Android on pc help needed. - Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]

Ok I know this isn't the right forum for this but I know how good the developers in this forum are. What's happened basically is I installed Android on my pc on the same partition as windows xp. But it doesn't work properly and now when I boot it loads grub but windows Isn't listed as an os. So how do I boot into windows and remove android and grub. I've looked everywhere and I can't find how to do it. Plz if anyone can help I will be very grateful.
Thanks
Dion.

I'm not an Android expert but I can't imagine, that it's really possible to install Android on the same partition as XP ?!
Edit: OK, maybe it's possible, but it's not a good idea at all..
However...
-Boot with your XP CD
-Press R
-Enter "fixmbr"
That should help you..

It won't be easy removing grub. What you can do is have grub show Windows. Grub will load the Windows bootloader, which in turn will load Windows.
You can also set it to automatically boot the Windows bootloader, so you can delete the Android partition (don't delete grub!).
I don't think there are any Android specific guides available for this, but if you can get into a shell (which I doubt you can't), follow this: h t t p://supergrubdisk.org/wiki/Howto_Boot_Grub_from_windows
Also, I think running fixmbr or something similar from a Windows recovery console (using a DVD) would work (h t t p://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392).
Hope this helps.

Thanks I will try the supergrub link as its a netbook I haven't got a cd drive so ill let you know how I get on. Thanks for replying.
P. S.
Luvin swiftkeys.

Ok thanks I fixed it. I used the grub console to boot into windows then I used something called testdisk in windows to restore the windows boot partition. Thanks

Related

[Q] cant get ubuntu to work

so i follow the steps in this topic http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1045910
but it doesnt work, i can see thats its loading linux, but then it doesnt boot up to the desktop, there's something about that it cant find init. after that it reboots in 5 sec so it not enough to read in all..
could somebody help?
I think your rootfs.img is at the wrong place.
Do you have App2SD?
what does ubuntu do exactly?
@bergfex
its in root of the sd inside a file called linux. (/sdcard/linux/rootfs)
@jcsd1212
ubuntu is an operating system.
it is based on linux.
(windows is also an operating system, just like android etc)

[Q] Bricked/need help

I had to post in the Q&A since i'm a newb here, but my transformer is bricked, and i tried the unbricking method seen in the development thread and I keep getting stalled at "waiting for bootloader to initilize"
does anybody know how i can fix this and get a stock rom on my transformer incase i need to rma it.
I am also running VMware as i do not have a windows pc at the moment, so i don't know if that has anything to do with it.
Any help is much appriciated, thank you.
Not sure, but does VMware support USB devices?
it does, or at least it shows apx mode when it's plugged in. I may need to just try it on an actual windows computer though :/
EDIT: for some reason it worked right after i posted that. I didn't really do anything different, htc-hd2 is just good luck i guess!
Running VMWare on what machine? A Mac ?
Can't you dualboot Windows 7 with BootCamp ?
I dont have a mac, just going on what I have heard
VMware is probably your problem. Boot up a Linux live CD and run this: Stock Honeycomb 3.2 (Actually if you have a mac you can run this too, just run extract the archive and run the bash script from the terminal)
It's a tar ball that I put together that contains the files needed to flash a stock image of 3.2 via nvflash. The archive is about 300mb IIRC.

vitrualBox in Ubuntu 12.04

hey guys im trying to use virtualBox on my Ubuntu machine. Im trying to run windows 7. Got it all set up and loaded with no problems. Heres where I cant get passed.
Im trying to get VB to utilize the entire screen space. Ive read through all the articles about installing the additions iso. I cant seem to find a good copy. Also I cant get Odin to recognize my phone either. I have USB set up in VB and can access the files on phone but cant get Odin to recognize it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You can install guest additions from within VirtualBox. It shows up as a mounted CD drive. Open it, & run the appropriate script.
If your ultimate goal is to use Odin, though, I don't think it will work through VirtualBox. Maybe it's possible, but I think it needs direct access to the USB. You could just dual-boot Windows & do it directly.
Thanks for the info
post-mortem said:
You can install guest additions from within VirtualBox. It shows up as a mounted CD drive. Open it, & run the appropriate script.
If your ultimate goal is to use Odin, though, I don't think it will work through VirtualBox. Maybe it's possible, but I think it needs direct access to the USB. You could just dual-boot Windows & do it directly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanx for the info dude. I guess i just assumed i could get it to work in a virtual machine. Could have swore Ive seen Adam doing it...mind u he is MUCH MUCH more educated than me. That is my goal. I have a linux machine and wanna use odin to flash Adams Odin root file for the Note 2. No problem running his CASUAL program, but need to root it first and as far as I can tell it needs to be done in Windows. I guess I can always turn a spare computer back into a windows machine...just didnt wanna have to go through the headache,.
Well, you can boot off a Ubuntu install disk (or make a GParted Live USB), then use gparted to resize your Ubuntu. Set a few GB aside for a new partition, then install Windows there, instead of installing Windows in the VM. It ends up being the same thing, just a few more steps to get it running.
Just make sure you back up your grub config and mbr. I don't think Windows would make your Ubuntu install vanish, but ya never know...
BDogg718 said:
Im trying to get VB to utilize the entire screen space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, yeah. The default command to switch to fullscreen mode is Host+F, where the default Host key is Right Ctrl (so, RightCtrl+F).

