Help - Installing Android x86 via a hard drive partition

[David A]

I have a Toshiba Portege M200 laptop that I am interested in installing Android x86 on.

This system has no cd drive, does not boot to external drives (except a small list of 200 dollar ones), and does not boot to flash drives.

I Decided to setup dual partitions and my goal is to have Windows 7 and Android x86 installed on it.

I was able to get windows 7 installed by setting up a 3rd "install partition" to boot from with the windows 7 install files on it. 

Now, attempting to do the same thing with Android x86 does not seem to work. So I've come here.

Does anyone have any information on either of these:

A. Install Android X86 from Network (I would need a complete guide as I have failed network installs every time I try)

or

B. Setting up an Android Install partition on the hard drive it will be installing to (on a separate partition obviously)

Thank you in advance

[George Turner]

Remove the hard drive, usually pretty easy. Buy a cheap USB enclosure for it. Find another computer that can boot android-x86 and install to the hard drive in the USB enclosure. Put the hard drive back in the laptop. But I seriously doubt that android-x86 will run on your old laptop.

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[Mike Ross]

Not Exactly Sure What Type Of Install Your trying, UEFI, GRUB(s), But If you have Windows Already Installed, Format your New Partition to EXT2 or EXT3 For KK 4.4, Or EXT4 For LP 5.0, Then In windows get GRUB2WIN and Search this thread for GRUB Installs and You Should Have It..... 

Like I said I'm not Sure (Because you didn't say) What type of install....

Mike

--
Mike
Android - X86 Forums

[Mike Ross]

On 1/6/2015 9:51 PM, George Turner wrote:

Remove the hard drive, usually pretty easy. Buy a cheap USB enclosure for it. Find another computer that can boot android-x86 and install to the hard drive in the USB enclosure. Put the hard drive back in the laptop. But I seriously doubt that android-x86 will run on your old laptop.

On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 7:43 PM, David A <dragn...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a Toshiba Portege M200 laptop that I am interested in installing Android x86 on.

This system has no cd drive, does not boot to external drives (except a small list of 200 dollar ones), and does not boot to flash drives.

I Decided to setup dual partitions and my goal is to have Windows 7 and Android x86 installed on it.

I was able to get windows 7 installed by setting up a 3rd "install partition" to boot from with the windows 7 install files on it. 

Now, attempting to do the same thing with Android x86 does not seem to work. So I've come here.

Does anyone have any information on either of these:

A. Install Android X86 from Network (I would need a complete guide as I have failed network installs every time I try)

or

B. Setting up an Android Install partition on the hard drive it will be installing to (on a separate partition obviously)

Thank you in advance

--

WOW, Ok, Then....

[Miker1029]

Your kidding right?

[George Turner]

Not at all. Easy to do, most of the time. Some laptops like Sony do make it hard to remove the hard drive, but most are very easy to do. A laptop that old will not be UEFI and the hard drive is likely IDE. Something like this for the enclosure.

http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY-External-2-5-Inch-Enclosure-Laptop/dp/B000FNBYKW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1420603526&sr=8-6&keywords=use+2.5+hard+drive+IDE+enclosure

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

What is your 3'rd install partition like? is it fat or ntfs?
How did you tell the system to boot from it? Is it by adjusting a
setting in BIOS?

The main thing is to get some kind of bootloader than can load
android's kernel/initrd and read whatever filesystem it is in. For
example, you could install android in the same partition as windows,
even with some limitations.

If you use BIOS, it might be easier to install grub4dos and work your
way from there.

--
Fajar

[Mike Ross]

On 1/6/2015 10:07 PM, George Turner wrote:

Not at all. Easy to do, most of the time. Some laptops like Sony do make it hard to remove the hard drive, but most are very easy to do. A laptop that old will not be UEFI and the hard drive is likely IDE. Something like this for the enclosure.

http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY-External-2-5-Inch-Enclosure-Laptop/dp/B000FNBYKW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1420603526&sr=8-6&keywords=use+2.5+hard+drive+IDE+enclosure

On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 10:59 PM, Miker1029 <mike...@gmail.com> wrote:

Your kidding right?

On Tuesday, January 6, 2015 9:51:24 PM UTC-6, George Turner wrote:

Remove the hard drive, usually pretty easy. Buy a cheap USB enclosure for it. Find another computer that can boot android-x86 and install to the hard drive in the USB enclosure. Put the hard drive back in the laptop. But I seriously doubt that android-x86 will run on your old laptop.

