How Far Could Pc Emulators Like Bochs Go?

[CCmachined]

using Bochs, Windows 95 runs on the GP2X (poorly, but it runs.)
how much of an improvement could we see on the pandora? something like Visual Basic 6.0 on '95 in my pocket would be super sweet and nostalgic (sorry but i require it for school, plus i used it a long time ago)... maybe even a light Linux distro like Puppy or DSL?

either way i'd so so appreciate being able to code, compile and run on the move (i realise other ways of doing this will be possible without emulation, but compiling directly for x86 makes sense to me).

on that note - how difficult would it be to port gcc or g++ and use a text editor to do that natively on the Pandora? can i request this somewhere? =P
even if only for commandline programs, it'd be very useful, plus i could then compile for x86 again when i get home.

 

[Pickle]

using Bochs, Windows 95 runs on the GP2X (poorly, but it runs.)
how much of an improvement could we see on the pandora? something like Visual Basic 6.0 on '95 in my pocket would be super sweet and nostalgic (sorry but i require it for school, plus i used it a long time ago)... maybe even a light Linux distro like Puppy or DSL?

either way i'd so so appreciate being able to code, compile and run on the move (i realise other ways of doing this will be possible without emulation, but compiling directly for x86 makes sense to me).

on that note - how difficult would it be to port gcc or g++ and use a text editor to do that natively on the Pandora? can i request this somewhere? =P
even if only for commandline programs, it'd be very useful, plus i could then compile for x86 again when i get home.

Best guess is the 2-4x preformance gains seen by the apps that have been run on the Pandora vs. GP2X at this point. Until someone can try it no one will really know. I guess it will be slow, long bootup and slow interaction once in the gui itself.

Usually one cross compiles from x86 to some other arch, i guess you could do it the other way round. I doubt your going to find some to do it for you, unless they want to really bad. Building a cross compilier and the needed libs can be a chore.

Really I dont think Pandora is really ideal for dev'ing on, especially for x86. If it were me I would get a EEE and save geting a huge headache. But if you want to use Pandora that way go for it.

 

[Svartalf]

using Bochs, Windows 95 runs on the GP2X (poorly, but it runs.)
how much of an improvement could we see on the pandora? something like Visual Basic 6.0 on '95 in my pocket would be super sweet and nostalgic (sorry but i require it for school, plus i used it a long time ago)... maybe even a light Linux distro like Puppy or DSL?

Painfully. Bochs is slllloooow, even on x86 machines

You're probably better off getting an eeePC for that sort of thing- and for programming as well, I suspect, though you can do it on the Pandora if you're wanting to do that.

QUOTE

either way i'd so so appreciate being able to code, compile and run on the move (i realise other ways of doing this will be possible without emulation, but compiling directly for x86 makes sense to me).

on that note - how difficult would it be to port gcc or g++ and use a text editor to do that natively on the Pandora? can i request this somewhere? =P
even if only for commandline programs, it'd be very useful, plus i could then compile for x86 again when i get home.


It shouldn't be hard to have a host toolchain for the Pandora. It's just not on the priority list of things right at the moment.

 

[Exophase]

People have been asking a lot of questions that have already been answered several times. Although it takes a little more work to do so you'd probably get an answer much more quickly if you did a search, like for "bochs" or "pc emulation"

 

[Chip]

Or they could read the FAQ.

 

[CCmachined]

fair enough... but nowhere on the wiki or FAQ could i find information about coding on the unit and then compiling that way, say with a port of g++, gcc or something. i'm learning to dev but my time on the PC is limited (i move between houses way too much). a portable coding machine would be really useful. either way, i hate the restrictive (and heavy) nature of laptops.

an eeePC? doesnt fit in my pocket, and i'd rather not use it while walking, etc. eeePC to Pandora comparisons have been made before.

 

[plopperz]

You could always get an Wibrain or similar.

 

[CCmachined]

You could always get an Wibrain or similar.

