Our New Machine, Pandora

[Null]

please make our new machine as "bricking-proof" as possible while maintaining the update flexibility of the GP2X.

The only way that can be accomplished is if you take the user out of the loop.

 

[pkostrze]

I don't know what the status of the D-pad is on the Craiginator but I was playing with an old IR remote I have in my desk and tore it apart to see how the D-pad worked and got ideas spinning in my head. The D-pad is a little bigger than the GP2X could handle but is grippy rubber with a really nice fel to it and, after looking at the board under it, it has eight contact in a radial pattern that looks to be pretty decent. Also, it has a center (centre?) click which is something I love about the GP2X stick. I used the remote for long-distance mouse control for years and it's awesome at all-directional movement. The pad is very comfortable and sturdy; it's made of solid rubber with a slight bump in the center.

Here's the remote intact:

Mindpath IR/55 http://195.224.149.148/SB/MindPath_IR55.jpg

And here's the board and the pad cut apart from it's full membrane (sorry about the MySpace):

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?...mageID=13752507

If the pad and it's control are already locked in then ignore me but I thought this looked pretty cool.

 

[Eolair]

Straight porting an N64 emulator probably isn't going to do the job, you'd at least need suitable dynarec code generation.

Are you offering?

It wouldn't be as fast, sure (and probably not playable either), but it would certainly do the job of getting the user the N64 emu they seem to be craving.

After all, the first GBA emu for the 2X was just a straight port too. Once you have a version out that works, then you optimise and release further versions.

Not many choices of N64 emus... Mupen64 seems to be the only open source N64 emulator for Linux and it hasn't been updated for two years. But at least it can play some games (like Mario Kart). Anyone want to take a look?

 

[fusion_power]

Not many choices of N64 emus... Mupen64 seems to be the only open source N64 emulator for Linux and it hasn't been updated for two years. But at least it can play some games (like Mario Kart). Anyone want to take a look?


Is there no "Project64" for Linux or at least the sourcecode? :blink: I really thought, that most Emulators are available for Linux to (But haven't checked this). I'm planing to jump from Windows to Linux in the Future (Ubuntu maybe) and I want all my Win PC Emulators on Linux working. Hm, I thought this wouldn't be a problem. At least MAME is for Linux to I know.

Well, I hope an N64 Emulator for the new Handheld will be at least in the same quality like Project64 on PC. I'm not really needing an N64 Emu on an Handheld but it could be funny to play "Golden Eye" or "Perfect Dark" mobile :lol:

 

[Javacat]

I think a lot of the current N64 emulators use DirectX for their rendering and the inputs and outputs are usually handled by a crap DLL plugin system.

Thinking out loud: Due to the emulators using a plugin system, maybe the base emulators will be reasonably portable?

 

[Hyperpc]

Not many choices of N64 emus... Mupen64 seems to be the only open source N64 emulator for Linux and it hasn't been updated for two years. But at least it can play some games (like Mario Kart). Anyone want to take a look?


Is there no "Project64" for Linux or at least the sourcecode? :blink: I really thought, that most Emulators are available for Linux to (But haven't checked this). I'm planing to jump from Windows to Linux in the Future (Ubuntu maybe) and I want all my Win PC Emulators on Linux working. Hm, I thought this wouldn't be a problem. At least MAME is for Linux to I know.

Well, I hope an N64 Emulator for the new Handheld will be at least in the same quality like Project64 on PC. I'm not really needing an N64 Emu on an Handheld but it could be funny to play "Golden Eye" or "Perfect Dark" mobile :lol:


Move to ubuntu and use wine for any programs not on linux wine

 

[Exophase]

Straight porting an N64 emulator probably isn't going to do the job, you'd at least need suitable dynarec code generation.

Are you offering?

It wouldn't be as fast, sure (and probably not playable either), but it would certainly do the job of getting the user the N64 emu they seem to be craving.

After all, the first GBA emu for the 2X was just a straight port too. Once you have a version out that works, then you optimise and release further versions.