[IDEA]Possibility of running Windows 8 on Galaxy Tab 3 10.1

Hi guys !
I wanted to know whether the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 can run Windows 8./LINUX !!
Theoretically it shouldn't be too hard as it has an Intel Atom x86 processor and it shares a lot of it's specs with the Acer Iconia w510 and other tablets running Windows 8
Can you please tell me some of the issues that we may have to deal with ?
Like we will have to do something with the bootloader to make Windows 8 bootable and things like that :/
And please if you want to say something like -Why do you want to run windows on an Android tablet-
XDA is about modding. A new OS will not hurt anyone AFAIK.
What are your ideas ? I think it can be done but what will we need to do ?
Now we will be concentrating on Linux. it Will be easier.
Please use this thread for discussing Linux on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
Thanks for reading !
Nitro_123 said:
Hi guys !
I wanted to know whether the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 can run Windows 8.
Theoretically it shouldn't be too hard as it has an Intel Atom x86 processor and it shares a lot of it's specs with the Acer Iconia w510 and other tablets running Windows 8
Can you please tell me some of the issues that we may have to deal with ?
Like we will have to do something with the bootloader to make Windows 8 bootable and things like that :/
And please if you want to say something like -Why do you want to run windows on an Android tablet-
XDA is about modding. A new OS will not hurt anyone AFAIK.
What are your ideas ? I think it can be done but what will we need to do ?
Thanks for reading !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
much like apple windows 8 is closed source. Thats pretty much the end of the thread. Without a way to compile, edit the operating system and know what changes your making its just not a undertaking many will accept.
@trevd Do you have anything to say about this ?
@wranglerray I'm just talking about installing windows to a device. AFAIK no compiling/editing will be needed. There are other tablets out there that do the same thing so why not this one ? The only major hurdle I see is making some kind of a custom bootloader that can boot the windows stuff instead of the android stuff. THAT part will probably need to be made from scratch or it may be ported from a similar device.
There are quite a few devices like this that run windows with similar specs so why not this one ?
Nitro_123 said:
@trevd Do you have anything to say about this ?
@wranglerray I'm just talking about installing windows to a device. AFAIK no compiling/editing will be needed. There are other tablets out there that do the same thing so why not this one ? The only major hurdle I see is making some kind of a custom bootloader that can boot the windows stuff instead of the android stuff. THAT part will probably need to be made from scratch or it may be ported from a similar device.
There are quite a few devices like this that run windows with similar specs so why not this one ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well quite honestly your talking about porting windows to a device. Our device comes with android and you want to port windows to it instead. So on our device there are parititons chuncks of data of varying sizes allocated to hold a small part of the code that runs our phone. from ramdisk to the radio. The issue on its surface, we dont know how that partition table lines up with a different device.(which the partition table can and most likely is, completely different) and because winodws 8 is closed source we dont know how it boots, or how to edit the imstaller to ensure the os gets copied over the correct partitions. if porting were as easying as just flashing what ever you want and then changing some things to tweak it i'm sure you'd see hundreds of ports in a day or two. Unforntatley it really kinda sucks
The partitions are the biggest problem. We could in theory also boot from the SD card and as a result bypass all the android stuff and get it dual-booting but first we need to know how we can boot windows
Nitro_123 said:
@trevd Do you have anything to say about this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi There
I've not got a device in my hands yet to be able to give a proper device focused opinion on this.
but since you ask, I will say It really all depends on the bootloader setup on the device and how accessible that is, it could well be a proprietary Samsung Design in which case I wouldn't want to "mess" with it unless you had a JTag handy for when s**t goes wrong, otherwise you'll be holding a very expensive brick.
Even without bootloader access theoretically you could create a 3rd stage bootloader ( possibly Grub2/uboot ) which sits in place of the kernel in the boot image ( or recovery image ) , this would give the Option to load android or chainload into the windows boot manager, this is how things are done on classic x86.
If you have to go with a 3rd Stage Loader then the first steps is to get your own code running instead of the Standard Kernel Initialization inside an android boot image, There's all sorts of fun to be had after that as basically you'd need to place things in memory where the Kernel or the Boot Manager is expecting to find them amongst many other things.
Standard Windows 7/8 Installations setup a "hidden ( not assigned a drive letter in windows) " 100MB NTFS partition which contains the bootmgr.exe ( TRIVIA : boot manager replaced NT LOADER ( NTLDR ) which was used by Windows XP ). The boot configuration datafile ( BCD ) contains the settings for loading the actual operating system.
