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Linux Emulation on Windows Mobile?

Hello Friends,
I am wondering if anyone has heard of emulating a Linux operating system locally on Windows Mobile (CE)? Something like PocketDOS but running a basic Linux operating system instead of DOS? I read about Bochs (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=291899), which may boot a Linux image, but from I've read Bochs doesn't work too well with newer Windows Mobile?
I know I can use Putty (SSH) or VNC and such for remote Linux access, but the goal here is to get some basic version of Linux running locally. I'm not sure Haret's Android port is ready for prime time yet (from what I've read) on my specific phone (Touch Pro 2)
Does anyone have any ideas? Please share, thanks.

mail_e36 said:
Hello Friends,
I am wondering if anyone has heard of emulating a Linux operating system locally on Windows Mobile (CE)? Something like PocketDOS but running a basic Linux operating system instead of DOS? I read about Bochs (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=291899), which may boot a Linux image, but from I've read Bochs doesn't work too well with newer Windows Mobile?
I know I can use Putty (SSH) or VNC and such for remote Linux access, but the goal here is to get some basic version of Linux running locally. I'm not sure Haret's Android port is ready for prime time yet (from what I've read) on my specific phone (Touch Pro 2)
Does anyone have any ideas? Please share, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible to run Linux native, not emulated. Search for: HARET

Thanks for your response, but the idea at this point is to run Linux emulated, not native in Haret. I would love to run it Linux native using something like Android but unfortunately at this point Android doesn't look to be stable enough on my platform (Rhodium, Touch Pro 2) for 'production use'.
Any thoughts?

Android on the TP2 is improving every other day. Right now, power management and some features like Wifi, BT, GPS and Camera still aren't working, but things are progressing nicely

Moved as not software release...

mail_e36 said:
Thanks for your response, but the idea at this point is to run Linux emulated, not native in Haret. I would love to run it Linux native using something like Android but unfortunately at this point Android doesn't look to be stable enough on my platform (Rhodium, Touch Pro 2) for 'production use'.
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying use Android, but Haret + some linux system, just the console. I thought that's what you needed. There are different system packages available which you could boot, not necessairly Android.

VirtualBox Android Emulator with Marketplace

Does anyone know of any VirtualBox Android Emulator that has Marketplace?
Thanks!
Oh, I forgot to add "that's free" and not the $50 that some cheeky bastards are trying to charge for a thing called AndroidVM!

iridium21 said:
Does anyone know of any VirtualBox Android Emulator that has Marketplace?
Thanks!
Oh, I forgot to add "that's free" and not the $50 that some cheeky bastards are trying to charge for a thing called AndroidVM!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android doesn't just load up and run on a PC. It's a source code project that a real developer has to spend time porting from platform to platform, unless you want to run it from a runtime built from the SDK. To do that requires an underlying OS, like Windows, Linux a MAC - something capable of running the SDK.
Since, VMware is emulating a PC, then in order to run as a real virtual machine, android needs to be pretty much ported to a PC. Since Android is built on a Linux kernel, it's not impossible, but geese - why? That said, it's bound to show up on an Intel compatible tablet at some point, if it hasn't already.

attn1 said:
Android doesn't just load up and run on a PC. It's a source code project that a real developer has to spend time porting from platform to platform, unless you want to run it from a runtime built from the SDK. To do that requires an underlying OS, like Windows, Linux a MAC - something capable of running the SDK.
Since, VMware is emulating a PC, then in order to run as a real virtual machine, android needs to be pretty much ported to a PC. Since Android is built on a Linux kernel, it's not impossible, but geese - why? That said, it's bound to show up on an Intel compatible tablet at some point, if it hasn't already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already running Android under Virtualbox - I just wondered if there's a version for VB that has Marketplace.

attn1 said:
Android doesn't just load up and run on a PC. It's a source code project that a real developer has to spend time porting from platform to platform, unless you want to run it from a runtime built from the SDK. To do that requires an underlying OS, like Windows, Linux a MAC - something capable of running the SDK.
Since, VMware is emulating a PC, then in order to run as a real virtual machine, android needs to be pretty much ported to a PC. Since Android is built on a Linux kernel, it's not impossible, but geese - why? That said, it's bound to show up on an Intel compatible tablet at some point, if it hasn't already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. So much complete and utter wrong in one post... I've been running Android under a virtual machine for quite a while...

