What game or feature are you excited to try out on the Pyra?

[ekianjo]

So the standard swap is much like what Windows does, except for it uses a hard drive.

Harddrive or SD Card, it does not matter - for a computer it's writeable memory, the difference is only in how the memory is stored but at the OS level it does not care.  

 

[Majin Wamu]

So the standard swap is much like what Windows does, except for it uses a hard drive.

Harddrive or SD Card, it does not matter - for a computer it's writeable memory, the difference is only in how the memory is stored but at the OS level it does not care.  

Ah, gotcha. Yeah I figured they wouldn't mean much different. But I didn't know that any open memory can be used that way. That sure is pretty interesting. Now I do have a quick question. Is it true that RAM can ware out over time? I once read that RAM can ware out since it is constantly writing, and rewriting, much like how a USB card has a limited amount of deletes.

 

[ptitSeb]

You can have ZRam swap or plain standard swap. ZRam is a bit special. You takea part of RAM Memory, and you compress (hence the "z") to make a swap. So if you reserve like 20 Mo of Ram, you can hope having 40 Mo of Swap enabled. It was enabled on earlier Firmware, but I'm not sure it's still enabled on Pandora. Still ZRam is not super usefull. Standard swap is just: you reserve some part of your SDCard (a big file or a dedicated partition), and you use it to "extend" your current RAM (not really extend in fact, you just move away part of RAM not use to free some, and you reload it again in RAM when needed).

Alright thanks ptitSeb that is very helpful. So the standard swap is much like what Windows does, except for it uses a hard drive. (I think speed boost works similar too but not even my professor was entirely sure what speed boost does).

No, Speedboost is different. It's a cache mecanism, to compasente for the "slow" seek time of mecanical hard drive. To avoid making the head of your hard drive making lost of travel to find the data of the software you launch, Speedboost but a copy of the usefull data (usefull = data that goes in memory for running) of your most use software on a fast SDCard, to help speedup the launching of software.

 

[Majin Wamu]

You can have ZRam swap or plain standard swap. ZRam is a bit special. You takea part of RAM Memory, and you compress (hence the "z") to make a swap. So if you reserve like 20 Mo of Ram, you can hope having 40 Mo of Swap enabled. It was enabled on earlier Firmware, but I'm not sure it's still enabled on Pandora. Still ZRam is not super usefull. Standard swap is just: you reserve some part of your SDCard (a big file or a dedicated partition), and you use it to "extend" your current RAM (not really extend in fact, you just move away part of RAM not use to free some, and you reload it again in RAM when needed).

Alright thanks ptitSeb that is very helpful. So the standard swap is much like what Windows does, except for it uses a hard drive. (I think speed boost works similar too but not even my professor was entirely sure what speed boost does).

No, Speedboost is different. It's a cache mecanism, to compasente for the "slow" seek time of mecanical hard drive. To avoid making the head of your hard drive making lost of travel to find the data of the software you launch, Speedboost but a copy of the usefull data (usefull = data that goes in memory for running) of your most use software on a fast SDCard, to help speedup the launching of software.

Oh alright. So would you say that speedboost really helps and keeps the heads of the hard drive from waring down quicker since it reducing the amount of travel?

 

[ptitSeb]

You can have ZRam swap or plain standard swap. ZRam is a bit special. You takea part of RAM Memory, and you compress (hence the "z") to make a swap. So if you reserve like 20 Mo of Ram, you can hope having 40 Mo of Swap enabled. It was enabled on earlier Firmware, but I'm not sure it's still enabled on Pandora. Still ZRam is not super usefull. Standard swap is just: you reserve some part of your SDCard (a big file or a dedicated partition), and you use it to "extend" your current RAM (not really extend in fact, you just move away part of RAM not use to free some, and you reload it again in RAM when needed).

Alright thanks ptitSeb that is very helpful. So the standard swap is much like what Windows does, except for it uses a hard drive. (I think speed boost works similar too but not even my professor was entirely sure what speed boost does).

No, Speedboost is different. It's a cache mecanism, to compasente for the "slow" seek time of mecanical hard drive. To avoid making the head of your hard drive making lost of travel to find the data of the software you launch, Speedboost but a copy of the usefull data (usefull = data that goes in memory for running) of your most use software on a fast SDCard, to help speedup the launching of software.

Oh alright. So would you say that speedboost really helps and keeps the heads of the hard drive from waring down quicker since it reducing the amount of travel?

Does Speedboost really helps depends on your haddrive, SDCard and typical usage. It can help is some case yes.

It wont keep the head of your hard drive from wearing down, there is not such thing. It just try to get the information quicker by getting them from the SDCard instead of getting it from HDD (especially if the drive is fragmented). It's just speed for launching software, nothing more.

 

[Majin Wamu]

Does Speedboost really helps depends on your haddrive, SDCard and typical usage. It can help is some case yes. It wont keep the head of your hard drive from wearing down, there is not such thing. It just try to get the information quicker by getting them from the SDCard instead of getting it from HDD (especially if the drive is fragmented). It's just speed for launching software, nothing more.