On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 7:43 PM, David A <dragn...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a Toshiba Portege M200 laptop that I am interested in installing Android x86 on.

This system has no cd drive, does not boot to external drives (except a small list of 200 dollar ones), and does not boot to flash drives.

I Decided to setup dual partitions and my goal is to have Windows 7 and Android x86 installed on it.

I was able to get windows 7 installed by setting up a 3rd "install partition" to boot from with the windows 7 install files on it. 

Now, attempting to do the same thing with Android x86 does not seem to work. So I've come here.

Does anyone have any information on either of these:

A. Install Android X86 from Network (I would need a complete guide as I have failed network installs every time I try)

or

B. Setting up an Android Install partition on the hard drive it will be installing to (on a separate partition obviously)

Thank you in advance

--

Hmmm, Ok, Must be different on Tablets, I set My BIOS to IDE, And the Worst I ran Into was Having to Slip Stream The IDE Controller Into the XP Install... Haven't had much Issues other wise....

Must Be a Tab Thing, I Don't Own One Of those, Was Just kinda Figuring it'd Run Kinda The Same...

[George Turner]

That is a circa 2003 laptop. The only thing the BIOS knows about is IDE. But I'm afraid the whole exercise is moot because it is just to old to run android-x86. Also, it has nvidia graphics. Not a good thing from my experience in trying to get android-x86 running on old computers.

--

[Mike Ross]

Ok I Must be Confused,  I was Under the Assumption that IDE Via That SATA Controller Was a Good thing, Am I Incorrect In this?? I did check into it and it sounded like it was better, And I hate to have to Re-Install All The OS'..

And Ya I Understand, With the Nvidea Card, Not gonna do well...

Mike

[Miker1029]

And Sorry don't mean to Hi-Jack The Thread.....

Mike

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[George Turner]

What you are doing is probably fine. I'm saying that the OP's laptop does not have SATA. It is IDE.

http://support.toshiba.com/support/staticContentDetail?contentId=637998&isFromTOCLink=false

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[Miker1029]

Ya Sorry i Messed Up (Swear I'm getting Old Timers),  I Switched the Controller from ATA to AHCI, Not IDE Or Anything of the Such.... Sorry.....

Getting Old I Guess did that about 3-4 Yrs Ago......

Mike

Mike

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Android - X86 Forums

[Miker1029]

Through The SATA Controller.....

[George Turner]

As I recall ATA and IDE were somewhat interchangeable before SATA and then IDE was renamed as PATA, but I'm old and suffer from CRS. Anyway, I think you did the right thing.

[Mike Ross]

Ya I thought it was at the time I Checked it out, Went through hell getting XP Back On cause of the Switch over, But, If I remember, It was supposed to be Faster and more efficient...

Anywho, Good Thing,  I'll Return The Thread to the OP Now..... Sorry for the Redirect.....

Mike

[hashirt]

What I would try if I was in this situation and I wanted to keep windows boot manager:

Keep in mind that I am kind of a newbie to Linux and Android.

IIRC from going through a bit this forum, extracting the iso to a partition -if-I-could-point-to-that-partition-at-boot- should trigger the installation (If that is not the way I could install android to usb using another computer -skipping-grub-during-install- and copy the contents to my desired partition). I can't point to android without grub. So what I need to do is install grub to-only-android's-partition, and show windows boot manager the way to grub. Android installation doesn't give me an option to install grub to a partition. Let's say I'm not wrong this far.

I extract the iso. Using an emulator I install grub to that partition, not to whole disk. Using bcdedit I chainload grub, I'm golden. Assuming these can be done of course.

http://www.iceflatline.com/2009/09/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-and-linux-using-bcdedit/

If the fellow at link above is right, If I could install grub to a partition via an emulator, I could copy first 512 bytes of that partition using dd or dd for windows, with that 512 bytes I could point windows boot manager via bcdedit to android partition.

It appears what I only need is a way to install grub to that partition under windows. I don't feel like searching for it right now. Maybe later. One can notice there is a lot of "If"s, "should"s here. I'm definitely going to test this though.

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 12:26 PM, hashirt <hash...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I can't point to android without grub.

It doesn't have to be grub. Any other boot manager that can load linux
will also do.

