I got Zara 1.4.1 to work. It also supports plug ins. Here is a link to download older versions of Zara.
The 1.4.4 version of Zara spits out an error message under Exagear. The 1.4.1 version outputs only a warning, and you can bypass it. It runs fine after bypassing the error and telling Zara to ignore future warnings.
The 1.6.2 version runs fine with no errors, but doesn't support plug ins. So no audio processing.
Sound solution has a lot of great presets. I started with the Orban 8100 one, but there are other Orban's and a lot of others besides. There's a trick to getting Sound Solution up and running so if you have problems, I can help. And if you can't find Sound Solution to download, I can make that available as well.
The compromise with the pocket computer I linked to, amongst other things, is screen space.
I was having difficulty navigating through the Windows Virtual Machine of Exagear on a 6.5 inch screen, never mind 5.5.
The one for $151 has an 8" screen
@artisan-radio On the link for Zara older versions I get to a site only in Portuguese.
But did you say that the latest Zara version 1.6.2 you got to work fine including all event set ups, settings( overlap, fade etc etc...), no glitches no errors, All tracks display with out the symbol indicating a bad track?, runs non stop without hiccups? What about the event times and Zara accessing the time from the clock on the Android computer....all works, events come on time? I don't use plug ins so that isn't important.
If so I'd give it some consideration, doing it that way with a Android little 8" tablet. Not a phone.
I got Zara 1.4.1 to work. It also supports plug ins. Here is a link to download older versions of Zara.
The 1.4.4 version of Zara spits out an error message under Exagear. The 1.4.1 version outputs only a warning, and you can bypass it. It runs fine after bypassing the error and telling Zara to ignore future warnings.
The 1.6.2 version runs fine with no errors, but doesn't support plug ins. So no audio processing.
Sound solution has a lot of great presets. I started with the Orban 8100 one, but there are other Orban's and a lot of others besides. There's a trick to getting Sound Solution up and running so if you have problems, I can help. And if you can't find Sound Solution to download, I can make that available as well.
I'm probably going to play with it but not too enthused about all the emulation going on to coax it into working. I had experimented with the 1.4 versions of Zara for a time many years ago (on a PC), primarily for the plug-in capability, but eventually returned to the more recent vs.1.6 because I found 1.4 buggy. I can only imagine it being worse so going through all the containers it now has to on an Android.
I haven't began playing with Exagear with Zara yet, I have no current use for it, but do intend to one of these nights. I think it's really cool that you were able to achieve it, and it's a neat capability which could come in handy if the need should ever arise.
I haven't endurance tested any of the Zara's yet. But as I said, what I tested worked. Fade, events, different playlists, etc.
I'm going to spend most of my time in the next little while with the older version of Zara. Then the newer one. I'd hold off purchasing anything until I finish because you never know.
I'm pleased by the fact that it's working at all.
As for that site, yes, it is in Portugese, some foreign language anyway, but there are clearly marked link (in the form of buttons) to download the various Zara versions. 1.4.4, 1.4.1, 1.3.6 (I think), as well as the latest free one. They work, because I did download them all. That was the source for my older Zara versions. They're difficult to find otherwise.
Here's an update.
I've been working with Winamp and WRS on Android, and pretty much got everything working. Opus playing, events, loading playlists, etc.
Unfortunately, the "pretty much" may be the stopper. Winamp doesn't support .rot files or rotations, there appear to be no plugins that do, and WRS wants 'Shuffle' to be on within Winamp, with no method of turning it off.
I use rotation files to play OTR. I can do everything else I want to do with these programs, but not that. In fact, filling up an hour after a shorter program is easier than with Zara or Salamandra.
Unless I can find a solution, or decide not to play OTR, I will have to use Zara and its restricted file types (mp3 or ogg).
I don't know if this is of any interest to the Forum, but I'll keep posting about it anyway.
