Minimal Gaming Os Possible?

[Drack]

Why not write some kind of ncurses app that loads on boot that lets you select which daemons to run? Select only what you need, then continue the boot. Any apps that need those daemons won't work, but that's not what it's for.

Sounds simple enough to me. I may take a crack at it once my Pandora arrives if no one else has done something similar. Looking forward to see what skeezix is cooking up, though!


Edit: Looks like notaz's background killer already achieves this post-boot.

 

[DaveC]

http://notaz.gp2x.de/misc/pnd/background_killer.pnd

Yeah, background killer. Try running it from minimenu and running a game after that.

DaveC, give it a try.

Thanks I will try it.

Is there a way I could set this so it will run automatically when I load an emu? I am using mini menu . I suppose some sort of script would be made. I am not sure how that would work though as mini menu reads pnds . If I made a script first I would lose all my icons etc from the pnd.

 

[Exophase]

I really don't think porting over to OSSv4 would be easier than fixing the ALSA driver.

That isn't the point. IMO after you "fix" ALSA it'll still be the less preferable solution.

 

[laurencevde]

The .PND-loader generates .desktop-files (the menu/desktop-entries). You could modify it to make the command run through a script, perhaps only for certain categories of apps...

 

[torpor]

PND's are relevant to the factory firmware, 'out of box' experience, but I have recently had a play with custom-boot SD generation, i.e. "ln /home/pandora-user/SuperApp /bin/init"-style boot experience, and I think it works.

What the Pandora needs is a really good SD-Admin application, something like a custom graphical formatter that bitchslaps SD-card format/setup/ into the future and incidentally gives us the ability to make boot-disks (remember them?) upon which to install a select app for the SD to boot instantly ..

 

[trix]

I really don't think porting over to OSSv4 would be easier than fixing the ALSA driver.

That isn't the point. IMO after you "fix" ALSA it'll still be the less preferable solution.

+1

I've been using linux for years and one of the first things I do nowadays on a new install is switch from ALSA to OSSv4, if the hardware is supported. ALSA's more compatible hardware support comes at too hefty a price IMHO.

 

[WizardStan]

I've been using linux for years and one of the first things I do nowadays on a new install is switch from ALSA to OSSv4, if the hardware is supported. ALSA's more compatible hardware support comes at too hefty a price IMHO.

On the one hand, OSSv4 seems to be everything that ALSA+PulseAudio tries to hack together in a cleaner, tighter package. On the other hand, ALSA definitely has the hardware support (especially USB and bluetooth) advantage, as well as supporting suspend in place. On the other other hand, with built in speakers/headphone jack, USB and bluetooth audio should be the exception, not the rule, and those that need it could probably easily be instructed how to back out to ALSA. Also, the Pandora doesn't even have an effective sleep mode that would take advantage of the suspend in place, and by the time we do, OSSv4 might as well.
On the other other other hand, the system is working, and changing could break things more than it'd fix. Probably best to experiment with it a little for a few months and see if it can be made to work in the next release. In the meantime, hacking up ALSA is the easier short term solution.
"But if they took the time fixing ALSA and moved it to making OSSv4 work, they'd have it done sooner!" Yes, and we'd have sound problems for a few months while they ignored the problems with ALSA in favour of making OSSv4 work.
I can understand why they went with ALSA though: it's in the Angstrom repository; just pick it and go. OSSv3 is there as well, but not v4. Someone would have to build it from scratch and maintain it personally.

 

[Chaser]

Great piece of software but is there a way to kill it asking for a password?

A tick box option perhaps when run the first time and thereafter a system menu option to enable it again. Can it be given properties that allow it to be hotkeyed from XFCE, where it can be added as a menu option already, or perhaps as DaveC asked, make it run by default with certain apps in minimenu.

 

[Prometheus]

I don't believe it's possible, though I could be wrong.

That said, I thought that Background Killer was no longer needed as of Hotfix 3?

 

[Chaser]

I don't believe it's possible, though I could be wrong.

That said, I thought that Background Killer was no longer needed as of Hotfix 3?

I wasn't aware of that, so thanks for the nod. How is it replaced when wanting to free up as much cpu for emulation as possible by default under hotfix3? Any info appreciated.

 

[Prometheus]

There's a Startup Manager in, um, it's in the Xfce menu somewhere, but I'm pretty sure it should also be accessible in Minimenu, too. Please pardon my complete inability to provide anything more specific than that - I just powered mine off for the time being. :lol:

 

[Chaser]

Well I asked for and got 'anything' ftw B)

Mine is more like that scary gal from down the well. The one that required all those retro Japanese pretend remakes in gloriously dull 'arty' vision versions. She doesn't sleep like ED.

Now with all your dont buy this, dont emulate that, the legal system may get me scary fairy stories plus the fact your Pandora actually gets a rest whilst you darn some socks and knit for little Britain, help out endlessly ad infinitum upon these boards like a wu-how ninja, I have to declare you a real saint.

Thanks for the info

Sweet Dreams

 

[Prometheus]

Sir, I have to say that I'm not sure I understood your post. But, uh, no problem, I think.

 

[Chaser]

No worries Prometheus.

I asked for any info as acceptable. You gave me some, which is any, so it was.

You had powered off you Pandora however.

I rarely do, so like ED, she gets little sleep, hence reference to the ring movie. Which has prior versions, I felt you, given your penchant for all things retro would have been aware of. I then referenced your many talents apparent upon just this forum.

