PocketPC Emulator plugin in development - Page 2

CoolCow · 06-15-2006, 05:28 PM

UPDATE

Finished:
- 2 Onyx WS skins created (1 with CF bottom control buttons visible, and 1 without wich is lager is height)
- Plugin setup menu (3 pages)
- Emulator window is embedded in CF and works
- Skin buttons created: Close, Restart, Cradle, OSK, Fullscreen
- Following buttons work: Close (and save), Restart and Fullscreen.

Todo:
- Code for Cradle
- Code for sending keystrokes to the PPC (same as below actually)
- Setup communication with the PPC (for voice controll ect.)

Issues:
Looking for an easy way to cradle. It's possible for sure by starting the manager and sending messages to cradle the PPC. But i would like to find the way how the manager cradles the emulator.

Communication could be a problem too. A way that would work for sure is to run a tcp/ip server in the plugin and a tcp/ip client on the ppc with a smartdevice app. But also i'm looking for a better way. But first i'm gonne do some research on that pocket plus thing that sama said.

Anyway, i'll make a first release soon.

CoolCow · 06-17-2006, 12:24 PM

RELEASE BETA 1.0
==============

As said, this week would be the first release.
First of all, follow this tutorial and do the exact things said:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=77149

Once done, download the plugin:
http://users.pandora.be/_freakz/ppc_...PCEmulator.zip

NOTES
=====

If you want to know what it can or can't, read this post:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...3&postcount=16

If you installed the emulator in its default directory you will only have to set a shared folder in de plugin setup to make it run.

Once the emulator has started, the settings you chose CAN NOT be changed. All setup information is stored in the image itself. If you do wich to change the setting you need to delete the file saved_state.nb0 in the PPCEmulator folder and restart it.

When you close CF, the emulator automaticly saves the ppc state and exits.

For the rest, happy testing and let me know if you find it usefull or not.

CoolCow · 06-18-2006, 06:57 AM

UPDATE
======

Added 2 options in setup menu:
- Run on startup. on = emulator starts when CF starts, off = emulator starts when you click the menu buttons
- Maintain 4:3 ratio. I forgot to add this option, its needed when you use tomtom because tomtom uses a scanline method to visualise everything. And that method requires a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Download:
http://users.pandora.be/_freakz/ppc_...PCEmulator.zip

P3rv3rt B3ar · 06-18-2006, 10:58 AM

So it seems u pull it up afterall. Have to say i made a misjudgement. Well i hope that i atleast motivated u a bit.

redbullah · 07-01-2006, 03:17 PM

Fixes:
- My app contains a bugfix for the emulator. Some USB -> Serials gps receivers are not detected by tomtom because of a bug in the emulator not opening the comport correctly. That should be solved.

Same problem. If i map serial to com1, ppc emu won't launch. I don't save my state and each time map serial0 to com1 manually. It caches gps signals immediately after that operation. Weird. It uses %95 cpu but everything works smooth and my bimmerputer can handle multitask as tomtom 5 is runing. Calculation takes a while but the poi database makes, missing tomtom in the car impossible.

@flux
I don't see where to buy CF. I assume it's not released, how can you run CF after 30days.Would you remove the warning on startup that says you have 30days left. It doesn't make sense since you can't buy retail version. I am ready to buy a CF license so if there is a tester beta whatever version let me know. If you think that app is not stable yet, you can provide a upgrade for beta users later on.

Cheerz

sama · 07-01-2006, 06:18 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by CoolCow

When you close CF, the emulator automaticly saves the ppc state and exits.

thumbs up for releasing a plugin dude, well done.

a word of warning about tomtom and saving the state automatically. it's not always a good idea. sometimes, tomotm spazes out when restoring from a state in which it was active. the reason I think is to do with how accesible the data is from disk/serial device, though I've not quite pinpointed it yet. in any case, tomtom will then not load some part and will end up freezing. there's no way to exit either.

saying that, on my real ppc phone, when tomtom freezes, I press the dial button (start button works too), which loads up the phone dialer/start menu. I then use pocket plus or some task closing utility to close tomtom and can restart it. perhaps tomtom within the emulator will respond in the same way if the dial or start menu button is pressed.

veetid · 07-03-2006, 01:04 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by redbullah

Fixes:
- My app contains a bugfix for the emulator. Some USB -> Serials gps receivers are not detected by tomtom because of a bug in the emulator not opening the comport correctly. That should be solved.

Same problem. If i map serial to com1, ppc emu won't launch. I don't save my state and each time map serial0 to com1 manually. It caches gps signals immediately after that operation. Weird. It uses %95 cpu but everything works smooth and my bimmerputer can handle multitask as tomtom 5 is runing. Calculation takes a while but the poi database makes, missing tomtom in the car impossible.

@flux
I don't see where to buy CF. I assume it's not released, how can you run CF after 30days.Would you remove the warning on startup that says you have 30days left. It doesn't make sense since you can't buy retail version. I am ready to buy a CF license so if there is a tester beta whatever version let me know. If you think that app is not stable yet, you can provide a upgrade for beta users later on.

Cheerz

Download this file...

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...4&postcount=41

Then place the .lic file in the same location as centrafuse.exe

david

redbullah · 07-03-2006, 03:16 PM

you are amazing flux
centrafuse is best the front-end that i've ever seen
i loved the custom button defining option.
and ppc works fine
now it is time to test it on carpc.
btw coolcow are you dutch or flemish?

