Old Raspberry Pi 3 turned into a Kodi media box
After a streaming device failed, the author used Claude Code to upgrade an old Pi 3 across several Debian releases, fix repository signing-key errors, and start Kodi at boot.
The full story
When a streaming stick died, the author brought an old Raspberry Pi 3 Model B back into service as a Kodi media player with Claude Code's help. The Pi's system was upgraded from Debian Buster through Bullseye to Trixie. That left the package manager with a missing signing key and broken dependencies, so Kodi wouldn't install until Claude repaired them.
Claude then set Kodi to start at boot with a systemd service and checked it by rebooting the Pi. It fixed the wrong screen resolution by editing the HDMI settings in /boot/config.txt (including hdmi_mode=31 and a signal boost), and repaired a swap-file service that failed at start-up.
Aggressive automated patches could destabilise the system, so backups and small steps mattered.
How it was done
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From the maker's own write-up or code. We summarise what they report; we haven't tested it ourselves.
- So I asked Claude Code to fix my Pi
Write-up of the upgrade, the package-key fix, Kodi autostart and the HDMI settings used.