ARM64 - it's time!

I wanted to voice my opinion here,

Personally I’m more concerned about Web 2.0 getting attention, All my ARM targets can execute 32 bit code without issue.

I’m sure we will see 64bit ARM support in the future as things move along.

And, personally, I have no use for Web 2.0 and need Linux and Windows fixes far more specifically. But, I also see 64bit ARM support opening up channels that I can’t reach right now. Remember Pi may be ARM, but ARM does not only mean Pi.

And the key word in both of our statements is “personally”. If you don’t need 64bit ARM support, then don’t “vote” here. A down-vote in the forum thread isn’t going to sway the rest of us who do need what’s being discussed.

It’s really ironic the way that so many so quickly go to the “Xojo can only focus on one thing at a time” attitude anytime someone else pushes for something that’s not in their personal interest. There really are a number of specialist at Xojo whose work efforts don’t overlap. Let them do their jobs.

I have no clue how ARM cpus like the ones on pine64 or raspi4, just to name two, can better perform in 64 bit mode.
There are some tech documents comparing 32 vs 64 performance for the same application?

Well, first Geoff talks about that adding Linux 32-bit ARM was an easy to do thing.
So we assume duplicating all scripts, change 32 to 64, should be a small job.

And while 32-bit still works, I assume more and more new chips, mini computers and future Raspberry Pis will prefer to use 64-bit.
Not for more RAM, but to use newer ARM architectures with newer instructions.

[quote=490265:@Maurizio Rossi]I have no clue how ARM cpus like the ones on pine64 or raspi4, just to name two, can better perform in 64 bit mode.
There are some tech documents comparing 32 vs 64 performance for the same application?[/quote]
It’s not about performance, it’s about providing applications that can run on these 64bit versions. More and more users are installing the 64bit versions of Linux for ARM and there isn’t a 32bit compatibility layer on most of them when installed.

Rpi launched a RPI 4 8GB version!!

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/

We only have the 32-bit possibilty? RPI is providing ram we can’t use in single app now

From that article

On the software front, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has started working on a 64-bit version of Raspbian, the operating system designed to run on a Raspberry Pi. Raspbian still uses a 32-bit kernel and needs to make the switch to 64-bit to take advantage of the 8GB of RAM. In the mean time, you can install Ubuntu or Gentoo on a Raspberry Pi now.

I think Xojo won’t move till Raspbian is 64-bit, but I might be wrong.

[quote=490408:@Dirk Cleenwerck]

I think Xojo won’t move till Raspbian is 64-bit, but I might be wrong.[/quote]

Now renamed to Raspberry Pi OS :slight_smile:

[quote=490408:@Dirk Cleenwerck]https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/28/raspberry-pi-foundation-announces-raspberry-pi-4-with-8gb-of-ram/
From that article

On the software front, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has started working on a 64-bit version of Raspbian, the operating system designed to run on a Raspberry Pi. Raspbian still uses a 32-bit kernel and needs to make the switch to 64-bit to take advantage of the 8GB of RAM. In the mean time, you can install Ubuntu or Gentoo on a Raspberry Pi now.

I think Xojo won’t move till Raspbian is 64-bit, but I might be wrong.[/quote]

You can just swap out to a 64-bit kernel (raspbian) as many do!

For those that think there is little point in 64 bit:

“Once we have the 64-bit kernel and userland there’s going to be a performance advantage. The RAM will turn directly into a performance advantage by improving filesystem performance,” Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton said. “Once you’ve been running your machine for a day every conceivable page that you might want off the drive is going to be in RAM.”

[quote=490526:@Björn Eiríksson]For those that think there is little point in 64 bit:

“Once we have the 64-bit kernel and userland there’s going to be a performance advantage. The RAM will turn directly into a performance advantage by improving filesystem performance,” Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton said. “Once you’ve been running your machine for a day every conceivable page that you might want off the drive is going to be in RAM.”[/quote]

swappines to 0 and there we go, high speed pi

I’m currently testing the Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian) 64-bit version. Before long, this will inevitably become the recommended and default operating system for the Raspberry Pi. There’s huge interest in this - just the forum post announcement on the Foundation’s site has 97329 views.

Show your support for Xojo ARM64 builds: <https://xojo.com/issue/42794>

I didn’t find reference to armhf wrappers- I hope this can help someone!

You can get your Xojo apps running on ARM64. I’ve only tested console and stand-alone web apps so far:

[code]#armhf on ARM64
dpkg --add-architecture armhf

apt-get update

apt-get install libc6:armhf libstdc++6:armhf

cd /lib

ln -s arm-linux-gnueabihf/ld-2.23.so ld-linux.so.3

apt install gcc-8-base

sudo apt-get install libunwind8:armhf
sudo apt-get install libunwind8:armhf gettext:armhf[/code]

Before making changes to your base OS, be sure that you have any needed services and applications up to date. You’ll also need to carefully check applications and services after the above installation. Some dependencies may break after restart.
You will see deprecated CP15 Barrier instruction messages in your syslog. You can suppress this if you wish.

Now 4th. Use those Feedback points! :slightly_smiling_face:

https://xojo.com/issue/42794

What am I missing? ARM64 support is coming anyway (as it is coming for Mac it makes little sense to not support it for Linux and Pi) so why put points in there?

Isn’t that just whipping up support for something that is coming anyway?

I’m not sure what is hard to understand about this thread. ARM64 Linux builds are probable, sure, especially since Apple have officially announced their ARM plan since this thread was started. But nothing is inevitable. If you support ARM64 builds for Linux, then add some points. Otherwise, why not feel free to just ignore it.

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That people essentially waste their points on something that is coming anyway, instead of using them for bugs that affect them directly.

Not difficult to understand either … :roll_eyes:

1 Like

Markus, it’s a Feedback case from 2016. I have been trying to build support for something that I feel is important. It’s not on the Xojo roadmap so unless you’re now the CEO, I’ll keep building support for it, if it’s okay by you. Again, if you don’t like it (or any other thread on this forum), my suggestion is to simply ignore it.

4 Likes

Hi Emile,

This is a good idea. I have created an instagram account and will start making videos of the projects that I have made and will start posting them. As books and examples are updated, then more video’s will be shown.

Thanks for the idea! :slight_smile:

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Hi Emily,

Here is a video for the stepper motor from the Raspberry Pi 4 B book. This is a test to see if the link works.

This video was created with my Pixel 4 phone, OBS, and Hitfilm Express.

Raspberry Pi 4 B Xojo Example 24-7 Stepper Motor on Instagram