Run Android-x86-4.2 safely on your PC

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don570
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Run Android-x86-4.2 safely on your PC

#1 Post by don570 »

Here are the instructions to run Android-x86-4.2 safely on your PC
i.e. your computer's hard disk is not changed or modified at all.

The method uses a Live CD of Plop Linux. Plop Linux allows
USB boot without BIOS support (UHCI, OHCI and EHCI)
CD/DVD boot without BIOS support (IDE)

Instructions:

1) Download the iso of Plop linux
http://download.plop.at/files/ploplinux ... -4.2.2.iso
and burn it to a CD, not a DVD since many older computers
still don't have a DVD reader.

2) Download an iso of android-x86. I found the latest Jelly bean

android-x86-4.2-20130228.iso ---> Android 4.2.2 Feb 28, 2013
https://android-x86.googlecode.com/file ... 130228.iso

Write it on a USB device. You will probably choose a USB stick,
however I am using an external USB card reader.

Dragging the iso file to the device is not sufficient. Instead you must use
the command 'dd' (if you are using linux.) Here's how..

cd to the place where the iso is stored and type

Code: Select all

dd if=android-x86-4.2-20130228.iso of=/dev/sdX
where /dev/sdX is the device name of your USB disk.
(Be careful to find the correct device name, since you are wiping
out all the data!!) Then type 'sync' in terminal to make sure
that the copying is complete.

3) Boot up your computer with the CD of Plop Linux. Tapping on a
function key may be necessary to show a list of bootable devices.
Choose CD as the device to boot from.

4) You will get a screen like this. Choose 'Plop Boot Manager'.
Don't choose 'Plop Linux' since that will take you to a console!!

Image

5) You will now see a boot manager screen(see image)
Choose 'USB'.
Image

6) If you have properly written your USB device
with a bootable iso, then Android Jellybean will now load.
Now you will see a blue screen (see image)
Choose the first option. The second option 'Vesa' also worked for me.

Image


Some Notes:

1) If you have done some dangerous tinkering with your boot loader
then you may have to go into BIOS and choose 'Reset to default'.

2) Power off is in the Android settings control panel however it
didn't work properly on my computer. Only my
hard drive shut off so I had to press my on/off button

3) I was able to plug-in a USB stick and even an Android tablet
(with an OTG cable) and play music files and play slideshows
with files on other devices.

4) Unfortunately there wasn't a file manager included in Android
Jellybean

5) For experts ---> Help file advises that it is possible to put
executeable binaries in /ploplinux/bin before burning the CD.

6) Note that there is an option to install the Plop boot manager on
a hard drive however this modifies the MBR of your computer
so don't do that unless you understand the importance of
your computer's MBR.

7) If for some reason you find yourself at the Plop console
and want to get out --> Type 'reboot'

8 ) It is possible to install Android-x86 on a hard drive. Here is HowTo
http://www.android-x86.org/documents/installhowto

________________________________________________
Last edited by don570 on Mon 03 Jun 2013, 22:37, edited 1 time in total.

jpeps
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#2 Post by jpeps »

Were you able to add an entry to your old bootloader, or does it need it's own version? Thanks.

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Ted Dog
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#3 Post by Ted Dog »

Cool now my PC can function like a cheap arm device. Does Android pkg for ARM work or do those require a x86 version

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d4p
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#4 Post by d4p »

You can use isobooter to make sure Android x86 will work on your hardware.
Android x86 is basically portable OS and can run at the moment on particular PC only.
It work well on my Acer. It is better to run android x86 v4.0, bcz more apps work on this version.
Here is some benchmarks test and how to install it directly on UFD using VirtualBox.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6t_mFoT1Pc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1_rI9H7qJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzWeyWa4jFo

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don570
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#5 Post by don570 »

When installing Android-86 on a hard drive...
Android-x86 can co-exist with other operating system or data in
the chosen partition. If the partition is formatted, you may choose 'Do not
format' to keep existing data. Otherwise, choose a filesystem type to
format. Note the type you chosen must match the partition id, or the boot
loader will fail to boot

The installer for Android-x86 has option to install grub on your hard drive.

