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dev42
Visitor

Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

For those interested in sharing ( bragging or crying on other ppl's shoulders! ) what's your Roku Dev setup like?
  • Desktop/Laptop/Chromebook/iPhone/Andoid/Atari ...?

  • Windows/Mac/Linux/BeOS/DOS ... ?

  • Notepad++/Visual Studio/Eclipse/gedit/Emacs ... ?

  • Telnet, PuTTY ... ?

  • Misc/Home-Brew Tools: Anybody use/create their own Qt Designer ( for Roku Dev! ), etc?

_________________________
I'll start us off:
me: Hello, my handle is Dev42.
ppl: Hello, Dev42!"
me (sobbing): My Ex-Dev Setup (recently DIED!😞
  • Windows Vista Laptop

  • Notepad++ with VB highlighting ( that I had to edit the XML to get it to stick for future .brs files )

  • FireFox

  • PuTTY

  • Not yet ready to Stop Sobbing

_________________________
Current Non-Working - Temp Dev System / Inquiry:
  • Windows XP/Manjaro Linux Laptop with 512MB of RAM
  • FireFox churns HD into butter. Doesn't completely lock up, but is unusable.

  • Does anybody here do any Dev work on a PC with 512MB RAM?

  • FF 37 sys req's suggest 512MB RAM minimum... does that mean that is not the prob?

  • Could it be Flash or something else that is RAM hungry?

  • Slow Down prevalent in both XP/Manjaro -- Arch based Linux ver, known for being light and fast. Good for old HW.

  • Is it possible the NIC and/or HD are borked?

  • Did an XP update/Linux kernel update/Flash or some internet SW leave the realm of sub-Gigabyte RAM?

  • Gonna give an old Puppy Linux Live-CD a shot and see if there's any improvement

_________________________
Remember, Kids, Save Early, Save Often and backup, Backup, BACKUP!
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22 REPLIES 22
dev42
Visitor

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

"dev42" wrote:
Gonna give an old Puppy Linux Live-CD a shot and see if there's any improvement

Believe it or not, it is much better! Not perfect, but better. It even mirrored the screen automagically ( mostly. it cropped the task-bar on the TV. ) Anywho, hopefully, this proves it's a SW / OS thing and I might be able to tweak / improve Win XP / Manjaro or whatever.
[spoiler=a couple grumblings:2eu6sq8c]As much as I'd like to be at peace and get back to dev work, it doesn't seem to sleep well. Had to power off. So that's a bummer. Also, for those that don't know, Puppy started off as a RAM only Distro. So, it's volatile... unless you're (pro)active about where / how you're saving things.

One tid bit that is annoying... Linux comes with Virtual Desktops... using the scroll-wheel while hovering over the desktop cycles thru them. IOW, if you're browser window isn't full screen and you want to scroll it with said scroll wheel and you're off browser.... Pupppy hypnotizes you, "borrows" your CC and orders itself a Poodle-Bride.[/spoiler:2eu6sq8c]
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Komag
Roku Guru

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

- Windows 7 Laptop
- Notepad++
- Eclipse for console
- Usually an old CRT TV
- Sometimes "EasyCap" - video capture input dongle to display the RCA cables SD signal in a window right on my laptop
- Sometimes a small HDTV via HDMI
- GraphicsGale for pixel art and sprite animation (it's very good and totally free!)
- Audacity for sound editing
- Amazon S3/CloudFront for file hosting
- Roku models: Roku HD 2500, Roku 1 2710, Roku 2 XS 3100
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sjb64
Roku Guru

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

2 TVs plus Windows 7 on 6 screen 16Gb PC (on a 2 row by 3 wide stack), coding BS in visual studio as text files (first and biggest screen), second screen has folder window up to delete and rezip app in a batch file, third screen has app loading website up to load, fourth as telnet debugger up (landscape), fifth as dev forums, sixth has brightscript manual/web browser for lookups (also landscape), a 1080p 22" monitor/tv and 720p 50" tv, also for additional testing (at home) a roku 2 on a medium size tv, and a roku 3 on the home theater. I just reread this all and sounds all awesome, but to make a more realistic picture put a few empty mountain dew code red cans, some m&m wrappers, and assorted mail/paper/unread books and the like around it, and throw in a blue screen every week or 2 (is windows after all).
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TheEndless
Channel Surfer

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

  • MacBook Pro running Windows 8.1 😛

  • Eclipse and MinGW

  • Custom makefile for building and packaging

  • 40" TCL Roku TV with 6x2 HDMI switch with legacy Roku, Roku 2 XD, Roku LT, Roku 2, Roku 3, and Roku streaming stick (and various other models that get switched in/out depending on testing needs).
My Channels: http://roku.permanence.com - Twitter: @TheEndlessDev
Instant Watch Browser (NetflixIWB), Aquarium Screensaver (AQUARIUM), Clever Clocks Screensaver (CLEVERCLOCKS), iTunes Podcasts (ITPC), My Channels (MYCHANNELS)
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dev42
Visitor

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

"Komag" wrote:
- Notepad++ ... - Eclipse for console ... - Usually an old CRT TV

NPP FTW! ;o) But out of curiosity, wouldn't Eclipse offer more? Like reserved word auto-completion or the like?
__________________
"TheEndless" wrote:
MacBook Pro running Windows 8.1 😛

