Chromebook help

[Hated Moron]

Most Chromebooks can run Android apps, especially if the app contains a native binary for the CPU. Therefore my (admittedly old) Asus Chromebook, which has 64-bit Intel ChromeOS, should be able to run the Android edition of BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 because that includes a 64-bit x86 binary in the bundle.

But in practice it doesn't work, and it's evident from the error message that it's because ChromeOS is trying to run the 32-bit x86 binary and not the 64-bit x86 binary. Why? I know that 64-bit ARM-based Chromebooks run Android apps in 32-bit mode, but 64-bit Intel Chromebooks supposedly run Android apps in 64-bit mode (if there's a suitable binary).

If somebody has a newer Intel Chromebook than mine, could they please check whether it does or doesn't run the Android edition of BBC BASIC.

[Hated Moron]

On 18/02/2023 13:54, Brian Jordan via groups.io wrote (cross-posted from the Discussion Group):

My ACER Chromebook, manufactured 23 Aug 2021 with 64-bit Intel ChromeOS
updated this morning does not run Android BBC BASIC for SDL....
all I see is a message saying 'This file type is not supported'.

A Google search suggests that ChromeOS has been 'updated' to allow only Android apps in the Google Play Store to be installed, so that may be why it didn't work for you. There are some instructions online for overriding this limitation, but they are complicated and most people couldn't be expected to follow them.

So it seems that my question is moot, unless and until I can get BBC BASIC in the Play Store. Now the iOS edition is available from the App Store there is an argument for doing the same with the Android edition, especially if sideloading from other sources is being made more difficult (and people's willingness to take the risk may be diminishing too).

I can see a time coming when the only way to acquire an application like BBC BASIC is from the official App Store of the relevant platform, which could be a lot of extra administrative work for whoever takes over support of BBC BASIC from me (if anybody does).

[Hated Moron]

On 18/02/2023 17:24, Brian Jordan via groups.io wrote (cross-posted from the Discussion Group):

There's a challenge for a grey Saturday afternoon! Demonstrating that I
am not 'most people' I now have BBC BASIC on my Cromebook. It opens in a
window with a splash screen announcing 'BBC BASIC v134a'. After a few
seconds the splash screen gives way to a plain white area which appears
to be dead, I am at this stage unable to do anything other close the
window.

Hmm, I hate it when things like that happen. It's hard to know what to suggest: exactly the same code runs in Windows (32 & 64-bit), Linux (32 & 64-bit), MacOS, Raspberry Pi (32 & 64-bit), Android (genuine, not emulated), iOS and in a web browser. So why wouldn't it work when running in emulated Android on a Chromebook?

I've never claimed compatibility with this platform, so it's not exactly a problem, but it's a mystery which I would rather not have.

[Hated Moron]

So why wouldn't it work when running in emulated Android on a Chromebook?

It turned out to be for a reason I would never have guessed - although the Chromebook has an x86-64 (Intel) processor, the Android C run-time library does not provide support for the 80-bit floating-point data type provided by the FPU (and used by BBC BASIC when available).

That makes the Chromebook unique, in my experience, in having an x86 CPU but floating-point accuracy only as good as an ARM CPU! To make BBC BASIC run on that platform I have therefore had to downgrade the numeric accuracy.

So try the latest version (which will announce as 1.34b) on your Chromebook, you should find it runs a lot better. For best effect maximise the window.

Note that despite there being a keyboard it's still an Android app, so there is limited keyboard functionality compared with a desktop machine. That may be apparent in a few of the example programs. For example in pinball.bbc you can pull the plunger using the touchpad (or touchscreen, if you have one) but not by pressing the space bar,

[Hated Moron]

For example in pinball.bbc you can pull the plunger using the touchpad (or touchscreen, if you have one) but not by pressing the space bar,

Another program adversely affected by the limited keyboard functionality is piano.bbc which can be played using the touchscreen, but not using the keyboard. But these are relatively minor limitations in the grand scheme of things.