Unable to install on AFTV2

I have a FireTV2, latest 5.2.4.1 FW, running SPMC. I want to install & use Kodi 17 on it. I *have* had Kodi 17RC running fine before, but when the official release version came out & I updated to it, I could no longer point to nor access any SMB shares . I installed the update that was supposed to fix this issue, but from then on it no longer worked.At that point I uninstalled Kodi, installed SPMC & it has been working fine.
However, when I try to install latest Kodi again, it will not work . I get the “first time running Kodi” splash, but then it just goes dark (or gray) and nothing else ( I never get to the GUI). I have tried clearing cache, I have tried resetting the Fire TV to stock & starting over. No matter what, Kodi 17 does not work. I have tried nightlies, I have tried the 64bit builds, it is the same. Since I can’t boot into Kodi, I can’t produce any logs.
I’ve used XBMC/Kodi for years now, and know how to correctly install/configure it. So this situation leaves me tearing my hair out.
Can anyone think of anything else to try? Sad