Java PND

[jontheramer]

I know this is the OpenJDK; when stuff doesn't work, how can I best go about debugging/telling the maintainer (?) about it? I have a rather complex game, no native code, runs well on mac, linux and windows, but on the pandora it just segfaults Java. I have no clue how to debug/fix that, so I hope someone here can help?

 

[TrashyMG]

Well, it seems to happen a bit on the Pandora.. For some reason the more you overclock seems to minimize the crashing on some applications.


I would like to see this investigated further myself.

 

[mcobit]

Did you use a swapfile for testing? A lot of javastuff crashed because of out of memory errors for me.

 

[jontheramer]

I will try with swapon, but shouldn't Java give me an OutOfMemoryException in that case or does it happy so early on that it even doesn't get to that point and just gives up?

 

[jontheramer]

Saw this today; https://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/entry/oracle_releases_jdk_for_linux Any plans on making a PND?

 

[WizardStan]

It may run better than the current OpenJDK. At the least it is a choice. I'll have to give it a try first, and then read the license to see if a PND redistribution would even be allowed.

 

[crow_riot]

my multiplayer server for paperwars is also written in java and it would've been nice to let it run directly on the pandora. it starts but also crashes as soon as a connection is being made (or something like that).


would be nice to have an alternative which maybe works with paperwars

 

[fusion_power]

And I would like to see a working Java browser plugin for Pandora. I've tried it a long time to get Java stuff in Browsers somehow working with the JAVA PND untill someone told me that this is not even possible because it is only a standalone player for java programs. h34r:

 

[TrashyMG]

I'd love to see the JCloisterZone (Carcassone board game) I packaged for the Pandora work better.. The newest version won't run on the Pandora with the current Java PND and I wouldn't say the current version in the repo works entirely too well without serious overclocking.

 

[WizardStan]

I've successfully run the Oracle Java against a few jars, including Minecraft(*) and they all ran surprisingly better than the OpenJDK. I expected some things to be a little better maybe, but I'm seeing serious improvements across the board. No redistribution is allowed, but I think it can be worked around by having the PND download the package itself (or extract from a pre-downloaded package). I'm still digging, not sure if there's a browser plugin in here somewhere or not. Hopefully there is.


(*) It let me log in, downloaded all the packages, but of course explodes when it tries to load lwjgl. Server runs pretty well. I'll do a proper test tonight.

 

[TrashyMG]

Very good news!

 

[TrashyMG]

Wow!!.. tried this myself.. It's a game changer for Java software on the Pandora.. It's a 10 fold improvement in performance and stability.. I will release a new version of JCloisterzone once we can get a proper installer going.

 

[EvilDragon]

Sounds good, I love JCloisterZone

 

[TrashyMG]

Yeah I can play 3 AI opponents without the Pandora breaking a sweat.. OpenJDK could barely run one.

 

[Maquis196]

Good enough to run Project Zomboid? I would test but... yeah soon!

 

[Galaxis]

And I would like to see a working Java browser plugin for Pandora.

From the release notes:

No support is available for WebStart, Plug-In, Java Flight Recorder, and Garbage First (G1) Collector.

...but some of those features (they don't say which) are on the roadmap.


As for redistribution:

Oracle grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license without fees to reproduce and distribute the Software, provided that (i) you distribute the Software complete and unmodified and only bundled as part of, and for the sole purpose of running, your Programs, (ii) the Programs add significant and primary functionality to the Software, [..]

Pity. This would allow for developers to distribute their Java programs bundled with a JRE, but not for a standalone Java PND.