Preparing for a Prototype

[levi]

I'm not at all sure about that. I usually predownload my videos using a dash algorithm, h264+HC_AAC ends up in a combined mkv file and VP9+Opus is more likely to end up in a webm file at my end. Both work in mplayer and vlc so I've not worried too much about it to be honest.

 

[elvissteinjr]

There's no hardware accelerated decoding on Linux in web browsers anyways. At least not in official builds.
You'll be better off passing those videos to mpv or something. Still needs one of the GPU decoding APIs to be implemented for OMAP5, though.

 

[Grench]

For giggles and grins. No, I didn't watch the whole episode this way.

Pyra running VLC, dvdcss, that IS a USB DVD player sitting underneath it, playing through the Pyra's USB port. Note - VLC when playing back video on my Pyra superimposes the desktop and the video on top of each other. That is why you're seeing a Pyra logo on the entrance to Stargate Command. I believe this to be running without any acceleration at this point - so software decode only.

Still, I think it says some pretty favorable things about the USB port and the Pyra's capabilities.

 

[Letalis Sonus]

I usually predownload my videos using a dash algorithm

The browser literally just plays a soundless video file and an audio file in parallel, they can be freely mixed without having to rely on any kind of intermediate container format to unify them first. This only becomes an issue if you want to store them into a single file. VLC actually supports this as well, it allows to play several files synchronously.

Youtube-dl uses mkv as a fallback in the case that the container format of the video file does not support the codec of the audio file. It correctly merges common m4a AAC files into mp4 files, you probably encountered a special case where Youtube decided for some reason to include a type of audio stream that is not commonly used, which might not be fully supported by the script, yet.

 

[rygD]

I have been rewatching SG1 lately.

 

[Grench]

I have been rewatching SG1 lately.

Keep your eyes out for appearances of the Tapwave Zodiac.

 

[theredbaron]

Keep your eyes out for appearances of the Tapwave Zodiac.

Damn, there was a time I would have given anything for one of those . Granted, not a long time, but still.

Sent from my H3123 using Tapatalk

 

[Grench]

Damn, there was a time I would have given anything for one of those . Granted, not a long time, but still.

Sent from my H3123 using Tapatalk

I was one of the beta test team members on the Zodiac. Fun times.

 

[theredbaron]

I was one of the beta test team members on the Zodiac. Fun times.

O wow. that's awesome.

Sent from my H3123 using Tapatalk

 

[Grench]

From what I can tell, right now there are three important pieces missing to the Pyra puzzle. Charging management & controls, Video drivers (H.264 & 3D), and audio drivers & controls.

Is there anything that the prototype owners can do to help test or provide input toward any of these three?

 

[matzesu]

A question on the Prototyphe Owners who had a Pandora before:
How different is the Use of the Pyra in comparasion whit the Pandora?? ,
Just a different Power Connector (USB Cable instead of a PSP Charger), some different Buttons, and a OS which is pretty standart Debian, so if you know how to use a Windows OS, or something simular, you can also use a Debian? (click on things and things happen),

Although i have my Pandora since barrely 10 years, im not that advanced user, i know the basics..

 

[Askarus]

A question on the Prototyphe Owners who had a Pandora before:
How different is the Use of the Pyra in comparasion whit the Pandora?? ,
Just a different Power Connector (USB Cable instead of a PSP Charger), some different Buttons, and a OS which is pretty standart Debian, so if you know how to use a Windows OS, or something simular, you can also use a Debian? (click on things and things happen),

Although i have my Pandora since barrely 10 years, im not that advanced user, i know the basics..

The different is like heaven and earth
It is now the same to use as a full computer.
Install with "apt install", use the full Debian ARM repo, you can click on things and thing happen like on a normal Linux.

 

[matzesu]

So if i have experence whit the Pandora, i could also get used to the Pyra..

 

[Askarus]

So if i have experence whit the Pandora, i could also get used to the Pyra..

Of course. Why not?
In my opinion things will be even easier as the basic stuff will be available from the beginning via the official Debian repos (there is also a GUI to install packages)
You won't need someone to make a dbp for things like E-Mail client or Web-browser.

And the desktop is not much different to Pyra either. MATE is as simple to use as Xfce.