It turns out that there's an open source plugin for Winamp that is an improved randomizer for playlists (YAS - Yet Another Shuffler). It basically keeps a list of all the files in a playlist, and marks them off as they are played, ensuring that no 2 tracks are played twice before the entire list is gone through.
It would be relatively easy to modify this to create a rotation file - eliminate the shuffling and you have it. So I decided to change the source of this plugin to accomplish this.
Unfortunately, most of the links to software such as the WinAmp SDK are dead, and it wasn't easy tracking this software down, even through the Wayback Machine. I managed to, however.
And then doubly unfortunately, as is often the case with open source software, things didn't work. I got compilation errors when attempting to make the plugin, before even attempting to modify it.
So I've set aside that project for the moment, and will focus on creating the playlists and events for Zara under Android. I'll be using ogg vorbis as the codec for the playlist and rotation tracks.
I'm not giving up on Winamp, though. I think it'll take a bit of time to debug the source code for YAS, get it to compile properly, and then make the necessary changes to support .rot playlists.
@artisan-radio It's of interest for me if you can get Zara 1.6.2 to work on android and the procedure is possible for you to walk me through, not too complicated. If it works all functions including saving events if shut off and restarted again...everything, including long term operation with no problems, as I said I would get an android small 8" little tablet with decent specs and storage for just over $100.00 to $125. The android tablet would have to have a USB or USB C for transfer of files from SSD MP3 files external back up and the link to the folders and files(documents equivalent) on the android device for Zara to work when setting up events. In other words work just like it does on a PC with your emulator to do it. Also a standard 3.5mm headphone jack for the audio out.
I don't need salamandra as I changed to that because it wasn't working properly on updated later versions of windows 10 or 11 and Johny C from New Zealand told me that is why he switched. I like Salamandra but I could go back to Zara for the convenience of small and cheap for very good performance processors and RAM and storage....1/4 the price or less of Microsoft Windows.
But there has to be no issues with performance and all functions and work non stop.
Same here, I'm interested. It's a real interesting idea and could prove useful. Particularly for a remote install. Back in the 70s with Yellowstone the biggest problem they had (outside the FCC) was having to go out to every the transmitter sites to fix a jammed or broke tape player several times a week (tapes played repeat about 12/7, they used the same cart players as radio station)... Anyway, in the same type installs what your trying to accomplish would be an ideal option.
Personally though, for everyday operation, I'd stick with Windows and whatever automation program you prefer.
@richpowers I don't intend to give up my day job (running Windows on a desktop for my station). This is just for portability.
As I stated earlier, I'm going to be concentrating on Zara testing for the near future. Winamp doesn't support rotation files natively or in plugins. I would write my own plugin based on YAS (Yet Another Shuffler), but the code is messed up. I have contacted the primary developer, but it is open source and therefore by definition, no support. It looks to me like he's attempted to divide his code so it can be compiled by either gcc (a C compiler) or Windows Visual Studio, but both get errors. This is not the final source of the released plugin, but some intermediate stage that has obviously not been tested.
Right now I just want to get something going, so I'm putting the plugin on the back burner. If necessary, I'll just use YAS as a template, rip out most of the code except the interfaces to WinAmp and start from almost scratch. It's written in C, which I'm most familiar with, so I feel comfortable with that.
A lot of the time it's easier to just redo code, rather than attempt to modify it.
I got a deal locally on one of those all-in-one micro sized pc's with a screen and running Windows 11. It's supposed to be new.
So I'll be putting the Android testing off for a little while until I set this thing up and get it working with Salamandra.
It has 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (so it's been upgraded from the base model, which only had 128GB), battery, Celeron processor (not the fastest, but power sipping, and should be OK for running a radio station), etc. HDMI out, so I can hook it up to a monitor to set it up, with the touchscreen for backup and when I'm portable.
This thing is no bigger than a smartphone, just thicker.
@artisan-radio I know what you got. And once set up and running with Zara or Salamandra on a PC you can in the settings just turn off the touch screen as a mouse will work also so being portable you can not worry about touching the screen handling and screwing yourself up.
