M|S

EyeTV 4 on ARM (Apple silicon transition)

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Friends at Geniatech,

 

first I would like to congratulate Geniatech for the successful Cocoa transition of EyeTV.

It might have come to your attention that Apple is planning the transition to ARM processors for their Macs over the next two years. New ARM-based Macs will run an x86 emulator (Rosetta 2), but I would assume the performance is not ideal when you are doing things like HD video decoding. So it would be great if you could stay on top of this transition right from the beginning. And now that you are on Cocoa, things should be easier.

Are you planning to port EyeTV 4 to ARM and distribute as Universal ARM/x86 binary in the future?

Apple is providing developers with an ARM-based Mac mini for rent, so that they can start building for ARM right now. See the following link for more information:

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/06/apple-announces-mac-transition-to-apple-silicon/

 

Kind regards!

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hahaha , nice on M|S

Success on EyeTV 4 ? and you are asking to support ARM now ?

Be happy that you can still post on a site with expired certificate, full of spam posts and actual employees of the company probably already on another company

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My Mac's usefulness/flexibility seemed to peak about 2013-2015.

Since then, Apple's relentless, yearly updates have cast off old functionality to advance other things. My computer is continuously headed toward doing less in the future than it has in the past.  SIP broke things, 64 -bit lost  many tools, Catalina broke a bunch of peripherals with the redo of drivers.  Now it looks like ARM will break what's left.

Apple's "vision" no longer lines up with what I want.  

Companies spend 10, 20,100 man-years developing something, then Apple makes an arbitrary change to create a new "fashion" in computing, obsoletes it all and expects it to be redone or else "oh, too bad -- bye-bye!". Doesn't bode well for the future. 

Did customers ask them to remove 32-bit support, switch to ARM architecture?

Edited by starliner

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On 9/16/2020 at 2:14 PM, NJRonbo said:

EyeTV doesn't even seem to be working on BigSur.  I don't expect it to work on ARM.

What problems are there with EyeTV 4 under Big Sur?

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3 hours ago, M|S said:

What problems are there with EyeTV 4 under Big Sur?

It became non-responsive after launch.

A new beta of Big Sur was just released yesterday.  Going to install and see if that fixes the issue.

I will let you know.

 

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Just updated to Beta 7 of Big Sur.

EyeTV will launch.  However, before it can launch the actual TV window, it just sits there, unresponsive, with the spinning beach ball.

I had to force quit the application.

Unknown if this will actually work in the final version and/or if a needed software update needs to be provided from Geniatech.

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On 9/18/2020 at 12:40 PM, NJRonbo said:

Just updated to Beta 7 of Big Sur.

EyeTV will launch.  However, before it can launch the actual TV window, it just sits there, unresponsive, with the spinning beach ball.

I had to force quit the application.

Unknown if this will actually work in the final version and/or if a needed software update needs to be provided from Geniatech.

Thanks for testing this out.

Can you report these issues to Apple? I'm not convinced we can rely on GeniaTech to do so.

Apple should bear some responsibility here. Existing software should not break from one release to the next – year after year – without some seriously good excuse. On x86 EyeTV should "just work" on Big Sur.

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I could report it.  I just sold my laptop that was running the beta so I don't have the direct feedback option as I am on another laptop running Catalina.

However, Apple should have a beta feedback page.

But I am wondering how much responsibility is in GeniaTech's hands here?
 

There are still many incompatible x64 applications during the Big Sur beta that are still catching up.  I had to wait for a few apps to get a new update and when they did, they were just beta offerings.

The thing that concerns me is the negative feedback that GeniaTech has gotten on this app.  I have been reading comments from users saying don't expect this company to offer any updates for this app with Big Sur.  I don't know what to believe.

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21 minutes ago, M|S said:

Thanks for testing this out.

Can you report these issues to Apple? I'm not convinced we can rely on GeniaTech to do so.

Apple should bear some responsibility here. Existing software should not break from one release to the next – year after year – without some seriously good excuse. On x86 EyeTV should "just work" on Big Sur.