There is an x86 version of Android available at androidx86.org
It will definitely run under Virtual Box or any other virtualization software package. It's Android 1.6 by the way, and you will have to perform some geek-like activities to simulate an SD-card to install appz.
Big question is whether an ARM-device version of Android would work in a normal VM emulator (not talking about Bochs and stuff).

FloatingFatMan said:
Wow. So much complete and utter wrong in one post... I've been running Android under a virtual machine for quite a while...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, since I hadn't heard of a port to x86, I was certainly wrong about that, which makes the rest of the post moot, but not wrong. In any event, I stand corrected.

sorry to add a flame of any kind but this
"Since, VMware is emulating a PC, then in order to run as a real virtual machine, android needs to be pretty much ported to a PC. Since Android is built on a Linux kernel, it's not impossible, but geese - why? That said, it's bound to show up on an Intel compatible tablet at some point, if it hasn't already."
is totally wrong.
Virtual machines virtualise the hardware of your machine (bad explanation I KNOW). if you have a PowerPC you can only emulate PowerPC (Mac for those that dont know) and intel/amd chips are things like x86 then theres smaller devices like ARM. my point is that if you have a Intel/amd box you can only emulate x86 O/S. however if you have a netbook with a version of linux or windows built on arm arch then u could prob get away with the original android if you are running normal x86 then u require android that has been built from source on x86.
this made me laugh
"Since Android is built on a Linux kernel, it's not impossible"
all i can say is what??
anyway back to the point... to run android on a x86 box u need x86 android

The problem with getting the Market to work is simply that the GApps are currently only available in a compiled for ARM version. period. that's the answer you wanted to hear i guess.
@others: stop OTing please...

hvc123 said:
sorry to add a flame of any kind but this
"Since, VMware is emulating a PC, then in order to run as a real virtual machine, android needs to be pretty much ported to a PC. Since Android is built on a Linux kernel, it's not impossible, but geese - why? That said, it's bound to show up on an Intel compatible tablet at some point, if it hasn't already."
is totally wrong.
Virtual machines virtualise the hardware of your machine (bad explanation I KNOW). if you have a PowerPC you can only emulate PowerPC (Mac for those that dont know) and intel/amd chips are things like x86 then theres smaller devices like ARM. my point is that if you have a Intel/amd box you can only emulate x86 O/S. however if you have a netbook with a version of linux or windows built on arm arch then u could prob get away with the original android if you are running normal x86 then u require android that has been built from source on x86.
this made me laugh
"Since Android is built on a Linux kernel, it's not impossible"
all i can say is what??
anyway back to the point... to run android on a x86 box u need x86 android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VMware and Virtualbox emulate PC hardware. Since Android runs on a Linux kernel, and Linux was originally developed for an x86 PC, it follows that a port of Android could be done for a PC. Since this was not a generic discussion about virtual machines but a specific discussion about PC emulation, I don't see where the argument is.
PC = x86 and it's successors. You said I was totally wrong and then pretty much made my case. The only point I missed is that the work had already been done. To run Android in a x86 (PC) VM, you'll need an X86 (PC) compatible version of Android - right - what I said.

Right... Ok, now does anyone know the answer to the original question?

the_fish said:
The problem with getting the Market to work is simply that the GApps are currently only available in a compiled for ARM version. period. that's the answer you wanted to hear i guess.
@others: stop OTing please...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP should read your thread.

arctu said:
OP should read your thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have
Supposedly, these guys have Android with Marketplace for VirtualBox:
http://www.androidvm.com/home
So it must be able to be done - the only problem is that it's $49.95!

deleted

zgornz said:
They state they are running Ubuntu in a VM, then installed the Android emulator in Ubuntu, then the android emulator is setup to have the Marketplace. The android emulator is doing the ARM emulation.
I think using qemu User Mode emulation it might be possible to actually launch the Marketplace and apps via android-x86 without using a phone emulator. Not sure it would be that valuable, but it would allow lots more apps on a netbook running Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I imagine it would be a mess to get a touch screen working in android running on an emulator.

