Author Topic: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)  (Read 158478 times)

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Offline SpiroH

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Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« on: February 07, 2015, 10:00:11 am »
Hey Guys,

You guessed it, it's a nspire_emu port to the Android mobile platform (x86!).
The performance isn't terrible and it can be fun to bring the calc within your phone stuff. So, without further ado here is an Nspiroid_xxx.apk for you.
Quite possibly not everything will be up to your liking, but that will come, time allowing. Place your boot + flash file(s) in the /scard/nspire folder and off you go.
Have fun and also a warm day, it's rather cold down here (yeah, in Portugal).

Edit1: QuickLinks
1. First version, v0.95 running on ARM CPUs, Jul11,'15
2. What you should know to use Nspiroid (start up info)
3. First stable version, v1.09 (fat) running on both x86 and ARM CPUs
4. Special version, v1.19 that runs only on the Lenovo, Yoga 2, 13.3", 2560x1440, tablet
5. Version v1.20, Jan04,'16

Edit2: Version v1.26, Mar09,'16  - external keyboard (Bluetooth) support .

Edit3: Version v1.40, May10,'16  - Keypad theming.

Offline Sorunome

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2015, 04:29:05 pm »
This is looking pretty sweet :D

THE GAME
Also, check out my website
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Offline TIfanx1999

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2015, 05:11:17 pm »
I  have nothing to test it on, but looks pretty awesome! :D

Offline SpiroH

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2015, 02:47:02 pm »
Thank you guys!  :)

I'm providing a bit more info on how to test it.
Nspiroid minimum requirements:
   - x86 base cpu (eg: Atom Z2560, 1.6GHz or more)
   - hdpi:   1280x800  ( > 160dpi < 240dpi )
   - xhdpi: 1280x720  ( > 240dpi < 320dpi )
Examples:
   hdpi:  ASUS MemoPad 176C   ( 1280x800, ~216dpi , Atom Z3745, Quad-Core 1.86GHz)
   xhdpi: ASUS ZenFone 5          ( 1280x720, ~294dpi , Z2580/Z2560, Dual-Core 2.0GHz/1.60GHz)
   xhdpi: ASUS ZenFone 6          ( 1280x720, ~245dpi , Z2580, Dual-Core 2.0GHz)

All of them are pretty affordable. Phones cost 200€ around here, brand new. 7.0" Tablets are cheaper. Maybe expensive for some ppl, idk.  :/
Of course, you can always try the HAXM emulator before buying any device, cheaper for sure, but a bit cumbersome to set up and in the end a lot slower too.  The HAXM emulator usage can be a bit scary for noobs to the Android SDK environment.

Spoiler For HAXM:
Something along these lines will be required to try Nspiroid on the Intel HAXM emulator:

   1. Download and install the Android ADT - Android Developer Toolkit
   2. Using 'Android SDK Manager' download and set up the Intel HAXM emulator.
   3. Using 'Android SDK Manager->Tools->Manage AVDs' create an Android Virtual Device (AVD) for the Intel Atom (x86) platform.
   4. Using Eclipse DDMS (Dalvik Debug Monitor Server):
      a) create a 'nspire' folder in the emulator /sdcard
      b) transfer to '/sdcard/nspire' at least: Boot1cx.img (bootloader) and T310CX_CAS.bin (flash image)
   5. Install Nspiroid using 'Android Debug Bridge' adb:
      <your_adt_dir>\sdk\platform-tools>adb install <your_download_location>\Nspiroid_v60.apk



Offline khiconmtv

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2015, 03:24:22 am »
Hope you port to ARM CPU.
Greate app...

Offline SpiroH

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2015, 03:48:05 pm »
Hi khiconmtv

On the Arm port:
As I told you sometime ago, I actually did some tests on the ARM port around August14, IIRC. Then i came to the conclusion the performance was so not good enough. Probably i won't try it again, because good and cheap x86 based phones are already available on the market. Besides, there are some difficulties when it comes to implement an efficient binary translator (aka dynarec or jit) on the ARM cpu. Here are a couple of links that partially talk about it and may help others:
http://community.arm.com/groups/processors/blog/2010/02/17/caches-and-self-modifying-code
http://wanderingcoder.net/2010/07/19/ought-arm/

About Nspiroid, v0.70:
I've touched a bit the graphics. To show it off i've grabbed two screencasts one from the ZenFone5 and another from the MemoPad ME176C:
On ZenFone5, 1.6GHz
&feature=youtu.be
[/youtube]

On MemoPad176C, 1.86GHz
&feature=youtu.be
[/youtube]

Cheers.

Offline Vogtinator

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2015, 10:51:12 am »
Quote
On the Arm port:
As I told you sometime ago, I actually did some tests on the ARM port around August14, IIRC. Then i came to the conclusion the performance was so not good enough. Probably i won't try it again, because good and cheap x86 based phones are already available on the market. Besides, there are some difficulties when it comes to implement an efficient binary translator (aka dynarec or jit) on the ARM cpu. Here are a couple of links that partially talk about it and may help others:
http://community.arm.com/groups/processors/blog/2010/02/17/caches-and-self-modifying-code
http://wanderingcoder.net/2010/07/19/ought-arm/
I coded the ARM JIT for micropython and it was ridiculously easy, easier than on x86 as every instruction is 32 bits wide.
(Anyway, it's probably better to code a LLVM jit, so other platforms are easily added).

