Author Topic: nSpiKx - TI-Nspire emulator for Mac OS X (Cocoa)  (Read 76663 times)

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Offline SpiroH

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #60 on: January 26, 2013, 01:06:11 pm »
Question: WHat is the purpose of the PDF files that includes just 1 image each in the zip file? Is PDF used as an image format for the images used by the emulator?
It's just the image format Apple likes the toolbar icons to be so that they scale better. My favourite is .png, which i've also tried, but the icons didn't look as good. I would prefer to put all them inside a single image-list bitmap .png, as we do in windows, but i've not found yet (didn't bother either) a way to do it.

Offline SpiroH

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #61 on: January 28, 2013, 10:35:01 am »
Basically a bug-fixing release due to recent 'Mountain Lion' issues.
 
It looks more stable to me.
PS: ML is quite lazy to start-up, it takes ages when compared to good old SL (period).
Oh well, i guess it's just life unfolding in front of our eyes... :)


Offline Streetwalrus

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #62 on: January 28, 2013, 01:05:48 pm »
ML is quite lazy to start-up, it takes ages when compared to good old SL (period).
I told you it was a monster. :P Lion was, but not as much.

Offline SpiroH

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #63 on: January 31, 2013, 12:45:18 am »
Quote
I told you it was a monster. :P Lion was, but not as much.

Added support for unaligned memory accesses. You should be able to run the console emulator gpSP inside nSpiKx emulator. Yeah, a lot of emulation. Oh well, 'Mountain Lion' is said to be a strong beast. Have some fun and please report any issues you would like to see fixed. Cheers.

Edit: Here is a little gpSP video demo 1m32s (.mov): nSpiKx_v4_gpSP-Demo


Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #64 on: January 31, 2013, 11:55:19 pm »
Looks pretty nice :D

Offline floris497

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #65 on: February 07, 2013, 12:28:39 pm »
is it possible to get this to the iPad as well?

Offline Streetwalrus

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #66 on: February 07, 2013, 12:47:54 pm »
Probably since Mac OS X and iOS share a large part of their core libraries (namely Cocoa, which this app uses, and Cocoa touch). But :
1) I doubt it will be done before this port is finished.
2) It probably won't be accepted on the AppStore so you'll need to jailbreak.

Offline floris497

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #67 on: February 07, 2013, 01:39:56 pm »
was thinking the same, i understood the code was not available, i would like to help making it for iOS.

if you do not deliver the boot1/boot2 files with it, and also no other ti stuff why would they reject it?


Offline Streetwalrus

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #68 on: February 07, 2013, 02:00:51 pm »
Because Apple rules for apps are very strict and they most likely won't accept emulators because it opens a breach to run arbitrary stuff w/o jailbreaking (even if it's sandboxed).
Also, where did you get this pic from ? *.*
« Last Edit: February 07, 2013, 02:01:56 pm by Streetwalker »

Offline floris497

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #69 on: February 07, 2013, 02:07:24 pm »
made it myself :) just with interface builder.

Offline SpiroH

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #70 on: February 07, 2013, 03:07:54 pm »
... i would like to help making it for iOS.
Well, I guess the idea (iPad port) is somewhat attractive at first, but there are some difficulties along the way that would need to be tackled first:

1. We need to keep in mind that iPad and most of the Android devices are based on the ARM cpu and not on the x86 cpu for which nspire_emu is coded. Much of the nspire_emu memory access code is implemented in x86 assembly. So that, at least, would have to be re-written by someone with deep knowledge of both architectures. This fact poses not minor difficulties, as already mentioned by Goplat here: http://ourl.ca/9360/333346 and elsewhere on the net, e.g.: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1732394/differences-between-arm-assembly-and-x86-assembly . Google <sometimes> is your friend. ;)

2. Probably a first step towards that solution would consist on porting nspire_emu to an ARM cpu. I guess some 'windows8' implementations already run on top of ARM cpus but personally I'm not familiar with it.

3. So, I would suggest someone finds a window8 machine that runs on an ARM cpu and fiddles with the open-source nspire_emu code to try to port it. This step requires quite some assembly language expertise as said above.

4. Porting the GUI should not be much of a problem although it requires some time.

5. Last but not least, the AppleStore/GoogleStore stuff really sucks, IMO, but i guess we'll have to learn to live with it for a while…

Good Luck!

Offline floris497

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #71 on: February 07, 2013, 03:16:17 pm »
hm, thats a little to hard for me i think... getting it from x86 to ARM seems a really difficult job...
but the nSpire is running arm itself so wouldn't it be easier to emulate?

Offline Lionel Debroux

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #72 on: February 07, 2013, 03:27:11 pm »
Quote
and fiddles with the open-source nspire_emu code to try to port it
The open-source nspire_emu code is indeed a better starting point for fiddling than your closed-source forks, because it's, well, open-source :)

Quote
5. Last but not least, the AppleStore/GoogleStore stuff really sucks, IMO, but i guess we'll have to learn to live with it for a while…
Some people thought that selling your closed-source forks on an app store was the motivation for making them closed-source... but it seems that they were wrong.
Member of the TI-Chess Team.
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #73 on: February 07, 2013, 03:58:26 pm »
I don't know about Google Store, but to release something on AppleStore you need to pay $99, right? Is that an annual fee or is it one-time? Still, it's expensive if you want to release something for free.

Also emulators are not allowed on Apple Store. This is why stuff like WabbitEmu don't exist for iOS devices. If you are gonna make nSpiKx for iOS device, you're gonna be limited to those who jailbreak their device and release it on Cydia or whatever other download app there is for jailbroken devices. I am not even sure if it's possible to offer ad-free applications for free on AppleStore. On Xbox Live Indie store, I never saw a single game that was free since they don't allow it, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Apple did it too.

Android might be a better option. TI is certainly not gonna make their new mobile emulator for Android in short terms as they just released an iPad version and are working on the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition, so an Android port of KarmTI, nspire_emu or nSpiKx would be welcome (although I bet this might be a lot of work, so it's up to anyone to decide if he wants to take on such project :))
« Last Edit: February 07, 2013, 03:59:21 pm by DJ_O »

Offline floris497

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Re: nSpiKx - TI-nSpire emulator for Mac os x (Cocoa)
« Reply #74 on: February 07, 2013, 04:19:22 pm »
you can make apps free without adds and you have to pay $99 once a year.
there must be a way to get it in a legal way.. i hope.

but it must be programed  first...
« Last Edit: February 07, 2013, 04:19:34 pm by floris497 »