What is all the obsession over dual core phones? - Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]

I have to ask: Why does everyone want a dual core phone which cant even currently be used?
I say it cant be used because dual core processors cant be used on Android 2.3 Gingerbread/Linux kernel 2.6.35, there is only multi-core processor support in A3H/L2.6.36 (only avaliable (officially) on tablets). We will see problably support in in "A4I"/"L3.6.37" for both phones and tablets.
So whats everyones obsession? The only thing you are problably gaining is a SLIGHT speed boost (not even close when a kernal that supports it is released) and more battery drain.
On a counterside this could bring good marketing to Google: They release "A4I", current dual core phones get a HUGE speed boost and everyone praises Google. Could work good for them.

Interesting, I never knew Gingerbread couldn't support dual cores on phones. Good info, I guess I'll keep my Evo for another year.

It's pretty easy to compile the kernel to use multi core processors. The current one may not, but hold your judgement until it's actually released.

crazy25000 said:
It's pretty easy to compile the kernel to use multi core processors. The current one may not, but hold your judgement until it's actually released.
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So true............. Currently 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of users AND developers of applications can and are willing to complie a custom kernel not used by the rest and use/make multi core supported applications with its multi core supported kernel.

I guess progress has to begin somewhere?

i don't think i'll ever need / want a dual core phone for my daily rutine, my SGS is perfect for me, what more could you need from a phone? don't think they'll be able to fit jet packs on them any time soon...

riahc3 said:
So true............. Currently 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of users AND developers of applications can and are willing to complie a custom kernel not used by the rest and use/make multi core supported applications with its multi core supported kernel.
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What I'm saying is the kernel can easily be compiled by Google or Samsung and used as the stock kernel on the GSII.

maranello69 said:
i don't think i'll ever need / want a dual core phone for my daily rutine, my SGS is perfect for me, what more could you need from a phone? don't think they'll be able to fit jet packs on them any time soon...
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Yeah its logical to think like that but 3 years ago who thought you need phone with such big screen and processor/RAM almost match PC speed?
As someone said somewhere they have to start but interesting thought by thread creator

ksavai said:
Yeah its logical to think like that but 3 years ago who thought you need phone with such big screen and processor/RAM almost match PC speed?
As someone said somewhere they have to start but interesting thought by thread creator
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Click to collapse
Honestly those arent needs either. But as of right now the only purpose of a dual core phone is to brag.

Related

[Q] CPU????

