Colorful week

[ible]

i really wasn't sure what you were going to do with the pyramid, either.

 

[Grench]

That's insultingly patronising. And I'm not just saying that because I'm new myself.
The assumption that the post count says anything about the competence of a user is just wrong.

You're mixing things up. Nobody in this thread said anything about a requirement. Apparently some people just prefer the extra reserve over price (and maybe power consumption).

That being said, I can think of two scenarios I might implement on the Pyra, that would profit from more RAM:
1. Virtual Machines: Often times I run several VMs in parallel that don't do a lot. They're basically just sitting there and waiting for something. So they don't stress the CPU a lot, but their memory overhead makes it comfortable to have more RAM.
2. Seeding torrents: My HTPC (an old notebook with 3GB of RAM) runs 24/7, partly because it runs one (sometimes two) of these idle VMs, partly because I put its idle uptime to good use by seeding a lot of the Debian images. Obviously these images combined are a lot bigger than the available RAM. So whenever I leave the machine alone for some hours, the images tend to push my user programs out of the cache, effectively increasing their next loading time. With more RAM I can delay that process. The upgrade from 2 to 3GB basically changed the situatioin from "barely tolerable" to "mostly fine".

No, that means that they are unlikely to have followed and read the threads filled with irrational claims of needing 4GB of RAM in a pocket computer because they want to throw graphics workstation tasks, 24/7 server tasks and think it needs to run bleeding edge Windows games.

Your stated tasks are best suited to a server. Do them on a server and remote control it with your portable, pocketable Pyra. The Pyra would be a very expensive server to sit around doing those tasks.

Note on VMs, the Pyra is not x86. No known existing VM host will run unless someone rolls one from scratch for the OMAP5.

 

[ilo_pona]

Note on VMs, the Pyra is not x86. No known existing VM host will run unless someone rolls one from scratch for the OMAP5.

KVM is documented to work on any Cortex-A15 and even specifically OMAP5... do you know something we don't?

As long as the firmware leaves HYP mode available to the kernel, I think we should be fine.
[doublepost=1465271669,1465271528][/doublepost]Sorry to leave you without a source. The support is several years old: https://lwn.net/Articles/551282/

 

[tigerroast]

OpenMW on the Pyra would be gangster. 4GB would be a necessity to take control of the cell pre-loading feature (it's called something else) introduced in the newest version. Would early-2000s 3D textures and meshes really need so much RAM just to cache? Probably not, but more is better for such a task.

 

[TrashyMG]

KVM is documented to work on any Cortex-A15 and even specifically OMAP5... do you know something we don't?

As long as the firmware leaves HYP mode available to the kernel, I think we should be fine.
[doublepost=1465271669,1465271528][/doublepost]Sorry to leave you without a source. The support is several years old: https://lwn.net/Articles/551282/

aTc had KVM enabled in the Kernel we were playing with on the Devboards, however I've never got around to seeing if I could actually do anything with it.

 

[mius]

EDIT: if someone mentiones using lots of browser tabs, you will most likely Load down the CPU before running out of memory...

Hmm... my old x86 work machine (C2D, 2 GB RAM) capitulated much, much sooner because of insufficient memory than CPU load due to browsing. And before you ask, the number of open tabs was not that relevant in my use case, but what types of website I browsed.

What, please tell us, would you possibly want or need to run on a Pyra, pocketable handheld computer, that would require more than 2GB of RAM?

Here's what I would have in mind: Run the following setup, as an example of ultramobile laptop replacement, on an external monitor:

First, start your capable browser to:
1) work two very image-heavy Twitter feeds,
2) maybe a third tab for working with Google street maps (street view!), and
3) another tab or two for communication (e.g. e-mail, forums, social media).

All the while, 4) having a knowledgebase/note taking application à la Org-mode (stand-alone) or TiddlyWiki (in another browser tab, running on node.js) on stand-by, while you 5) periodically keep a couple of pdf and epub files of typical sizes open for a while as well, e.g. files in the range from 5 MB to 200 MB.

Run the above setup for at least half an hour to an hour and do (simulate) some real work with it. Phase out nos. 1, 2 and 5 if necessary as they can be stress tests on their own.

 

[FaeMinx]

My vote for a Matt screen, even if there is some grain.

Call me crazy, but I have a soft spot for that Matt look.
... and feel.

Sent from my GT-S7580 using Tapatalk

 

[sulu]

Your stated tasks are best suited to a server. Do them on a server and remote control it with your portable, pocketable Pyra. The Pyra would be a very expensive server to sit around doing those tasks.

That sounds like you're claiming to be the one who's entitled to judge for everyone else which applications are justified on the Pyra and which are not.
Please don't go there!

 

[slaeshjag]

aTc had KVM enabled in the Kernel we were playing with on the Devboards, however I've never got around to seeing if I could actually do anything with it.

I tried to do something with it on your devboard. It's currently not functial, u-boot needs to be patched to give linux HYP mode.

