Installing Android 2.2 on Hyper-V
This is a post that I have been meaning to do for a while now: how to install Android 2.2 in Hyper-V. While Android is designed for smart phones – there are a number of ports out there for running on standard computers. Today I am going to show you how to get Android 2.2 running in a Hyper-V virtual machine. It is an older version of Android – but it is also the easiest version to get working well inside of Hyper-V.
To start with you are going to need to get the x86 install media for Android 2.2. You can download this from here:
https://code.google.com/p/android-x86/downloads/detail?name=android-x86-2.2-generic.iso
Next you are going to want to create a virtual machine with:
- 1 virtual processor
- A legacy network adapter
- A blank 16GB virtual hard disk
Then connect the ISO file to the DVD-ROM drive of the virtual machine and boot it up. You should soon see a boot menu where you can select Installation – Install Android-x86 to harddisk:
(You can use the Live CD options – but I prefer to have a real install).
At this point you will get dumped into text mode to do some partitioning. First select to Create / Modify partitions
This will take you to the partitioning tool:
Here you will need to:
- Select New
- Select Primary
- Accept the default partition size that the tool offers
- Select Bootable
- Select Write and type in yes
- Select Quit
Now you will have a new partition that you can select for the installation:
After selecting the partition you will need to format it (I went with ext3)
Then you will have to wait for a while for the partition to be formatted.
Next select to install the GRUB boot loader:
Decide if you want /system to be read-write (I chose Yes):
Finally reboot – and remember to remove the ISO file (so you do not just boot off of it again):
You now have Android 2.2 working on Hyper-V:
Everything should function correctly (including networking) however there is no support for sound. Luckily that does not stop the games from working:
(Note – I rarely crash on Lunar Lander, but I had to take my hands off the keyboard to take the screenshot, and this was the natural result).
Anyway, I hope you found this interesting. Tomorrow I will be back to talking about Windows Server “8”.
Cheers,
Ben
Comments
Anonymous
March 07, 2012
The comment has been removedAnonymous
March 07, 2012
Neat. Any chance there's a way to get WP7 running in a VM?Anonymous
March 07, 2012
WP7 isn't open source, that's why we can download Android.Anonymous
March 07, 2012
Nice timing for your lockscreen screenshot there Ben ;)Anonymous
March 07, 2012
I know WP7 isn't open source, but there has to be some way to dev for WP7 without having a device on hand.Anonymous
March 08, 2012
Nice post, i gonna try it!Anonymous
March 08, 2012
Nick - Actually, that is a complete coincidence. I did not know what you were talking about until I checked myself - pretty neat :-) Cheers, BenAnonymous
March 27, 2012
Wonder when someone will patch the kernel using the Hyper-V integration services, so that android runs even better.Anonymous
November 01, 2012
Hey Been, Couple things,
- I am having a little trouble getting the network connection to pick up? Anything in particular that needs be done in Hyper V settings?
- The keyboard is a little difficult to figure out. Any easy shortcuts you might have for navigation and unlocking the OS. Thank you, Brandon
Anonymous
November 23, 2013
Hi Ben! How about an update? Android 4.3 code.google.com/.../detail installs fine on Hyper-V, even on Client Hyper-V on Windows 8.1. But I'm missing network and mouse support. Maybe you have some spare time to give some tips to enable networking and mouse support. Getting networking to work, I can think of many nice things to build test automations with Powershell scripts. Regards MikeAnonymous
November 23, 2013
Hi Ben! Sorry for the previous post. Everything is working fine now. I think I was a little bit too impatient. Networking with legacy adapter works! Mouse works if I'm not using Remote Desktop to my Hyper-V machine, so I have to work on the physikal Hyper-V machine. In general for Hyper-V-Next: This is sometimes annoying espacially when working with linux derivates. Some Keys for working with android X86 emulator on Hyper-V: ALT+F9: Sets screen to normal orientation ALT+F10: Rotates screen to left ALT+F11: Rotates screen to right ALT+F12: Flips screen ALT+F1: shows the root terminal ALT+TAB: switching between Apps ALT+LEFT: skipping between screens ALT+ESC: Goes back to home screen Mike