Android template

[andrewdavidwong]

Over the years, many Qubes users on the mailing lists have expressed the desire to be able to run some kind of Android VM (e.g., HVM) under Qubes OS.

[JohnnyCalavera]

Did someone try to create an android-x86 VM on qubes? I was planning on doing it myself in the near future. (by the way: the stable Marshmallow release is out now)

[grote]

I tried running RemixOS, but without success. There might be a general problem of running Android as a guest in a Xen hypervisor.

[Jeeppler]

@andrewdavidwong can you reference to those mailing list entries?

[andrewdavidwong]

@Jeeppler: This is based on my memory of the mailing lists over the years, so I don't have an exhaustive list. However, here are some examples:

• https://groups.google.com/d/topic/qubes-users/vNTiiulU5n4/discussion
• https://groups.google.com/d/msg/qubes-users/l2bcrfJpF4s/4kUxHqCZAQAJ

[Jeeppler]

According to the posts, people want to run Android x86 to do application development.

However, it seems the Android emulator uses the CPU virtualization extension. The problem could also be solved by using nested virtualization on Xen.

[andrewdavidwong]

Cross-linking new discussion thread:

https://groups.google.com/d/topic/qubes-users/frK8xaBh9pI/discussion

[entr0py]

@grote I have not had any issues running RemixOS under Qubes. But it suffers from the same Android-x86 mouse issue mentioned in the thread that Andrew just linked.

Qubes is actually a convenient platform for running Android emulators because most of them don't allow static IP addresses. Qubes' mini-DHCP server works just fine.

[grote]

@3n7r0p1 which version did you use? Could you send me the link to the download?

Please also let me know if you find a solution for the mouse issue.

[entr0py]

I used an older version of RemixOS so I checked again with the latest release and it also installs and boots fine.

version: 3.0.206, 64-bit
filename: Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_64bit_B2016101201.zip
download: http://www.jide.com/remixos-for-pc#downloadNow
https://www.fosshub.com/Remix-OS.html

when booting iso, add INSTALL=1 to kernel parameters
create partition, gpt: no, efi: no
if boot hangs, add vga=ask to kernel parameters (may need debug mode on)
allow 10-15 mins for first boot, 10-15 mins for desktop after setup

Confirmed mouse behavior hasn't changed. Not all functionality can be replicated from keyboard. Unusable without mouse fix.

IMO, RemixOS is more resource-heavy than Android-x86 (especially graphics).
I've Googled the heck out of the mouse issue. Don't have the expertise to take it any further. :(

[Wikinaut]

👍 yes, please