Dev on a mac

[craigix]

Is developing for the Pandora currently feasible on a mac, or will I need to use a PC?


I'll be doing low level work but I also understand in this day and age I need to use SDL.


Some opinions would be most welcome as well as software recommendations.


Thanks,


Craig

 

[milkshake]

what cool pandora things are you planning on coding?


also is wizzly prestly ever going to be ported to pandora


we need that game god damn it


also im sure its possble to program using a MAC as IDE's like codeblocks should have a mac port.

 

[slaeshjag]

Doable, but you might need to compile the compiler yourself.

 

[darfgarf]

should be possible, but you'd need to roll your own toolchain, end of the day a mac is just bsd


or use ssh and bollocks compiling, bit easier to setup

 

[sebt3]

You'll need a linux.


You can either install a linux on your mac, or you can install virtualBox and use the VM I built (see this).

 

[ibisum]

Craig, just use the onboard compiler. Its the best way to get software built for the Pandora without too much faffing around ..

 

[craigix]

You'll need a linux.


You can either install a linux on your mac, or you can install virtualBox and use the VM I built (see this).

I have a PC so I can just work totally within linux, would you say this would be the easiest route?

 

[sebt3]

I have a PC so I can just work totally within linux, would you say this would be the easiest route?

yes.


Feel free to join irc to get some pointers if requiered

 

[TrashyMG]

You'll need a linux.


You can either install a linux on your mac, or you can install virtualBox and use the VM I built (see this).

Macs are Unix based operating system no need to install Linux on them just for a toolchain.. Plus I believe there are MAC ports of the toolchains out there.

 

[sebt3]

Macs are Unix based operating system no need to install Linux on them just for a toolchain.. Plus I believe there are MAC ports of the toolchains out there.

Where ? I know it should be relativly easy to build. Yet I dont know exactly how.

 

[TrashyMG]

Macs are Unix based operating system no need to install Linux on them just for a toolchain.. Plus I believe there are MAC ports of the toolchains out there.

Where ? I know it should be relativly easy to build. Yet I dont know exactly how.

from the first google search I found..


http://embdev.net/articles/ARM_GCC_toolchain_for_Linux_and_Mac_OS_X


http://dirkraffel.com/2008/02/22/building-a-gnu-arm-cross-compiler-toolchain-on-mac-os-x/


I'm not entirely sure what is fully needed to get going on crosscompiling.. I'm with Torpor think compiling on the device eliminates any issues that can occur... maybe not the fastest..

 

[3jane]

You'll need a linux.


You can either install a linux on your mac, or you can install virtualBox and use the VM I built (see this).

Macs are Unix based operating system no need to install Linux on them just for a toolchain.. Plus I believe there are MAC ports of the toolchains out there.

Linux is basically UNIX


MacOS is basically BSD


BSD is basically UNIX


But by the time you've finished playing that little game of Chinese whispers you'll want to put a bullet in your head.


A virtual machine or dual-boot Macintosh will be fine, but don't kid yourself about portability between UNIX-like operating systems.

 

[TrashyMG]

I never mentioned portability, I work with AIX, Solaris, several flavors of BSD and Linux at work and know things don't just work by moving files over. However there are established MAC OSX ports or compile from source methods of getting an ARM toolchain working on a MAC.. I don't see the need of a Virtual Machine or dual-booting.

 

[sebt3]

from the first google search I found..


http://embdev.net/ar...ux_and_Mac_OS_X


http://dirkraffel.co...in-on-mac-os-x/


I'm not entirely sure what is fully needed to get going on crosscompiling.. I'm with Torpor think compiling on the device eliminates any issues that can occur... maybe not the fastest..

Sure because Craigx have so much free time that he have time to build a cross-compilation environement from scratch before starting his project....

 

[craigix]

I shall follow the Linux route, any suggestions of what flavour works best? I have this new Ubuntu CD here and I've not tried Ubuntu for about a year, the last time I tried it just ran slow and crashed my Tesco laptop.


Maybe I need a new laptop...

 

[ibisum]

Craig, the fastest route to building software for the Pandora is, simply, install the compiler on your Pandora .. Forget cross-compiling, just use the Pandora itself!

 

[Mr Rob]

I shall follow the Linux route, any suggestions of what flavour works best? I have this new Ubuntu CD here and I've not tried Ubuntu for about a year, the last time I tried it just ran slow and crashed my Tesco laptop.


Maybe I need a new laptop...

You could always try the newest Ubuntu (11.04 -- I run it and enjoy it), though I get the feeling that stability would be much better for you than all the bleeding edge features.


If you want the stable environment, I'd recommend Debian 6. It was released a few months ago I think, and if you're looking to use it as a development environment, it should work perfectly well.

 

[3jane]

@trashyMG - It's not about the toolchain, it's about the code actually working on the target platform.


@craigix - They jumped the shark with the latest Ubuntu. Go debian.

 

[slaeshjag]

@trashyMG - It's not about the toolchain, it's about the code actually working on the target platform.

Well, it's about the toolchain as well. The current ones are *horrible* imo, and fail the "it's about the code actually working on the target platform" criteria sometimes.

 

[TrashyMG]

@trashyMG - It's not about the toolchain, it's about the code actually working on the target platform.n.

So WTF does the OS have to do with setting up a cross-compiling toolchain? You can compile programs for Linux Arm from Windows with a proper cross-compiler setup.. And why would MacOS X be any different.