I read reviews on androidx86 booted (not emulated) on a few netbooks that ran great and very responsive..I also read one on a touch screen comp that worked fine..they claim all apps work-minus gapps obviously.
I plan on trying this on my Toshiba nb205 netbook today and can post a review if anyone is interested..
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

A review would sure be appreciated. More knowledge is always better.

Just a quick follow up, I tried out the Androidx86 on my netbook this weekend, both booted off the usb and installed on the hd..it runs..nothing spectacular and slightly dissappointing. You still only have a 4x4 screen and the Marketplace is entirely different, very small selection of "blah" apps..none of my favorite android apps anyways-facebook,twitter,gmail..not really any widgets either. Lastly, you need to use an external mouse..the touchpad just moves the background but gives you no pointer (could be a hardware compatability issue tho)..
On the positive side, the internet was very fast and resume time was almost instantanious..not really any major bugs, just nothing too special..

This method works with 1.6 as originally described here:
link-> forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=529170
I got it to run with the signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-img-14721.zip image from HTC for the developer phone.
link-> developer.htc.com/adp.html
I replaced the android-sdk-windows\add-ons\google_apis-4_r02\images\system.img with the one from the signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-img-14721.zip
(you should backup the original system.ini)
I then used the Android SDK GUI interface to create a Google API Level 4 machine.
I did not need to install the marketenabler.apk, as described in the original thread.
It boots up like a new Dev Phone, it behaves like there is a valid SIM and working data connection.
CTRL-F11 rotates the screen (slide out keyboard).
I have only installed a few free apps (K9 mail) but they seem to work fine.
I can't post links so copy, and paste them.
It would be trivial to create an Ubuntu virtual machine and then install the Android SDK inside of it and modify the system.img. Installing the SDK on your own machine probably takes less space and resources then running it inside another VM.

attn1 said:
Well, since I hadn't heard of a port to x86, I was certainly wrong about that, which makes the rest of the post moot, but not wrong. In any event, I stand corrected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updated, not corrected.
Yes, you were absolutely correct except for being out of date, because that process you described has already taken place as others have now pointed out.
To the person who said he was wrong, actually, no.
Android as it stands on the phone, is an ARM system compiled in ARM machine code. Android apps are hardware/platform agnostic but the operating system is not, it does have to be ported and recompiled for any different hardware system. That being said, it seems that most of that work is finished, ala androidx86.org
Cheers,
Rob

x86 Android Market
I have been reading a bit. It seems that it is possible to have Gapps installed for x86.
Froyo, people have been using Cyanogen 6 Gapps for Tegra.
Android x86 launched their Gingerbread version not long ago. It would not surprise me if Cyanogen 7 Gapps worked with it. Different devices used different versions and now there is just one version for all. It should be possible to run VM from the desktop.
NDK dependent Apps: in theory, it may be possible taking the apk using android apk tool, x86 NDK from the x86 build and rebuild it for x86 code.
I will be playing with an old EEE900 and see how this goes sooon.

Android Dev: Linux vs. Mac vs. Windows

Experts, Developers, Fellow Gentlemen (& perhaps, some Lassey?),
PURPOSE:
To request, collect, organize, and clearly present 3 types of information related to BOTH android application development (for sale on the market) and ROM cooking (using scripts, kitchens, etc.).
INFO REQUESTED:
(1) Compare the relative the PROs and CONs of Android Dev. using:
Windows with Cygwin and Eclipse
Windows with a Linux VM (Eclipse installed on the VM)
Mac with Eclipse
Mac with a Linux VM (Eclipse installed on the VM)
Linux on bare metal (using Eclipse, of course, or the NDK)
(2) If you have used two or more of the above for Android Dev., please describe your experiences and insights, the primary differences, similarities, tips and pitfalls, etc.
(3) Given a fairly large budget to buy your own laptop for use in Android application development and ROM cooking, please RANK the above 5 choices in order from your 1st (best and most desirable) choice to your 5th (last and least desirable) configuration.
Best Regards,
Paul

