Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Moderators: FourthWorld, heatherlaine, Klaus, kevinmiller, robinmiller

FourthWorld
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 9801
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:05 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by FourthWorld » Thu Sep 08, 2016 3:46 pm

LiveCode for Raspberry Pi is a community-supported project. LiveCode Ltd has donated roughly a million lines of code for us to use, along with make files and other resources needed for us to keep this going.

I'd like to see if we can find people in our community who have the experience, time, and interest to help set up a build system so we can compile LC for RPi using the latest sources.

Not only would this keep this RPi build current with the platforms LiveCode Ltd officially supports, it may also address the one known issue some of us have encountered running LC on RPi:

While faceless LiveCode apps run well in Raspian, and represent a good portion of the use cases for professional use on RPi systems, we have seen at least one issue involving a crash on menu selection, and this impacts broader use cases like EDU.

Once we're set up to compile from newer source, we may find that this issue has already been addressed through the many other changes with LC's enhanced use of GTK APIs in recent Linux builds. And even if the issue persists, at least we'll be in a better position to work on it since we'll be using current code.

Anyone here in a position to help with this project?
Richard Gaskin
LiveCode development, training, and consulting services: Fourth World Systems
LiveCode Group on Facebook
LiveCode Group on LinkedIn

viro
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 6:59 pm
Location: Germany, Hesse

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by viro » Tue Sep 20, 2016 11:51 am

Hi there,
I'm definitely interested in providing help for this project!
I have a raspberry pi 3 with defective hdmi out (charger exploded) which I want to setup to build livecode.
Do you know how much time compiling a build would take?
the funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it

FourthWorld
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 9801
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:05 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by FourthWorld » Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:38 pm

Thanks for offering to help, Viro. I had thought there was also an earlier post here from another community member, but perhaps I was thinking about another thread.

I've discussed this with Kevin Miller (LiveCode CEO) last week, to determine what documentation may exist or be created to help this process along. He's discussing it with the team, and I expect to hear back from him soon.

In the meantime, have you perused the repo at Github? Any specific questions I may be able to forward to the team to help them prepare some guidance for us?
Richard Gaskin
LiveCode development, training, and consulting services: Fourth World Systems
LiveCode Group on Facebook
LiveCode Group on LinkedIn

viro
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 6:59 pm
Location: Germany, Hesse

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by viro » Fri Oct 14, 2016 12:35 pm

Hi there,
yesterday I started to configure my build environment.
Using RPi 3 with 16GB SD on DietPi (Jessie) I installed the build environment and forked the Livecode-Repo.
Unfortunately the RPi 3 is based on Arm7l / armhf which has been removed for latest Livecode Version...
I searched and found this Link by fraser which does not work any more :(
So from here I need a little guidance. I think the next step would be to implement arm as a platform (again)?
the funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it

[-hh]
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 2262
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:52 pm
Location: Göttingen, DE

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by [-hh] » Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:39 pm

Hi viro,

never ever there was a LC build made directly on ARM.
Fraser used cross-compiling from Linux to build Raspi-LC 6.5.1 and the only version that is able to build standalones for Raspi (also on Raspi): Raspi-LC 7.0.4.

I don't think that without Fraser's extensive help there is any chance to do a LC 8-build, except you are an expert with cross-compiling and ARM -- would be great!

Perhaps you may use a search of "armv6-hf" or "RPi" in the livecode repository as a first step for knowledge about 'old' Raspi builds. See also the INSTALL-linux.md for compiling on Linux.

[LC 7.0.4 runs fine on Raspi 3 (not with Raspbian but, for example, with some Ubuntu flavours), see http://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.ph ... 53#p140253]

-hh
shiftLock happens

FourthWorld
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 9801
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:05 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by FourthWorld » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:44 pm

I just got word of a pull request recently submitted which should resolve the issue with the build process:
https://github.com/livecode/livecode/pull/3398
Richard Gaskin
LiveCode development, training, and consulting services: Fourth World Systems
LiveCode Group on Facebook
LiveCode Group on LinkedIn

jcasler
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 4:36 pm

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by jcasler » Thu Jan 05, 2017 8:48 pm

I have also set up an RPi3 and also have the Raspbian tool chain set up in an Ubuntu 16.04 environment. I have successfully cross-compiled the Rasbian kernel and booted it. I also cross-compiled some simple GTK+ apps to make sure I have the arm libs needed available to the toolchain and work. This works fine.

As prep for cross-compilling LC I have cloned the current "Develop" branch Livecode-Liveode git repo and built for Linux. The build process was a little confusing and under documented (for example needing to separately clone and move in the Livecode-thirdparty & Livecode-IDE repos) I configured the build for Linux)x86) and built it but the output was some parts of LC in the output directory but not organized anything like the installer sets up for the linux environment. I wasn't clear how to run it from this set of pieces.