In that you have amassed a great deal of insight into the fake market of SD cards, dodgy PSU's and of legal sources for emulation. Something you appear to advocate, with honour I might add, amid a sea of potential pirates. A penalty for breach of this ethic, you seem to see as coming from upon the seas on high, when in all likelyhood the penalty is among us already. (I've personally little faith in, or respect for, any legal system and think we should police our own actions at all times if they are harmful to another)

In that quite frankly, as nice as it is to emulate various games and systems and have them in a pocketable format. Little beats the real machines and the tactile enjoyment of how they were, and are, meant to be played. Hooking em all up to the tv in the lounge is a pain though.

I then was offering you a compliment only, in that you are seemingly tireless in those pursuits whilst also admitting you spend much of your time engaged in sewing or knitwork perhaps, and only on the side do you pop up helpfully to answer all manner of problems people are having with their Pandora's, or merely to add an ever happy outlook to a thread.

So I was basically saying 'you dont half accomplish a trifle more than the next person, with the limited time you no doubt like the rest of us have available and I was thankful for your time, bestowed to me, amidst all that'.

Then I bade you a good nights rest.

Whatever I say, I am usually in the wrong though because I am not Exophase.

 

[Prometheus]

Haha. Well, thankyou very much, and thanks muchly for the incredibly (and dare I say amusingly ) thorough explanation, too. That's really brought a smile to my face.

(As for The Ring, I was aware, I just didn't catch the reference. :lol: Horror movies aren't my thing, admittedly.)

 

[Aninhumer]

Chaser, you do have a strange way of saying things. Are you a non-native speaker?
And if you're not, I wasn't meaning to criticise.
It mostly seems to be grammatically correct, just... unusual.

 

[torpor]

I think its called "flirting", but I'm not sure.

 

[linc186]

In another thread I stated that running Sonic on Picodrive ws dropping frames even more than on a Wiz! I just thought it was because things were early but that doesn't sound like the case. If this does that how will stuff like PSX be able to run?

This bit of info was of concern. If Notaz said it it is 100% fact and it is worrysome (sorry Notaz to use your info):

I noticed these frame drops too. I was quite surprised by this as it actually runs smoother on the Wiz! It drops quite a bit even in a simple game like Sonic 1.

yeah it's the OS, I can't do anything in the emu itself to solve this.

I am running this from mini menu not XFCE (I boot directly into mini menu) and it still stutters and has an uneven framerate. This probably rules out XFCE wifi issues. Even the unoptimised SNES 9x emu runs more consistant. It is really weird.

NetworkManager is still doing scans even in minimenu.. There is quite a lot of stuff running even in minimenu mode really.

Quite allot of stuff running? Network manager? Scans? Even if we are just playing a game? Can't do anything to solve this(emu)?

My question is can there be a mimimal OS running when we start minimenu that disables all of that crap? Is there a way of setting up something so when you just want to play something it suspends all of those other tasks and just single tasks the emu/game?

Developers are going to have to not rely on X to do everything to speed things up but will they take the time? It seems to get to the real performance of the Pandora and not just perform like a stuttering Wiz with a keyboard some thought has to be given to some sort of miniOS.

I know I am not the only one who would like to play games on this with out stuttering and pauses. When we start getting up there in systems like PSX, N64 (Ok this one will probably always have issues), Jaguar, 32X etc it seems we will start to really need all of the oomph possible and running all of these tasks at the same time in the background will start to really become a problem.

So to the OS dev guys, is it possible to make a miniOS that could use minimenu to load to reduce overhead? How will that work when devs of emus and games start relying more and more on having the other bigger OS running? Should there be some kind of standard set now so when/if a smaller OS is made things will still work?

are you sure it isnt just sonic? Sonic is very fast and requires high framerate. Try a game that doesn't use as much. I haave a super nintendo, so i can't recommend a game... sorry.

 

[Chaser]

Chaser, you do have a strange way of saying things. Are you a non-native speaker?
And if you're not, I wasn't meaning to criticise.
It mostly seems to be grammatically correct, just... unusual.

Sadly, I am a native speaker of this destructive realm and despite a prior penchant for other tongues, I am a testament to the educational institutions herein and a product of my time and how I squandered it.

So yes, with no offense taken (even though you are implying some if I am English), you are correct.

I can barely speak my own language and when I do, little worth the effort issues forth. Someguy99 summed me up nicely on a first posting with something to the effect of "very cool prose but....yay for drugs, eccentricity and senility".

Basically I am ill and ill witted. Thus far, no one has taken a verbal stance of an instant dislike to me. Instant saves time btw. So I shall lurk here awhile longer, unless made thoroughly unwelcome, as I dont fit here, as much as everywhere else.

I also offer apologies in advance of anything I may say and firmly advise avoidance of my posts, unless I am attempting to be useful. In which you will find find far better (albeit unintended), comic value!

I think its called "flirting", but I'm not sure.

Cant blame a guy for trying eh and she is a rare Ninjaress of this barren silicon heaven to boot! Not that I advocate domestic violence! I´m like the freshly arrived Pondo Sinattro anyway though, repleat with non aphrodisiac turnip truck essence for now.

Though really, I was merely, making slightly clearer correction, to avoid causing her any unintended offense or confusion wih my woo.

Besides, if thats your idea of flirting, then a few things are apparent.

1)

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2) You´ve clearly not considered the requirement for one of these yet......."Err...cough... Hey cool Pandora-ess!"




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You´ll need one of those to get even considered eye candy worthy above her Pandoras screen edge, from within the Wu-How Vivi Veil at all...

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=5210230&blogId=350291418

Also the veil or Ninja mask maybe because....

3) Given that she sews alot, this might be Prometheus.....



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None too shabby, or perhaps....



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If it actually is then you do look simply lovely and have some serious seamstress skills
.

Krgds to all

 

[Prometheus]

Heh. I'm not a costumer.