All the literature states that the gTablet has the nVidia Tegra 2 cpu ARM9 cortex (or something like that.) WHy then, does Android System Info say its only an ARM 7?
Is this due to the Vegan Tab ROM only being able to see it as such?
The Tegra2 is a dual core Cortex-A9 -- which uses the ARM7 instruction set
I've yet to find an app that properly reports the CPU as being dual core -- most only see the first...and yeah, they report ARM7 which I assume is because of the instruction set used...
It's been posted elsewhere, but basically don't worry about the numbers...Higher is not better...
ARM11 is an older version for example -- I think it topped out around 700-800 MHz
Lol, I was more concerned over the fact that we have a dual core cpu, and the OS can't see it as such.
SO, if the OS is not seeing it, how can any apps written to use it, actually do that? WHen does Honeycomb get released? HAHA
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0B5.1 using Tapatalk
I got same problem. System info show a single core, not dual core. G-tablet with Vegan 5.1
The OS knows that there is a 2nd core and brings it up when needed. If you open a terminal window and enter dmesg, you will see that the 2nd core is enable but powered down when not needed. Most of the programs/apps are not setup to use the 2nd core at this time.
Ah, ok. I told you all I know nothing about this stuff. I am trying to teach myself how to write apps for Android but I don't even know where to begin. I had a hard enough time trying to flash these roms the first time. Heh
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0B5.1 using Tapatalk
Frrrrrrunkis said:
Ah, ok. I told you all I know nothing about this stuff. I am trying to teach myself how to write apps for Android but I don't even know where to begin. I had a hard enough time trying to flash these roms the first time. Heh
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0B5.1 using Tapatalk
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I read that the second core is never used and that FROYO does not support the second core.
Honeycomb has been designed for and should use the second core if it turns out that it can be used on the G Tablet. For some reason Viewsonic has been pretty silent on here for the last two weeks. One of their last posts was to thank everyone for hanging in with the G Tablet. Then they mentioned that they were commited to the Tablet Market and developing "New Tablets". If you read between the lines, it sounds like the G Tablet was introduced as a way to get their feet wet in the market, and now they are ready to take the plunge. I wonder if that means they are going to leave the G Tablet back on the shore when they do?
It seems that it would put a lot of people at ease if they posted that Honeycomb will be ported to the G Tablet. Their silence seems to say a lot.
If they don't port Honeycomb to the G Tablet, most likely the Devs here will be able to. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
GaryHypnosis said:
I read that the second core is never used and that FROYO does not support the second core.
Honeycomb has been designed for and should use the second core if it turns out that it can be used on the G Tablet. For some reason Viewsonic has been pretty silent on here for the last two weeks. One of their last posts was to thank everyone for hanging in with the G Tablet. Then they mentioned that they were commited to the Tablet Market and developing "New Tablets". If you read between the lines, it sounds like the G Tablet was introduced as a way to get their feet wet in the market, and now they are ready to take the plunge. I wonder if that means they are going to leave the G Tablet back on the shore when they do?
It seems that it would put a lot of people at ease if they posted that Honeycomb will be ported to the G Tablet. Their silence seems to say a lot.
If they don't port Honeycomb to the G Tablet, most likely the Devs here will be able to. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
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Dual core phones are coming out also. The Droid Bionic is supposed to be released with 2.2. I'm guessing froyo already is using the second core or gingerbread will be more optimized for dual cores. If anything its the apps that need to be updated to start using the second core.
GaryHypnosis said:
I read that the second core is never used and that FROYO does not support the second core.
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Click to collapse
Froyo supports it -- but up till now there was no phone hardware available with multiple cores...it may even be turned off by default...
Since Android is a true multitasking OS, even if apps don't specifically call and use the 2nd core, it can still be used by the OS when required...
...but I agree that most apps will need to undergo a lot of updates before they are ready for multiple cores -- same thing happened (and is still happening) in the PC realm...

[Q] Captivate rom derived from SGSII?

I tried looking for this, but wasnt able to get any hits.
Is the hardware between the SGS and SGS II so different that a stock rom of the SGSII cannot be used as a basis for an SGS rom?
krook1 said:
I tried looking for this, but wasnt able to get any hits.
Is the hardware between the SGS and SGS II so different that a stock rom of the SGSII cannot be used as a basis for an SGS rom?
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They are totally different phones. different modems, cpu, screen, memory, size, chips, basically every way phones can be different. No way a transfer of a ROM between the two would work.
There is a 2.3.3 ROM that has some of the apps and features of the SGSII called SimplyGalaxyII i think, look in the dev section. THat is the closest we will get.
little8020 said:
There is a 2.3.3 ROM that has some of the apps and features of the SGSII called SimplyGalaxyII i think, look in the dev section. THat is the closest we will get.
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Click to collapse
Yep - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1076724 This as about as close as you will get for now.
Thank you.
I was hoping that there was some way based on the sources shared (by Samsung) that a kernel could be built for the Cappy. But it looks like there too many differences to be able to take advantage of the fixes that they've put in.
krook1 said:
Thank you.
I was hoping that there was some way based on the sources shared (by Samsung) that a kernel could be built for the Cappy. But it looks like there too many differences to be able to take advantage of the fixes that they've put in.
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Do you use the same drivers on your computer for all ati cards just because their built by Ati?
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
bobtukin said:
Do you use the same drivers on your computer for all ati cards just because their built by Ati?
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Click to collapse
Actually yes. ATI calls their driver package catalyst you and download the same one no matter what ati card you are using.
Drivers are written with various choices in mind (I've written/modified a few myself).
Sometimes vendors create a family of "devices" that can be handled by the same driver. This is either controlled by compile time switches or even run time detection.
At other times, the vendor may develop a brand new hw architecture on a new device, and it may not be worth it to plumb an existing driver with code that runs across multiple device families.
Driver binaries will require device, target CPU arch and kernel APIs to be very close/exact match to be used across systems. Post #2 clarifies that this is not the case.
I did not have knowledge of the devices on the SGS II, and hence the OP: if they differ a lot.
So is the SGSII the next big development platform? That's what I'm hoping, as I'll probably get one come August, assuming they are out.
Just for arguments sake, lets say by some miracle we could get an sgs 2 rom on a cappy. How would it run? It would be expecting a dual core 1.2 ghz not a single 1 ghz, and double the ram. I doubt it would run at all.
krook1 said:
I tried looking for this, but wasnt able to get any hits.
Is the hardware between the SGS and SGS II so different that a stock rom of the SGSII cannot be used as a basis for an SGS rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the hardware is so different that ROMs designed for the GS2 will NEVER work on the GS1. Doesn't mean little parts here and there (like TW4 for example) can't be ported from one to the other, but as far as how the ROMs work at the driver level, it isn't possible to port the entire OS base.
</end>
neubauej said:
Just for arguments sake, lets say by some miracle we could get an sgs 2 rom on a cappy. How would it run? It would be expecting a dual core 1.2 ghz not a single 1 ghz, and double the ram. I doubt it would run at all.
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Click to collapse
Touchwiz 4 has already been ported and it runs fine, that's all you're going to get from that rom.