> http://www.iceflatline.com/2009/09/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-and-linux-using-bcdedit/
>
> If the fellow at link above is right, If I could install grub to a partition
> via an emulator, I could copy first 512 bytes of that partition using dd or
> dd for windows, with that 512 bytes I could point windows boot manager via
> bcdedit to android partition.
> It appears what I only need is a way to install grub to that partition under
> windows.

grub4dos should be easier to install since it already includes
grldr.mbr. Search "grub4dos" in the comment of section of the link you
posted.

--
Fajar

[Miker1029]

If grub 4 Dos is an Option You can also use try GRUB2WIN, I found it was alot easier, Just drop the folder to your C: drive Launch The .EXE, Save Immediatly, go into the Folder on C: and add to:

GRUB.CFG

###Android KitKat###

menuentry "Android KitKat" {

set root='(hd0,7)'

linux /android-4.4-RC2/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0  androidboot.hardware=android_x86 video=-16 SRC=/android-4.4-RC2

initrd /android-4.4-RC2/initrd.img

}

menuentry "Android KitKat (Debug Mode)" {

set root='(hdX,Y)'

linux /android-4.4-RC2/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0  androidboot.hardware=android_x86 video=-16 SRC=/android-4.4-RC2 DEBUG=1

initrd /android-4.4-RC2/initrd.img

}

### End Android ###

X Being your Storage Device #, and Y Being your Partition Number..

Save, Reboot, Done.

And really the Best part about that is if you mess up you aren't loosing your other GRUB entries... I've tried Grub4dos, BCD, and a slew of others that "Automatically" Do it and Had to Re-DO the Grub(s) and bunch of times,.,,,

IMO Use whatever your Comfortable with...

Hope it helps...

Mike

Android - X86 Forums

[hashirt]

Here is a tested and working method to install from usb without the need of bios to boot. Fajar A. Nugraha's comment was really helpful. Step by step:

-Create an android install usb with android-x86-4.4-r2.iso (I used Linux live usb creator)

-Download grub4dos-0.4.4.zip from http://sourceforge.net/projects/grub4dos/files/GRUB4DOS/grub4dos%200.4.4/

-Extract it somewhere. Copy these three files: grldr grldr.mbr menu.lst to Windows partition C.

-Then open your menu.lst file, delete everything inside it, copy and paste the menu.lst as posted at the end of this walkthrough setting correct root partition except the one under the title "title Install Android-x86 to harddisk" That's the part pointing to usb assuming you have only one hard disk and the usb to install android mounted.

-If you are going to install it on second partition edit it as root (hd0,1), if it is the third (hd0,2)... As you can see from the menu.lst i posted, i installed it to 4th partition.

-open command prompt as administrator and type

bcdedit /create /d "Android-x86" /application bootsector

-This gives an {id}. Going to need it in the following.

bcdedit /set {id} device partition=C:

bcdedit /set {id} path \grldr.mbr

bcdedit /displayorder {id} /addlast

- note: if you want to delete the entry from windows boot manager simply type this

bcdedit /delete {id}

-plugin your usb if you removed it

-reboot

-choose Android-x86

-choose Install Android-x86 to harddisk

-choose the partition to install

-format it to ext2 since the release announcement says installer can't format ext3 filesystem.

-when it asks if you want to install grub. skip it

-choose system as read write

-when installation finishes, reboot into windows

-we added a part in menu.lst to direct it towards usb to install android. Since we already installed it we don't need it anymore, delete the following part and save it

title Install Android-x86 to harddisk

root (hd1,0)

kernel /kernel root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 INSTALL=1 DEBUG=

initrd=/initrd.img

-everything should be set now

#beginning of menu.lst file

color white/black white/light-gray white/black white/black

timeout 10

default /default

title Install Android-x86 to harddisk

root (hd1,0)

kernel /kernel root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 INSTALL=1 DEBUG=

initrd=/initrd.img

title Android-x86 4.4-r2

root (hd0,3)

kernel /android-4.4-r2/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 SRC=/android-4.4-r2

initrd /android-4.4-r2/initrd.img

title Android-x86 4.4-r2 (Debug mode)

root (hd0,3)

kernel /android-4.4-r2/kernel root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 DEBUG=2 SRC=/android-4.4-r2

initrd /android-4.4-r2/initrd.img

title Android-x86 4.4-r2 (Debug nomodeset)

root (hd0,3)

kernel /android-4.4-r2/kernel nomodeset root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 DEBUG=2 SRC=/android-4.4-r2

initrd /android-4.4-r2/initrd.img

title Android-x86 4.4-r2 (Debug video=LVDS-1:d)

root (hd0,3)

kernel /android-4.4-r2/kernel video=LVDS-1:d root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 DEBUG=2 SRC=/android-4.4-r2

initrd /android-4.4-r2/initrd.img

#end of menu.lst file

[David A]

sorry for the late response, didn't expect this place to be so active.

