Orbiter on a stick, Starfest 2008

[FlyingSinger]

Many people may already know this, but for those who don't...

The fact that Orbiter is not "installed" like a typical Windows program with registry entries etc. is really a nice feature - it makes it very portable, easy to have multiple installations, easy to back up or delete.

One cool thing it allows is to create an "Orbiter on a stick" installation. I just bought a 1 GB USB memory stick for $10 (at the checkout counter at Blockbuster, of all places). I copied my 540 MB installation of Orbiter with AMSO, and with a USB 2.0 port, I can run Orbiter directly from the USB stick with a decent frame rate. I did this specifically as a backup for a presentation tonight where I may not have time to hook up my notebook to the classroom projector system and wanted to be able to run Orbiter and PowerPoint on the classroom PC if necessary.

BTW, the event is Starfest 2008 (PDF), an indoor/outdoor public astronomy club event at Anna Maria College near Worcester, MA. If anyone is in the area tonight and wants to check it out, it runs from 7 to 10 pm. My presentation is called "Robots, Astronauts, and You: Exploring Space" and features a shuttle launch, Apollo moon landing, and maybe a quick solar system tour in Orbiter. There are lots of other things going on including a bunch of telescopes after 9 pm.

 

[Urwumpe]

Orbiter - On a steeck!!!!

:rofl:

 

[simonpro]

Pity I'm not in Boston any more, else I'd have come along. I've let a bunch of my colleagues from there know though so maybe you'll see one or two of them.

 

[Andy44]

Orbiter - On a steeck!!!!

:rofl:

I was thinking the same thing!

I back up all my files on a portable hard drive that fits in your pocket, but I like this idea.

 

[penlu]

Coolio.

 

[FlyingSinger]

It is a good thing, but as I found out last night when I tested the classroom PC as a possible backup, you still need a decent PC and graphics card. The PC was a 3.0 GHz something, but on Orbiter's video tab, all it could find was "RGB" and a test scenario was 1 fps! Maybe it was an integrated graphics adapter.

Fortunately my notebook worked fine with the room's projector and the presentation went well, no need for Orbiter on a Stick.

Speaking of things "on a steeck" reminded me of a sausage stand I photographed in Taiwan a year or so. Check out the English description on their sign. I didn't try the sausages myself.

 

[eveningsky339]

Speaking of things "on a steeck" reminded me of a sausage stand I photographed in Taiwan a year or so. Check out the English description on their sign. I didn't try the sausages myself.

God have mercy.

 

[DaveS]

The PC was a 3.0 GHz something, but on Orbiter's video tab, all it could find was "RGB" and a test scenario was 1 fps! Maybe it was an integrated graphics adapter.

Did you check the Always enumerate devices checkbox? It allows Orbiter to scan for all the available video modes and even on an integrated chipset, Direct3D HAL should have been available to select.

 

[FlyingSinger]

Did you check the Always enumerate devices checkbox? It allows Orbiter to scan for all the available video modes and even on an integrated chipset, Direct3D HAL should have been available to select.

Yes, I did have that checked, so I was surprised that RGB was my only choice. I didn't have the time or the need to investigate further. It was an XP machine in a classroom that was driving something called a "SmartBoard" - there was only one login available and I don't know whether it had Admin privs (I assume not, and I'm not sure it would make a difference in access to the graphics accelerator). Maybe the SmartBoard had something to do with this? I think that is just a USB device. I don't know.

 

[n122vu]

I was thinking the same thing!

I back up all my files on a portable hard drive that fits in your pocket, but I like this idea.

Same here. I'm actually doing a combination of both. I have a copy of my home Orbiter installation on a 40GB USB "pocket drive' so I can run it on my work laptop during my lunch break. I also have the zip files for the base orbiter install and all my downloaded add-ons on a 1GB USB stick.

Tried running from the USB stick, but performance was sloppy at best. runs great from the USB hard drive though.