With additional information I plan to get the arm-v6 build working for LC8 (which will work on any Pi, including the 3) and then attempt to clone that and make changes so it will compile for arm-v7 (RPi 3)

If that all works the stretch goal will be to build an LC external that gives access to the GPIO/I2C facilities on the Pi. One of the main ways lots of example GPIO projects are done is in Python, which is fine but for teaching younger kids I think LC would be a far superior environment. Be really cool to have LC running your robot arm ;-)

Questions:
1) Are there a more comprehensive set of build instructions that let you build a complete LC system with installer, IDE, various engines, etc. organized like the installer installs it?
2) Was anyone able to locate more detailed doc or notes from the original maintainer of the RPi-arm version?
3) Are the pull requests submitted on by livecodefrazier on 10-Dec-2015 (#3398) going to be committed? They look like they are needed (at a minimum) to build the the rpi target.

I am fine with cross-compiling and the Raspberry arm-hf tool chain is solid. I am having to bootstrap myself on how the gyp files work and where additional changes might be needed to get good build for RPi. I have taken this on as my first 2017 project & I think I can get it done if I can get some info I need to move forward.

Regards,
Jay
J. Casler

[-hh]
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 2262
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:52 pm
Location: Göttingen, DE

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by [-hh] » Fri Jan 06, 2017 2:14 am

That's really great, hope LC-Fraser comes in to answer your questions, you are so close to the "finish".
jcasler wrote:the stretch goal will be to build an LC external that gives access to the GPIO/I2C facilities on the Pi.
For that you don't need an external. You can have that just now by using LC's shell (or more advanced: sockets) and the python packages or write directly to the relevant files.
I often use LC on the Raspi as a GUI for ready made python packages and other CLI-apps.
Here is a simple stack full of examples for using python from LC, inclusive pythons's bignum (= Raspi stacks collection #22) http://forums.livecode.com/viewtopic.ph ... 55#p101655
shiftLock happens

FourthWorld
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 9801
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:05 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by FourthWorld » Sat Mar 11, 2017 5:06 pm

Jay, thanks for diving in on this. I've dropped a note to the relevant team members to see if they can drop in here with the answers to your questions.

In the meantime, I've also seen a promising post on the LC Gitter page ( https://gitter.im/LiveCode/Lobby ) on Feb 27 from a fella who says he was able to get a successful RPi build from the 8.1.3 code base. I've asked him to please drop in here to help, and hopefully he will soon.
Richard Gaskin
LiveCode development, training, and consulting services: Fourth World Systems
LiveCode Group on Facebook
LiveCode Group on LinkedIn

Rauterkus
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:12 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by Rauterkus » Mon Mar 13, 2017 4:15 pm

Hi Richard and others,
I can help, once the edition of LC for the Pi is released. I am more of an aid on pr, docs, web, edu and not code.

Mark R.

FourthWorld
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 9801
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:05 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by FourthWorld » Sat Mar 25, 2017 8:25 pm

BIG NEWS:

Josh Chiu, whom I'd mentioned a couple posts back, has posted his changes in a new repo for the Raspberry Pi build, which he has successfully compiled for LC 8.1:
https://github.com/HedgeHao/livecode/tr ... o/pi_build

Notes on the RPi changes here:
https://github.com/livecode/livecode/pull/5307
Richard Gaskin
LiveCode development, training, and consulting services: Fourth World Systems
LiveCode Group on Facebook
LiveCode Group on LinkedIn

MaxV
Posts: 1579
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 2:20 pm
Location: Italy
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by MaxV » Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:34 pm

I'm in in this project and I have a raspberry B to test!
Livecode Wiki: http://livecode.wikia.com
My blog: https://livecode-blogger.blogspot.com
To post code use this: http://tinyurl.com/ogp6d5w

sandrino68
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:12 pm

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by sandrino68 » Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:47 pm

Nowadays the Raspberry Pi 4 has up to 8GB RAM ,
a very capable CPU (Broadcom BCM2711, Quad core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz) with ANSI/IEEE Standard 754-2008 compliant FPU(HF)
and a GPU capable of running OpenGL 2.1 , OpenGL ES 3.3 and Vulkan (with real-time ray-tracing)
Geometry Shaders are also well supported.
Vulcan is truly cross-platform and can be cross-compiled to Metal , DirectX , OpenGL , OpenGL ES.

Compiling LiveCode 9.x for Raspberry should be quite straightforward
I would be curious to see how a WebGL WebView would perform on the RaspBerry Pi 4

FourthWorld
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
VIP Livecode Opensource Backer
Posts: 9801
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:05 am
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by FourthWorld » Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:52 pm

sandrino68 wrote:
Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:47 pm
Compiling LiveCode 9.x for Raspberry should be quite straightforward
What did you run into when you tried it?
Richard Gaskin
LiveCode development, training, and consulting services: Fourth World Systems
LiveCode Group on Facebook
LiveCode Group on LinkedIn

PaulDaMacMan
Posts: 616
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 4:53 pm
Contact:

Re: Call for Community Team Members for RPi build

Post by PaulDaMacMan » Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:07 am

It would be great for long-term if there was a Arm64bit build of LC >8, preferably 9.x, with LiveCode Builder with FFI, and with some elbow grease, LC on RPi could be expanded to use a bunch of those great libraries in those Repos, like HIDAPI libFluidSynth (both of which I already made LCB wrappers for) would be very useful on a LC "10ft interface" running on Pi
My GitHub Repos: https://github.com/PaulMcClernan/
Related YouTube Videos: PlayList

Post Reply

Return to “Raspberry Pi”