I did wonder why you were going through all this of trying to get an android to run a windows program to be portable when little 6 and 7 inch mini PCs, laptops, 7-8 inch Windows tablets are available, albeit considerably more expensive than Android. I was interested if it could be done but a real stumbling block is disabling the touch screen and having it work still and just enabling when needed. You are portable and you handle it and touch the screen while operating and messes it all up. A mouse can't work with Android unfortunately. Don't worry about the Celeron! It is more than enough for what you are using it for. My current broadcast laptops have a celeron 4000 series and Salamandra works 24/7 without a hiccup.
I beat you to it! I knew most likely there were too many stumbling blocks to do what you were trying and there was always something so I ordered a mini 7" little laptop from Ali Express and it's already at customs here in Canada.
I got this one and it was $359 CAD but it was the last one and the price now went up.
The one I got had 128GB, up to 1 TB with SD card, 8 GB RAM, Windows 11 and I messaged the seller and explained the Windows 11 problem and asked if it comes with set up bypassed ready to go and that would be fine or I would have to take to a tech here to get me passed the Microsoft account(not a big deal) and I got a message back that we can install Windows 10 for you. So I said fine. Actually has an Alder Lake N95 processor that is better than Celeron but it doesn't matter for us.
I got this, can be portable also. Watched a few reviews on youtube and the on board removable SSD that comes with it is 256 GB even though they ordered the 128 GB one.
One thing to watch when portable is it has tiny fan and vents and the one you got has one too and if its hot like in a car in summer or in your pocket you may affect the cooling and it could trigger the protection if it gets too hot. Some models come with a screen that folds back over the keypad so like a tablet but more money. Once you get all set up set screen to go off after 5 minutes to use less power. The screen uses more power than the processor!
I also saw that they make it so not much money with imports, as you found out.
Why did I look at running under Android? Because I wanted to see if I could do it. And I can. I experimented with the Touch Lock app you emailed me about, and it does work. But you'd have to purchase the pro version to get rid of the advertising, and I'm not ready to do that yet. I plan on eventually going back to Android and getting it running fully with playlists. But, as you say, it's so much easier on a Windows mini PC.
The one I got was off ebay, locally, was an Open Box item, and it was about 2/3 the price off AliExpress (so no worries about potential customs issses), with better specs (the ones on AliExpress were only 128GB, this is 256GB). 5 1/2 inch touchscreen. Like I said, about the size of a smartphone, only thicker. Your typical smartphone is about 1/3 of an inch thick, this is 3/4 of an inch, so a little over double. I can live with that.
Hook it up to a monitor with an HDMI cable (full size, not mini) and it's easy to work with. I consider the built in screen suitable for portable use only.
And by the way, you can get bluetooth mice and keyboards working with Android. Youmight even be able to get USB ones going with the appropriate adapter (USB C to USB A) but I have never tried that). I was using Bluetooth input devices during my testing. It was a real pain using the smartphone touchscreen for everything.
In fact, the smartphone I was using also had the ability to cast its' screen to my monitor (via MiraCast, I have a Miracast dongle attached to my monitor on one of the HDMI ports). But the lag time for the mouse was too much - my wifi isn't the fastest nor is the smartphone - so I went back to the smallish screen.
Yeah using a mouse with Android is pretty straightforward, I've not tried a mouse with a phone but see no reason why it wouldn't work, I have used them with tablets before.
As for the micro-sized windows PC, I guess it's the same thing as any mini-pc except that it has its own 8" screen - I think their pretty neat and am thinking about getting one myself, except that I'm hesitant to buy something that costly for something I'm likely to rarely (if ever) use for anything. To me it would be little more than a cool portable toy, but the same capability and portability can be achieved for a lot cheaper with a used micro-pc using a cellphone (or whatever) as it's monitor. - But of course not as streamlined as an all-in-one unit.
But with Android so much used you'd think the developers of the broadcast automation would make an android version of the software.