Success!
I installed Winlator on my phone. It's running a Windows 10 emulator. I downloaded Zara 1.6.2.2 to the phone, installed it under Winlator and it worked! Zara running a playlist! The first playlist I tried consisted of Opus files and nothing happened. When I realized that Zara didn't support that format, I downloaded mp3's and they worked perfectly well.
Zara 1.4.4 (the older version), which I want to run, crashed when loading a playlist, but I think it's because it had Opus files in it. I'll retry with mp3's. I think I want this version, warts and all, because I can add Winamp plug-ins. I don't think Winlator will support multiple programs linked together via a virtual cable, as it isn't a virtual machine - it's only an emulator.
I tried Salamandra initially, but it didn't appear to work. I'll try again. Salamandra certainly would be more convenient, as most of the audio files on my phone are in Opus format.
The emulator is slow to initiate, and visibly slower to launch Zara (which I think was the problem with Salamandra). But once Zara got up and running, it had no audio hiccups.
Now I have a portable fully automated radio station on my phone. Take along the WH3 with batteries, and I can run it anywhere.
Rich, I would think that the process of converting a Windows program to Android would be filled with misadventure. It's tough enough to manually port an app to another operating system, unless it has been designed for portability.
I'm honestly surprised that Winlator appears to work as well as it does. But I'm not looking at a gift horse's mouth too closely.
@artisan-radio Sounds good!
If you can get Salamandra to run properly including settings and all functions, scheduling events, EVERYTHING, the same as a Windows computer, without a glitch, with Winlator or any other emulators which are free, I will buy a small 8" tablet that is Android as Android is way way less money than Windows and I would get the same or better performance (processing RAM and storage space) than a midrange Windows laptop. Also with Android none of this Windows 11 crap with having to get out of the Microsoft account!
So let me know and you can walk me through it if it works.
Yeah, I'd wait until I run the software through its paces. I was so excited I got it running with a playlist so quickly that I had to share.
I'm really impressed with the UI of the emulator software. It's pretty easy to set up compared to, say, Docker.
You set up a container with Winlator, map your phone or tablet folders to Windows drive letters so you can access files on your device, and then run the container.
There are a lot of settings I haven't played around with yet as well. I'm mainly focused on getting the apps to work.
@artisan-radio Don't have a clue about any of that but first lets see if it can be done.
Just getting a Windows 8" tablet is much easier if I were to do it but the cost of them is crazy compared to a basic off brand laptop but the Android ones for $100 I can get a new one with better performance than any basic Windows PC.
I found out this about running Windows programs on Android............ https://www.google.com/search?q=can+you+run+windows+programs+on+an+android+tablet&client=firefox-b-d&hs=K0xo&sca_esv=34fb7e70802b3bda&ei=Yr88aYkgucynzg_S_LnwCQ&oq=can+you+run+windows+programs+on+android+tablets&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiL2NhbiB5b3UgcnVuIHdpbmRvd3MgcHJvZ3JhbXMgb24gYW5kcm9pZCB0YWJsZXRzKgIIADIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDMgsQABiABBiKBRiGAzILEAAYgAQYigUYhgMyCBAAGIAEGKIEMgUQABjvBTIIEAAYgAQYogQyCBAAGIAEGKIEMggQABiABBiiBEi3MFCYBViVInABeAGQAQCYAZQBoAHYB6oBAzAuOLgBAcgBAPgBAZgCCaACjwjCAgoQABhHGNYEGLADmAMAiAYBkAYIkgcDMS44oAe3QrIHAzAuOLgHhwjCBwMyLTnIByaACAE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
Apparently not without issues. Simpler programs like Zara that worked with XP is more likely to work but Salamandra? May not. And for it to work 24/7 is less likely as it says crashing is possible and it needs the latest Android versions and lots of RAM.
@artisan-radio Don't have a clue about any of that but first lets see if it can be done.
Just getting a Windows 8" tablet is much easier if I were to do it but the cost of them is crazy compared to a basic off brand laptop but the Android ones for $100 I can get a new one with better performance than any basic Windows PC.
Surface Pro's tablets with Windows 10 sell left and right on eBay for well under $100 all the time, another nice thing about them is they're rugged.
Some more info. Good & bad news.
The good. Zara 1.6.2.2 works fine with events. Still haven't tested everything but it looks very promising.
Zara 1.4.4 runs, but keeps crapping out when I attempt to add a track or playlist. Get an error that it doesn't support state callback. I seem to remember that error attempting to run it under Windows 7 and up, but I even get the error running under Windows XP emulation. So I think Winlator is screwing up.
I'm having problems getting Salamandra to run at all. I'm short of storage on the phone I'm trying it on, so I'll free up some space and try again. That may be the problem. It's remotely possible that the Zara 1.4.4 issue is due to that as well, and I'll try it again as well once I free up space, but I doubt it.
Overall thoughts.
I wouldn't run your main radio station using this software. It's too quirky. Like a lot of open source software, when something goes wrong (such as not enough memory, and other things), it doesn't exit gracefully, or give an error message. It just dies.
You do need a bluetooth mouse and keyboard for input - any other method is just too painful. But once you get your events and playlists up and running, you no longer need them.
Verdict. Good enough for experimentation, playing around, and occasional use (such as my wanting to have a radio station I can carry in my pocket). Even just to play music to yourself, i.e., personal use.
Not quite ready for prime time yet.