Don't expect apple to get involved on a single software that it is not working. Maybe if Microsoft Word was not working they get involved but not with some piece of code poorly written by a company that we do not know if the exist anymore

 

11 minutes ago, NJRonbo said:

The thing that concerns me is the negative feedback that GeniaTech has gotten on this app. I have been reading comments from users saying don't expect this company to offer any updates for this app with Big Sur. I don't know what to believe.

just give up. I have done it. Im still in Mojave and since apple gives security updates for two releases back i will stay here. I'm not using my MacMini , its from TV and KODI only.

I have asked for alternatives here but nothing has come up, i'm still waiting for someone to point me on how to work with the Parallers software. Have no problem pay

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3 hours ago, todd said:

For the few who have mentioned it, apparently you can't run EyeTV 3 through Parallels Desktop.  I've tried, and others, without success. 

The app requires 2d/3D acceleration to work and Parallels does not have access to the APIs to have this.

https://forum.parallels.com/threads/eyetv-3-on-mohave-10-14-6-under-pdt.348897/#post-870989

thank you for the clarification, i needed that !

I read the thread people are talking about VM with windows 10 and alternative software NextPVR which i do not like and i'm in Greece so no HDHOMERUN.

Before EyeTV i was super happy with my win 7 media center application for TV. Do you think that the eyetv3 dual tuner will work with that in a VM with parallels ?

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Have some really good news to report...

EyeTV is now working under Big Sur.  

I am on Developer Preview 11 and EyeTV asked to download an additional component.  It is now working fine.

 

 

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I think I spoke too soon.

Shortly after EyeTV working fine on Big Sur, I got a release candidate download pop-up.  I installed the release candidate and now although the EyeTV software launches, I can't get a video signal to it.  The software keeps saying NO SIGNAL.  

 

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Sorry for the multiple updates.  Doesn't seem to be a way to edit my previous posts to add information.

Did some testing.

Don't upgrade your EyeTV software to the newest release candidate under Big Sur.  It actually kills the video.

I had to locate and downgrade to EyeTV 4.0.0_8521 and since doing so, EyeTV is working again under BigSur.

You are required to enter your system password when you launch the EyeTV software so that additional components can be installed.  However, this seems to be a bug on the BigSur end as you need to enter that password on every consecutive launch of the app.

 

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On 9/18/2020 at 1:07 AM, starliner said:

My Mac's usefulness/flexibility seemed to peak about 2013-2015.

Since then, Apple's relentless, yearly updates have cast off old functionality to advance other things. My computer is continuously headed toward doing less in the future than it has in the past.  SIP broke things, 64 -bit lost  many tools, Catalina broke a bunch of peripherals with the redo of drivers.  Now it looks like ARM will break what's left.

Apple's "vision" no longer lines up with what I want.  

Companies spend 10, 20,100 man-years developing something, then Apple makes an arbitrary change to create a new "fashion" in computing, obsoletes it all and expects it to be redone or else "oh, too bad -- bye-bye!". Doesn't bode well for the future. 

Did customers ask them to remove 32-bit support, switch to ARM architecture?

Get off your high horse.

MacOS went 64 bit in 2005, 15 years ago.  Any company that hasn't transitioned their application / drivers to 64 bit in that time really isn't interested in supporting customers.

Did Users ask for 64 bit?  Hell yes.  Did they ask Apple to slow Macs down forever by dragging round inefficient old 32 bit libraries?  No.

Did I ask Apple to move to ARM architecture ?  No.  But then I didn't ask them to move to intel architecture either. Or PowerPC.

Does that mean we should all still be on M64K ?

 

 

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On 9/17/2020 at 5:07 PM, starliner said:

My Mac's usefulness/flexibility seemed to peak about 2013-2015.

Since then, Apple's relentless, yearly updates have cast off old functionality to advance other things. My computer is continuously headed toward doing less in the future than it has in the past.  SIP broke things, 64 -bit lost  many tools, Catalina broke a bunch of peripherals with the redo of drivers.  Now it looks like ARM will break what's left.

