[mythtv-users] Install mythfrontend in Android devices

[Simon Hobson]

Josu Lazkano <josu.lazkano at gmail.com> wrote:

> I want to know if it is possible to install a Linux OS in a Android device.

Quite often, yes. But this isn't the right list for that question.

> They are really cheap, and it will be great to have a low power and
> cheap frontend.
> 
> Here is a example: MINIX NEO X5 RK3066 (86 EURO)
> 
>   - Rockchip Dual Core Cortex A9 CPU
>   - Quad Core Mali 400 GPU
>   - 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
>   - Bluetooth
>   - HDMI 1.4a
>   - RJ-45 Ethernet jack (10/00Mbps)
>   - IR receiver

That's been "well discussed" on here before. The answer is generally, no you can't run Myth on this sort of device for one or more of the following reasons :

1) The devices often don't have enough RAM to run the OS and Myth Frontend.
2) The CPU generally doesn't have the grunt to do software decoding.
3) The GPU is generally "not documented" so that FOSS drivers can't be written/require binary drivers/don't have available drivers - ie there isn't the facility to use the GPU.
4) The GPU may have limited CODEC support - ie it will be restricted in what stream types it can handle.
5) Even if none of the above apply (which I don't believe is the case yet), it needs someone who understand all this stuff intimately to sit down and write all the code needed for Myth to use it.

At present, the ARM market is "highly fragmented" and just getting an OS to boot is a major issue - eg just finding your storage device is device specific ! There is work ongoing, but many manufacturers aren't exactly helping as they see no reason to be open about what their hardware is/does, and don't care about putting any effort into standardisation as they'll be on a new product in 6 months time when consumers are tired of the current model of shiney-thing.

For those brought up on "standardised" i386 architectures this may be a bit of a culture shock. Those of us with long memories can remember when the desktop market was like the ARM market of today. Before some PC magazine games reviewer came up with the "pop a common DOS disk in and boot it" test for "PC compatible", you have to get the OS specific to your make and model of machine. MS-DOS for model-A wouldn't necessarily boot on model-B as the locations (and even how they are driven) of staples like floppy and hard disk controllers, serial ports, keyboard ports, displays, etc, etc were not standardised.

Unlike the PC market, there's no "big driver" that will have purchasers saying "make it 'compatible' or I won't buy it". Most purchasers of ARM devices don't know or care what's inside, only that they can take it home, switch it on, and the built in software will "work".
So there's less commercial incentive for most manufacturers of most devices to come up with standardised locations of devices, standardised equivalent of "the BIOS", and so on.