Android in VirtualBox

J

Jarret W. Buse

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Android in VirtualBox

Many people may need to test apps on a tablet, phone or both. Some may just want to play with the Android Operating System environment. Some may not be able to afford a nice tablet. The best solution for all is to run Android in VirtualBox for free.

So to do this, you will need Oracle's VirtualBox installed on your system. If possible, go to http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/virtualbox/downloads/index.html and download the version of VirtualBox for your OS. If you do not want to run the virtualization locally, you can download the AndroVMPlayer as noted in the next paragraph.

To get Android or the AndroVMPlayer, you will need to go to http://mirror1.jarfil.net/androvm.org/Download/. Here, you see eleven files. Five of these are the Players as follows:

  • AndroVMplayer-Linux32-20130208.tgz
  • AndroVMplayer-Linux64-20130208.tgz
  • AndroVMplayer-MacOSX-20130208.tgz
  • AndroVMplayer-Win32-20130208.zip
  • AndroVMplayer-Win64-20130208.zip
The first two files are for Linux systems (32- or 64-bit). The third file is for the Mac OS X system. The last two are for Windows systems (32- and 64-bit).

The other six files are the Android OS in a format which can be imported into Oracle's VirtualBox locally or remotely. The other six files are:

  • androVM_vbox86p_4.1.1_r6.1-20130222-gapps-houdini-flash.ova
  • androVM_vbox86p_4.1.1_r6.1-20130222.ova
  • androVM_vbox86t_4.1.1_r6.1-20130222-gapps-houdini-flash.ova
  • androVM_vbox86t_4.1.1_r6.1-20130222.ova
  • androVM_vbox86tp_4.1.1_r6.1-20130222-gapps-houdini-flash.ova
  • androVM_vbox86tp_4.1.1_r6.1-20130222.ova
To determine which file you need, there is a letter or letters after the “androVM_vbox86”. The letter or letters represent the following:

  • p – phone
  • t – tablet
  • tp – tablet/phone
Another difference is that three have “gapps-houdini-flash” which means the Android OS has Google Play Store installed. The files without “gapps-houdini-flash” to not have the Play Store.

NOTE: My suggestion is to run it remotely to get better graphics. Of course, this requires an Internet connection when run. You must also have VirtualBox installed locally.

First, let's set this up as a local VirtualBox system. If you do not have VirtualBox installed, please do so and then continue on with the article.

Open VirtualBox and select “File → Import Appliance...”. At the next window, select the button to the right of the text box and select the OVA file downloaded. Select “Next” once the proper file is selected. The next window displays the default configuration for the imported OS. Select any line and make appropriate changes, but this can be done later as well. Select “Import” to start the import process. Now, the importing begins.

Once done, you can select the imported session and make changes to it or start it.

NOTE: Errors may come up when starting the session. You may press “X” to close the message or the other button so you never see the message again.

One error in particular has no local fix. It is the error “The Virtual screen is currently set to a 16-bit color mode. For better performance please change this to 32-bit. This can usually be done from the Display section of the guest.” I will discuss later how to make your display look better. The 16-bit display setting causes the colors to look textured and not smooth.

Unlike a tablet, there are no buttons to go back, home, etc. on the side of the screen. To go back, use the ESC key. To exit out of the Virtual window with the mouse or leave to another workspace, press the right CTRL key and you can then leave the window.

To fix the video problem, you can use the AndroVMPlayer for your OS. Download the one appropriate for your OS and extract it. Open the extraction location and select the “AndroVMPlayer” application. Select “Run” from the window which opens.

For the resolution, specify something like “1024x600 160dpi” which is close to an actual tablet. Under the “Virtual Machine to Start” select the appropriate OVA file and select “Run”.

You are prompted to enable Hardware acceleration. Answer “Enable hardware acceleration” to the prompt. You are then prompted to Setup the Network Adapter. Click the button to “Setup Network Adapter”. The player should connect to a remote VirtualBox server and run the desired OS you selected. The display should not look textured since the color is now set to 32-bit as in Figure 1.

Figure 1.jpg

FIGURE 1

With either method of running Android, you can connect to the Internet and download apps for the virtual phone/tablet. The method should work well for anyone who programs for Android and needs a platform for testing.

Using the AndroVMPlayer displays the tablet keys to the right of the window for moving to home, back a screen, volume settings, etc. as shown in Figure 1.

The system settings for the Android OS systems are as follows:

  • Android Version 4.1.1
  • Kernel Version 3.4.0-qemu+
 

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i use android and thankyou i also noticed my 32gb hds at less than 50mb running but giving a constant popup so after going back to over a gig i feel nicer WAT UP LINUX
 

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