Apple's "vision" no longer lines up with what I want.  

Companies spend 10, 20,100 man-years developing something, then Apple makes an arbitrary change to create a new "fashion" in computing, obsoletes it all and expects it to be redone or else "oh, too bad -- bye-bye!". Doesn't bode well for the future. 

Did customers ask them to remove 32-bit support, switch to ARM architecture?

This is a matter of goals and perspective. My Mac does much more today than it ever did before, thanks to Apple's changes.

I suppose a Mac might do less than ever if it is asked to do the typical tasks of 10-15 years ago.

Many, many of the problems you list are not Apple problems or user problems, but developer problems. Yes, I lost some tools. But I switched to applications maintained by their developers to stay current, and those are now some very powerful and flexible tools thanks to all of the advances in hardware and macOS.

Apple is eliminating kernel extensions, a frequent source of both instability and security vulnerabilities. Many Mac users are freaking out about this, but I have already received notices from some developers that they have retooled their applications and drivers to use the new APIs available so that the old, flawed kernel extensions are no longer needed; they reassure me that they are going to be fine in Big Sur. I will support those developers who are forward-thinking and not stuck in the 1990s and whining about it.

Quote

Did customers ask them to remove 32-bit support, switch to ARM architecture?

Steve Jobs would have laughed at that. He said you do not give customers what they ask for, you give them what they need.

What customers need is a high performing OS that is matched to current needs. Current needs include high security, and compatibility with a cross-platform system of desktop/mobile devices. I also have iOS devices and to me, it's all one big computer because of how Apple has integrated them to move data from one to the other like the shared Clipboard.

The serious need for enhanced security led to SIP, sealing the system volume, and other necessary changes. Oh, there is one thing customers actually want, and that is PERFORMANCE. While enforcing 64-bit code may not be completely necessary for this, it helps keep the platform from being bogged down by legacy code. I clean-installed Catalina and am finding I don't miss the 32-bit apps that were left behind.

Apple Silicon is also a matter of the performance customers need. The A-series SOC in the iPad Pro already meets or beats many laptops, even though in an iPad it has no space, no cooling, and limited power! Everyone is looking forward to what performance can be turned loose when you give that chip room, cooling, and power. Combined with Intel's widely known failure to provide the CPUs they promised, resulting in today's Mac and PC laptops running hotter and less efficiently than they could. Apple had to liberate itself from Intel's failings, but unlike most computer companies, they had their own custom-made powerful, efficient CPU under development and now available. Customers did not ask for Apple Silicon, but once Apple rolled it out, customers said "Give that to me right now!" We want the additional power, we want the cooler operation, we want the longer battery life. Personally, I can't wait.

Edited by tvparty2nite

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Hi

I use EyeV2 Lite, about 1 year old and the latest build of the software. Maybe I am lucky but I went to Big Sur and it is running very well.

Thought I would mention it, not saying it will work for everyone, but had no problems at all.

 

Regards

Jason

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Just installed Big Sur and like the others it just does not work on my iMac and have to Force Quit

It is the only app/program out of hundreds on my iMac ..shame

ON top of that I have lost my Acitvation Code/Key so when an update becomes available I get not install it

 

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Hmmm, EyeTV4 4.0.0 (8524) seems to be workingfine (mostly...) on Big Sur. No freezes.

There is an issue now when I use the.  >>. or. << they don't work like before they skip ahead with no preview a fixed amount in the correct direction. What happened to the smooth visible video but faster playback and rewind using these buttons? Scan rate set at 32xx like previous version.

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I am running EyeTV 4 (8524) on a Big Sur Mac Mini (late 2014) with a EyeTV 250 Plus and I've rolled my own North American EPG. I am considering the new M1 Mac Mini as a replacement. Will this work with the current Intel version of EyeTV 4 and tuner via Rosetta 2? Looking for some actual experiences with EyeTV 4 on the new Apple silicon. Thanks!

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