Has anyone had experience receiving Kegboard data on Windows? Does the USB connect properly without drivers, or is it easier to just run Android in a virtual environment? Would this work on Bluestacks?
I would consider running both the Kegbot-android and Kegbot-server on the same Windows tablet, if it turns out I need to run the server.
I tried Bluestacks on a Windows tablet a couple years ago. Didn’t work. I couldn’t tell you if it would work now.
Thanks
Good to know. When I receive my Kegbot I will try Kegbot-Android with Bluestacks (unlikely to work), WindowsAndroid, and even Androidx86.
It was just a shame if I can’t use my Windows tablet. It was very cheap and offered a 10.1" screen, USB host, and a separate charging port. And it might be able to run Kegbot-server in the background at the same time.
It should work, you just have to write the software.
The Kegboard is just a serial device. It implements the serial protocol which is actually fully document in the manual: https://kegbot.org/docs/kegboard/
Some background: My tablet is a 32 bit Atom Z2760 (http://ark.intel.com/products/70105), so if you were thinking of using Kegbot-android on your windows tablet, you may have success where I have had failure.
So far.
Bluestacks (runs android apps natively in Windows) - runs Kegbot-android, but cannot access the USB device
WindowsAndroid (similar to Bluestacks) - now called WinDroye. Does not run on my tablet due to some GPU failure
Android-x86 (boot entire tablet in Android, intel x86 port) - Can boot UEFI Live USB, but display driver doesn’t work. Intel Atom Z2760 runs a PowerVR GPU which isn’t implemented yet
Android-IA (Intel’s flavor of Android-x86) - Haven’t tried yet, but read that PowerVR is also unsupported
VirtualBox (VM running in Windows) - Too slow to use under the Atom
Genymotion - I imagine would be the same result as VirtualBox
VMWare Player 7.0 - Only works in x64
VMWare Player 5.0 and 6.0 - Complains of unsupported CPU, probably due to lack of VT-x
On a more positive note, I did try running this on a non-tablet (Macbook Air) and had mixed results:
-on VMWare Player, it detected the USB device (only on the first USB port) but the Android app would crash on pouring
-on Android-x86, it detected the USB device (only on the first USB port) and worked perfectly.
I also tried Andy-roid. But it requires VT-x which I don’t have in my Intel Atom CPU
Conclusion seems to be: Windows tablet is useless if it doesn’t support VT-x or has PowerVR GPU. Bluestacks and VirtualBox can run the Kegbot Android program but it’s unusable. Perhaps Bluestacks would work if there was a USB driver for the Amtel in Windows that would register and then relay the data
If you have a Windows machine that doesn’t have a garbage CPU, it’s preferable to run Android natively, either though Android x86 or Android IA.
As for me, I’ll be selling my Windows tablet for $250 and buying an Android tablet (probably either Acer Iconia A200 or A210 for less than $100).