Sunshine
Linux PhonesLemmy, I am disappointed in you that a redditor did this.
Considering the price of RAM and GPUs right now, upcycling all manner of stuff is going to get real popular. Keep 'em coming. I love simple hacks like this.
GameNative, an Android emulator.
"Why would you need an Android emulator on Android?"
Searches... It's a PC emulator for Android.
A, the Linux subsystem for Windows naming question. What direction does the reference go!? 🤔
WSL2 also known as a virtual machine container
Its neat, kind of dangerous for your butt if you like to play a quick game while you poop
I'm running a full XFCE Linux desktop through Termux, with GPU acceleration, plus Windows apps/games (...) via Wine and Box64, or in some cases, using GameNative, an Android emulator.
Even with a beefy phone, I'm surprised such levels of containerisation don't create bottlenecks.
PS: this is not a Linux phone - it's an Android phone running a Linux container.
I thought termux didn't have GPU pass through. Maybe things have changed.
Seems recent
https://github.com/LinuxDroidMaster/Termux-Desktops/blob/main/Documentation/HardwareAcceleration.md
Still got some snapdragon 645's so I can actually play around with this.
Sad everything only works for snapdragon first and foremost.
The biggest problem in ARM is graphics usually, much less standardized
24gb of ram in a phone they really were just giving it away back then
😭
On the software side, the Redditor explains: "I'm running a full XFCE Linux desktop through Termux, with GPU acceleration, plus Windows apps/games. The goal is basically to use the phone as the whole PC."
Quite a few Redditors are asking how this system runs PC games, and the answer is via Wine and Box64, or in some cases, using GameNative, an Android emulator.
So, hold on. There is Android, running Termux, that runs graphical stack, that runs WINE. To me it feels like there is so much translation going on in here, just because of binary blobs
GameNative is even more vodoo fuckery than simple proton. It combines EVERYTHING from proton, to box64, can run on a myriad of phones, the drivermanagement must be insane.
The FEX solution used by Valve for Steam Frame is neat, they blend Wine/Proton into the x86 to ARM translation layer so if a game engine has code in x86 to talk Vulkan it just straight up substitute it with ARM code and pass through the actual Vulkan API calls untranslated, and substitutes a lot of other native x86 libraries for the matching library in ARM code.
I assume Gamenative uses the Valve solution to reduce overhead
It's worth noting that Valve is working on this very thing with their "Steam Frame," and so support for this is likely going to expand in the future.
But, you can try it for yourself right now. GameNative is free and it works pretty well. Clearly, not every phone is powerful enough to play Witcher 3, though.
My phone is just a mid-grade Moto G Stylus 5G 2024, but I was able to get small games like Megabonk and Placid Plastic Duck Simulator running just fine.
I will note that I had to change the container -> graphics -> graphics driver setting to "system" in order to have it work.
No, Valve not "working on this very thing" — Valve working on proton that will work with linux on ARM, thing doing x86 <> ARM emulation/recompilation is called FEX. The thing is — it only works and made for linux, not for Android. If you want to run it on android, you need to use chroot in termux or any other method to run full linux inside android first. It's not native android tool by any mean and probably will never be, cause android suck ass.
Steam Frame is amazing exactly because it's not another useless android phone/device, it's a hardware free from android, that runs full fledged standalone arch linux on qualcom snaprldragon! Arch on ARM for fuck sake
Android is sufficiently Linux still (having it as a kernel and all) to run Linux binaries as long at you can supply the dependencies. FEX + Wine/Proton does most of the job for you, and works on Android too.
The other interesting Android related thing Frame does is Android app containers, which will help Android emulation on PC in general. (inb4 Gamenative on Frame)
GameNative uses FEX.
While I agree that ARM Linux is superior to Android in a lot of ways, Valve's work on FEX will benefit Android as well.
@TheMightyCat@ani.social be like
It really is a dream of me to make my own hardware, if I can get enough of a financial buffer from the FP6 work to absorb the financial risk I really want to do it.
Which im also why I'm never starting a crowdfund like the liberux nexx that failed, I'm making the financial buffer from genuine work first, and then it's my money on the line, and the community won't be at risk of getting nothing in return.
The work on the FP6 wad really a good entry for this, when I first opened the wire diagrams I had no idea what I was looking at, now I know how to read them, and crucially make my own.
As far as I know the only competitor in this space is pine64, and I really disagree with their mentality. Their mentality seems to be make the hardware, get the community to make the software for free while they earn the money.
That's not what I want to do, I want to make the hardware and software. Everything open source so people can contribute if they want, but I'm not outsourcing my software development to unpaid community members.
If and I repeat if I do this, I would open source all the hardware aswell so people can assemble it themselves. Like the FP6 currently in my shop buying from the shop buys you convience, not features. And I think that is the most ethical way to run a business.
And may the gods watch over their battles too!
