PC run Kodi.  Add your drive as a source and let it scrap the metadata and artwork.  After it has finished export your library.  Then unplug your drive from your PC and plug it into your Android device.

2. (Most recommended)  Don't use external drives with Kodi, buy a NAS.  Then you don't have to worry about the limitations of Android and managing you files is a much easier task.

1. LOL a fairly obvious solution that I should have seen now that you mention it.
2. While this is the ultimate solution,I still use an older wifi modem (N standard) so in getting a NAS I'd likely have to invest in a new modem as well to ensure stable wifi speeds.

With option 2 I wonder if a simple NAS like Western Digital MyCloud or Seagate Personal Cloud will suffice. This is more of a cost/performance consideration, as buying a proper NAS setup is out of the budget for the moment.

[Tinwarble]

2. While this is the ultimate solution,I still use an older wifi modem (N standard) so in getting a NAS I'd likely have to invest in a new modem as well to ensure stable wifi speeds.

With option 2 I wonder if a simple NAS like Western Digital MyCloud or Seagate Personal Cloud will suffice. This is more of a cost/performance consideration, as buying a proper NAS setup is out of the budget for the moment. 

Are you streaming 4K videos? If not then an N router is enough to stream even full BD rips as long as you have a good connection. I did for years and it work well enough and keep in mind that you only need 48Mbs (about 6MBs) for 1080 blu-ray (that's video and audio).

Yes, either of those will work, though I personally would go with the WD MyCloud (I've had a lot of bad experience with Seagate). Even my 8yr old WD 2TB MyBook NAS (which was before the MyCloud) still works well for streaming.

[Sholander]

 Or you could just submit a PR and see if it gets accepted.
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/67c3ce...est.xml.in 

 Don't need to, I know how to enable Kodi to work as it should on new Android versions... 

Well, as long as you know how to do it, that is ok.

Maybe get into the spirit of the community and share the knowledge, or take up the suggestion made by tinwarble. 

 It has been discussed on several occasions in this section. Anybody capable of doing a search will find the info how to do it.

For others that don't find necessary info, all they need to do is ask, and I'll give them all instructions they need to make Kodi compatible with new Android versions, and work like when it's installed on an SD card.

No matter if Kodi on SD card is on LibreElec, CoreElec or Armbian it always has full control of attached drives...

[Sholander]

2. (Most recommended)  Don't use external drives with Kodi, buy a NAS.  Then you don't have to worry about the limitations of Android and managing you files is a much easier task.

Great advice!!! Buy expensive, why spend money on cheep solutions
 Android does NOT limit any file management on local USB disk!!!

Only Kodi Android developers are left in the past and don't follow changes in new Android version.

[Tinwarble]

Great advice!!! Buy expensive, why spend money on cheep solutions
 Android does NOT limit any file management on local USB disk!!!

Yes it is great advice, buy the right tool for the job. And you can pick up a 2TB MyCloud relatively cheap, plus they have USB ports and allow for expansion using an external drive.

And yes, Android does limit file management since it is more restrictive than other OSs. There is no global permissions and each app has to be granted permission individually. That LIMITS how you can manage your external drives. However, I was specifically referring to network file management, which is how most people want to manage their files, and Android does not have this built into it.

It has been discussed on several occasions in this section. Anybody capable of doing a search will find the info how to do it.

Only Kodi Android developers are left in the past and don't follow changes in new Android version. 

It's not a matter of whether users can search and find the info, it's about contributing to the code. Kodi is open source software and our developers volunteers working on Kodi in their free time and this is something that currently lacking on the Android side of things. It has nothing to do with Kodi developers not following changes, it's that Kodi users who might know how to improve Kodi aren't willing to volunteer their time to submit PRs to get those improvements implemented.
  
Changes for a specific OS will never make it to Kodi if there is no one familiar with that OS around willing to make those changes.

[Sholander]

And yes, Android does limit file management since it is more restrictive than other OSs. There is no global permissions and each app has to be granted permission individually. That LIMITS how you can manage your external drives.

 That is not a limitation, (or is for ignorants) it's how Android works for a long time now, permissions are asked by apps and granted to apps, not in general to all and everything...

Since Kodi already asks Android permissions for following:
1. MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS
2. RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED
3. BLUETOOTH
4. GET_TASKS
5. INTERNET
6. READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
7. ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
8. WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Why not ask additional permission for:
9. WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE
   (This permision solves the problem of writing to USB drives)

Probably because nobody cares for Kodi on Android any more...

[Tinwarble]

 That is not a limitation, (or is for ignorants) it's how Android works for a long time now, permissions are asked by apps and granted to apps, not in general to all and everything...

I know it's how Android works, I'm the one that has been telling people for over a year or 2 (can't remember how long it's been) that that's how works. But that does not mean that it's not a limitation compared to how other OSs handle external drives.

Limitation: a limiting rule or circumstance; a restriction.

The definition fits.

Since Kodi already asks Android permissions for following:
1. MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS
2. RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED
3. BLUETOOTH
4. GET_TASKS
5. INTERNET
6. READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
7. ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
8. WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Why not ask additional permission for:
9. WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE
   (This permision solves the problem of writing to USB drives)

Probably because nobody cares for Kodi on Android any more... 

Yes, I already know what the what's in the manifest: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/67c3ce...est.xml.in

And again, why don't you submit a PR to add that line? Why don't you volunteer your time to fix it if you know how? Not all devs are Team Members and not all Team Members are devs, but everyone is a volunteer.

And I'm not sure who "nobody" is?  Kodi is installed on over 10 mill Android devices.