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Thread: Android... that's Leenux isn't it?

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    Lifetime Member SS2win's Avatar
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    Default Android... that's Leenux isn't it?

    I'm researching DVD/Navigation head units and see a bunch of them are running ATOM processors and 'droid. I guess I could dual boot to Windows but it sure would be neat to have a native EFILive for scanning/flashing tuning. Has there been any internal interest in an Android port?
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    Lifetime Member Chevy366's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SS2win View Post
    I'm researching DVD/Navigation head units and see a bunch of them are running ATOM processors and 'droid. I guess I could dual boot to Windows but it sure would be neat to have a native EFILive for scanning/flashing tuning. Has there been any internal interest in an Android port?
    Ha, several of us have harped on Linux and would love to see a build for it, but alas Winders is the OS they choose to stay with.
    Maybe one day when Winders get to be recognized as the old OS it is and finally goes to the bottom rung, the crew at EFILive will finally think about Linux.
    2005 1500 HD , Custom OS3 SD tune .
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    Dinosaurs and Plants gave their lives so that we may drive , long live fossil fuel .

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    Lifetime Member SS2win's Avatar
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    I know at least one of the two original devs is a Linux fan/user. Times change and 'droid would be a great platform (though it could conceivably replace v2 hardware and that might be bad? )
    2001 Camaro SS
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    Lifetime Member Chevy366's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SS2win View Post
    I know at least one of the two original devs is a Linux fan/user. Times change and 'droid would be a great platform (though it could conceivably replace v2 hardware and that might be bad? )
    I don't think you could ever replace the V2 hardware/software with an Android platform, but it would be nice for us Linux users to have a install of EFILive software for it.
    I have not revisited EFILive on Linux through Wine, but last time I tried you could do almost everything except flash (couldn't get USB to work).
    2005 1500 HD , Custom OS3 SD tune .
    2006 Trailblazer
    Dinosaurs and Plants gave their lives so that we may drive , long live fossil fuel .

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    Lifetime Member GMPX's Avatar
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    Pretty sure Paul spent a lot of his time on Unix machines years ago.
    However, for all the effort to support a non Windoze OS, is it worth it?

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    Lifetime Member swingtan's Avatar
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    Android is "based on Linux"...... don't confuse the two.

    The first big issue is that many mobile device run limited or no USB controllers. So plugging in a V2 may not be possible even if you had working software and drivers.

    The Android OS has been modified and optimised for mobile / tablet based devices and in particular, the CPU's used in them. This means the code base is architectured for "ARM" hardware which is significantly different to the general "Linux X86" operating systems. Many of us have had used EFILive under Linux using applications like "wine" to emulate Windows. This works because the underlying hardware is still Intel X86 compatible and the EFILive code will run fine.

    There is no "wine" equivalent for Android at the moment. OK, there is an Alpha in the works but I don't think it's released at all. The biggest issue you have is that the ARM processors are specifically designed for small devices and power efficiency. To convert the X86 code to run on ARM, the new version of wine will need to first convert the Android OS to a "Windows like" shell, then convert the "Windows like" shell to run on ARM instead of X86. This double conversion is going to need some serious CPU power, which ARM is not designed for.....

    However! Allowing for technology improvements, it wouldn't be too long before mobile devices had sufficient CPU power to do the required work. You can get Windows 8 tablets that "should" work already, but a move to wider mobile devices is an interesting business idea. Just think, buying EFILive licenses via Google Play or the App Store....

    Given that there is little focus on getting EFILive to run under X86 Linux, I doubt there's much thought going into Android.

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    Lifetime Member GMPX's Avatar
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    Swingtan brings up a good point on the CPU architectures. I read somewhere that was part of the deciding factor for the XboxOne and PS4 to move to Intel x86 CPU's so the game developers only had to code for one CPU core type that would work on both consoles and current PC's (Win and OSX), makes perfect sense.
    I think that because something 'could' run on a mobile device doesn't mean it would actually translate well with the limited screen space and somewhat susceptible security issues.
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    Lifetime Member Chevy366's Avatar
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    http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...artphones.html
    There are Intel based Android devices now, quit fast in fact. I do agree Linux is a desktop/laptop more than Android but all are monolithic kernels (there is a Android install for Intel laptops now), I do think Android would be hard to code a .apx for EFILive.
    But as I said Winders still has the lions share which is quickly eroding as tablets replace Laptops and PCs become a cumbersome clump on the desktop.
    One day EFILive will have to move to Linux.

    Google has influenced a lot of the kernel development lately so Linux is becoming more Android than you think.
    Oh and the day Winders becomes hardened to Linux standard let me know.

    Graphene look it up, cool stuff.
    Last edited by Chevy366; April 22nd, 2014 at 01:43 PM.
    2005 1500 HD , Custom OS3 SD tune .
    2006 Trailblazer
    Dinosaurs and Plants gave their lives so that we may drive , long live fossil fuel .

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    Lifetime Member GMPX's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chevy366 View Post
    There are Intel based Android devices now, quit fast in fact.
    x86 sucks which is why majority of phones are ARM based.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chevy366 View Post
    One day EFILive will have to move to Linux.
    I hope the new owners enjoy porting it because I can't see Paul EVER doing that, and anyway for what distro? There is only what 1,000 to choose from now

    Google has influenced a lot of the kernel development lately so Linux is becoming more Android than you think.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chevy366 View Post
    Oh and the day Winders becomes hardened to Linux standard let me know.
    Common sense plays a big part in how safe your computer is too and how much market share something has. If (a big if) OSX or Linux had a 89%+ market share on desktops like Windows does then hackers would be all over them too.
    I'm not an MS fan boy but the alternatives offer no real reason to switch.
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  10. #10
    Lifetime Member swingtan's Avatar
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    A couple of issues though.....

    The Atom CPU is at best about 50% as powerful as a normal CPU. If you had the top of the range Atom CPU, it would be the equivalent of a duel core 1GHZ desktop / laptop CPU. The next CPU down, which is likely to be the one in most middle of the road tablets, is going to match a 300MHz cpu..... That's very old and slow.

    The fact still remains that USB connectivity is still not supported. If you don't need the connect directly to the V2, then "Wine" will work for nearly all other functions, but there is no Wine for Android..... Also currently, the only Android native USB driver for the chipset used in the V2, is a beta and still requires "rooting" of the device. No commercial software developer I know of will release a product that requires you to void warranty.

    Simon.

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