OS???

[HTel]

Gamebuino is a (almost completely) hardware based console. What if a program had the possibility to reach data on an SD? This could be a possibility for an OS, or fast(er) game saves. It boots up and your OS could be an way to run games, without going on the internet and downloading a library! What do you guys think?

[rodot]

You can already switch between games from the micro SD card. An OS would take a lot of resources, don't forget that a Gamebuino only has 2KB of RAM. And there is no way it would make things go faster as it would add some CPU load. But if you really want to put an OS on your Gamebuino, you should take a look at Femto OS

[DFX2KX]

As rodot says, you'd be loosing some power by running and OS. You'd have the ability to execute code from SD and not burn as many writes on your atmel chip, but.... you get 10k or so write cycles before it quits, that's a lot for a little console.

I could see a simple 'game' that interprets a sub-language of python or something being doable, but the games that ran on this 'os' would be rather limited.

[HTel]

Wow, well 10 write cycles might be cool. Just restart the console after certain moments. Battery might be a problem, though I have USB ports all around in my home. I got interested on writing gamebuino programs, text documents, and looking at sites(site managing could be impossible).

[DFX2KX]

Wow, well 10 write cycles might be cool. Just restart the console after certain moments. Battery might be a problem, though I have USB ports all around in my home. I got interested on writing gamebuino programs, text documents, and looking at sites(site managing could be impossible).

10,000, not ten. And that means 'how many times can I burn a game to the EPROM' That's ten thousand game installs. The only thing you'd gain from an OS would be expanding that. As for battery, it's good for 20+hours.

[rodot]

10,000, not ten. And that means 'how many times can I burn a game to the EPROM'

Not the EEPROM, the flash memory actually.

I'm afraid you guys are misunderstanding the purpose of an OS. According to wikipedia, "An operating system (OS) is software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs". It's a layer between the hardware and the software. For example, FemtOS provides multi-tasking and RAM management. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you're talking about is an interpreter which could run Games directly from the micro SD card.

[DFX2KX]

10,000, not ten. And that means 'how many times can I burn a game to the EPROM'

Not the EEPROM, the flash memory actually.

I'm afraid you guys are misunderstanding the purpose of an OS. According to wikipedia, "An operating system (OS) is software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs". It's a layer between the hardware and the software. For example, FemtOS provides multi-tasking and RAM management. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you're talking about is an interpreter which could run Games directly from the micro SD card.

okay, yeah, an interpreter is a better word. And yeah, flash, sorry... I knew it did have limited uses, but that limit was so high, that trying to use an interpreter to avoid writing to flash would be a bit pointless.

[rodot]

Moreover thanks to the emulator you won't have to flash your game hundreds of times during the development process. Also 10k cycles is a lower limit, it's often at least 100k.

[DFX2KX]

Moreover thanks to the emulator you won't have to flash your game hundreds of times during the development process. Also 10k cycles is a lower limit, it's often at least 100k.

indeed. given the 'code, compile, test' method I tend to use, not having to worry about needless wear and tear on my hardware is very good. And it's possible to replace the CPU, if you do somehow manage to blow it out... it's a surface mount, so it'd be a pain, but it's possible.

[HTel]

I am well aware: an OS is a piece of software that "runs" or mostly de-crypts code to binary and lets the system function in a way. The hardware is going to load the current game in memory, so I figured a feature adder, or an MS-DOS type application runner. Already made 1 version in .bat and C++.