Well yeah I know that no matter what the heads will wear out because they are constantly moving. I was just curious if the readyboost (haha we have been calling it speedboost this whole time but I am sure we were still on the same page haha I feel a bit silly) helps the heads. Speaking of which, I just ordered myself a new hard drive because slowly the heads are starting to give up on my laptop. I am going to use my Black Widow X (docking station) to make my transfer. It literally looks like a toaster for hard drives.

 

[ptitSeb]

Yeah, Readyboost, Speedboost, whateverBoost Samething.

 

[Majin Wamu]

Yeah, Readyboost, Speedboost, whateverBoost Samething.

haha that one was pretty funny. Yeah same difference. We both meant the same thing. Are you by any chance a computer engineer or just an expert on computers? I am quite familiar with your name because I have noticed you have made quite a lot of applications for the Pandora.

 

[ptitSeb]

Yeah, Readyboost, Speedboost, whateverBoost Samething.

haha that one was pretty funny. Yeah same difference. We both meant the same thing. Are you by any chance a computer engineer or just an expert on computers? I am quite familiar with your name because I have noticed you have made quite a lot of applications for the Pandora.

I am both.

And yes, I have quite some app on the repo

 

[ekianjo]

Is it true that RAM can ware out over time? I once read that RAM can ware out since it is constantly writing, and rewriting, much like how a USB card has a limited amount of deletes.

RAM is way more resistant than flash based memory, because it's not "solid state" - so it has way more robustness in terms of write cycles. I think the key issue with the RAM is not the number of cycles but the robustness of the electronic components used. Sooner or later after years and years of usage there is something that is bound to fail. While solid state memory has clearly a physical limit attached to the number of write cycles.  

And yes, I have quite some app on the repo

PtitSeb is a porting machine!

 

[Majin Wamu]

I am both. And yes, I have quite some app on the repo

I ask because that is what I am working to become, a Computer Engineer. I know I don't know as much you or many of the people do here on the boards.. Like I mentioned earlier I don't know much about other operating systems outside of Windows, and that is why I haven't made any applications for the Pandora yet. I am working very hard to figure out how to make applications that are not Windows specific like _wb_ had told me. I actually don't know much about the many different libraries used with C/C++ but is SDL a good choice for programming for the Pandora or is there another I should be using? I have several great books on some of the libraries that are quite popular. One goes over Windows and direct X and a little of SDL. What exactly do you use?

 

[ekianjo]

Like I mentioned earlier I don't know much about other operating systems outside of Windows, and that is why I haven't made any applications for the Pandora yet.

You can use Python/Java/Ruby and write cross platforms applications very easily though. Even C/C++ programs can be easily ported from one platform to another, usually. 

C/C++ but is SDL a good choice for programming for the Pandora or is there another I should be using

Start small. Start by making simple applications. There's no use jumping directly into SDL if you can't even program a Tetris with the most simple tools you have.

 

[ptitSeb]

I am both. And yes, I have quite some app on the repo

I ask because that is what I am working to become, a Computer Engineer. I am going to a really good university that is one of the best in Southern California for engineering. I know I don't know as much you or many of the people do here on the boards but for my level I am actually quite efficient and normally at the top of my class. I also am pretty dang good at coding in several different languages. Like I mentioned earlier I don't know much about other operating systems outside of Windows, and that is why I haven't made any applications for the Pandora yet. I am working very hard to figure out how to make applications that are not Windows specific like _wb_ had told me. I actually don't know much about the many different libraries used with C/C++ but is SDL a good choice for programming for the Pandora or is there another I should be using? I have several great books on some of the libraries that are quite popular. One goes over Windows and direct X and a little of SDL. What exactly do you use?

Pandora is a very good learning tool

Start easy, with some simple SDL games/tool. Like start by a simple software, using SDL and SDL_image, that load a png from command line and just show it on screen. That will set you up to how to do. The point here is not coding (you said you are already quite fluant in that), but to setup a project, choose the tools (simple Makefile? project with Codeblocks? Geany?) and libs, and setup the infrastructure for coding. Once all is setup and you compile your first working software, it's "just" coding

 

[ekianjo]

. I also am pretty dang good at coding in several different languages.

Oh, and it pays to be humble You know, if you are pretty good at coding, there's no need to "claim it", people will know it because of what you release and do. Notaz, Exophase (for example but there are many others including PtitSeb on these boards) don't go around saying how good they are, but what they release is top notch and that speaks volume about their skills.  

 

[Majin Wamu]

. I also am pretty dang good at coding in several different languages.

Oh, and it pays to be humble You know, if you are pretty good at coding, there's no need to "claim it", people will know it because of what you release and do. Notaz, Exophase (for example but there are many others including PtitSeb on these boards) don't go around saying how good they are, but what they release is top notch and that speaks volume about their skills.  

