64 Bit Possibility?

[bravado67]

Just an idea that you have already addressed (get it.... addressed) but how possible would it be to have xLights run in 64 bit mode on a windows pc? With all the great technology and enhancements coming out like Falcon Christmas goodies it's only a matter of time before 100,000 channels is considered a small show. Okay, maybe that's extreme but it's really easy to get there. While I don't mind the bell curve in learning a lot in my first year I can say it has been cumbersome to switch back and forth between my macbook pro and my windows machine to make my Halloween show work. I know what your thinking: Why does this guy want to run a 12 1/2 minute show with 131,000 channels? Because I want to. LOL

Thanks for even considering the idea.

Ron

[Gilrock]

It's pretty easy to switch the xLights code to 64bit then it's a bear to get all the 3rd party libraries it depends on to work with it.

[bravado67]

It's pretty easy to switch the xLights code to 64bit then it's a bear to get all the 3rd party libraries it depends on to work with it.

Besides the 3rd party libraries being a challenge what pros and cons would you expect within a 64 bit environment? We can probably agree that addressing more than 4GB of memory is a strong advantage. I don't want to be selfish if this assumed improvement didn't impact the community positively should it be considered for 2016.29. LOL

Ron

[Gilrock]

I see hardly any advantage other than taking away Dan's bragging rights about 64-bit being only on Mac.

[bravado67]

I see hardly any advantage other than taking away Dan's bragging rights about 64-bit being only on Mac.

Well thank goodness Dan perfected it that way on the Mac because I'd have no Halloween show otherwise. Way to go Dan! ;-)

Ron

[sean]

Keith talked about building a 64bit xLights. As gil said, the issue will be libraries we have that are not currently 64bit.

The main advantage is memory. Currently you get 4gb in 32bit mode. My 45K channels uses about 350mbytes. Amount of memory is also dependent on how long the biggest sequence you have is.

One user had a 11 minute sequence, only way to get it to create was to run on MAC's 64bit xlights.

No real difference in performance, so for 95% of the people no real advantage. The thing is people keep growing their channel count so we better get a 64bit to be ready for the next year.

[Gilrock]

I see hardly any advantage other than taking away Dan's bragging rights about 64-bit being only on Mac.

Well thank goodness Dan perfected it that way on the Mac because I'd have no Halloween show otherwise. Way to go Dan! ;-)

Ron

Oh geez no show without it? Nobody said you gotta play a sequence 12 minutes straight with no break.

[jnealand]

Most of the computers I use are 64bit windows 10.  That being said I suspect that the number of folks doing really long sequences is very small, so I would vote to spend developers time on feature enhancements and bug fixing and not on doing something that a very small number of users need.

[bravado67]

I see hardly any advantage other than taking away Dan's bragging rights about 64-bit being only on Mac.

Well thank goodness Dan perfected it that way on the Mac because I'd have no Halloween show otherwise. Way to go Dan! ;-)

Ron

Oh geez no show without it? Nobody said you gotta play a sequence 12 minutes straight with no break.

Was Neil Armstrong satisfied only orbiting Earth? No. C'mon Gil. Reach for the stars! The reality is the show is set that way as I am taking a show from LOR with xLights effects and making it my own in xLights. I tried cutting it up and it was a mess. I'm okay using the solution that works on the iOS platform for Halloween  Maybe next year will be a bit different.

Ron

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[bravado67]

Most of the computers I use are 64bit windows 10.  That being said I suspect that the number of folks doing really long sequences is very small, so I would vote to spend developers time on feature enhancements and bug fixing and not on doing something that a very small number of users need.

That is why I did say if it doesn't positively impact the community to move on. Eventually, it will happen just as OpenGL is happening today.

Ron

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[Gilrock]

Keith already said he was getting bored and may work on the 64 bit version.  How long does it take to save those 12 minute sequences?

[bravado67]

Keith already said he was getting bored and may work on the 64 bit version.  How long does it take to save those 12 minute sequences?

4-5 minutes

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[flyinverted]

What is your expected result of xLights going to 64 bit?

[bravado67]

Keith already said he was getting bored and may work on the 64 bit version.  How long does it take to save those 12 minute sequences?

Gil,

I was wrong about the saving time which is 8 1/2 minutes. It takes 3 minutes to open the sequence. The sequence length is 11:48.

[bravado67]

What is your expected result of xLights going to 64 bit?

Steve,

It's to use more memory. My 11:48 Halloween sequence will not open on a windows computer. It does on a mac with 16GB memory. At its peak it will use 12GB+ during rendering.

Ron