Android-x86 developments and issues

Puppy related raves and general interest that doesn't fit anywhere else
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cthisbear
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#31 Post by cthisbear »

" The internal drive is 4 GB, and Windows hardly fit on it, and Win XP
w SP3 did not fit."

Ah! these are the moments when typing up >> Windows Tiny7 Rev01.

Based on: Windows 7 Ultimate..cd size install.

and Tiny XP >> 99 mbs installed..by >> eXPerience

may have given you some joy.

Ahem!!! from what I have heard.

Chris.

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nubc
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#32 Post by nubc »

I tried the Calendar widget, and it placed itself on the Home page, and I tried vainly to remove it. Tried to force stop it from Settings, no joy. Finally asked around, and learned the trick, so typical of Google coders, convoluted and non-intuitive. You left click the icon and hold, until the word "Remove" appears, then drag the icon to the word, and release. This might make sense to a Mac user, but I am totally ignorant about Macs.
Last edited by nubc on Wed 16 Oct 2013, 15:38, edited 1 time in total.

jpeps
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Joined: Sat 31 May 2008, 19:00

#33 Post by jpeps »

nubc wrote:I tried the Calender widget, and it placed itself on the Home page, and I tried vainly to remove it. Tried to force stop it from Settings, no joy. Finally asked around, and learned the trick, so typical of Google coders, convoluted and non-intuitive. You left click the icon and hold, until the word "Remove" appears, then drag the icon to the word, and release. This might make sense to a Mac user, but I am totally ignorant about Macs.
:) Don't forget, you're replicating a touch pad. It's standard procedure to hold an icon for an option menu to appear. Don't blame the tools.

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nubc
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#34 Post by nubc »

Android must be made for young people, I can't read the small print, even when I change the font to Large in Settings. I find myself constantly using a magnifying glass just to read text. Does the resident browser have an easily accessed setting like Seamonkey's (View > Zoom)? Would be nice to change font size from the browser, what the browser displays, and be able to quicky restore previous size. Oh, I see: tapping the page (touchpad) makes it larger or smaller. Alternately, two taps to make the page incrementally larger, then two taps to make it incrementally smaller.

I started the camera in a dark room, and the pointer (touchpad) froze. After a minute or so, I finally turned the light on, and then the eeePC spontaneously rebooted. The camera is apparently motion-activated and lack of motion (pitch black) causes a general freeze. I was trying to put the camera on an illuminated computer screen in the dark room.
Last edited by nubc on Fri 18 Oct 2013, 13:31, edited 2 times in total.

jpeps
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#35 Post by jpeps »

nubc wrote:Android must be made for young people, I can't read the small print, even when I change the font to Large in Settings
Android uses pinch functions on the touchpad to zoom. That's probably not working yet on your linux adaptation.

gcmartin

#36 Post by gcmartin »

Anyone who does NOT have or ever owned any Android (that is; xPhone or xTab or xTV) would benefit to stop at your local Department/Computer/Telco Cell store to have a demo.

What you may pay attention to is how they demonstrate touch use to you. (Most elderly people "completely miss" the understanding of the "BACK" button, thus leading to some frustration. There is ONLY back....not forward ability, per se.

But, if you get it, then all becomes apparent in how these systems work.

ALSO, there is NO mouse button 2 equivalent in 99% of all xBoxes; thus everything is single mousing.

Android, even x86, would benefit from the use of a touch monitor. Certainly, the camera on a laptop is a plus, too.

Remember, the system intends toward a fingertip management approach.

Lastly, ALL applications designed in Android are oriented around something occurring on a display where the started app will sit, "listening" for an event from the user. That event, even the back button, signals something to do.

Enjoy your Android experience....NOT as a Linux experience....but as a redesigned OS that gets its base from a Linux. Thus, its base design orients around screens and events on screen. It comes with a base set of applications ready to run on the Android operating system on whatever device(s) you run it on. If its from some vendor, say Samsung, it will deliver with the apps they decided to give you OOTB. The rest, you'll add as YOU see fit without any need for understand how to install or setup. Each app is self contained and IS NOT dependent on anything except the base system.

Hope this helps anyone in LInux who has not had a moment with an xDevice to get a simple start.