<advert>As nspire_emu-qt uses Qt it's also fully supported to run on x86 Android phones and runs the same speed as Nspiroid on non JITed platforms. It's also 100% open source.</advert>

Offline hmacube

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2015, 07:22:38 am »
Hi
I download Nspiroid_v72.apk and Nspiroid_v60.apk and try to install it on my smart phone (Samsung Galaxy Core i8262)
But this error shown
Parsing error : There is a problem parsing the package

How can I install TI-Nspire emulator on my smartphone ?

Offline Laura No

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2015, 03:03:05 pm »
Could you send me the source I am willing to try arm an arm to arm dynarec seems very simple.
Even if you dont use a dynarec a 2.5 ghz arm phone with a gpu should be able to run it.
You could also underclock the emulated processor.

Offline SpiroH

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2015, 08:56:14 am »
Hi there,

It's been a while since my last post, so here is an update to Nspiroid (v.90):
  1. It should work on Lollipop(L) 5.0 (L still has some bugs, though  :( ). IMO, Nspiroid works best on Kitkat 4.4.2.
  2. Diagonal cursor keys can now be used on the calc graph view.
  3. Added a new alternative calculator view. E.g., in landscape mode, often used keys are all on the same side.
  4. UsbExplorer:
   a) fixed a bug when handling nspire root level files/folders.
   b) added a transfer-details label over the progressbar.
5. Last but not least, have made it slightly faster.

Have fun.

Offline SpiroH

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2015, 09:28:35 am »
Hope you port to ARM CPU.
Greate app...
Finally, i think i've got something that might interest you. Isn't very fast but should enable you to use the calculator. Please tell me what you think. You can use PM  if you want to.



Offline khiconmtv

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2015, 04:47:26 am »
Hope you port to ARM CPU.
Greate app...
Finally, i think i've got something that might interest you. Isn't very fast but should enable you to use the calculator. Please tell me what you think. You can use PM  if you want to.
Hix, it doesn't work...
Samsung Galaxy S3 4.4, Galaxy Tab 2 10" 4.3

Offline SpiroH

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2015, 09:33:01 am »
Hope you port to ARM CPU.
Greate app...
Finally, i think i've got something that might interest you. Isn't very fast but should enable you to use the calculator. Please tell me what you think. You can use PM  if you want to.
Hix, it doesn't work...
Samsung Galaxy S3 4.4, Galaxy Tab 2 10" 4.3
Hi khiconmtv,
Thank you for the feedback! Sorry for the inconvenience. Actually, i did not prepare (yet?) Nspiroid_arm to work on devices with lower resolution than 1280x720 or 1280x800.
So, it doesn't surprise me if you're having problem with "Galaxy Tab 2", which has only a 1024x600 px resolution. With regards to "Samsung Galaxy S3 4.4" (1280x720 px), i would expect it to work, though  ???.

To be honest, i only have a cheap BQ, Maxwell, 1280x800, Cortex A9, QC 1.6Hz, on which i've carried out all my arm-tests. The windows-arm emulator is so slow that i very seldomly use it.
The problem is, i don't have the devices to test. I'll look around and see if i can find more devices to test. Also, as Nspiroid_arm is still in its infancy, i hope to be able to assign to it a little more time in the future.



Offline SpiroH

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2015, 07:36:29 pm »
Here's an update to Nspiroid_arm with a couple of bug fixes. Today, i quickly tested it on (my daughter's) Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo (720x1280 px,QC 1.2GHz Cortex-A7, OS v4.4 ) and even on a semi-broken Wiko Wax (720x1280, Nvidia Tegra 4i, QC 1.7GHz, OS v4.3). In general, I'd say performance isn't too bad for a phone, e.g. on the Wiko Wax, with the 32M flash it takes 35sec to boot to the calc-home screen and with the 128M flash a bit longer 37sec.

------------------------------------------
Some Nspiroid start-up info:

I - Nspiroid default filenames used for boot1 and flash file (which i keep in /sdcard/nspire ) are:

boot1: Boot1cx.img                    - this exact filename is hard-coded in Nspiroid!
flash:  T310CX_CAS_N128.bin   - this can later be changed via 'File-->Load flash...'

boot1: Legally, must be extracted from your ti-nspire calc. I'm not allowed to distribute it. So, please don't ask.
flash: Use a desktop emulator nspire_emu or kArmTI to initialize a flash file.

II - Where is the sdcard? (boring stuff, i know)

On many devices the path /sdcard is mapped to the external card device. However, on other devices (namely, the Samsung S3 Neo but i guess other Samsung devices follow the same pattern) the same path /sdcard is mapped to the internal card. This implies that people with Samsung devices (many, i gather) need to create a 'nspire' folder in the internal sdcard and copy there, at least, Boot1cx.img and T310CX_CAS_N128.bin.

III - No emu/calc reaction to key touches

If after some idle time the emu/calc does not react to key touches, maybe it has entered the battery save mode. Click on the Home key to wake it up.
------------------------------------------

I hope this time it will work for some people, at least. There's such a large variety of hardware that, etc...
Again, have fun!


Offline diebold

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Re: Nspiroid - TI-Nspire emulator on Android (ZenFone 5)
« Reply #14 on: July 29, 2015, 03:38:56 pm »
Hi
Please change vertical offset key sensor, it very low on my galaxy note 3. Thank you!