Wait. Whaaaaat?
__________________
"TheEndless" wrote:
  • Eclipse and MinGW

  • Custom makefile for building and packaging

Eclipse is the IDE and MinGW is the console? Doesn't OSX have *nix CLI tools? ... but it's not a Mac. Also, what do you mean by "packaging"? Does that auto-load it to your Roku? or do you still need to upload it from a browser?
__________________
"sjb64" wrote:
2 TVs plus Windows 7 on 6 screen 16Gb PC (on a 2 row by 3 wide stack)

Seriously?! How much do you charge when it's not in use? I've never got the hang of Virtual Desktops in Linux, but that could have saved you some $... but I'd still rather have your setup!
__________________
Found an old 4GB USB keydrive with ArchBang... that works! No slowdown, but it is running FF v12. FWIW, I'm not a Linux guru. I've toyed with it on/off over the years.
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TheEndless
Channel Surfer

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

"dev42" wrote:
"TheEndless" wrote:
MacBook Pro running Windows 8.1 😛

Wait. Whaaaaat?

I'm not a fan of Mac OS, but I liked the hardware.

"dev42" wrote:

"TheEndless" wrote:
  • Eclipse and MinGW

  • Custom makefile for building and packaging

Eclipse is the IDE and MinGW is the console? Doesn't OSX have *nix CLI tools? ... but it's not a Mac. Also, what do you mean by "packaging"? Does that auto-load it to your Roku? or do you still need to upload it from a browser?

OSX does, but I'm not running OSX. MinGW just gives me the ability to use some fancy makefiles that are OS agnostic (for the most part). By "packaging" I mean it zips up the file and uploads it to the box automatically. I can also rekey the box, upload the channel, sign it, and download it to a named pkg file in one line (e.g., make pkg IP=roku.ip.address), which automatically names the file with the version information from that manifest.

Here's a snapshot of my IDE setup:

That's a Remoku web remote on the bottom left (for when I need to enter text, or I'm too lazy to pick up the remote and point it at the TV), debug console bottom middle, and MinGW/cmd console bottom right.
My Channels: http://roku.permanence.com - Twitter: @TheEndlessDev
Instant Watch Browser (NetflixIWB), Aquarium Screensaver (AQUARIUM), Clever Clocks Screensaver (CLEVERCLOCKS), iTunes Podcasts (ITPC), My Channels (MYCHANNELS)
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BradC
Channel Surfer

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

PC: old hp win7 desktop
processor: dual core (ouch) 3GHz Athlon II X2
ram: 16 Gig
drives: 4TB (no RAID 😞 )
backup: 1TB external backup on pogoplug / 500G secondary backup on netgear NAS

Managed to accidentally delete all my source code a couple years ago. (yay me! wooo! :oops: ) Trying real hard not to repeat that one, but I probably will.


Development env:
Eclipse as primary IDE
Notepad++ for quick editing, viewing, or to grab code snippets from one of my earlier projects.

I try to use remoku.tv for testing, since I have several rokus in my small office, and I sometimes find that I've accidentally installed 5 new channels on one roku while playing a game on another. I use a chrome "application shortcut" for this, though I'm jealous of the setup the endless has, it looks like it would work better.

Second monitor to sometimes watch TV when my actual TV is busy with testing, or to test (roku sound is hooked to PC audio input, and it's easy to switch input from PC to roku.) Mostly I just use one monitor and the TV for development, and the other rokus and tvs around the house for testing.


Test Roku players:
Roku 1 N1000 (apparently a paperweight now, operating as such.)
HD 2500
XS 3100
Roku3 4200
Roku Stick 3500
TCL Roku TV
♦MiniGolf♦HangMan♦Brain Puck♦Retro Tennis♦BORK♦FLIP♦Pathogen♦Pathogen 2♦Shut the Box♦Birdie♦Logic♦Dots♦Pool♦küglo♦Bubble Wrap♦Trivia Channel♦Mancala♦Air Hockey♦Weather♦CAMERA♦Your Photos Screensaver♦Desert Beauty Screensaver♦Wild Lakes Screensaver♦
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TheEndless
Channel Surfer

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

"BradC" wrote:
Managed to accidentally delete all my source code a couple years ago. (yay me! wooo! :oops: ) Trying real hard not to repeat that one, but I probably will.

I have CrashPlan setup to backup my source folder every 5 minutes, and keep infinite versions... 😉
My Channels: http://roku.permanence.com - Twitter: @TheEndlessDev
Instant Watch Browser (NetflixIWB), Aquarium Screensaver (AQUARIUM), Clever Clocks Screensaver (CLEVERCLOCKS), iTunes Podcasts (ITPC), My Channels (MYCHANNELS)
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belltown
Roku Guru

Re: Dev Setup Survey / Inquiry

"dev42" wrote:

Notepad++ with VB highlighting ( that I had to edit the XML to get it to stick for future .brs files )

It should be possible to use Notepad++ with VB highlighting without editing the Xml files. See here (http://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=83613 - point 3 in particular).
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