Android-Based Console OS Available For Download

[chithanh]

The only one I know of lacking support for latest kernel versions is AMD. Do you have any other examples?

Almost every proprietary driver has stopped working with newer kernels at some point. Maybe you can name a few proprietary drivers which are continually updated to newer kernels?

For example, Intel EMGD/IEGD proprietary drivers (for GMA500/Poulsbo) stopped working around kernel 2.6.33 (with third-party patches up to kernel 3.2 available). Intel cdv (for GMA3600/Cedar View) officially supports kernel 3.1 only but with patching can be made to work with kernel 3.9.

NVidia is ok if you look at their x86 driver. But for older Tegra chipsets the Linux situation is as bad as with Intel.

[robclark]

Both AMD and Intel are open-sourcing their drivers. For various reasons, the Intel open-source driver doesn't work well with Android right now. These are short-term problems.

I had high hopes for android devices with intel graphics, but somehow intel seems to be pushing their closed src driver on android. Take a look at the gl vendor strings:

http://delphigl.de/glcapsviewer/gles_listreports.php?searchstring=intel&filterfield=renderer&sortby=

I never expected that they would drop the ball like that :-(

Somehow android seems to be really good at bringing everything I disliked about windows to linux

[duby229]

The only one I know of lacking support for latest kernel versions is AMD. Do you have any other examples?

Do you actually want me to try and list all of the USB devices, Wifi controllers, Display adapters, etc that have terrible proprietary driver support? Really?

[duby229]

The tech demos on the Console OS Wiki are mostly Unreal Engine 4 game demos, some ported from Xbox/PS4 targets.

So yeah, our goal is to take mainstream 2-in-1 hardware and arm it with OpenGL ES elements that scale better. So you can have one game/purchase that scales from smartphone, to tablet, to PC/PC-Tablet and eventually to an Android mainstream console.

And as to drivers, yeah, we advocate for OSS when we meet with vendors. We have a lot less clout than people think - we have to get millions of people using Console OS before we get an ounce of clout.

Vendors all tell us the same thing, mostly. OSS costs money when it comes to drivers. Tons of due diligence. You have to prove the market, prove that there's demand for OSS drivers, and then prove that something cool will happen that boosts sales at the end of the tunnel for undertaking the effort.

Android is a major reason why AMD and NV are leaning more open-source, I can say that. IoT is helping too.

There isn't anything more that can be asked from you, so thank you.

The thing is, most of us here on Phoronix do in fact try to keep our kernels and userspaces current. That's just not possible with the majority of proprietary drivers. So in the end it'll pay out big time to support OSS drivers. After all it is people just like us that are selling linux based products to our customers. If you can make us happy, then most of us will try hard to make you happy. That is buy your products personally and professionally.

[droidhacker]

Hi everyone, as the last reply mentioned, we are working on taking Console OS open-source.

The big difference between Console OS and Android-x86.org is the closed-source drivers and frameworks. I'd compare it to Ubuntu vs Debian. Ubuntu includes proprietary drivers as an option, and when you enable it -- things work a lot better.

No they don't. Those blob drivers (I presume that you are referring to GPU drivers) work absolutely horribly.

Unfortunately, stakeholders in the industry have to get their heads around what we're trying to do - make Android viable on the PC, and then get them to the point of signing off on our technical plan to offer their frameworks and drivers in binary blob form.

How do you define a "PC"?
My definition includes tables and non-x86 CPUs, which is where the "light PC" market is heading anyway. Android really doesn't suit technical users to begin with, at least not as a production machine, and non-technical users are migrating away from stationary hardware altogether.

Which really means that the only objective of this project, is to repurpose "old" hardware.

You aren't going to get hardware vendor's to dump in large investments for repurposing old hardware -- their bottom line doesn't benefit except through the sales of NEW hardware.

It's a process. And not an easy one. But we know the average Phoronix reader loves open source, and we love it too. We're moving as fast as we can on that front.

So to paraphrase... you ARE a clone of android-x86, but with a bunch of blobs thrown in to make life miserable.

[droidhacker]

Well, we agree. And eventually we'll be able to give people choice between open and closed source.

Both AMD and Intel are open-sourcing their drivers. For various reasons, the Intel open-source driver doesn't work well with Android right now. These are short-term problems.

"are" open sourcing? No. They HAVE WRITTEN NEW open source drivers.
It is also unclear what you mean by "the intel open-source driver doesn't work well with Android right now"... the hell are you talking about? Intel and AMD open source GPU drivers work VERY well with Android-x86. Better than ANY blob driver works for Android.

We have no problem with letting people use open-source drivers where they work. There is a big limitation that Android doesn't let you change drivers currently. We've told Google ATAP about this and they share those concerns (Project Ara, for example, will eventually require Android to have driver modularity).

Hilarious.
TRULY hilarious.
Switching GPU drivers on Android is fairly trivial. Android x86 does this very well.

Right now, we have to prove the market. We have to show that an Android game on an Intel Core 2-in-1 is actually more fun to play than a PC game on similar hardware. And it is. But we have to get a couple million people enjoying that experience before the industry will back us. Which is what the industry has told us. And that's led us to shipping Console OS early.

Why? This doesn't solve any problems. User prefers a tablet over a stationary heap of old fashioned junk.