iOS Is Intel *really* required?

[huntercr]

I'm just getting started in iPhone development and I've got a PowerPC G5... before I waste my time trying to shoehorn this, is anyone else successfully developing on a PowerPC?

Since Xcode 3.1.1 operates just fine on PowerPC systems, is there really anything keeping the iPhone Dev kit from working?

I keep reading "officially" unsupported. Can anyone confirm that they have it working? I can't understand why documentation would say "officially" if it wasn't possible

 

[johnnybluejeans]

I've heard of developers working on non-intel machines. From what I understand the sdk installer comes as a universal binary. Anyway, I don't have any details for you, just giving you hope.

 

[marcpage]

I tried to install on a G4 eMac (both modifying the installer to skip the intel check and using Pacifist). I could not get it working. But some people have had success, so I guess it can be done.

 

[PhoneyDeveloper]

If you google you'll find some reports of how to do this.

 

[huntercr]

If you google you'll find some reports of how to do this.

I'm back with an update!

Yes, you were right here was good info around the net.
I finally got it all working on my G5.

For anyone else who tries to do this, be prepared for a very long journey. Part of this is due to what I consider a bug in pacifist ( or the Apple packager purposely breaking pacifist ) when you unpack all the iPhone related files it puts them all in their own subfolders named after the package, and will not put it in the "right" location no matter what you specify the destination folders as. So you have to manually sync the folders yourself. ( I did this by unpacking them all into their own subfolder and then using rsync to synchronize them )

Getting things to compile right and work on the simulator was not half as bad, but there is conflicting advice on the internet about this with a couple of steps missing.

I'll try to get around to posting a work flow here if it's allowed. I don't understand why Apple doesn't want me to use my G5 ( Dual1.8GHz 3.5GB memory ) for iPhone development when it is not only possible, it performs very nicely.

 

[firewood]

I don't understand why Apple doesn't want me to use my G5 ( Dual1.8GHz 3.5GB memory ) for iPhone development when it is not only possible...

They likely don't have anyone testing that this actually works before each new SDK release, so there may be subtle bugs (with installation, configuration, endianess, etc.)

 

[huntercr]

They likely don't have anyone testing that this actually works before each new SDK release, so there may be subtle bugs (with installation, configuration, endianess, etc.)

Well, that makes sense, and I'm sure it's the legal group that forced this, but remember the rest of Xcode is still approved an supported for PPC architecture ... making the iPhone SDK intel only is simply silly. Xcode is meant to handle binaries of any processor architecture( supported by the compiler of course ) . It's only a coincidence that they only happen to have incorporated Intel and PPC. They could roll in any other suitable architecture as long as it is GCC supported.

I'm sure you're right though... they don't want to waste resources on debugging oddities. I wish they would just release a special PPC installer that has a EULA that says "if you use the PPC version, we won't help you in any way"

Oh well, I'm happy! Hopefully with my first iPhone App I['ll be able to buy a new Intel Mac, and close the loop.

 

[DreamPod]

The Simulator only runs Intel code, which is why it requires an Intel Mac. When building for the simulator, you are creating an x86 app.

 

[firewood]

The Simulator only runs Intel code...

The Simulator is only documented and supported to run Intel ia32/x86 ISA code. Run the lipo -info command on it, and you may find that it is actually built for more than one architecture.

.

 

[Encryptic]

The Simulator only runs Intel code, which is why it requires an Intel Mac. When building for the simulator, you are creating an x86 app.

Simulator works on my old iBook G4 that I hacked up the SDK to work with... (That's all though, no code signing which means no debugging on a real iPhone)

For what it's worth, buying a Mac Mini to do iPhone development was what I had to do.

 

[huntercr]

The Simulator only runs Intel code, which is why it requires an Intel Mac. When building for the simulator, you are creating an x86 app.

Actually this is not true. There are instructions on the net for adding PPC as a valid arch for the simulator [ and it works ]

 

[huntercr]

Simulator works on my old iBook G4 that I hacked up the SDK to work with... (That's all though, no code signing which means no debugging on a real iPhone)

For what it's worth, buying a Mac Mini to do iPhone development was what I had to do.

That was the plan for myself as well. I'll probably buy a refurbished iMac or Mini once I get to that stage. I don't even own an iPhone ( or a Touch ) yet, so I have to take baby steps.

I'm currently learning Cocoa and Objective C still... I've had 12 years of coding experience in C from a predominantly UNIX background, and I knew I would have a steep learning curve at the beginning. Even working in Xcode and Interface builder is completely alien to me, and shedding my old ways is really hard