build image for dell axim

[Guest]

Can I build an embedded xp image for a dell axim x50? I have a windows 32
bit application that I need to run from a pda and cannot figure out how to
get it to work. Thought maybe I could install xpe and than run the app.
What do ya'll think.

Thanks in advance,
Eric

 

[Brad Combs]

Eric,

The Dell Axim x50 is a PDA based on the Intel XScale processor. XP Embedded
only supports X86 processors such as Intel Pentium, AMD Athlon, AMD Geode,
etc... You could port the app to CE, find a device that is close in
footprint (still handheld) that runs on an x86 chip, or run the application
on a regular PC.

The requirements for XPe are here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/getstart/prodoverview/sysreq/xp/default.aspx

HTH,
Brad

 

[Coderer]

From the "might just be crazy enough to work" department...

You could get VNC Viewer for PPC
(http://www.cs.utah.edu/~midgley/wince/vnc.html), and run a VNC server
(www.realvnc.com) on a PC attached to the same wireless network. I do
this with my wife's Axim X3i and it works like a champ. It can be a
bit slow (802.11b is not exactly optimal for pushing screen caps in
real time), but it gets the job done. The app would run on the PC's
processor, but input/output goes through the PPC.

Of course, the *sane* thing to do would be, as Brad says, to port the
app to Windows Mobile. If you're an MSDN dev, you should already have
access to embedded VC++, though of course that assumes that you
actually *wrote* the app, or at least have source. If all you can get
is the Win32 binary... well, see above. Put quite simply, a Win32
binary will never run on the x50 unless some very enterprising
individual makes a Win32 emulator for XScale. That's not a project I
intend to undertake anytime soon.