KwaiStub 0.1 is Out

[ARCHIVED] About PearPC, a mostly obsolete PPC Mac emulator for Windows and Linux to run MacOS X 10.1 up to 10.4. Using QEMU is now recommended.

Moderators: Cat_7, Ronald P. Regensburg

User avatar
chelios
Inquisitive Elf
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:36 am

KwaiStub 0.1 is Out

Post by chelios »

I just released a little tiny program for PearPC called "KwaiStub" which is actually part of the bigger full GUI i'm making for it, called Kwai.

What KwaiStub does is remove the need to keep the command box with the console open all the time you're running PearPC. It's very small (80KB) and in my debugging it's actually made PPC start a little quicker...i guess it's up to people out there if they want to use this or just wait for me to finish my whole thing or whatever.

It's a convienience app more than anything, sort of like a lightweight version of the GUI. Read the NFO for more details.

Enjoy

Download at: http://www.animaterobot.com/KwaiStub-0.1.rar

EDIT:
The program needs .NET Framework 2.0 to work. If you don't have it, you can get it from Microsoft here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

Sorry about the inconvienience, but that's M$ for ya :)

Also, i just tested running PPC with Kwai and with the normal command box and it starts up about a minute quicker on my machine using Kwai :)
Last edited by chelios on Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
ClockWise
Site Admin
Posts: 4404
Joined: Mon May 20, 2002 4:37 am
Location: Uiwang

Post by ClockWise »

Thank you. I put up a link on the front page.
eaglebtc
Inquisitive Elf
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2004 3:54 am

Post by eaglebtc »

What is the name of the config file that Kwai is looking for? i'm not using the suggested "default.cfg" and so PearPC is looking for "linux.img" which I don't have ;)

Never mind, you seem to be using "ppccfg.example"
User avatar
chelios
Inquisitive Elf
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:36 am

Post by chelios »

haha yeh that's the problem with using that without the full program. meh. i'll just finish kwai.
User avatar
PPC_Digger
Forum All-Star
Posts: 1050
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:02 am
Location: Israel

Post by PPC_Digger »

The link is broken...
Cybermagellan
Forum All-Star
Posts: 541
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 5:37 am
Location: Arizona

Post by Cybermagellan »

That might be till he finishes Kwai BTW if you need any help building components for it let me know.
robojam
Forum All-Star
Posts: 779
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2003 10:52 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC. USA

Post by robojam »

If you lived in NC and had experience of ASP.NET, Oracle and PL/SQL then I could offer you $68/hour to develop for me... It's amazing how employment agencies don't read requirements and will send just about anyone to an interview!
Once you've made something idiot proof, they go and invent a better idiot!
Toaste
Space Cadet
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 3:20 pm

The file is here

Post by Toaste »

found the file; actual link is here: http://www.animaterobot.com/files/KwaiStub-0.1.rar
prasys
Forum All-Star
Posts: 548
Joined: Sun May 23, 2004 7:41 am
Location: MY
Contact:

Post by prasys »

Thanx for the new Link

Anyway , I shall mirror the link
User avatar
chelios
Inquisitive Elf
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:36 am

Post by chelios »

Just to clarify, there is no way of specifying the filename of configuration for this program. The main reason is because Kwai let's you do that, and in my newest version, it's passed to the KwaiStub program when it's run.

Sorry for the inconvinience with this. A benefit of me using version 2 of the .net framework for this program is that microsoft have added some proceedures that help with cpu and memory handling, i.e boosting processes more. For the non-developer people, this means they may help to increase the speed of PearPC!. To get it to work properly, all you need to do is rename your config file to "ppccfg.example" if you've changed the name/extension.