 

[edlee]

Anyone who says words to the effect of, "No one needs more than X amount of RAM," is bound to be short sighted. X at some time used to be 64KB, then 640KB, then 2GB and onward. Computer programs tend to be tailored to the memory limitations of a target computer system. If more RAM is available, then more RAM gets used. Many individual applications don't need more than 2GB of RAM, but it's nice to maximize RAM if having more RAM does not significantly reduce the battery life of a handheld computer. Even if an individual program does not require more than 2GB of RAM, having more RAM enables more programs to run simultaneously without slowing the system to a crawl as the time required to swap to disk overwhelms a memory starved computer system. In the realm of games, "The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim," strains to run in 2GB with the addition of user models, textures, and scripts without suddenly crashing to the desktop. If the Pyra ever develops the ability to run a game like Skyrim, then having 4GB of RAM will become a necessity. Video editing software easily benefits from 4GB of RAM. Please don't presume to tell others what they can or cannot run on their computers.

 

[ZXDunny]

You two have very low post counts, so I'm going to cut you some slack on this.

Yes, but you have more than 4,000 posts and you're a certified knobhead. I don't see how post counts come into this?

 

[Wally]

Yes, but you have more than 4,000 posts and you're a certified knobhead. I don't see how post counts come into this?

 

[rygD]

I am pretty sure Grench meant "you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack". Not sure why everyone is getting so caught up on post count again, since his meaning was pretty obvious in context. Maybe post count should be hidden again.

 

[Neelix]

I am pretty sure Grench meant "you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack". Not sure why everyone is getting so caught up on post count again, since his meaning was pretty obvious in context. Maybe post count should be hidden again.

Not that again. There's no harm in having the post count and hiding it solves nothing.

-Neelix

 

[ible]

it's more that we should have some courtesy towards old and new alike, and understand that both low memory and high memory use-cases exist, but that most people shouldn't be afraid to get less for a mobile device like this. Grench is perhaps a bit overzealous on the latter point, but we shouldn't be surprised if we find users who will use up all their RAM for less-common tasks

 

[bennr01]

The Pyra would be a very expensive server to sit around doing those tasks.

Have you tried to find a "real" Server with such a long-lasting UPS? They are even more expensive.

 

[Grench]

Have you tried to find a "real" Server with such a long-lasting UPS? They are even more expensive.

Simply wrong.

A 4GB standard Pyra would be $600 + media costs of $200 to $600 depending on how much you wanted to serve up and how much disk you wanted to assign to the VMs. Call it $400. So, a Pyra in this usage case would require roughly $1000 to do those tasks moderately well.

12 core server with 32GB of RAM, 4TB of disk and low power draw (2419EE) CPUs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-CS24-NV7-2-x-AMD-Six-Core-1-8GHz-2419-32GB-RAM-w-4-x-1TB-HD-/222139324235?hash=item33b889174b:g:PlgAAOSwAvJXAYvZ

$225.

600WH UPS

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1000AVRLCD-Intelligent-1000VA-Mini-Tower/dp/B000QZ3UG0

$109.

That set up can run your torrents AND 8+ VMs simultaneously without breathing hard. It is a -better- solution. Using a DynDNS listing you can give one or more of the VMs remote access and connect to it from a mobile device - i.e. Pyra.

Total to do it RIGHT: $335
Total to do it half assed using a Pyra for something it was never designed to do: $1000.

2 hours not enough UPS standby? You can buy a lot more UPS for the missing $650 and still be ahead for capability.

The Pyra's #1 advantage is portability. YES, that means other tasks are somewhat compromised and that it is NOT ideal for EVERY task. It will excel at mobile connectivity, mobile gaming, etc. I would no more expect to lug around a true server in my pocket than I would expect the Pyra to match the server in -serving-.

 

[bennr01]

Simply wrong.

A 4GB standard Pyra would be $600 + media costs of $200 to $600 depending on how much you wanted to serve up and how much disk you wanted to assign to the VMs. Call it $400. So, a Pyra in this usage case would require roughly $1000 to do those tasks moderately well.

12 core server with 32GB of RAM, 4TB of disk and low power draw (2419EE) CPUs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-CS24-NV7-2-x-AMD-Six-Core-1-8GHz-2419-32GB-RAM-w-4-x-1TB-HD-/222139324235?hash=item33b889174b:g:PlgAAOSwAvJXAYvZ

$225.

600WH UPS

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1000AVRLCD-Intelligent-1000VA-Mini-Tower/dp/B000QZ3UG0

$109.

That set up can run your torrents AND 8+ VMs simultaneously without breathing hard. It is a -better- solution. Using a DynDNS listing you can give one or more of the VMs remote access and connect to it from a mobile device - i.e. Pyra.

Total to do it RIGHT: $335
Total to do it half assed using a Pyra for something it was never designed to do: $1000.

2 hours not enough UPS standby? You can buy a lot more UPS for the missing $650 and still be ahead for capability.

The Pyra's #1 advantage is portability. YES, that means other tasks are somewhat compromised and that it is NOT ideal for EVERY task. It will excel at mobile connectivity, mobile gaming, etc. I would no more expect to lug around a true server in my pocket than I would expect the Pyra to match the server in -serving-.

That was sarcasm/a joke.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

@Grench A full blown server was not, what @sulu was talking about. Just being able to serve Debian images, when idling otherwise. Why shouldn't he be able to do so comfortably? Why do you want him/her to buy yet another device?

 

[rygD]

All this talk is making me wonder when someone will serve me lunch.

Not that again. There's no harm in having the post count and hiding it solves nothing.

-Neelix

I didn't mean that seriously. It was just as extreme as taking what Grench was talking about being actually related to post count, and not newness.

I don't want the post count to go away. I like my trophies. I wish I could look at them (maybe on my profile page). Anyone else want pics of their trophies?