"Warning: ... function is not supported" - what causes this?

[JKarhu]

Hello,

I'm trying to figure out Samsung SmartTV SDK and start doing apps. However I'm having a problem with the emulator, which I can't figure out.

For some reason, every time I run the emulator on VirtualBox, I get the plenty of warnings: "(add function here) is not supported". Actually it looks like not any of the functions are supported. I have no idea what causes this. Is there some library missing somewhere? I've tried to google if I've setup the emulator correctly, but can't find any instructions which would be very specific or mention this.

I'm aware that this is a subject to be asked in Samsung developer forums, but since that forum is not very active I'm hoping somebody here could help me out. Any idea where I could start looking for the problem?

Thank you in advance,

Jaakko

[socratis]

Can you post a link where we can download and try the "Samsung SmartTV SDK" and the appropriate "emulator". I really hate to subscribe just to try out things, so if there is something really free available, I would prefer that...

[JKarhu]

Sure, of course. You can find the emulator, sdk and all the related files from Samsung Developer Forum.

This forum is telling me that "You must be a member for 1 days and have 1 posts before you can post urls." so unfortunately I can't post the address.

(samsungdforum dot com and then SDK from the top menu --> SDK Download)

Sorry about that.

I forgot to mention in the original post that I'm running on Mac with Mountain Lion

[socratis]

Yeah, as I was afraid, it asks me to register just to download the "SDK Emulator Image for Virtual Box". I won't go that route. If you have a copy somewhere (FTP server, dropbox, etc) that I could take a look at, send me a personal message.

[mpack]

If the app is trying to access host hardware then it will not work in a VM.

[socratis]

Yes, true, but why in this case Samsung would be putting up a specific download with the name "SDK Emulator Image for Virtual Box"? Doesn't add up...

[JKarhu]

Yeah, as I was afraid, it asks me to register just to download the "SDK Emulator Image for Virtual Box". I won't go that route. If you have a copy somewhere (FTP server, dropbox, etc) that I could take a look at, send me a personal message.

Socratis, I'm afraid I don't have copy anywhere. No, Samsung really doesn't make this very easy.

If the app is trying to access host hardware then it will not work in a VM.

Sorry, but I really am a beginner and I'm not quite following. Can you explain a bit more in detail.

[mpack]

Sorry, but I really am a beginner and I'm not quite following. Can you explain a bit more in detail.

Quite simply, VirtualBox implements a virtual machine - in general the whole point of being virtual is that you don't access actual physical hardware.

It's true that a VM might access host hardware indirectly. That happens when the VM includes a simulated widget, but uses the host widget as part of the simulation. For example a simulated serial port inside the VM might be mapped to an actual host serial port. Ditto a simulated CD drive. A beginner might think the VM was directly controlling these host devices, but it isn't. VirtualBox is controlling the host widget, the guest sees whatever VirtualBox simulates.

I'm assuming your "TV" feature relies on some kind of access to a TV tuner etc, and if that's correct then it won't work in a VM because there's no corresponding simulation. VirtualBox does provide a video overlay feature (2D acceleration), but that isn't enough to control a TV tuner. The functions would be unsupported because no such drivers have been installed, and they can't be installed because the (virtual) hardware doesn't exist.