Here to help

gcmartin

xSmart devices vs PCs running Android x86

#37 Post by gcmartin »

Most Android (and xSmart devices) has this:
  • Wifi antenna
  • Cell antenna
  • Blue-tooth antenna
  • GPS antenna
  • NFC antenna
  • Accelerometer (to determine which orientation you are holding your device)
  • FM antenna
  • Not to mention
    1. camera(s)
    2. touch screen
When you plan your Android use, do you see which of these your system may/may not have?

Don't know how far into the future it will occur, but Intel and AMD have experimented with x86 micro-boards which would "mirror" antennas, where an Android x86 has complete replicated functionality. Such a system would accommodate, fully, the Android x86 project. For now, it remains a proof of concept.

I believe that originally, some sort to have this distro as a development platform. But, the major system changes in Android from one-release to the next has caused issues with not just the OS, but also with App development. Newest 4.4 continues this problem as they deprecate or change support of features of application architecture causing issues with old programs.

Linux community developers are no stranger to this. In fact, all developers, no matter which OS, understand this and are often frustrated by this.

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don570
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#38 Post by don570 »

Lenova will soon have a Android 4.2 laptop

http://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mob ... nglish.pdf

______________________________________________________

jpeps
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Re: xSmart devices vs PCs running Android x86

#39 Post by jpeps »

gcmartin wrote:I believe that originally, some sort to have this distro as a development platform. But, the major system changes in Android from one-release to the next has caused issues with not just the OS, but also with App development. Newest 4.4 continues this problem as they deprecate or change support of features of application architecture causing issues with old programs.
Having automatic updates helps. When you search for apps, they will generally tell you if your devices are compatible

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L18L
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font size on terminal

#40 Post by L18L »

nubc,

font size in terminal can be configured (click the 3 dots top right of screen)

android-4.3-x86
Last edited by L18L on Thu 17 Oct 2013, 07:39, edited 1 time in total.

jpeps
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#41 Post by jpeps »

gcmartin wrote:
What you may pay attention to is how they demonstrate touch use to you. (Most elderly people "completely miss" the understanding of the "BACK" button, thus leading to some frustration. There is ONLY back....not forward ability, per se.
Since devices generally use only one screen (activity) at a time, the previous screen is usually dormant and can be brought to the front (made active) simply by closing out of the present screen. The developer has the option of closing previous activities when the new screen (activity) is loaded.

note: some devices, like the Samsung Note, have adopted the more familiar multi-windows approach, which will require writing apps in a different way.

amigo
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#42 Post by amigo »

Yes, 'normal' android is not multi-tasking. Only the top-most app is running, while ones below are 'cached'.

gcmartin

#43 Post by gcmartin »

Thx
...(click the 3 dots top right of screen)
Yes, This item on screen BOTH in X86 (Android) and xPhone/xTab/xTV for version 4.3+ in known as the the "Overflow" button. This is available to developers to signal additional stuff not on-screen. Thus, users discover this as their use expands in Android 4.x+ implementations of applications. Expect that this is how future (at least for the near-term) applications will exhibit. Those applications not exhibiting this was developed by developers who are still unaware of how to implement it.
... Only the top-most app is running, while ones below are 'cached'
Yes. AND, Additional changes are afoot in the base OS. Noticed side by side implementation in such devices as xTV as a visual indication. The "stack" is undergoing changes as versions move forward and newer CPU-RAM chipsets are becoming available.

Anyone else noticed the EXPANSION this week of xSmart device advertising in both print and multimedia? The public push is on!

Edit: 1 word typo
Last edited by gcmartin on Fri 18 Oct 2013, 07:14, edited 1 time in total.

jpeps
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#44 Post by jpeps »

amigo wrote:Yes, 'normal' android is not multi-tasking. Only the top-most app is running, while ones below are 'cached'.
Yes, although this is largely a windows management issue, since you can have any number of apps running in the backround if you simply return to the home screen without closing them out. Thus, they'll be right where you left off when you return.
gcmartin wrote: Expect that this is how future (at least for the near-term) applications will exhibit. Those applications not exhibiting this was developed by developers who are still unaware of how to implement it.
:) Developers typically write layouts for both landscape and portrait modes, so probably understand how to implement.

amigo
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#45 Post by amigo »