Also, i'll be putting up a website with details about Kwai and some screenshots and results of running ppc with and without Kwai sometime over the next couple of days.

thanks,
chelios
brannoch
Tinkerer
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 8:19 pm

Post by brannoch »

chelios wrote:Just to clarify, there is no way of specifying the filename of configuration for this program. The main reason is because Kwai let's you do that, and in my newest version, it's passed to the KwaiStub program when it's run. ... To get it to work properly, all you need to do is rename your config file to "ppccfg.example" if you've changed the name/extension.
I like to have the original example config file around to serve as, well, an example for documenting the currently possible config settings. Perhaps you could use the file name "ppccfg.kwai" instead? Anything to prevent your config from being overwritten by the stock file in any PearPC update.
Cybermagellan
Forum All-Star
Posts: 541
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 5:37 am
Location: Arizona

Post by Cybermagellan »

chelios wrote:Just to clarify, there is no way of specifying the filename of configuration for this program. The main reason is because Kwai let's you do that, and in my newest version, it's passed to the KwaiStub program when it's run.

Sorry for the inconvinience with this. A benefit of me using version 2 of the .net framework for this program is that microsoft have added some proceedures that help with cpu and memory handling, i.e boosting processes more. For the non-developer people, this means they may help to increase the speed of PearPC!. To get it to work properly, all you need to do is rename your config file to "ppccfg.example" if you've changed the name/extension.

Also, i'll be putting up a website with details about Kwai and some screenshots and results of running ppc with and without Kwai sometime over the next couple of days.

thanks,
chelios
If you would like I have Cybermagellan.com registered and would more than happy to give you a URL link to that...and host that for you. If you'd like.
Seppel
Tinkerer
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:00 pm

Post by Seppel »

A benefit of me using version 2 of the .net framework for this program is that microsoft have added some proceedures that help with cpu and memory handling, i.e boosting processes more. For the non-developer people, this means they may help to increase the speed of PearPC!
s/may/won't/
Cybermagellan
Forum All-Star
Posts: 541
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 5:37 am
Location: Arizona

Post by Cybermagellan »

Seppel wrote:
A benefit of me using version 2 of the .net framework for this program is that microsoft have added some proceedures that help with cpu and memory handling, i.e boosting processes more. For the non-developer people, this means they may help to increase the speed of PearPC!
s/may/won't/
What is that reaction about? And can you argue against....if so why?
Seppel
Tinkerer
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:00 pm

Post by Seppel »

What is that reaction about?
It was a reaction to

"For the non-developer people, this means they may help to increase the speed of PearPC!"
And can you argue against....if so why?
PearPC doesn't use/need the .net framework to it won't profit from any improvements to the .net framework.
Cybermagellan
Forum All-Star
Posts: 541
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 5:37 am
Location: Arizona

Post by Cybermagellan »

I don't think the intention is to actually make PearPC run faster I think if anything that may be a byproduct. I think the whole intention is to streamline the actual command prompt processing and take away the display box for that and isolate it to a simple process.

Which will stop the Output->Display procedure that is required by the current command prompt method we have seen. by doing this it is like the SDL process and the hmwwwu branch wich is to relay the information to the actual piece of hardware/software EXCEPT for in this case which we are taking away the need for PearPC to open the command and line print everything it does.....makeing that part a tad bit faster....

But what do I know?
User avatar
chelios
Inquisitive Elf
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:36 am

Post by chelios »

Seppel wrote:
A benefit of me using version 2 of the .net framework for this program is that microsoft have added some proceedures that help with cpu and memory handling, i.e boosting processes more. For the non-developer people, this means they may help to increase the speed of PearPC!
s/may/won't/
actually, i got an e-mail today confirming that the new process-thread booster helps with this exact kind of program (or at least the way it is executed).

and again, like magellan said, the intention of making this program was never to speed pearpc up (though through simple research it has), it was to provide an easier link between pearpc and your computer.

i'm using the framework basically as a middle-man between pearpc and your computer. as magellan said, by taking away the need to output everything to the command line window (the heart of a command line program), i've effectively turned the program into an isolated executable. the framework takes the brunt of pearpc's processing needs, instead of directly piling it all onto the host hardware. this, in effect, is a caching exercise, so it goes nicely with the JITC version. By using the garbage collector, coupled with the process booster, i've managed to speed up pearpc by a large margin.

