Slashdot Mirror
Virtual Machine Brings X86 Linux Apps To ARMv7 Devices
DeviceGuru writes Eltechs announced a virtual machine that runs 32-bit x86 Linux applications on ARMv7 hardware. The ExaGear VM implements a virtual x86 Linux container on ARMv7 computers and is claimed to be 4.5 times faster than QEMU, according to Eltechs. The VM is based on binary translation technology and requires ARMv7, which means it should run on mini-PCs and SBCs based on Cortex-A8, A7, A9, and A15 processors — but sadly, it won't run on the ARM11 (ARMv6) SoC found on the Raspberry Pi. It also does not support applications that require kernel modules. It currently requires Ubuntu (v12.04 or higher), but will soon support another, unnamed Linux distro, according to Eltechs, which is now accepting half price pre-orders without payment obligation.
Other than a desire to run the x86 version of Doom on your BeagleBoard, why would you need this when software is just a recompile away?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
How hard is it to cross compile an application?
I wonder if they are some of the same people as these (reading about theiur team it does not sound unlikely): http://www.embedded.com/electronics-news/4397737/X86-emulation-coming-to-ARM-processors
Well, that link speaks of people from Elbrus, and this page from Eltechs' web site says "The MCST Binary Translation Team has 200+ man-year experience in developing binary translators. They implemented a number of x86 to e2k (a Russian CPU)". The "e2k" is probably the Elbrus 2000, for which they implemented an x86-to-native binary translator. The MCST (Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies) referred to by the Elbrus 2000 page is probably the same MCST referred to by the Eltechs page.
So, yes, probably the same people.
...That said Microsoft would have to get the clue that developers have zero interest in Metro/Modern/Whatever apps, the environment is so limited that porting a Win32 app is basically as much work as porting a Win32 app to Android (esp. with stuff like Xarmarin, Qt, and other great cross platform libraries available to help) and nobody wants to pay MS 30% of their revenue and limit their distribution channel so strictly.
Sorry Microsoft management, I know leveraging market position in your core product line to push yourself in to a new market is one of the oldest tricks in your book. In this case, its trying to use regular Windows to push developers in to building software that is compatible with WinPhone so you have the catalog of 3rd party software needed to make WinPhone successful. Thing is in order for it to work this time Windows on tablets would need to be the universally preferred tablet OS. 10 years ago legacy Win32 compatibility would have been all you needed to be the preferred tablet OS, but since you gave the competition 3-4 years to build up a nice back-catalog of touch friendly 3rd party software Windows is NOT the preferred tablet OS, Android and iOS are.
You have nobody to blame except yourselves for giving your competitors that much time (well, maybe your former now retired CEO.) At this point just take a page from your buddies over at Intel, they made it so installing any arbitrary .apk on a x86 Android device just works (even if it has ARM native code.) And look, consumers are buying x86 Android tablets without a second thought since everything just works, hell a lot of the time an x86 Android tablet isn't even labelled Intel vs. ARM its so seamless. Make it so you can install Android .apks on Win8/RT/Phone, that will give you access to the software catalog you need to break in to the market. It would be even better if you could work about a deal to get Google Play on Windows... but I doubt Google will want to "play" with you at all :) The preferred route of making everyone else bend and do things your way its pretty much a non-starter at this point because you waited so long.
4.5 times faster than QEMU is still very slow
How about converting the binary directly?
X86->LLVM IR->anything:
http://infoscience.epfl.ch/rec...
Opensource, too. repository:
https://dslabgit.epfl.ch/git/s...
(checkout revgen)
has anyone tried it?
qemu-user-mode + wine has been done for some time already. It more or less works for Windows x86 executables on ARM Linux.
(In fact, the first user-mode emulators where designed to help run x86 code back when Apple used PPC).
The novelty of TFA's emulator is its claimed performance.
That's the interesting stuff. Doing translation (like some emulators running on x86 host do) is going to take a lot less CPU than emulating a complete CPU in software (as qemu currently does on ARM host). Which means longer battery life, which is a big advantage in some markets (tablets and smartphone).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
- For the closed-source windows application that you are running on your open-source wine. (This kind of emulator can bring executing Windows x86 software on your ARM chromebook. Except TFA's emulator is much faster a this than qemu-user-mode).
- For some shitty closed source stuff that you are forced to use (weird proprietary SSL VPN, Microsoft Skype, Adobe Flash, etc.)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]