the way i attempted installing android was like this:

http://en.kioskea.net/faq/4093-windows-7-create-a-recovery-partition

Instead of using windows disc I used the android .iso file, i'm assuming based on what i've read here that simply does not work

If someone could point me to a proper guide or tutorial to learn the basics from that would be much appriciated. I'm an advanced computer user but no absolutely nothing about linux/android, so it'll be a good read

also, in response to everyone:

George Turner: Your suggestion of sticking the hdd into another computer and installing android on, then swapping it back...with windows that would not work due to various (chipset normally) drivers, is that doable with linux/android? I can just install the OS on the hdd while its in another machine and it'll work when re-installed to the original laptop?

And yes I'm aware this system is old, but It is a project I'm currently tinkering with just for fun.

Miker1029: I dont know what either UEFI or GRUB is short of "theyre bootloaders", i assumed I could treat linux/android installs like windows installs (ie shove iso's files into a bootable partition and reboot) but i guess not?

[George Turner]

Yes, you can't usually do that with Windows because they want you to buy another copy. Linux on the other hand is very good at having a look at the hardware at boot time and doing the right thing. I didn't mean to discourage you from trying, but I think the outcome is bleak.I have many old computers and always try when there is a new version. Those old nvidia cards seem to be a major problem. UEFI is certainly not an issue for you, at least not on the laptop.

--

[George Turner]

I suppose I could try the move the hard drive approach. I think I have everything except Win 7. I would have to use Win XP. There is a good chance that when the hard drive goes back into the laptop that nothing will boot. Getting Win 7 back should not be too hard, but a pain nevertheless. Installing grub will wipe out the Window boot loader in the MBR.

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

Read hashirt's last response on this thread, he posted a pretty
detailed step by step howto. The difference in your setup would be you
need to copy all android iso content to windows drive (instead of
usb), the drive for the installer would be something like (hd0,1) or
(hd0,2).

No need to move hdds around.

--
Fajar

[George Turner]

Just finished up the move the hard drive test and it worked fine with one little step that I didn't think of. The rootnoverify will be wrong under the Windows title in menu.lst and should be changed to:

rootnoverify (hda0,0)

I used an old Toshiba Satellite A75-S231. Installed Windows XP to it. Removed the hard drive and put it in a USB enclosure. Plugged it into to a Dell Dimension 9100 and booted up an android-x86 4.4-r2 CD. Installed to the USB hard drive (/dev/sdf1) in my case. entered No to format, Yes to install grub. It saw Windows and asked if I wanted a Title entry. I said Yes. The rootnoverify it generated was hd5,0. Once I changed that I put the hard drive back in the laptop and both android and Windows were able to boot.

[David A]

I have been attempting to follow hashirts instructions but I seem to run into an issue:

upon reboot, i select "Android-x86" in the booting options and i receive the following:

"Booting Install Android-x86 to harddisk

Filesystem type is ntfs, partition type 0x07

kernel /kernel root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 INSTALL=1 DEBUG=

Error 15: File not Found

Press any key to continue...

"

not sure what I'm doing wrong..

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

What is your complete grub entry for "Install Android-x86 to harddisk"?

Is the harddisk listed the right one for android instaler?
e.g. (hd0,0) -> 1st partition of your harddisk. Note that 1st
partition is not always C drive, it can be a hidden system partition.

Do you put the installer files (i.e. content of android ISO) on the
root of the disk, or inside a path?

"kernel /kernel" and "Error 15: File not Found" means grub looks for
"kernel" on the root of the partition you specify, but couldn't find
it.
If your specify (hd0,0), and first partition is C in windows, then
grub can't find "C:\kernel"

--
Fajar

[David A]

currently this is where I'm at:

This is my harddrive/partition setup:

oi60.tinypic.com/kanrj8.jpg

this is my menu.lst:

oi58.tinypic.com/ixwa3l.jpg

I have menu.lst on the root of my (only) hard drive (C:\menu.lst) along with the other 2 files

When I select "Install Android-x86 to harddisk" i get:

Root (hd1,0)

 Error 21: Selected disk does not exist 

this is trying to access the android install files, which would be located on the USB drive (considered the 2nd hard drive) on its first (only) partition, right? if so then I don't understand why this doesn't work.

