Porting on CHIP (one board PC - RaspberryPi-like)

[Qaza]

Can we wait porting on CHIP, one board PC with 1000MHz CPU and 500MB RAM? I think with this hardware, that near to Open Pandora, it will work good on CHIP or PocketCHIP (handheld PC with CHIP in core, 480x272 LCD and QWERTY keyboard).

[TkSilver]

The major difference is that like a console Pandora was limited to only a very small handful of options when it came to hardware. More options introduces more code complexity which necessitates heaver code that bogs down lower powered hardware. Even being able to code for a certain resolution can make a program run that much better when you have to scrape together every last clock cycle and MB of ram.

The last issue is which os it would be programed for.... because if it was linux why would people buy it for android if they coukd juat dual boot linux on their computer and run it. Not to mention normal linux distros are a bit heavier then open pandora's stripped down custom angstrom distro.

[Qaza]

The major difference is that like a console Pandora was limited to only a very small handful of options when it came to hardware. More options introduces more code complexity which necessitates heaver code that bogs down lower powered hardware. Even being able to code for a certain resolution can make a program run that much better when you have to scrape together every last clock cycle and MB of ram.

I think there is no problem because original Pandora have only 600MHz CPU and 256MB of RAM. PocketCHIP (and CHIP too) have 1GHz and 512MB RAM - more than original Pandora or like 1GHz edition. PocketCHIP have stretched down version of Linux too, resolution of PocketCHIP is 480x272 - lower than Pandora, so FPS will be ~x2 or more. PocketCHIP page

[ericbazinga]

I've seen videos on the CHIP, and that thing couldn't even emulate an NES game 60fps. Soooooo nope.

[TkSilver]

I think there is no problem because original Pandora have only 600MHz CPU and 256MB of RAM. PocketCHIP (and CHIP too) have 1GHz and 512MB RAM - more than original Pandora or like 1GHz edition. PocketCHIP have stretched down version of Linux too, resolution of PocketCHIP is 480x272 - lower than Pandora, so FPS will be ~x2 or more. PocketCHIP page

You skipped over the fact that the pocket chip is only one set of hardware that the chip singleboard computer can be connected to. The chip can use it's builtin composit connection or through an addon board connect via vga or hdmi so the actual resolution of a random sample of chip users could have completely random hardware attached.
The simpliest comparison to what you are asking would be if you attached a touchscreen to the CHIP and loaded android os on it. If you then bought and ran DraStic on the same A13 chipset that chip uses ..... it would be a sub optimal experience

Q: What are the minimum/recommended requirements to run DraStic?
A: You need an Android device with the following specifications:
CPU: An ARMv7a processor and NEON support is preferred. This includes any Cortex-A7, Cortex-A8, Cortex-A9, Cortex-A15, Scorpion, or Krait processors. Cortex-A5 processors will work but will often be slow. ARM11, and MIPS processors are not compatible. Tegra 2 and Intel Atom are also supported, but will use a less optimized code path than the ARM/NEON version, so they're slower.
RAM: At least 256MB on the device. Ideally over 128MB free.
Display: At least 320x480 is recommended (higher is better)
OS: Android Gingerbread version 2.3.3 or higher

Q: How fast should I expect DraStic to be?
A: It varies greatly depending on the game you're trying to run. A device with 1GHz Cortex-A8 will run many games with a fair amount of frameskip. A 1.4+GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 will run most games with little or no frameskip most of the time.

This would be the more acccurate comparison and indicator of possible performance then the openpandora one. It also would be more likely since it would not be releasing DraStic for free on to an OS that could be loaded on any number of devices thus cannibalizing Android app sales.

[Qaza]

You skipped over the fact that the pocket chip is only one set of hardware that the chip singleboard computer can be connected to. The chip can use it's builtin composit connection or through an addon board connect via vga or hdmi so the actual resolution of a random sample of chip users could have completely random hardware attached.
The simpliest comparison to what you are asking would be if you attached a touchscreen to the CHIP and loaded android os on it. If you then bought and ran DraStic on the same A13 chipset that chip uses ..... it would be a sub optimal experience

I'm talking about version only for PocketCHIP, like Pico-8 now. Yes, now I'm using my CHIP with composite connection, resolution is 648x432, I'm know what I'm talking about.

This would be the more acccurate comparison and indicator of possible performance then the openpandora one. It also would be more likely since it would not be releasing DraStic for free on to an OS that could be loaded on any number of devices thus cannibalizing Android app sales.

Yeah, I think that main problem. But that was version for Open Pandora, OP can run Android (at now CHIP can't and maybe never will) and paid Android version of DraStic. I've created topic on CHIP forum, leave link to unpacked .pnd - Pandora version (asking someone to test before I have CHIP) and Google Play page. It's 14 clicks for Android ver. and 69 for Pandora. If it will be disclaimer "Please, buy Android version if you use CHIP version", I think Exophase (don't know his real name) will get some extra bucks.

[Exophase]

Single core 1GHz Cortex-A8 can be okay for a lot of games, as it is on the 1GHz Pandora, but a really big component of how well it'll work is how much CPU power is needed to get graphics on the screen. On Pandora it's very little since it uses a display controller surface directly, but on other devices where it has to upload an OpenGL ES texture there can be a lot of overhead. Overhead that can't be soaked up by another core. The low resolution screen, on the other hand, doesn't really save anything, much less does it make the emulator twice faster.

Like with Pandora I wouldn't really be worried about a platform like this cannibalizing sales, but unlike with Pandora (and Pyra) I don't have any personal interest in the PocketCHIP. In particular it seems like it wouldn't be that great because the resolution is not enough to show both DS screens without sacrificing pixels or while providing much in the way of orientation options. The controls also don't strike me as all that great, yeah it has some buttons set aside for a d-pad but that's not really how you make a good d-pad..

Still kind of a neat device, looks unlike anything else I've seen at this price point, so I wouldn't totally put it off the table. Particularly if Lordus is interested at all (but he probably has enough ARM Linux boards already)