CoolCow · 07-04-2006, 05:51 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by redbullah

you are amazing flux
centrafuse is best the front-end that i've ever seen
i loved the custom button defining option.
and ppc works fine
now it is time to test it on carpc.
btw coolcow are you dutch or flemish?

Flemish, i live in Waregem (close to Kortrijk)

I'll release another update soon that fixes some little bugs and a few more options like auto-saving.
My screen arrived today, a 12.1" touchscreen. I must install that first so i can finnaly start using my own plugin

redbullah · 07-04-2006, 11:48 AM

I set-up the plug in. ppc starts fine but tomtom is unreadable. It has something to do with aspect ratio i assume. I'll try to solve it later on. Coolcow it is a great job you did. I let you know more about bugs and issues. Thanks.

CoolCow · 07-04-2006, 03:21 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by redbullah

I set-up the plug in. ppc starts fine but tomtom is unreadable. It has something to do with aspect ratio i assume. I'll try to solve it later on. Coolcow it is a great job you did. I let you know more about bugs and issues. Thanks.

Yeah i know. TomTom only supports certain resolutions, the 4:3 aspect ratio i assumed wasn't correct. For now i've found 4 working resolutions.
But in the update there will be an extra XML where those working resolutions are defined. That way you'll be able to add/try other resolutions.

btw, where are u from?

redbullah · 07-04-2006, 04:15 PM

I've installed CF and PPCEmu on my carPC today for first time.

I wasn't able to save my state. Emulator started each time from scratch.
Emulator seemed quite slow comparing with my desktop pc.
I'll try to enlite CF for better performance. All those plugins running at the same time at start-up may cause this (specially destinator won't allow tomtom use com1 if launched on start-up).

Can you set com1 on serial0 after the state is loaded
This will prevent "unable to open comport" error
Can you disable autosave option since it takes long time.
auto don't-save command on exit would come handy
And a manual save state button you can use as tomtom is running properly
Well there might be a save state button but none of them worked for me.
Even restart ppc emulator didn't response after a while and loaded from scratch each time that's why tomtom logo didn't show-up in programs and i had to install it again.
Does device emulator manager cradles tomtom?
Can we run PPCEmu first without CF, save state and use that state permamently.
It may solve the issue

Thanks

CoolCow · 07-04-2006, 05:10 PM

Can you set com1 on serial0 after the state is loaded
This will prevent "unable to open comport" error
I have no idea why that should be done. There's an option where u can choose not to start the emulator when CF starts. Then it will start when you press the button in the main menu.

Can you disable autosave option since it takes long time.
auto don't-save command on exit would come handy
Will be a new option in the next release.

And a manual save state button you can use as tomtom is running properly
Well there might be a save state button but none of them worked for me.
Will be a new option in the next release, closing or restarting the emulator will prompt you if you want to save the state. Saving the state without closing/restarting the emulator is impossible.

Even restart ppc emulator didn't response after a while and loaded from scratch each time that's why tomtom logo didn't show-up in programs and i had to install it again.
I know, there was a little bug in the saving code, should be fixed in the next release. If you keep having this problem after the release please inform me about it.

Does device emulator manager cradles tomtom?
Not for now, the button is there but no code has been written for that. For now you can use the Device Manager that's installed with the emulator.

Can we run PPCEmu first without CF, save state and use that state permamently.
No, it's a plugin, not a standalone program. You can try creating a image with the emulator itself, but you will need to calculate the display size yourself. The emulator has strict rules about the size and when u save an image the size is permanent, it can never be changed for that image.
I recommend u to use the plugin for creating an image as it calculates the size for you.

The next release has some rewritten code for calculatin the size (as said before). The config.xml file has also changed, so when the next release comes (soon) it would be better you delete any existing images and start over.

CoolCow · 07-04-2006, 05:41 PM

RELEASE BETA 1.1
==============
UPDATES:
- Added option where u can choose to auto-save the state when closing CF.
- Added prompt windows when closing or restarting the emulator if you want to save the state.
- 4:3 aspect ratio option removed
- Added list of fixed resolutions that work with TomTom (default it's set to fullscreen, so you might want to change that). If you find other working resolutions please post them here, i'll add them to the XML.
- Fixed resolutions are saved in displaysizes.xml, if you want to add your custom resolution, just edit that file.

FIXES:
- Bugfix in the saving state code. Could lock up CF and/or the emulator.
- Some other little things.

NOTES:
Delete your current PPCEmulator folder completely!

DOWNLOAD:
http://users.pandora.be/_freakz/ppc_...PCEmulator.zip

redbullah · 07-08-2006, 01:51 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by CoolCow

RELEASE BETA 1.1
==============
UPDATES:
- Added option where u can choose to auto-save the state when closing CF.
- Added prompt windows when closing or restarting the emulator if you want to save the state.
- 4:3 aspect ratio option removed
- Added list of fixed resolutions that work with TomTom (default it's set to fullscreen, so you might want to change that). If you find other working resolutions please post them here, i'll add them to the XML.
- Fixed resolutions are saved in displaysizes.xml, if you want to add your custom resolution, just edit that file.

FIXES:
- Bugfix in the saving state code. Could lock up CF and/or the emulator.
- Some other little things.

NOTES:
Delete your current PPCEmulator folder completely!

DOWNLOAD:
http://users.pandora.be/_freakz/ppc_...PCEmulator.zip

Much better but i have a strange issue. I don't see the ok button at the bottom during the installation. I tried variously resolution combinations but they didn't seem to work. This is a small bug but installation won't complete without this button.

I didn't cache your question last time. I live in Holsbeek, very close to Aarschot. I've been in warehem several times.