Warning ! This may be dangerous. The only item on menu.lst file will
be Android OS but it can also look for windows(see image)!!!
This will confuse newbies.

If you find that you can't boot Windows after installing Android-x86 on
your hard drive then I would recommend you boot your computer
with a Live CD of Puppy linux and then run Shinobar's grub4dos
which does a good job of searching your hard drive for windows and
putting it on grub's menu.lst file.


According to the official site of Android-x86 it does look for
windows and puts it on grub's menu.lst file. Here's a picture
of the installer...

Image

___________________________________________

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don570
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#6 Post by don570 »

It work well on my Acer. It is better to run android x86 v4.0, bcz more apps work on this version.
I have an IBM desktop and I was able to get the
android-x86-4.0-RC2-asus_laptop.iso
to work properly with a trick.

While at the boot window of Android I pressed tab key to edit
the kernel line and removed the reference to Asus in the line.

EDIT: I believe that this only worked with a VESA boot of Android

The benefits of this version ----> terminal works!!!!

_________________________________________________

I should mention that the reason I use Plop linux rather than the other
boot managers available is because my USB port doesn't support
booting an OS.

_______________________________________________

Dromeno
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#7 Post by Dromeno »

don570 thanks for figuring this out! But it still looks a but more complicated than needed. If only grub4dos would be able to recognize a partition on which android was installed then you could just install android from a burned iso to a partition.

who is the man in charge for grub4dos.. I believe it is sinobar no? Perhaps he has time to fix grub4dos.

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don570
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#8 Post by don570 »

To Dromeno...

You mentioned that grub can boot the iso.

grub4dos manual says that it recognizes entries that were created by
grub. When Shinobar's grub4dos ran it should have taken
the grub entries and rewritten them for the grub4dos menu.lst.

If it didn't do that then you can always do it manually with a text editor.

Make sure you have backup copies of menu.lst before doing this procedure.

__________________________________________________________

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d4p
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#9 Post by d4p »

Android-4.4-R* supports read-write mode on ntfs and vfat 2Gb max.
It is portable (tested on some PCs and Laptops)

This is my Grub4dos menu.lst
title Android-x86 4.4-R* data2Gb
root (hd0,7)
kernel /android-4.4-R*/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 video=-16 SRC=/android-4.4-R*
initrd /android-4.4-R*/initrd.img

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vtpup
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#10 Post by vtpup »

Can any of these versions of android on Linux download .apk's from Google Play? Or are they stuck with the bundled apps?
[color=darkblue]Acer Aspire 5349-2635 laptop Tahrpup.[/color]
[color=blue]Acer R11 and C720 Chromebks Bionicpup64[/color]
[color=olive]Acer Iconia A1-830 tablet no pup[/color]
[color=orange]www.sredmond.com[/color]

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don570
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#11 Post by don570 »

I haven't been able to get google store to work, so I download from
freeware sites.

_____________________________________

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vtpup
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#12 Post by vtpup »

I'm not keen on getting a Google account, but with the Play Store monopoly on even most free apps these days I was hoping I could set up a temporary linux install, run android on it, get a temporary Google account, and download a few herd to find free apks, and then be done with it.
[color=darkblue]Acer Aspire 5349-2635 laptop Tahrpup.[/color]
[color=blue]Acer R11 and C720 Chromebks Bionicpup64[/color]
[color=olive]Acer Iconia A1-830 tablet no pup[/color]
[color=orange]www.sredmond.com[/color]

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perdido
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#13 Post by perdido »

Softmaker Office for Android Beta released 10-14-14

http://www.softmaker.com/english/ofahd_en.htm

I cannot confirm that this will work with Android x86 as I have not been able to boot past the terminal screen yet, thought it might be useable for x86 even though system requirements say ARM-compatible CPU. As with all softmaker products, you are required to provide an email registration to receive the activation key.
This is available until 11-14-14 , IIRC.

This includes Textmaker, Planmaker, and Presentations each as its own apk. These are about 18MB each, so the whole suite would be 54MB.

