Thread: A little fun with a BeagleBoard-XM, WinCE and Centrafuse

Mark what does CF compromise to be able to run on win CE?

what kind of always on-always connected features does centrafuse have? How was the general responsiveness and cpu usage on the bb xm?

Sonic: There are some differences in the System.Drawing classes that slightlly alter what you can and can't do.The web browser component is also a different version and doesn't support all the same functionality as the Win32 version. And there are some differences in System.Component model and what you're able to do with threading that you have to be aware of. All of that said though, it's pretty darn close.

I'd "guessitmate" > 95% of the code is identical to Win32. That's based on what I had to do to get my Shoutcast app playing in WinCE. Graphics and video performance are "okay", but it's CE and that's a problem in and of itself.

Trip: I don't think CF has any native "always on" features, and CE handles suspend and resume differently than Win32, so that's something that would need to be examined. The CE build of Centrafuse is strickly at the "enthusiast" level right now. There's plenty of potential, but it would take some effort on a developers part to get it up to consumer standards. I have no idea what the processor usage looks like. My crappy touchscreen aside, it was definitely more responsive than the same setup on a 400mhz Lilliput CE box I have. I won't kid anyone. it's not fast. But it is usable and with this setup, I think you could come up with a pretty compelling package.


Oh, I have Nav running on it too. Can't go into details just yet, but it does work. Bluetooth is next, but I honestly don't know what (if anything) I'll find in that area.

Cheers!

VegasGuy

How does one come by the build for Centrafuse for CE or more related to my interests: Ubuntu on ARM? I have a license for Centrafuse but right now only the x86 Windows version is available.

blafrisch: The WinCE x86, ARM and the Linux versions of Centrafuse will be available to all CF4 license holders shortly. While anyone can download it and install, there is VERY limited tech support available for these products. I think you really need to be pretty self-sufficient when it comes to CE or Linux if you're planning on doing anything with these versions. I've installed all three builds successfully, but that's more a tribute to the initial packaging, build quality and instructions than it is to my own skills.
Let's be frank, though. Centrafuse performance on WinCE is probably not going to impress anyone at this point. Think "proof of concept" rather than "daily use" and you'll be much happier with the results. Useable? Sure. Once I get all the pieces in place, I plan to take that BeagleBox out to the truck and do a full "in-dash" setup just 'cause I think it'd be pretty darn neat. But I have no illusions that the performance will be anywhere near the 3.3ghz i5 that's out there now.

Cheers!

VegasGuy

i discovered the beagleboard reading the article on engadget about the beaglebone. Immediatley i thought Car PC. Couldn't find any videos or examples until you posted your video on youtube. Im definitly going this route. thanks for Posting and keep newbies like me informed on progress

VegasGuy: That's great news! I realize that the performance isn't going to be quite there yet but I can dream. I'd just like to try to flesh something out on my Pandaboard if that's possible. It should be a little quicker than the Beagleboard xM that you are using but I still don't expect too much.

Lostangelino: There's also the Pandaboard which is a has a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU vs the single-core ARM Cortex A8 on the Beagleboard xM.

Saw the pandaboard as well like that there is HDMI going to research what it does and doesn't support. these boards are only going to get faster and faster so its diefinitly going tbe the direction im going.