Android 4.0 for a Lg optimus 3D

Hey people does anyone know if android 4.0 will be available for the Lg optimus 3D when it comes out around December
Virus711 said:
Hey people does anyone know if android 4.0 will be available for the Lg optimus 3D when it comes out around December
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Click to collapse
No........................
Virus711 said:
Hey people does anyone know if android 4.0 will be available for the Lg optimus 3D when it comes out around December
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Click to collapse
almost had heartattack reading topic name :S
we dont have 2.3.3, and you are dreaming about 4.0?
Well let me read the cards...errrr
Some one is flying high. Anyways I can't see why not with a little magic of the dev community.
Sent from my LG-P920 using XDA App
i'm shire it will come also for o3d by lg or through the great developers in this forum.
but why do you what it already? maybe it's crap? i doubt it but maybe....
and one of the golden rules:
be patient, good things need their time
I wouldn't be surprised if 4.0 won't run on this phone due to the ram, even if it does its going to be well into next year before we get it, I would be surprised if we have it for next summer judging how far behind LG are now, this phone and the Optimus X2 should have launched with Gingerbread.
if cyanogen support this device, there will be 4.0 for us
the already support this device
typhex said:
if cyanogen support this device, there will be 4.0 for us
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Click to collapse
but 3D will be useless without the drivers for the cameras and the screen
mmace said:
but 3D will be useless without the drivers for the cameras and the screen
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Click to collapse
True but all the S3D core code it open to the devs thanks to TI as I understand it.
Also it's not even sure it's called 4.0, they haven't set a version number have they? and the number is just a indicator, the jump from 2.3 will be stuff like optimization in the system for dual core, and people still talking about too little RAM is just poppycock.
Most likely performance for the O3D will be better with Ice Cream Sandwich, might even beat all other phones as it's (so far) the only one with dual RAM and dual Channels which keeps the dual-core CPU from being bottlenecked by the rest of the system.
I have to admit, this talk of "ooooh it might not run version xx.yy of Android" or "ooooh what if the new uber fantastic app doesn't work because it ONLY has 512MB RAM" makes me laugh.
Why? Well lets look at what the problems have been in the past:
OS Partition is too small:
This was a problem when the OS was written to fit inside the small flash built-in to the CPU package. As the OS has gotten bigger this had to be solved one way or another. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I think its enough to say this is solved now.
Not enough RAM:
Fitting an advanced OS into 64MB or even 256MB of RAM is tricky, especially when the core OS is based on code from PCs with a lot more RAM than that and the luxury of a swap partition.
However 512MB was the turning point on PC where RAM became less of an issue and in the right configuration you could live without swap. So logically this should hold true, probably moreso, for Android. Because Android until recently was already running in 128MB/256MB without the advantage of swap space.
No Drivers:
Many are open source, we are also working with hardware a lot more standardised than it once was.
I can see from a glance that there are a lot of similarities between my N900 at the hardware level and the O3D. If you are dealing with devices that are basically upgrades of old hardware designs, drivers are a lot easier to deal with - especially if they are open source.
Lack of GPU or certain CPU instructions:
Many older devices could not handle newer Android because they lacked a proper GPU or the CPU did not have the right instructions. This is similar to what happened on PC for a while, when multimedia suddenly became big. Like on the PC once all these multimedia instructions became commonplace it was no longer really an issue. I believe we are at the same place now with high-end Android hardware.
So I really would be surprised to find a newer version of Android outright not be able to run on the O3D, for quite some time.