Honestly your best bet if you want to do android ROM development, and not developing apks, then your best bet is to dual boot your laptop with widows and ubuntu. I thouhgt that you were wanting to develop apks, since you mentioned the SDK and eclipse, that is really more for app development, rather than ROMS and android open source it self.
The reason for ubuntu is that all the of utilities all work with ubuntu, they can work with other distros, but ubuntu seems to be the one most flock to.
The reason not to use a VM is because it can have issues connecting to the USB connection with your phone attached.
Mac will work, if you really want to go down that path, but it is more cumbersome to get things to work "well" as BSD is the underlying kernel, but you have to install an Xwindows environment to use most of the Android utilities, and that can be a pain to get working for someone not really experienced with linux AND OS X.
Windows with cygwin is a possibility, but again, more of a pain that just dual booting ubuntu.

+1 for dualboot
I'm definitely not a developer but I do know PC's. Jim's right you won't get any odd b.s. if you partition and install Ubuntu.

For the small amount of rom tweaking/developing I have done I use windows with cygwin. With baksmali and smali for decompiling dex files.
Sent from my MB865 using xda premium

Me too. I get by with Windows7 and Cygwin...
I know that I will eventually have to at least set up dual-boot with Ubuntu if I want to get involved in "real" development (even that would freak out my wife though - having options at boot on our shared family computer... gonna need a separate dev machine I guess)
Sent from my mind using XDA

I have worked through both windows and linux (ubuntu mostly), and I can give you some info about macs too, but I don't have actual experience there.
Windows
Pros:
More software for things other than android development, so if you want just one OS it may be the way to go.
If you are familiar with it already, it will make your life easier as you won't have to learn about a new OS.
Not much more really.
Cons:
most developers use linux, so you will be a bit alone i the android dev world meaning possible less support.
Not as well supported officially or not.
Overall:
Windows will probably be just fine for app development, as the sdk and eclipse both run fine.
You will have trouble with rom development. Android is based on the linux kernel, so it does not play well with windows.
You can use Cygwin, but you will have mixed results. It is not perfect. Some things just won't work unless you have linux, and quite honestly it is probably easier to get ubuntu working right.
Ubuntu
Pros:
It's FREE!!!!!
most official support
It's what most devs use, so unofficial support is good
Most utilities are built for it.
Cons:
Can be tough to learn if you are used to windows
not as many apps for other things, but that is getting better.
Over all:
By far the best for development. you are just gonna be better off in general. your best bet is to dual boot, which is really easy, and you can always use windows when you want. A virtual machine is an option, but you will have issues with certain things, like usb support. A VM will also require more cpu power to do everything so it is not a good idea on low power machines.
Hardware
Linux is much lighter than windows, so a low power computer will be better off with it.
You should be fine with anything that is not total crap for app development. Basic rom development should be fine in the mid to low end. If you are getting into more serious stuff like building up android source you will want some serious power. I have 4GB or ram and an intel i3 processor (2.13 gHZ dual core 4 thread) and that barely cuts it. compiling cm7 takes a couple hours and it runs at 100% cpu usage the whole time and gets hotter than hell.
You will need a pretty big hard drive for some stuff. The AOSP source is huge. all my android stuff takes about 28GB.
Over all
your best bet is to dual boot windows and Ubuntu Linux on at least a decent PC. you will be happier with something with a slightly higher end CPU.

I use 64-bit Ubuntu, it's just so much better and everything just runs natively! I mean some of those kitchens and tools are only for windows, but it doesn't really bother me because I dont use them
If you want to learn to write code, get ubuntu and jump head first into it.

[Q] Which Linuxdistribution for "messing" with ROMs?

Hi,
its been quite some time since I used Linux as my primary desktop OS. Im thinking about trying to do some ROM building for which I find Linux more suitable then my Windows 7. Now, I personally prefer Debian Stable x64 and generally dislike Ubuntu (since say 11.10 anyway). But Im curious if Ubuntu wouldnt be more convenient - thanks to things like newer versions of some apps or their PPA repositories.
So, before installing my favourite Linux distribution I came here to ask which one is better for Android ROM developer - Ubuntu or Debian? Or better say - is Ubuntu way better regarding my intended activities?