 

[directive0]

I am so amped to be able to just install things from apt like I do on my other machines.

don't get me wrong, I love the PNDManager and everything but it will be nice to not need someone to specifically package their apps as a PND.... I mean I'm assuming thats true.

 

[Grench]

A question on the Prototyphe Owners who had a Pandora before:
How different is the Use of the Pyra in comparasion whit the Pandora?? ,
Just a different Power Connector (USB Cable instead of a PSP Charger), some different Buttons, and a OS which is pretty standart Debian, so if you know how to use a Windows OS, or something simular, you can also use a Debian? (click on things and things happen),

Although i have my Pandora since barrely 10 years, im not that advanced user, i know the basics..

I was a Pandora pre-order as well (~150 or so in line) and received an early-ish Pandora. As noted above, I'm a bit forward of that in the Pyra queue.

Right now what you see on your Pandora is a 'mature ecosystem'. Things are working - and the workarounds are pretty well known and established. For example, when the Pandora first existed, the .pnd system did not. It took some time for that to be worked out by the user community and it turned out fantastic. The Pandora has received the benefit of a large number of very smart people doing some very difficult and tedious 'figuring it out' for the rest of us to get the most out of the platform.

If you were to try to do a direct comparison of my Pyra 'as it is now' to my Pandora 'as it is now', it isn't an overly fair comparison from a software maturity standpoint. However, comparing the Pyra now to the Pandora as it was at launch, the Pyra is worlds ahead. The quality of the case is much much better. The keyboard layout makes much more sense - but I'm admittedly biased in that. The convenience of Apt and Synaptic for adding things directly from Debian is fantastic. Those little utilities that only a few people use - I can quickly and easily install the ones that I prefer without having to bother people about making a .pnd of them - saving those efforts for items that truly do need to be tuned to the platform.

That said, there are a few major pieces missing to the software side of the puzzle - mostly dealing with getting drivers for the audio and video and their related acceleration bits that are waiting in the SoC.

From a look at 'hardware at launch' comparison between the Pyra and Pandora, the Pyra hardware is, in my humble opinion, elegant.

 

[matzesu]

Thangs for the Answers, so when the Experience of the Pyra will be that diverend to the Pandora i think i dont want the Pyra as i know the Pandora and thought the Pyra is just like the Pandora but in new and faster.. ^^

For me, the Pandora is a EmuHandheld whit Linux PC features, i mean, you wouldnt draw your Linux Notebook when you are in the Waiting Room to play some Doctor Mario, but the Pandora was pretty good for such tasks,

Just a joke, i still want my Pyra, and i plan to use it more experienced as the Pandora,
I still hope to use it for Pandora Tasks (Gaming and a bit Office Work on the Road)
but it will also be my Main PC at home..

 

[ClockworkCoder]

Seems silly to say so, but since I got the Odroid Go, I've begun to realise that I only use my phone for emails, texts and the occasional phone call.

My laptop is better equipped to handle emails anyway, and I guess the Pyra could potentially setup to work with texts - perhaps via some VOIP-type system..(?)

Which would leave me only needing a billy-basic phone for emergency / family calls. A headset + voip on the Pyra could certainly handle other calls on the Pyra meaning the phone may become practically unused. This is the hope...

Given your experience so far, does this sound like a practical reality, @Grench?

 

[Grench]

Seems silly to say so, but since I got the Odroid Go, I've begun to realise that I only use my phone for emails, texts and the occasional phone call.

My laptop is better equipped to handle emails anyway, and I guess the Pyra could potentially setup to work with texts - perhaps via some VOIP-type system..(?)

Which would leave me only needing a billy-basic phone for emergency / family calls. A headset + voip on the Pyra could certainly handle other calls on the Pyra meaning the phone may become practically unused. This is the hope...

Given your experience so far, does this sound like a practical reality, @Grench?

Not initially, no. There is a whole missing footprint for telephony and text messaging software that needs to be sorted out. Eventually? Maybe? From what I understand and can see, the hardware to do it is there. The 'if & when' questions around getting 'there' are all dependent on who (plural) takes an interest in building out that side of things and sharing their creations.

 

[gpsqueeek]

Maybe what is developed for pinephone and librem5 might help...? We'll see...