Of course I'm not offering you smarmy bastard, don't even think about it ;P Some emulators can be nicely optimized into submission, others can't. That isn't what happened with VBA for GP2X (unless you meant that interpreter port of gpSP as the first GBA emu)

Although I guess GBA isn't really a common case, a good number emulators are pretty efficient because they were written in a time where they had to be (whereas by the time GBA was out computers were already getting quite a lot faster than it). Same probably goes for at least some N64 emulators. I think there are basically three viable open source N64 emulators, and I'm sure aside from Mupen they're all pretty Windows-centric in some way. EDIT: I forgot about Daedalus. Since that builds for Windows and PSP it's likely that it uses OpenGL. It's made to be fast and small too.

I think just putting an N64 emulator on a device regardless of how it performs to appease/impress the users is a very bad idea. Although I'm sure it isn't nearly as bad here as it is in the PSP scene, many people think that getting a platform to emulate in some capacity at all is the big breakthrough (even if it's just a simple port) and that full speed is an accepted inevitability that they just have to wait for. You know as well as I do that when it comes to handhelds like this most emulators are ports (some of them really easy ones that can be done with little or no change to the cose, some more extensive, but still just ports) and if optimization is needed after that that's the hard part. In the PSP scene all sorts of people thought that a port of DSeMuMe was the holy grail of all things PSP, but anyone who looks at that source code would know that coding pong for PSP would be a more impressive feat.

So if you're going to port an N64 emulator I'd say you're better off not releasing it or even mentioning it unless it performs OK (or until it performs okay..). I know this isn't what's going to happen though :/

 

[efegea]

Straight porting an N64 emulator probably isn't going to do the job, you'd at least need suitable dynarec code generation.

Are you offering?

It wouldn't be as fast, sure (and probably not playable either), but it would certainly do the job of getting the user the N64 emu they seem to be craving.

After all, the first GBA emu for the 2X was just a straight port too. Once you have a version out that works, then you optimise and release further versions.

Not many choices of N64 emus... Mupen64 seems to be the only open source N64 emulator for Linux and it hasn't been updated for two years. But at least it can play some games (like Mario Kart). Anyone want to take a look?


Mupen64 is closed source open source, see next post by javacat

Daedalus is a good one to port

 

[Javacat]

The source for Mupen is available here.

 

[efegea]

Thanks javacat, never know it had the source avaliable. Will try to compile it for my amd64 gentoo linux...

EDIT: had not luck, asm code in the gl64 video plugin

 

[geise69]

I think just putting an N64 emulator on a device regardless of how it performs to appease/impress the users is a very bad idea. Although I'm sure it isn't nearly as bad here as it is in the PSP scene, many people think that getting a platform to emulate in some capacity at all is the big breakthrough (even if it's just a simple port) and that full speed is an accepted inevitability that they just have to wait for. You know as well as I do that when it comes to handhelds like this most emulators are ports (some of them really easy ones that can be done with little or no change to the cose, some more extensive, but still just ports) and if optimization is needed after that that's the hard part. In the PSP scene all sorts of people thought that a port of DSeMuMe was the holy grail of all things PSP, but anyone who looks at that source code would know that coding pong for PSP would be a more impressive feat.

Man I read a lot of that thread you posted in regarding the DSeMuMe port to PSP at the DCEMU forum. I can really understand your frustration with the mindset of people in the psp scene and why you don't want something like that on this machine. There's some people that just really don't understand what all is involved. (especially in porting something) I could really care less about n64 on this new system, but I know that's just my opinion and means shit. However, mulating it to appeal to that demographic is a bad idea and something the new handheld could really do without. Even if it might help sales of the new system.

 

[Vorporeal]

Is there no "Project64" for Linux or at least the sourcecode? :blink:

There is source for Project64, but it's not the most recent version... :angry:

http://www.pj64-emu.com/downloads/Download...t64/SourceCode/

 

[zaoin]

Will this project have an internal rechargeable battery?

NO!

More like a rechargeable battery you can remove to recharge.