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q...sa=N&tab=if
you mean one of those? although I'm in the UK, google prducts UK couldn't find one. either way, as I'm a student it's simply not an option. Do i really need to pay for and then carry around 2 handhelds? I've been saving for the andora1: for 3+ months and it has more than enough muscle, what's the big problem?

i'm not asking for x86 compiling on the pandora, just to compile and run for the pandora on the pandora.

 

[Chip]

fair enough... but nowhere on the wiki or FAQ could i find information about coding on the unit and then compiling that way, say with a port of g++, gcc or something.

Because that's not a hardware issue. There's nothing preventing a coding / compilation suite from being ported other than someone being willing to do it. I am not aware of anybody having announced any intention to do the port, but that doesn't mean it won't happen eventually.

 

[rokdcasbah]

either way i'd so so appreciate being able to code, compile and run on the move

Mr. Carmack, is that you?

I think the EEE is the absolute minimum size computer I'd want to use to get real work done.

If it's nostalgia you're after, maybe just fire up QBasic, that'll run just fine. VB 6 does not count as nostalgia, I don't care how young you are

 

[Tobriand]

fair enough... but nowhere on the wiki or FAQ could i find information about coding on the unit and then compiling that way, say with a port of g++, gcc or something. i'm learning to dev but my time on the PC is limited (i move between houses way too much). a portable coding machine would be really useful. either way, i hate the restrictive (and heavy) nature of laptops.

an eeePC? doesnt fit in my pocket, and i'd rather not use it while walking, etc. eeePC to Pandora comparisons have been made before.

Just as a side note, if you *did* want to compile x86 on the Pandora, as far as I'm aware there wouldn be no trouble at all doing that. Just tell the compiler to cross compile to x86 rather than to arm.

Compiling for Pandora on Pandora should be (many of us hope at least) pretty much a no-brainer.

 

[ljones]

If all you want to do prehaps (say) is run a few old dos games on the pandora, prehaps dosbox might possibly be an option if it can be compiled for Arm?

http://www.dosbox.com/

ljones

 

[plopperz]

If all you want to do prehaps (say) is run a few old dos games on the pandora, prehaps dosbox might possibly be an option if it can be compiled for Arm?

http://www.dosbox.com/

ljones


DosBox is definately a possibility, there is a GP2X port. Somebody just needs to port it to the Pandora.

 

[fusion_power]

Mr. Carmack, is that you?



By the way, Carmack needs a Pandora! He has to get a unit, imagine what this guy could do on such a Handheld!

 

[Pickle]

If all you want to do prehaps (say) is run a few old dos games on the pandora, prehaps dosbox might possibly be an option if it can be compiled for Arm?

http://www.dosbox.com/

ljones


DosBox is definately a possibility, there is a GP2X port. Somebody just needs to port it to the Pandora.

I will port it, I just need a Pandora...

 

[fusion_power]

I will port it, I just need a Pandora...

I'm sure, Craigix has an open ear for your request.
DosBox is one of the bigger projects I think and if you will make a good, fast and optimized Pandora port (well, at least faster than the GP2X one, shouldn't be that hard), you could make many people very happy.

...And please inlcude a Frontend to!

 

[Pickle]

I will port it, I just need a Pandora...

I'm sure, Craigix has an open ear for your request.
DosBox is one of the bigger projects I think and if you will make a good, fast and optimized Pandora port (well, at least faster than the GP2X one, shouldn't be that hard), you could make many people very happy.

...And please inlcude a Frontend to!

Well there not much that could be done to make it faster other than just using the Pandora hardware.
2 things are needed in addition, a compiler and the SDL lib, the compilier is there just need the SDL lib.
When it comes down to it dosbox on the Pandora will be much nicer, since we have the keyboard. No hacking in the buttons, no virtual keyboard. All that's needed is the mouse emulation using the touchscreen.
As of now im waiting for MK1, someone could easily do it before me.