Very well I will change it, but anyways I can make tetris coding isn't new to me. I just want to know which layer to use since there is a ton. I can code in JAVA but I don't really enjoy it very much. I haven't tried Python but I have always been a fan of C++. I have made a couple applications for Windows but I would love to port them to pandora because some of the games may be fun for others (I hope).

 

[Majin Wamu]

There, I changed it. I don't want to look like an arrogant jerk :/ thanks ekianjo for watching my back

 

[Majin Wamu]

I am both. And yes, I have quite some app on the repo

I ask because that is what I am working to become, a Computer Engineer. I am going to a really good university that is one of the best in Southern California for engineering. I know I don't know as much you or many of the people do here on the boards but for my level I am actually quite efficient and normally at the top of my class. I also am pretty dang good at coding in several different languages. Like I mentioned earlier I don't know much about other operating systems outside of Windows, and that is why I haven't made any applications for the Pandora yet. I am working very hard to figure out how to make applications that are not Windows specific like _wb_ had told me. I actually don't know much about the many different libraries used with C/C++ but is SDL a good choice for programming for the Pandora or is there another I should be using? I have several great books on some of the libraries that are quite popular. One goes over Windows and direct X and a little of SDL. What exactly do you use?

Pandora is a very good learning tool

Start easy, with some simple SDL games/tool. Like start by a simple software, using SDL and SDL_image, that load a png from command line and just show it on screen. That will set you up to how to do. The point here is not coding (you said you are already quite fluant in that), but to setup a project, choose the tools (simple Makefile? project with Codeblocks? Geany?) and libs, and setup the infrastructure for coding. Once all is setup and you compile your first working software, it's "just" coding

I have gotten passed the loading an image, right now I have been working with input and mouse controls. It sure is much more sophisticated than STL and BASIC (I love love BASIC!!! too bad it isn't enough).

 

[ptitSeb]

I am both. And yes, I have quite some app on the repo

I ask because that is what I am working to become, a Computer Engineer. I am going to a really good university that is one of the best in Southern California for engineering. I know I don't know as much you or many of the people do here on the boards but for my level I am actually quite efficient and normally at the top of my class. I also am pretty dang good at coding in several different languages. Like I mentioned earlier I don't know much about other operating systems outside of Windows, and that is why I haven't made any applications for the Pandora yet. I am working very hard to figure out how to make applications that are not Windows specific like _wb_ had told me. I actually don't know much about the many different libraries used with C/C++ but is SDL a good choice for programming for the Pandora or is there another I should be using? I have several great books on some of the libraries that are quite popular. One goes over Windows and direct X and a little of SDL. What exactly do you use?

Pandora is a very good learning tool

Start easy, with some simple SDL games/tool. Like start by a simple software, using SDL and SDL_image, that load a png from command line and just show it on screen. That will set you up to how to do. The point here is not coding (you said you are already quite fluant in that), but to setup a project, choose the tools (simple Makefile? project with Codeblocks? Geany?) and libs, and setup the infrastructure for coding. Once all is setup and you compile your first working software, it's "just" coding

I have gotten passed the loading an image, right now I have been working with input and mouse controls. It sure is much more sophisticated than STL and BASIC (I love love BASIC!!! too bad it isn't enough).

Good. Now move you picture on the screen using the Keyboard.

You'll need to setup a while loop, and pump the SDL_Event to get keypressed.

Once you have done that, handling of Mouse/Joystick is quite easy and just a different kind of event type.

 

[Majin Wamu]

Good. Now move you picture on the screen using the Keyboard. You'll need to setup a while loop, and pump the SDL_Event to get keypressed. Once you have done that, handling of Mouse/Joystick is quite easy and just a different kind of event type.

Yeah but gosh, with so much error handling, making one loop is like making a paragraph. When I was making games with BASIC it was so simple. Making things with SDL is like writing an essay haha. But I will catch on. Thank you for the support! How are arrays in SDL? Do they require as much as JAVA and BASIC require or is it just as scary as making a function in SDL?

 

[ptitSeb]

Good. Now move you picture on the screen using the Keyboard. You'll need to setup a while loop, and pump the SDL_Event to get keypressed. Once you have done that, handling of Mouse/Joystick is quite easy and just a different kind of event type.

Yeah but gosh, with so much error handling, making one loop is like making a paragraph. When I was making games with BASIC it was so simple. Making things with SDL is like writing an essay haha. But I will catch on. Thank you for the support! How are arrays in SDL? Do they require as much as JAVA and BASIC require or is it just as scary as making a function in SDL?

Hmmm. Array is C++ or C ob. Not SDL. And note that you can use SDL in JAVA or BASIC.

Also, you should try qb64, and it run on the Pandora too (look here for detail on how to install & use it), if you like Basic (you can do games with it, look at the samples or this PND). Or PandaBAS for a different kind of Basic.

Also, I think a @mod should split this conversation from the initial thread...