Mark did say that he wanted to get away from the Microsoft account thing. Not sure you can.
The Surface is a good, portable tablet, if that's what you want. It's heavy, though (one of the downsides of being tough, all that metal), doesn't fit in a pocket, and so for my needs it wouldn't suffice.
If you did want a Windows tablet, they'd be a good choice. The newer ones are crazy expensive, though. You can pick up the 3rd & 4th generation relatively inexpensively, but they're nowhere near as powerful as one might like.
The other problems (for the older, reasonably priced ones) include: only 1 USB A port, no built-in ethernet (so you have to use wifi), a non standard power adapter, expansion storage limited to relatively slow micro sd cards (so you have to make sure you get one with a lot of main storage). You can purchase docking stations, which give you more USB ports and an ethernet adapter.
On the plus side, a great screen, tough as mentioned, and decent battery life. You can also get a keyboard (with trackpad) that attaches magnetically to the bottom, and acts as a relatively thin cover for the screen when in the closed position.
I did own a Surface Gen 4, but got rid of it in a general purge of my excess technology. It was an i3 and pretty slow as it used low power, low heat intel chips; don't know how the i5's and i7's do.
@artisan-radio Yes it is still possible to get around the Microsoft thing. The worry is if it will have a work around in the future. But whatever Microsoft tries to do it seems someone figures out the hack. The techs at Canada Computers can still do it in 5 minutes for you. I have a back up Windows 11 13.2 Dell as mentioned with local account, and a Windows 11 small 10" laptop for the broadcasting back up that comes with the set up bypassed new out of the box.
But I would like the convenience of a small thing like a tablet for the broadcast and the Android little 8" ones come with 32GB of RAM, a processor better than i5, 256 GB storage for just a bit over $100!
A Windows one new just similar to a basic laptop which is fine, 4 GB RAM, 128GB, Celeron N4100 is over $400.00 to $500.00 and closer to $500.00 for the 128 GB which is the minimum I need. Any better than that and it's $700 and up ... CRAZY!! All it is is a small laptop with no keyboard! What justifies the price? Just 'cause it's Windows?
But it seems still too many bugs to get Windows programs to work as Artisan is finding out.
But if it works I am open to getting an Android tablet, not a phone, and having the convenience of small.
Even if it works with Android, a mouse won't work with Android? So even if Salamandra can run you need a mouse for operating things like selecting settings and even scheduling. Or a touch fine pen instead of a finger could work.
You know what, it's easier to just get Windows! If I can come across a good deal or refurbished one. I don't get used like on Ebay.
But keep me posted if you get Salamandra to work fully on Android.
No, it doesn't look like Salamandra will run under this emulator software on Android. I'm not sure why and I will keep working on it.
I managed to find an old version of Zara (1.4.1) from a French website, no less, that I got working and that supports Winamp plugins. I'm hoping that I can get the Sound Solution plugin going to do audio processing - there are a few good presets, including ones that emulate Orban processors pretty well.
I'm also hoping that the opus plugin for Winamp will work. Not holding my breath, though.
Events work fine.
I'm pretty pleased with what I have working so far. It's good enough for my purposes.
It seems that it's only the older programs that can work with newer versions of Android as explained by looking it up.
I saw on Amazon.com(USA) some new good enough 8" tablets with Windows 10 and 11 at around $250 USD and $10 USD 3 day shipping to Canada and a mouse can be used and just like a laptop but no keyboard but I will think about it.
I will ask at Canada computers if the screen keypad covers things on the screen you have to see and will it work for my application. I can get a demo there.
But when you get it here it's one and a half times as much due to the exchange.
@mark I really think you best bet (if you wanted to use a tablet for your station automation) is to spend $50 for a used Microsoft Surface Pro Windows 10 tablet on eBay. They are entirely capable. Makes no sense to me to buy a new computer if it's just for station automation. I see no advantage at all in buying brand new for that purpose.
Incidentally, add a $15 USB TV tuner and they make a great portable battery operated TV!
Going back to the original topic, I've found another, much more stable, Android software application that will run Windows programs. It's called Exagear.
Apparently it was a commercial product that fell into open source when the developers gave it up back in 2019. It has been kept relatively up to date by the open source community, and I've got it running on an old phone (32 bit!) that's running a custom ROM to bring it up to Android 13.
It's working great with Zara 1.4.1 and the Sound Source Winamp plugin (with an Orban 8100 preset). Absolutely no glitches, and this is a sloooooow phone. The software is also much more stable than Winlator, with no crashes so far. If you so much as look at Winlator wrong, it crashes.
The only thing that I've yet to figure out is how to listen with Bluetooth headphones. Exagear is a full virtual Windows machine (as opposed to an emulator like Winlator), so there's probably a container setting somewhere. And it will only run x86 apps (not x64). Like Winlator, it was meant for running older Windows games.
I'm pretty sure that Salamandra is an x86 application, so I'm going to try that next.
Addendum: Salamandra doesn't run on Exagear either. Although it gets further - it just states that Salamandra requires Windows 7. And Exagear is Windows XP (don't know about Vista). So it's a better solution than Winlator to run Zara, but not good enough to run Salamandra. Sorry about that, Mark.
@artisan-radio Awaiting your trial with Salamandra.
I realized that some of those cheaper 8" windows tablets have ROM storage as that is no good! Once you add items it can't be rewritten(deleted or changed). It has to be SSD, flash, eMMC. What kind of nonsense is that?
Always something!