Alex Rivera | Logout

Is there an Android PCI card?

Asked 2011-04-06T21:17:06.230
11

Does anyone know of a PCI card suitable for Android development?

I find the emulator unusably slow (Linux 64-bit, quad-core, 8GB RAM), and a card I could hide in my desktop would be nice. I know there are USB options out there, but that means yet more kit I need to find a shelf for... or suitably chasis-mount a USB board

The reasons for doing wanting this, the reasons are:

  1. QEMU ARM emulation is unusably slow for me
  2. A phone won't allow me to test against multiple Android versions
  3. A phone won't allow me to test against multiple Android display resolutions
  4. Not an issue for me, but in a classroom environment, a PCI card inside a PC has distinct advantages over multiple phones.

If there isn't a card that already has Android-specific capabilities, then I would be happy with an generic ARM card with shared memory. A graphics co-processor would be useful, but not essential.

I'm happy with my reasons for wanting to do this, and happy to write any driver code I need.

Thanks in advance,

Phil Lello

android linux android-emulator arm pci
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2 Answers

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I don't know of any PCI boards that are in the market right now. Your best chance is probably just getting one of those USB based boards.

answered 2011-04-25T04:20:34.420
1

The Beagleboard may suit your needs. However, you must be aware that it requires patience and time (compiling, building the images, etc.). Besides this, you cannot grab the official source-code (as one can typically do when using the emulator) and run it the Beagleboard. For that, you will need to port or use the several ports already available, which may be found here Beagleboard-Projects.

Regarding PCI versions, as far as I know there aren't any in the market. And I'm not sure if they will ever be available. So, without this kind of PCI boards, I would reconsider to either stick to the emulator or buy a Beagleboard just for the fun of it.

As a side note, I've also experienced (some times) the same emulator problem in my 64-bit machine, especially when building all the source-code and run it in the emulator. Have you ever tried to use the emulator that it is shipped with the SDK to see if the problem holds?

I hope this helps.

answered 2011-04-30T02:32:47.320

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