Sytem requirements
Android tablets with ARM-compatible CPU and Android 4.0 or higher. 7-inch screens or larger recommended.

.

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don570
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#14 Post by don570 »

Here is the first review of Beta software from support site...
I'd used TextMaker Mobile before, but switched to AndrOpen Office, since everything I use is in .odt format. At that time, AndrOpen Office worked better than TextMaker. Now, however, I am finding this new version is better than AndrOpen Office, so I'm using it. So, call it a thumbs up! for Textmaker.

A couple of issues, though.

First, when I type, there is a 1 - 2 second lag between the time I press a key, and the characters showing on-screen. Might be a hardware issue, might not. Not a major issue, but still, an issue.

Second, I am using a bluetooth Logitech Tablet keyboard. I prefer not to use the on-screen keyboard (I have Hacker's Keyboard installed, by the way). The keyboard commands mostly work the way I expect them to: alt+v to access View menu, ctrl+s to save, ctrl+up/down to move cursor up/down one paragraph, things like that. However, while fn+Home/End moves the cursor to the start/end of a line, and fn+Page Up/Page Down move the cursor a page up/page down, ctrl+fn+Home/End do nothing at all. Not a major problem, since I can quickly get to document Home/end by hitting ctrl+a (Select All), then left and right arrows, and be there, but still something. (Note: I remember the same issue in TextMaker Mobile, which I used on my Asus Transformer, with the keyboard/dock.) Also, when I hit ctrl+a, then right arrow, to get to the current end of whatever document I'm, the cursor moves there, but the screen does not match. i.e. if I'm at the start of a document and do that, the cursor is at the end, but I'm still looking at the beginning of the document. If I then press left arrow, the display shifts and the end of the document is displayed. I find though, that ctrl+a, followed by either ctrl+right arrow or ctrl+down arrow will shift directly to the end of document, and ctrl+a and ctrl+left arrow / up arrow shifts directly to the document start.

Third, I would like to be able to open a document in continuous view. I saw an earlier comment to same, with the reply that saving a document in continuous view would open that document in continuous view. Such does not seem to the the case.

I would also like to second something I saw in an earlier post, regarding payment options. I would much rather make a one-time purchase, instead of a monthly or annual payment.

I am using this on a Samsung Tab 3 7" with the following specs:
Snapdragon 400 / ARMv7 @ 1.7 GHz
1.5 GB RAM / 485 MB currently free
16 GB internal storage / 64 GB external - installed to internal storage
1024x600 display
running KitKat 4.4.2

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ravensrest
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#15 Post by ravensrest »

I downloaded Android-x86-4.4-r1.iso and burned it to CD. Then booted in VESA mode directly from CD with my Gateway NV55S09. Seemed to work pretty well. Even went to my Google account, discovered what I had previously downloaded to my VPAD7, and installed same in the emulation, complete with root privileges. Also watched a YouTube movie. Haven't had time to do more.
BS

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don570
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#16 Post by don570 »

There is a new version posted a few days ago
android-x86-4.4-r2.iso

http://sourceforge.net/projects/android ... t/download

I will try it out.

______________________________________________________

bark_bark_bark
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#17 Post by bark_bark_bark »

[removed stupid question]

EDIT: quick search using ixquick revealed answer to a stupid question.
Last edited by bark_bark_bark on Thu 08 Jan 2015, 13:31, edited 1 time in total.
....

oui

#18 Post by oui »

Hi Don

Thank you very much! I did see it on Distrowatch!

Are you perhaps knowing a way to start the ISO without usb drive/memory or without CD (like a Puppy!!!) and to make a full installation in a partition?

Kind rgds

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don570
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#19 Post by don570 »

when I tried android-x86-4.4-r2.iso or android-x86-4.4-r2.iso I got to
a window where it said I had to connect to the internet to proceed.

version 4.2 in my first post didn't require me to be connected to internet.

___________________________________________________
Are you perhaps knowing a way to start the ISO without usb drive/memory or without CD
I'm sure it's possible but I haven't looked into it.

oui

#20 Post by oui »

I did find that for Windowers, but Linuxers :oops: ?

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