I wouldn't be too concerned about the closed source nature of Windows as there's still plenty of folks doing some absolutely bonkers **** with Windows/Windows Booting. Check out http://reboot.pro if you want to see some of that. My favourite is the 10MB WindowsXP that boots cmd.exe and nothing else LOL WAT!?! . I'm not saying you'll find the answers there but I'd consider it the "state of the art" when booting windows in unusual ways.
Without getting too far ahead, if you did get it booting then it appears the Asus Memo Pad FHD 10 which is a windows 8 device has the same SOC so I would expect there to be driver support already present ( or available ).
Additionally I've not even considered UEFI and how that would affect the whole scenario as I've not delved into the UEFI chaos yet.
Personally I've not used Windows in anger for a couple of years and I've only booted Windows 8 in VM's just to have a look, so my "WindowsFu" is getting a little rusty.
In Summary : Technically Possible ( anything is possible ) - All depends on the bootloader and how much you want it! and to paraphrase @wranglerray "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it"
Trevd
@trevd @wranglerray Thanks so much for the input
This shouldn't really be too hard to do for an experienced dev IMO but I don't have mcuh experience with all this stuff
The stuff that has been done to the HD2 was a lot harder I think but Cotulla still managed to make a custom bootloader and boot WP7 things like that
Thanks again for the comments
@wranglerray @trevd
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2540480
Please read the above link
basically we can now understand what the partitions are and what they do
Is it really that hard to make some kind of a zip file that can be flashed in recovery to boot the windows 8 bootloader ?
Why can't we just install an image of windows 8 to the SD card and boot off it ?
What do I need to know in order to understand and try to make this work ? Since no one is developing for the tab 3 10.1 I thought I'd give it a try
Nitro_123 said:
@wranglerray @trevd
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2540480
Please read the above link
basically we can now understand what the partitions are and what they do
Is it really that hard to make some kind of a zip file that can be flashed in recovery to boot the windows 8 bootloader ?
Why can't we just install an image of windows 8 to the SD card and boot off it ?
What do I need to know in order to understand and try to make this work ? Since no one is developing for the tab 3 10.1 I thought I'd give it a try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a newbee I will guess:
Windows can take a bigger effort.
Runing Linux natively, easier. Android drivers should be already Linux Compatible. Tweeking them under Linux I do not know. My best guess is looking how to make grub to run first for dual booting. Or even better, Create a partition on external SD forl Linux, To be safe on TWRP recovery add a bottom to boot Linux or even esier re-use one temporary to test posibility.
Good Luck.
dale_para_bajo said:
As a newbee I will guess:
Windows can take a bigger effort.
Runing Linux natively, easier. Android drivers should be already Linux Compatible. Tweeking them under Linux I do not know. My best guess is looking how to make grub to run first for dual booting. Or even better, Create a partition on external SD forl Linux, To be safe on TWRP recovery add a bottom to boot Linux or even esier re-use one temporary to test posibility.
Good Luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@dale_para_bajo EXACTLY my friend. You stole the words right out of my mouth
Objective: Get Linux booting. SD card way is better.
Any updates on this?
SharpnShiny said:
Any updates on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will never happen, the firmware isn't compatible.
calden74 said:
It will never happen, the firmware isn't compatible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've looked a bit more into it since, I think the best chance was Windows RT, and that isn't downloadable I believe, so that's it. Thanks for the reply though.
SharpnShiny said:
Yeah I've looked a bit more into it since, I think the best chance was Windows RT, and that isn't downloadable I believe, so that's it. Thanks for the reply though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if Windows RT aka an ARM optimized ISO, was downloadable, it COULD NOT be used on Tab 3 10.1
Because this Tab doesn't have an ARM CPU, it have a x86 (32Bits) CPU. So better get a x86 ISO. I also got the same idea (like many other Tab 3 10.1 users). But the dream is NOT going anywhere. Also, Android apps are honestly BAD OPTIMIZED for this CPU ! That's why the Tab lags.
I sold mine and have bought a Tab 7.7 w/ SuperAmoled HD Screen but I broke its screen and can't now find any replacement in my region
Our best chance would be:
Ability of instally Windows 8 into a single .IMG file like Windows XP has been installed !
However, QEMU and KVM refuses to install Windows 8 into a VM idk why !
The RAM of the Tab is also a bit low to run Windows 8 inside Android.
If only a Great Dev could port or create "The Multi-boot bootloader" for Tab 3 10.1 as done on Nexus 7, then I won't waste my money buying a Windows 8 Tablet again since I would manage to install Windows 8 natively, whatever happened !
Sent from my roomate's computer
Can this work?
trevd said:
Hi There
I've not got a device in my hands yet to be able to give a proper device focused opinion on this.
