When adding a source in Kodi, you may receive the following error “Couldn’t retrieve directory information. This could be due to the network not being connected. Do you want to add it anyway?“.
This error will always show up when trying to click “Ok” when adding the source, and there are a few reasons why. You can see an image below of what this error usually looks like.
It’s an annoying problem to face, and one that also everyone will go through. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with your actual Kodi device. Instead, it’s more likely going to be a problem with the host.
Android Tv Box Cannot Connect To Server
We have a small guide below which should help you troubleshoot and fix this error.
Before we start
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- Prevent your ISP from spying on you.
- Make your online presence anonymous.
- Allow access to blocked add-ons & content from other countries.
We have a small guide below which should help you troubleshoot and fix this error.
How to fix ‘Couldn’t retrieve directory information’ Error in Kodi Krypton
Basically, this error means that it can’t find the Source you have inputted.
- Internet connection failure: If your Kodi platform can’t connect to the internet sufficiently, it’s not going to be able to retrieve information from the Source URL. You can check your Kodi is connected to the internet by checking under System > Network
- Incorrect URL input: The most likely reason for receiving the ‘Couldn’t retrieve directory information’ error is mostly due to an incorrect Source URL being inputted into Kodi. Make sure that you’ve inputted every character correctly and that there is no spelling mistakes.
- Source is down: If your internet is working correctly and the correct URL has been inputted in Kodi, then there’s realistically only one more reason that you are receiving theCouldn’t retrieve directory information error. The source is probably down, and you can check yourself whether it is working. Check below.
This error could come from something simple. Using Googles URL on the image above, you can see that I forgot a ‘/’ in the URL. With this URL not existing with a / missing, the ‘Could not find directory’ error will appear.
How to check if a Kodi source is working correctly
Checking if a Kodi Source is still working is pretty easy. On your mobile device or computer, enter the source name into your web browser.
For example, we can try this with the ares repo, which is http://ares-repo.eu/
When you enter it into a browser, a page shows up which contains a ZIP while which proves the Source URL is working.
However, if we where to enter an incorrect character and try http://aras-repo.eu/ we see a “This site can’t be reached” error. In the URL, I changed Ares to Aras. Although Ares Wizard isn’t a thing anymore unfortunately as of 2018.
Testing a source URL in your browser on your PC or Phone is a good idea if your Kodi is set up on a device is set up on the Fire Stick. Nobody wants to spend all that time typing the URL character by character for it to not work.
Kodi 18 no longer connects properly to SMB network drive
Encounters “Error: Operation Timed Out” / “Remote share: Couldn’t connect to network server'
Here is a clear and concise description of what the problem is:
I store my movie files on a 1 Terabyte Apple AirPort Time Capsule (3rd Generation) drive and access them through the SMBv1 share on Kodi and have never had a problem with it on Krypton v17.6. However, when I upgraded from v17.6 to v18.0 and 18.1, the SMB share doesn’t work much anymore. Leia will sometimes connect to my SMB drive for a short thirty seconds or so immediately when you open the program but after that minute it will give you a “Error: Operation timed out” message, even if I try to re-add the remote path under “add videos”. I have tried re-installing the program, tried using another device with a different OS, and tried hard wiring my devices to eliminate any network issues. Kodi v17.6 has no problems even when I uninstall v18 and then immediately install v17.6. This issue only occurs in v18/v18.1.
I store my movie files on a 1 Terabyte Apple AirPort Time Capsule (3rd Generation) drive and access them through the SMBv1 share on Kodi and have never had a problem with it on Krypton v17.6. However, when I upgraded from v17.6 to v18.0 and 18.1, the SMB share doesn’t work much anymore. Leia will sometimes connect to my SMB drive for a short thirty seconds or so immediately when you open the program but after that minute it will give you a “Error: Operation timed out” message, even if I try to re-add the remote path under “add videos”. I have tried re-installing the program, tried using another device with a different OS, and tried hard wiring my devices to eliminate any network issues. Kodi v17.6 has no problems even when I uninstall v18 and then immediately install v17.6. This issue only occurs in v18/v18.1.
Expected Behavior
Here is a clear and concise description of what was expected to happen:
Kodi connects to SMBv1 share and streams video files from network drive without any errors or issues.
Kodi connects to SMBv1 share and streams video files from network drive without any errors or issues.
Actual Behavior
Kodi connects to share for the first thirty seconds after program launch, then displays an Error: Operation timed out” / “Remote share: Couldn’t connect to network server” forever after when trying to access files on the share from Videos>Files.
Possible Fix
Revert the SMB protocol back to what it was in v17.6
To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
- Copy Video files to a Apple AirPort Extreme Time Capsule drive
- (Attempt to) Connect Kodi v18 to the AirPort Drive from Videos>Files>Add Videos>Browse>Add network location…>(enter Server name: 192.168.1.1/Shared folder /Username: anything, really/Password: (password to your time capsule)
- If connection was successful, wait a couple minutes, then try to play one of the files on the network drive
Debuglog
The debuglog can be found here:
kodi.log
kodi.log
Screenshots
Here are some screenshots to help explain the problem:
Additional context or screenshots (if appropriate)
Here is some additional context or explanation that might help:
note: Once the issue is made we require you to update it with new information or Kodi versions should that be required.
Team Kodi will consider your problem report however, we will not make any promises the problem will be solved. How to change default camera windows 10.
Team Kodi will consider your problem report however, we will not make any promises the problem will be solved. How to change default camera windows 10.