I really hope so. I would dislike it if I had to recharge this device for 4 hours after every 4 hours of use without being able to use it in the meantime. If the battery is removeable you can just buy a spare one and use it while the other one is charging.

At least we need a battery that is user replaceable. All rechargable battery cells wear out over time no matter the type. Ask Zodiac owners how they like it.


I read that Zodiac batteries are user replaceable. Not difficult.

 

[Eolair]

Will this project have an internal rechargeable battery?

NO!

More like a rechargeable battery you can remove to recharge.

I really hope so. I would dislike it if I had to recharge this device for 4 hours after every 4 hours of use without being able to use it in the meantime. If the battery is removeable you can just buy a spare one and use it while the other one is charging.

At least we need a battery that is user replaceable. All rechargable battery cells wear out over time no matter the type. Ask Zodiac owners how they like it.


I read that Zodiac batteries are user replaceable. Not difficult.

You can replace the battery but that doesn't mean it was intended to be user replaceable. The only way to replace your battery and keep the warranty intact was to send it back to Tapwave.

 

[Squidge]

Are you sure? Tapwave sent me (amonst other things) a replacement battery and a debug cable when I was having problems. Free of charge too! They even paid for the shipping!

Ok, maybe that wasn't "the usual"

EDIT: I remember now that the battery was one of those that required you to plug in a connector on a bit of flimsy cable, so probably not as user replaceable as I first thought. Unlike mobile phone batteries which are simply a small lump of plastic.

 

[Xmas]

Somehow, I think 500+Mhz, 3D accelerator, Wifi, battery charging and all the other stuff in this system is going to add up to more than the 500mA of the USB port (assuming 100% efficiency from whatever reg drives the usb ports...)

I think the unit you're looking for is W. 500mA * 5V = 2.5W.

As an example, Sony's high-capacity PSP battery offers 2200mAh * 3.6V = 7.92Wh. If the device was drawing 2.5W on average, that battery would last a little more than 3 hours. I don't think too many people would be happy with that.

 

[Eolair]

Are you sure? Tapwave sent me (amonst other things) a replacement battery and a debug cable when I was having problems. Free of charge too! They even paid for the shipping!

Ok, maybe that wasn't "the usual"

EDIT: I remember now that the battery was one of those that required you to plug in a connector on a bit of flimsy cable, so probably not as user replaceable as I first thought. Unlike mobile phone batteries which are simply a small lump of plastic.

Not fair! You got special treatment!

My point was only that the Zodiac has a sealed case design. You'll have to break it open to replace the battery. I think it would be better if the battery was fitted outside the sealed case like on a mobile phone. But of course if Craigix wants to give us permission under the warranty to open the case I'm fine with that too

 

[Exophase]

Replaceable batteries are nice, but there are other ways you can extend battery life. For instance, you can use external battery sources that plug into the AC input. You could have something that straps to the back of the handheld, or a wire that runs to a battery stored in your pocket or clipped on a belt.

I find the "grip" attachments on PSP are great for this, they make it more ergonomic to hold (although a lot thicker) while providing more battery life.

 

[Squidge]

I think the unit you're looking for is W. 500mA * 5V = 2.5W.

No, I was definitely after mA, considering that most people know the USB port supplies at most 500mA. Since I wasn't mentioning the battery providing the power and simply replying to a post asking whether or not it could run and charge the battery from a USB port, I didn't think it was necessary.

I only convert stuff to watts when there are multiple devices at different voltages.

QUOTE
I think it would be better if the battery was fitted outside the sealed case like on a mobile phone. But of course if Craigix wants to give us permission under the warranty to open the case I'm fine with that too wink.gif


I would assume that Craigix will have a case which has a user-removable battery cover, like on PDA's and the GP2X, although I wouldn't blame him if he used a single screw to hold it firmly shut considering the number of times you are going to need to open it (once every 5 years maybe?).

 

[javaJake]

Mupen64 is closed source open source, see next post by javacat

I thought you were talking about me, until I saw the next post... seems we have another javaSomething user. *growl*