What's with this Dual Core Madness?

We're in the dawn of mobile revolution; I appreciate the effort of Devs for fixing, tweaking, modding just for us to enjoy this phone... however, i have some queries and points about this dual core trend lately?
first is Android itself; i read somewhere that 2.3.4 does have true multi-core support..
quoted from one of the Devs over S2's board
In Androids before 2.3.4 there is no "Real" multicore support. just a sort of SMP "hack". They simply restrict all threads of a process to one core. This is, in some situations, faster in singlecore applications than the real thing. But it requires more power and multicore applications can't profit. In Android 2.3.4 and later, there is a part from Honeycomb in it. True Multicore support.
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Did a little more reading, and although Gingerbread 2.3.x is not truly dual core optimized like Honeycomb or the new 2.3.4 , multithreaded programs will still make use of the 2nd core for functions such as garbage collection, background syncing, preloading pages, etc...
Can Devs here shed us some light about this matter?
Based from infos that i gathered here and in S2's board; i think HTC's approach is more efficient (where second core kicks in when the first core is loaded) than that of Samsung (Full time Dual Core)... Why would devs is forcing the second core making it always alive? I mean, Android does run butter smooth with 1ghz single core processor (Xperia Arc and Incridble S for example), so making both cores always on will only have greater battery drain without significant boost in performance?
Instead of turning both cores on, why not just improve HTC's efficient approach?
making second core breath when 75%load of the first core is reach for example or optimize the governor of the second core when assisting the first core?
Please enlighten me...
I agree with you on that this phone is very fast with just the way it is I don't even overclock no need to or nor will I change my stock kernal . I'm good with just letting it do its thing and enjoy my insane battery life and speed on the roms these devs are designing some great work on this board
Q&A section.......
nccu_eagles said:
Q&A section.......
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+1.........seriously its like they do it on purpose :-\
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Sorry guys... i tried to put some post important points before in Q/A but it seems it was ignored... Mods can transfer this anyways...
Now, most of Devs are diving to this Dual Core thingy...
I salute you guys for making all of this for us but its better if you can share some thoughts about my queries here... itll be a benifit to us users if we know what we are doin and what we get with our device...
Dont get me wrong guys, im no expert thats why im asking all of this...
Madness? This.. is... dual.. core!
On a serious note, i don't think there's anything wrong with people experimenting with trying to get both cpu's to work together. However for a lot of people i get the feeling that it's all about benchmarks. That's all i ever seem to read about these days. Who cares about benchmarks really? They're not important, only real world performance is king imo.
LOL... ala 300?....
Thats my point... its all good if both SW and HW runs hand-onhand...
The phone does seem alot snappier with the second core enabled.
jaytana said:
Instead of turning both cores on, why not just improve HTC's efficient approach?
making second core breath when 75%load of the first core is reach for example or optimize the governor of the second core when assisting the first core?
Please enlighten me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That part only came about because they're trying to get both cores overclocked and get the governors to stick. The devs are trying to figure out aSMP architecture, and it's going to take a bit.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
jaytana said:
Instead of turning both cores on, why not just improve HTC's efficient approach?
making second core breath when 75%load of the first core is reach for example or optimize the governor of the second core when assisting the first core?
Please enlighten me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chef of insertcoin baadnewz, i think is already on it. as someone of the forum suggest that is it much better to enhance HTC stock kernel rather than both cpu are active, i tested it and the heat is much faster. also, i think there is a reason to this kernel issue that is why they haven't release a OTA 2.3.4 or 2.3.5 for asia yet IMO.
good to hear that... There's nothing wrong of turning both CPU on as long as its well optimize and efficient (S2 for example with its SMP; im on 30hrs mark with my moderate to heavy usage)... i understand we still have less progress on 2.3.4 build because its still new... MORE POWER to the DEVS..