but since you ask, I will say It really all depends on the bootloader setup on the device and how accessible that is, it could well be a proprietary Samsung Design in which case I wouldn't want to "mess" with it unless you had a JTag handy for when s**t goes wrong, otherwise you'll be holding a very expensive brick.
Even without bootloader access theoretically you could create a 3rd stage bootloader ( possibly Grub2/uboot ) which sits in place of the kernel in the boot image ( or recovery image ) , this would give the Option to load android or chainload into the windows boot manager, this is how things are done on classic x86.
If you have to go with a 3rd Stage Loader then the first steps is to get your own code running instead of the Standard Kernel Initialization inside an android boot image, There's all sorts of fun to be had after that as basically you'd need to place things in memory where the Kernel or the Boot Manager is expecting to find them amongst many other things.
Standard Windows 7/8 Installations setup a "hidden ( not assigned a drive letter in windows) "* 100MB NTFS partition which contains the bootmgr.exe ( TRIVIA : boot manager replaced NT LOADER (* NTLDR ) which was used by Windows XP ). The boot configuration datafile ( BCD )* contains the settings for loading the actual operating system.
I wouldn't be too concerned about the closed source nature of Windows as there's still plenty of folks doing some absolutely bonkers **** with Windows/Windows Booting. Check out httpdouble slash)reboot(dot)pro if you want to see some of that. My favourite is the 10MB WindowsXP that boots cmd.exe and nothing else LOL WAT!?! . I'm not saying you'll find the answers there but I'd consider it the "state of the art" when booting windows in unusual ways.
Without getting too far ahead, if you did get it booting then it appears the Asus Memo Pad FHD 10 which is a windows 8 device has the same SOC so I would expect there to be driver support already present ( or available ).
Additionally I've not even considered UEFI and how that would affect the whole scenario as I've not delved into the UEFI chaos yet.
Personally I've not used Windows in anger for a couple of years and I've only booted Windows 8 in VM's just to have a look, so my "WindowsFu" is getting a little rusty.
In Summary : Technically Possible ( anything is possible ) - All depends on the bootloader and how much you want it! and to paraphrase** @wranglerray "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it"
Trevd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am new to the forum but not windows and android though not advanced but do you think that getting those files in the 100mb partition and making an ext2 image of them with slight modifications to fit in the architecture and flash the image as a recovery image?
or perhaps we could use rom manager and by creating a virtual rom composing of windows and boot them via the rom manager tool.
or perhaps we could use grub or a similar tool to boot into an image file or sdcard with windows installed on it and flash the grub files onto the recovery partition but some one with advanced info please confirm all these possibilities!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Hit thanks if I helped, its not that tough
Go ahead guys !
This thread is becoming IRRELEVANT !
Tab 3 was made to run Android (and possibly Ubuntu since Android is a mobile version of Linux) but NOT Windows !
So just use Android or Nothing.
Sent from my roomate's computer
yes but
Nonta72 said:
Go ahead guys !
This thread is becoming IRRELEVANT !
Tab 3 was made to run Android (and possibly Ubuntu since Android is a mobile version of Linux) but NOT Windows !
So just use Android or Nothing.
Sent from my roomate's computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but since both Windows and any x86 Linux are designed for the same architecture, shouldn't we be able to boot Windows?
glorified sd card
Dani515 said:
Yes, but since both Windows and any x86 Linux are designed for the same architecture, shouldn't we be able to boot Windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think it's possible
check this out starting at angel_666's post #18
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2589370&page=2
finding out where the flag checking starts and finishes would probably make the third stage boot
more realizeable. i directly flashed both grub and then plop to recovery block and got nowhere,
so it's mmcblk0boot0 or mmcblk0boot1, i haven't found anything in param===>/dev/block/mmcblk0p16 yet
and if p5210 has the little kernel burnt onto the chip setup, from my understanding of what i've
read it's a really basic/small/simple setup so even if the flag was there and unchangeable we should
still be able to get past it somewhere else, right?
Really ?
Dani515 said:
Yes, but since both Windows and any x86 Linux are designed for the same architecture, shouldn't we be able to boot Windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I firstly got this idea and have posted here on XDA about it :good:
Look at this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2682603
However, mine was about running Windows 8 inside Android
Sent from my roomate's computer
Done already?
Hello,
I have found this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2070139
If you read further, you can find almost complete solution for archlinux natively on Note 10.1. WIth multiple fixes/scripts. Any reason why it cannot be done on tab3 10.1? I'm asking because I might try to compile proper kernel and prepare some distribution as tablet provides power that ends up completely wasted by android.

