Are you receiving a dreaded Kodi 17 black screen on startup? Let us explain how to fix your Kodi black screen problem, which has to do with the addons.db file.
We’ve received an increase in questions from people receiving a Kodi 17 black screen on startup when they try to get into Kodi. After a moment, the screen kicks you back out to the Fire Stick or Android main menu. Notably, this is common when upgrading from Kodi 16 to Kodi 17. Sound like you? You are in the right spot!
In Kodi 17, the back-end database which keeps track of all your information has been updated with new tables, columns, and fields. When you upgrade from Kodi 16 to 17, a script runs in the background to place your old version 16 database into the new 17 database. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always go as planned, leading to a Kodi 17 black screen on startup, following by a crash of Kodi back to the home screen. This is more common if you have a build installed as builds are not automatically compatible with Kodi 17.
Fortunately, there is a fix!
Kodi 17 Black Screen on Startup Fix
To fix this issue, you have to delete your addons.db file. To locate this file, follow our information below because the file location changes depending on your operating system. On the Android TV operating system, use an app such as ES File Explorer from the Play Store to navigate your folders (turn hidden files/folders on)
Kodi Addons.db Location Guide
- Android: Android/data/org,kodi/files/.kodi/userdata/Database
- iOS: /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi/userdata/Database
- Mac: /Users/<your-user-name>/Library/Application Support/Kodi/userdata/Database
- Linux: ~/.kodi/userdata/Database
- OpenElec/LibreElec: /storage/,kodi/userdata/Database
- Windows: Click start and type %APPDATA%\kodi\userdata\Database
When you locate the Addons.db file (note: it might have a number after addons such as Addons27.db), delete it. Now, restart Kodi and you should hopefully no longer see the Kodi 17 black screen of death!
What is Kodi Addons.db?
Addons.db stores information on all of the Kodi add-ons you have installed. Sorry we don’t know more than that, information is vague. Let us know if you have more information. Deleting this file will cause it to be recreated the next time Kodi starts up.
NOTE: After you start Kodi 17 after deleting the addons.db file, you will probably have to re-enable all add-ons. You can do this by going into My Add-ons, clicking on each add-on, and selecting Enable.
How to Prevent Kodi 17 Black Screen
To prevent this issue from happening, change your Kodi 16.1 skin back to the default Confluence skin BEFORE upgrading. Skins are not backwards compatible and have been causing issues with Kodi 17.
Hopefully this helps!
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