but what do i know.
robojam
Forum All-Star
Posts: 779
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2003 10:52 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC. USA

Post by robojam »

For Windows users at least, it doesn't help that this is compiled from what is essentially a Unix project.
Once you've made something idiot proof, they go and invent a better idiot!
User avatar
Yukon Kid
Mac Mechanic
Posts: 169
Joined: Thu May 20, 2004 6:27 pm

Post by Yukon Kid »

[quote="chelios"]
Also, i'll be putting up a website with details about Kwai and some screenshots and results of running ppc with and without Kwai sometime over the next couple of days.

just curious, has this happened yet? or did I miss somthing..lol
User avatar
chelios
Inquisitive Elf
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:36 am

Post by chelios »

woooeee. badly badly behind on this. sorry guys.

i've been trying simple hacks with the ppc source for a better experience, but before i could do this, i had to battle the unix demons and get my linux machine set up again (what a long fucking haul that was! since when was linux so hard to configure?! =).

among the improvements in my latest builds..

for the actual ppc program:
-auto fullscreen, i.e no need to press the key combo
-some efficiency improvements in main.cc
-removal of un-needed debug printing etc. to improve statup speeds.
-some functions to help support kwai

for kwai:
-the interface has been changed to a VMWare style interface (My Kwai - the central configuration point)
-overall cosmetic improvements
-changed some types in the code, i.e changing integers to shorts etc. where needed to speed it up and use less RAM.

i need someone skilled with making icons to design me an icon if they have spare time =)
it needs to be a black/grey pear shape and a win32 .ico file, the original file would be nice too =)

more to come soon and hopefully a release for you.
sorry about the delay.
chelios

p.s i'm usually in the #pearpc channel on freenode irc, if you have questions/suggestions etc.
User avatar
PPC_Digger
Forum All-Star
Posts: 1050
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:02 am
Location: Israel

Post by PPC_Digger »

chelios wrote:-some efficiency improvements in main.cc
-removal of un-needed debug printing etc. to improve statup speeds.
Did they make a good improvment? (if they did, why not sending them to seppel or making them a patch?)
User avatar
chelios
Inquisitive Elf
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:36 am

Post by chelios »

PPC_Digger wrote:
chelios wrote:-some efficiency improvements in main.cc
-removal of un-needed debug printing etc. to improve statup speeds.
Did they make a good improvment? (if they did, why not sending them to seppel or making them a patch?)
i could i guess, but he may be relying on some of them for debugging info he needs for the cpu, etc.

edit: and yeh it did give it a slight boost at startup.
User avatar
PPC_Digger
Forum All-Star
Posts: 1050
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:02 am
Location: Israel

Post by PPC_Digger »

chelios wrote:edit: and yeh it did give it a slight boost at startup.
How much?
Jmantoo
Space Cadet
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:04 pm

Post by Jmantoo »

I noticed that Pearpc runs much more stable under kwai, and its nice not having that gwady dos window always in the way. Not sure about the Speed boost but lets be honest speed it still not at a production speed, So regaurdless its still slow on most peoples systems. On some higher end systems that may not be the case. I dont have super high end harware.

Great job Chelios!! keep them updates coming



Jmantoo
Cyman
Tinkerer
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue May 18, 2004 2:56 pm
Contact:

Post by Cyman »

I like your program.
The only thing you should think about is the name. In my opinion KwaiStub sounds not very cool. Maybe you should make a poll about a name or something. Maybe I can suggest one or so.
Anyway, when can we await another release, because the screenshot from 0.2 looks great - wait, the Pear/Apple icon thingie looks strange, too - maybe you could also work on this (or someone else could).
So far that's it, keep up the good work,

Cyman
Locked