My experience is that if you need any extra package installed, almost all the websites and blogs assume you are using some flavour of Ubuntu, they walk through all the versions from 12.04 (or even earlier ones) to 13.10. If you are lucky they mention other distros too in a few words, but most of the time they don't even bother, you are off the bandwagon so figure it out yourself. So if you don't have a seasoned developer machine with every tools of the trade installed, and you want to concentrate of the work and not hunting for libraries and pieces of software, you'll go better with Ubuntu. 12.04 LTS seems to be a good choice. Building AOSP sources you'll need a 64 bit distro and Java6 JDK from Sun, there is no official support for OpenJDK so there is no guarantee that everything will work. Maybe Cyanogenmod is more flexible.

Linux Mint is a good choice, it's based on Ubuntu.
Enviado do meu XT1033

[Q] Native Linux on phones

What phones can boot into and run a desktop ARM Linux distro (such as Arch, Slackware, Ubuntu or Debian) natively, with call and messaging support?

Ubuntu Edge.
linuxphone said:
What phones can boot into and run a desktop ARM Linux distro (such as Arch, Slackware, Ubuntu or Debian)
natively, with call and messaging support?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The closet you can get is with Ubuntu Edge but it is still under development and will not be available for a some time.
I am sorry I can not post the links yet in the post but you can google for the "Ubuntu Edge" and you will get enough reading material about the project.

There are also some solutions with VNC and a VM in which you run a desktop Linux. Might not be what you want, but you would have a Linux running on your phone.
The main problem is going to be drivers, which is why a ARM Linux can't just be booted. Someone would need to be merging device specific drivers into the linux, test it, debug it and so on, which doesn't make sense if there are so few people really wanting it. And as you can see with Ubuntus try on that: It is a lot of development needed.

It's possible to dual boot Maemo (to use it for phone features) and Ubuntu (desktop) on Nokia N900.
It's also possible to dual boot Windows Mobile (for phone features) and Ubuntu (desktop) on HTC HD2.
On the other hand, these Indian tablets boot and run Linux:
w w w .youtube.com/watch?v=n1tC8uSR0og
And have phone features:
w w w .techulator.com/resources/9492-Datawind-UbiSlate-7C-Edge-tablet-Full-specifications-features-online.aspx
If anyone tested Linux with phone calls on those devices, please tell.

A long time ago I installed Gentoo Linux on an ARM based hx4700 iPaq; it worked but ran so slowly it wasn't much use. The specialised Linux distros Familiar and Angstrom ran much better, as they were specifically designed for handheld devices. Granted phone specs are way improved now, but is there any real advantage running a full-blown Linux on a phone.... surely Android is basically a Linux distro optimised for phone specs (and chargeable apps, etc...). Would it be less work to port apps you need to run on Android instead - if that's your aim? Although it may be worth doing just for the sake of it....

Full-blown Linux offers the advantage of being in control of the operating system. You choose the tools you need. Android is less secure (backdoors, apps reading your data) and mobile apps generally feel like crippled desktop apps. For example, apt-get is much more comfortable to use, you just type the packages you need and it downloads them, no need for searching inside categories of app market (and all of them are free with full functionality with no ads). You can use the same scripts you wrote for your PC. It can be tweaked to run really fast (low resource usage apps written in C vs Android's Java), and you choose your desktop environment (e. g. a tiling window manager with the right apps literally flies on an old machine, RAM used on system start with Xorg running equals 20 MBs). Also, there's full filesystem encryption.
Mobile hardware is more or less the equivalent of a Pentium 2 / 3 / 4 desktop PC, which is enough for full desktop app experience.

Im glad i found this topic.
Thats not new to me...
I think the questions to add are:
- How to fully remove Android to Install Linux
- Can i install all the Drivers needed?
So that i can use: Modem(phone); WiFi & GPS under Linux.
-Is it possible to revert to Android?
- Minimum Requirements to Run Linux and What Distro?
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