Scratch


ptitSeb

Serial Porter
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
9,306
Age
51
Location
France, near Lyon
Scratch v1.4.0.8 is available on the repo.

Scratch is developped in "squeak". And Squeak is an evolution of SmallTalk. Scratch is in fact an "image" that run on top of a Squeak Virtual Machine. This port is mainly a port of the Squeak VM, as scratch has little "c" code.

I have adapted the default folder to fit the PND. Scratch require many data folders to be in the "/user/share/scratch" folder according to the readme. But I found many folders can be just next to the "bin" folder.

Help, for example worked out of the box (at least for the folder).

The only problem I found was "locale" folder. I had to change the scratch.image (on a PC Linux machine) to make point to "/mnt/utmp/scratch/locale".

For Help system, Scratch use html files. So they don't start by default (and links is not a viable solution, too many pictures in the helps). So I embeded in the PND a small & fast browser: dillo (v3.0.2, more info here : http://www.dillo.org/ ). It works well enough for the Help files. I don't think it will work well for the main Website, especially if you signin and try to download projects... Uses a full feature Browser, like Firefox, for that.


Final words (for build 01): I haven't use a lot the build. I load a quick project, run it. It worked. That's all. But despite needing OpenGL, and running in a Squeak VM, I found Scratch snappy, I found it enjoyable on the Pandora.

History log
========
Build 02
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* Added Software DRI driver that where missing, performance may have improved

Build 01
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* Initial release
* Scratch can be setup in many languages (tested just English and French).
* Included help in English (default), French (tested), Deutch and Italian.
* Included the "Dillo 3.0.2" browser, so the help files (html files) actually opens somewhere.
* the Media folder is include. It should be situated in /usr/share/scratch, but scratch hasn't complain and seems to finds it.
* the Projects folder contains samples Projects. It is created at 1st lauch, so it is 100% writable.
 
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PSA: After testing this on two different SD cards and two different Internet connections, I can condom that downloading Scratch from the PNDStore app does not work. However, if you download it through Firefox, it works easily and consistantly.
 
Hum, I think  I have forgotten some files in the packaging. Files not required (so it still work without), but that improve performances (the DRI Software driver for the MesaGL to be precise). I added it back in the PND, and I found your game playable with no lag (but I suck at it, the inertia beats me at the first change of direction)... I will upload it to the repo and it will be available in a few minutes...
 
It'is on the repo, build 02 just added back the missing DRI driver, I *think* I have better performances.. Please test and report (in the mean time, I'll do the same thing to blender and test that).
 
I can condom that
Cheeky autocorrect or a particularly merry Christmas? :D
That was a mistake. I meant "confirm"

And to ptitSeb, sorry, but I'm having some issues with my Pandora. Can't install apps. I'll check out the update later. Can you make a video of it working?

Also, can anyone direct me to an EXPLICIT tutorial on how to reinstall SuperZaxxon?
 
No problem. I think Scratch is a good addition to the Pandora.

By the way, your SDCard problem, if they are FAT32 based, they may be corrupted, so you have to plug them in a windows PC to correct the error. It happens sometimes on mine, the Pandora doesn't complain, but some things doesn't work anyway, and I don't know if there is some kind of tools to fix FAT32 error like there is for Ext2.
 
I have the SD card issue sorted, the issue now is I cant open anything except firefox. Weird, I know. So i need to reinstall SuperZaxxon
 
What was the issue ? Corruption of file system ? When you lauch something that doesn't work, what is the output in the pnd_out file on /tmp (just open Thunar, the file manager, and go to /tmp).
 
all the logs are empty. Srsly, its no big deal. I just dont know how to reflash superzaxxon. Could you give me the steps by chance?
 
logs empty ? Strange. You are sure your SDCard is healthy now ? And that all the PND on the card are also Healthy.

About Flashing the firmware, I don't really remember. But if the firmware image is also on the same SDcard, you should also check that it is still correct (at least, the size of the file).
 
I wouldn't call scratch a game creation system. It's good for teaching the very basics of programming concepts. But it's really not good for anything other than that.
 
I know it is grave digging a bit, but I wanted to say thanks for this. I just downloaded it so my nephew can use it on my Pandora. His school is using Scratch to teach them programming basics, and he loves playing handheld games. This PND is perfect for him.

I also can report that it works very well. The only issue I encountered was the "Documents" directory is mounted read only, so I have to save projects elsewhere. If I create an identical directory in the appdata with write permissions, will that supercede the directory in the PND?
 
yes, the folder you create should superceed the one in the PND.

Maybe I'll try to take a look at the pnd, see if I can fix this folder issue, and see if I can use glshim instead of software mesa...
 
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