Hi, I was wondering if there is a version of BOINC for the iPod Touch 2.0 on the horizon.

Thanks!
Chadwick Jones
Magnolia, Arkansas
USA

From the Wikipedia:

CPU 412 MHz (with software update 1.1.2) ARM11
Memory 128 MB DRAM

Not much to work with. It would have to be one of the simpler projects.

Ah, yeah I guess it would not be able to output that much...

Hi, I was wondering if there is a version of BOINC for the iPod Touch 2.0 on the horizon.

I tried to compile BOINC for the iPod touch 1.0 (I won't pay a cent for a firmware upgrade that just adds locks around the system!). Gave up after a while, not because it was hard, but because I was running out of battery and the iPod was getting hotter than I like. (it was compiling on the iPod itself, not cross-compiling from my computer!)

This showed two things:
- Next time I try, I *have* to cross-compile from a fast computer, not on the iPod directly.
- If it gets that hot after compiling software for five minutes, I'm not sure I'd want to run a CPU-intensive BOINC project on it.

About the only project I'd consider worth running is Quake Catcher Network, using the built-in accelerometer while the iPod is charging (= on a stable desk, not on a pocket :D).

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Hi, I was wondering if there is a version of BOINC for the iPod Touch 2.0 on the horizon.

I forgot to mention:
BOINC is the kind of application Apple would NEVER let into the official App Store.

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I tried to compile BOINC for the iPod touch 1.0. Gave up after a while, not because it was hard, but because I was running out of battery and the iPod was getting hotter than I like. (it was compiling on the iPod itself, not cross-compiling from my computer!)

Ladies and gentleman, I successfully cross-compiled the BOINC client to the iPod touch (1.x firmware).

I've yet to test it, though :)

EDIT: ok, not really worth running. Look at these benchmarks!

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I tried to compile BOINC for the iPod touch 1.0. Gave up after a while, not because it was hard, but because I was running out of battery and the iPod was getting hotter than I like. (it was compiling on the iPod itself, not cross-compiling from my computer!)

Ladies and gentleman, I successfully cross-compiled the BOINC client to the iPod touch (1.x firmware).

I've yet to test it, though :)

EDIT: ok, not really worth running. Look at these benchmarks!

And as you discovered, running a CPU intensive project is going do run through battery in a huge hurry. Handheld devices are all about battery conservation. If you defeat this, you end up with a hot brick (literaly hot, and if it gets too hot, it will become a brick). If you don't defeat this, your benchmarks will look even worse (replace MIPS with KIPS and you will have it about right).

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BOINC WIKI

And as you discovered, running a CPU intensive project is going do run through battery in a huge hurry. Handheld devices are all about battery conservation. If you defeat this, you end up with a hot brick (literaly hot, and if it gets too hot, it will become a brick). If you don't defeat this, your benchmarks will look even worse (replace MIPS with KIPS and you will have it about right).

I know how hot it can get. I attempted native compilation (took like 30 seconds per C++ file), and one of the steps I took during jailbreaking did a lot of decompressing/decrypting/patching/recompressing stuff right on the device, and it sure got warm both times...

I will surely not crunch on it. It was mostly the exercise of trying to port it. Hey, some people have ported BitTorrent clients. Over Wi-Fi, that eats battery like crazy. Over EDGE, the carrier will kill you. They did it anyway.

And what seems to be the point of porting the gcc compiler to run natively, or vim, or two command-line IRC clients, or X applications (even when we have no X server!), or the lynx browser (command-line), or Midnight Commander, or... (should I continue?). People still do it just for the hell of it (all those programs are available for installation).

And, there is one possible use for BOINC here. Run Quake Catcher Network, while the iPhone/iPod is being charged; hopefully on a stable desk :)

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On a related area:
iPod nano causes fires: Japan Govt

About the only project I'd consider worth running is Quake Catcher Network, using the built-in accelerometer while the iPod is charging (= on a stable desk, not on a pocket :D).

Rather than running QCN on the iPod under BOINC, it might not be too difficult to run the app directly. I know Carl is very busy just getting QCN to run under BOINC, but I'd imagine once that's matured he could then easily port the app direct. And while Apple may not approve of BOINC, they might approve of just this app, which might even grow their sensor array more than running it under BOINC.

(And yes, it would have to be pretty smart about detecting motion in general and distinguishing an earthquake from tossing your backpack on the couch.)

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-- Eric Myers

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -- William Butler Yeats