No Dual Core Cpu support yet ?

Still can't find any indication that IceCreamSandwich (Android 4.0) supports dual core cpu
http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-4.0-highlights.html
We all know that any kernel already supports smp so it should't take so long for Google to make android OS support it too...
If you find anywhere a clue for that please reply
it should support.
but, this is the wrong section to post this question. The Nexus S isn't dual core. You may get better answers in Android General Questions
You won't find anything about it because dual core support has sort of been there since before 1.0, and really since before android. Linux has been multithreaded pretty much from the beginning, it isn't' something google needs to add to android, its all there. The huge performance boost we'll see with ICS will be from hardware acceleration in the UI, not some magical unicorn dual core support.
The reason all these dual core phones aren't living up to the hype is because the software the OEMs made for them really sucks, its not google or android's fault.
As far as I know IceCream Sandwich DOES support Dual Core CPU's.
imneo1 said:
Still can't find any indication that IceCreamSandwich (Android 4.0) supports dual core cpu
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Click to collapse
Maybe the fact that EVERY SINGLE Honeycomb tablet uses a dual core processor is proof enough...
063_XOBX said:
Maybe the fact that EVERY SINGLE Honeycomb tablet uses a dual core processor is proof enough...
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Click to collapse
Just because Android runs on such device does not automatically means that is uses both cpus(cores) for each process. for that to apply we should see threads of an app processes.
so my question remains...
Orangestrat said:
You won't find anything about it because dual core support has sort of been there since before 1.0, and really since before android. Linux has been multithreaded pretty much from the beginning, it isn't' something google needs to add to android, its all there. The huge performance boost we'll see with ICS will be from hardware acceleration in the UI, not some magical unicorn dual core support.
The reason all these dual core phones aren't living up to the hype is because the software the OEMs made for them really sucks, its not google or android's fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you said the same thing i said ... well, almost ...
I said that Linux support dual core (smp) but there is much more to that.
we should see that the VM actually uses the Linux(Kernel) support managing to provide a correct data to the kernel, so that the process will be threaded (run on both cores)
Can you (or anyone owning a dual core device) provide a proof for that ?
Can we see a process of an app runs on both cores ? (a screenshot from shell showing that it uses both cpus/cores)
also, you should read about SGS2 for example.
even though it has a dual core CPU Android only uses on core to run itself (VM) and apps
so the answer is not that simple as you pointed
and my question remains...
ICS actually supports multi-core cpu's, not just dual. Meaning it supports up to either 4 or 8 cores (I can't remember which)
Add edit: When there are more cores in phones, multiple cores will be used to run (like you said) the apps AND the system. Quad-core phones are supposed to be coming out this summer.
063_XOBX said:
Maybe the fact that EVERY SINGLE Honeycomb tablet uses a dual core processor is proof enough...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's funny, considering we're running Android 4.0.3 on our SINGLE-CORE phones. And add the fact that there's a small mod that will change it to the tablet interface, and you've got proof that you dont need 2 cores.
Just because multi-core devices are now standard doesn't mean that ICS 4.0 requires 2 cores. Our phone alone is proof. It's not a different version of Android. ICS on a tablet is the same ICS as on a phone, in a nutshell. That was the whole point of ICS in the first place -- to unify phones and tablets into 1 OS.

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