"apps running in the backround" is not acurate at this time -the apps are cached which means their state is saved and can be immediately restored by bringing the app to the 'foreground'. This is not the same as multi-tasking, because an android app which is backgrounded is not 'running'.

gcmartin

#46 Post by gcmartin »

This is offered as a position of clarity in language. The apps that are lower on the stack ARE in the background, but their listeners are still active as well as updates that occur in listener events are still occurring. Thus a background app is stil active, per se, just not in the foreground. This is one difference between Android and IOS. So when an app is moved from its run state to its PAUSE state, if designed, it will save state information with its listeners active while waiting for it to be repositioned to the top of the stack.(I think you are all meaning the same thnig,though)

The newer FRAGMENT approaches in application design has brought additional options to applications than was initially conceived. Here is one area where developers now need to redesign old applications to take advantage of this new framework.

And YES, Android can be thought of as a single stack version of Linux. ... currently.

jpeps
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#47 Post by jpeps »

amigo wrote:"apps running in the backround" is not acurate at this time -the apps are cached which means their state is saved and can be immediately restored by bringing the app to the 'foreground'. This is not the same as multi-tasking, because an android app which is backgrounded is not 'running'.
If you look in settings/apps/running you'll see a list of all apps that are "running." It's not a bad idea to install an apps manager to increase battery time.

edit: Android actually manages RAM, prioritizing what to keep running (i.e, system over 3rd party apps). Lots going on beneath the surface...
gcmartin wrote: The newer FRAGMENT approaches in application design has brought additional options to applications than was initially conceived. Here is one area where developers now need to redesign old applications to take advantage of this new framework.
I think it would be hard to find an app that doesn't adapt to screensize (e.g, portrait vs landscape). You can imagine the reviews if it didn't. The FRAGMENT class is what's used.

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nubc
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#48 Post by nubc »

I was able to reboot the eeePC from command line with

Code: Select all

su
reboot
However, the command for shutdown is not so straightforward in Android. It seems coders at Google have done things conversely. Instead of the Unix/Linux command 'shutdown -r' for reboot, you have 'reboot -p' ,where p is power off, in Android. This command causes an immediate cessation of activity, resulting in improper shutdown because there wasn't time to save settings. A workaround is to insert a delay, but how exact/efficient could this be?

Code: Select all

su
reboot -d 8 -p
The above shutdown command probably doesn't work. I'll correct it when I determine the right code. I should point out that you don't really need to shutdown from command line because Power Off is available in the Settings app. On the other hand, you do need the command line for Reboot, which is not available in Settings.

jpeps
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#49 Post by jpeps »

nubc wrote:I was able to reboot the eeePC from command line with

Code: Select all

su
reboot
However, the command for shutdown is not so straightforward in Android. It seems coders at Google have done things conversely. Instead of the Unix/Linux command 'shutdown -r' for reboot, you have 'reboot -p' ,where p is power off, in Android. This command causes an immediate cessation of activity, resulting in improper shutdown because there wasn't time to save settings. A workaround is to insert a delay, but how exact/efficient could this be?
I think you're forgetting that your basically running an emulator. Android is build for devices using a touchscreen. There can be a number of apps running in pause mode at any time. You don't generally "reboot" a device very often, and when you do, it shuts down the apps quite nicely. You don't use keyboard shortcuts to reboot...you hold down a button...Okay??

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nubc
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#50 Post by nubc »

I don't want to discourage your valuable input, jpeps, but the goal of the Android-x86 project is: "To provide complete solution for Android on Eee PC platforms first and then to provide solutions for common x86 platforms as well." I am considering purchasing a refurbished Craig CLP285 Netbook, which runs Android 4.1 (factory). That's two devices running Android with touchpad instead of touchscreen. I am concerned about my Craig tablet, as it took many many tries to get it to operate properly. I gave the power button a real workout, and I was not the first owner to do so. If and when the power button breaks, the device will be useless, primarily because it's not worth fixing. That's why I am interested in finding a command line solution to shutting it down, to spare the power button any more wear and tear (fatigue). It's enough to use the power button to turn the tablet on.

Ten basic Android terminal commands you should know
http://www.androidcentral.com/android-2 ... hould-know
Last edited by nubc on Fri 25 Oct 2013, 21:39, edited 2 times in total.

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