Chuwi HiBook Pro - i want android only, how to remove windows from dual boot and save

Hi, i am sorry if this is not the right forum, maybe there are no forums about tablets.
Chuwi HiBook Pro - i want android only, how to remove windows from dual boot and save space.
it seems that all tutorials show how to remove android from tablet, but i would like to remove windows.
Thank you.
METAL66 said:
Hi, i am sorry if this is not the right forum, maybe there are no forums about tablets.
Chuwi HiBook Pro - i want android only, how to remove windows from dual boot and save space.
it seems that all tutorials show how to remove android from tablet, but i would like to remove windows.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows is probably the main/primary OS. If getting Android to boot is somewhat linked to the existence of Windows, then you might not be able to remove it. That's probably why no one did that yet.
Edit: I found this http://forum.chuwi.com/thread-1848-1-1.html
Maybe you can give it a try. Remember that you do it at your own risks.
Hi and thanks for your replies, no i dont want to take risks, as i am no expert.
the next question is
Can i show more space on android? the 46Gbs taken by windows? do i only get 9Gb of it on android ??
METAL66 said:
Hi and thanks for your replies, no i dont want to take risks, as i am no expert.
the next question is
Can i show more space on android? the 46Gbs taken by windows? do i only get 9Gb of it on android ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you're trying to do is getting more space under Android.
That won't go without repartitioning. It's another task for the expert. Although you should be able to access (read) windows partition in Android if you use an app that can mount NTFS drivers in Android system.
Bigger issue. I just tried to reset from window to the if Android disappears. The tablet is stuck at some boot situation. Anyway to solve this plz?
METAL66 said:
Bigger issue. I just tried to reset from window to the if Android disappears. The tablet is stuck at some boot situation. Anyway to solve this plz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not familiar with these tablets, so I cant help you sorry.
METAL66 said:
Bigger issue. I just tried to reset from window to the if Android disappears. The tablet is stuck at some boot situation. Anyway to solve this plz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi @METAL66 are you still stuck?
I don't have a guaranteed solution (I have original not "Pro") for you but the following helped me get Android working again when it got stuck at the Intel Inside logo.
This tablet is a x86-64 PC, and boots into a UEFI BIOS first.
1. If you don't have the Chuwi keyboard for this tablet, you can use an OTG (on the go) cable to connect a regular PC keyboard to it. I used a USB hub to allow me to connect a USB drive at the same time:
Code:
[Tablet] -- (OTG) -- [USB hub] -- [keyboard]
[USB storage]--------------------/
With the keyboard attached, you can press Del or Esc (a few times) during bootup to enter the BIOS config.
In there you can change things like whether to show a "quiet" boot or not. I turned it off so I see the AMI BIOS info when it first boots.
2. The official Chuwi Web site has self-contained recovery image installers (WinPE based).
This is the tutorial I used to recover Android while preserving Windows 10.
http -- forum.chuwi.com / thread-1283-1-1.html
Among the available recovery images is one that installs Android and causes Windows to be "lost"
http -- forum.chuwi.com / thread-1210-1-1.html
I'm not sure if the WinPE instance they distribute has full control over the partitions (presumably it at least has software on it to allow access to the Android partitions to repair the boot files write the image), but if so, maybe you can use it to delete the Windows Partitions and reclaim the space for use by Android.

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