When I select any of the other options i receive:

Root (hd0,2)

Error 12: Cannot mount the selected partition

this is trying to access the laptops hard drive (only hard drive) and its 3rd partition, correct? again, if so, I don't know why it cant do it...other than that partition is currently an NTFS with windows installed (I was going to overwrite it)

=========================

also, on another note, how do i locate the {id}'s of various setups? I currently have 3x "Android-x86" when i bootup due to failed attempts, but I don't know how to get the ID's to remove them after a restart

[David A]

PS: i have followed hashirts guide as best as I could, so I used linux live to turn a 4gb flash drive into a linux installer, the laptop only has one hard drive, so that should make the android install file located on (hd1,0) if i understand this correctly.

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

My grub is somewhat rusty. Can you try displaying the partition
recognized by grub4dos?

http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/cli.htm

Using command line and tab completion, see where you can find android
installer's /kernel and where your windows directory is.

--
Fajar

[George Turner]

The "Root (hd1,0)" for Install android looks right to me, but I'm used to looking at "fdisk -l" output when trying to solve these kinds of problems.

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

I suspect he won't even see hd1, since grub only shows whatever the
BIOS sees. In other words, if he can't boot from usb disk (which is
what started this thread), grub won't even see the usb disk.

The easy workaround is to make sure that grub can see the internal
disk, and find out exactly the numbers (e.g. partition numbers are not
always the same as order on disk). If he can find where windows drive
(C) is detcted as (e.g. hd0,2 or whatever), then simply copy grub's
installer there and adjust grub's menu accordingly. No need to use
external drive.

--
Fajar

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 3:21 PM, Fajar A. Nugraha <li...@fajar.net> wrote:
> simply copy grub's
> installer there

I meant "android installer", whatever is in the ISO.

--
Fajar

[David A]

fajar:

possible disks are: fd0 hd0 rd

possible partitions are:

Partition num: 0, filesystem type is ntfs, partition type 0x07

partition num: 1, active, Filesystem type is ntfs, partition type 0x07

Partition num: 4, Filesystem type is ntfs, partition type 0x07

What is fd0? I assumed the flash drive would be viewed as a hard drive (hd1), but now that i see this, perhaps fd0 = the flash drive? if so then  hashirt was mistaken in his instructions and i should set the usb location to (fd0,0)?

[George Turner]

fd0 is probably the floppy drive.

--

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

Try tab completion :)

You should be able to see whether fd0 has any partitions, and what
files are there. See my previous reply, you probably won't be able to
get grub to see the usb disk.

In any case, check what files are on partitions 0, 1, and 4 (again,
using tab completion), map the numbers to the drive letters you see in
windows, just for your reference. Copy android installer to whichever
one that:
- has enough space
- is not the destination drive for installation
- won't be formatted.

--
Fajar

[David A]

fajar, can you expand on your comment "copy grub's [Androids] installer there and adjust grub's menu accordingly"

more specifically, what/how do i adjust grubs menu? thats the menu.lst that i've been playing with yes?

Before i put this into effect on the system let me run this by you:

with this setup:

oi60.tinypic.com/kanrj8.jpg

lets say I put the android .iso files into C: directory, that should be (hd0,2)

i would then edit menu.lst and change the various install paths to:

root (hd0,01)

if i wanted to overwright the first partition (D drive), Does this sound correct to you?

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 3:36 PM, David A <dragn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> fajar, can you expand on your comment "copy grub's [Androids] installer
> there and adjust grub's menu accordingly"

copy whatever is in android iso (kernel, initrd.img, system.sfs,
whatever) to your install drive (C?)

>
> more specifically, what/how do i adjust grubs menu? thats the menu.lst that
> i've been playing with yes?
>

Yes

>
> Before i put this into effect on the system let me run this by you:
>
> with this setup:
> oi60.tinypic.com/kanrj8.jpg
>
> lets say I put the android .iso files into C: directory, that should be
> (hd0,2)
>

No. Check again what grub sees in the command line. It's either
(hd0,0), (hd0,1), or (hd0,4)

> i would then edit menu.lst and change the various install paths to:
>
> root (hd0,01)
>
> if i wanted to overwright the first partition (D drive), Does this sound
> correct to you?

Same as above. See whatever grub detects.

--
Fajar

[David A]

currently migrating android files to a hard drive partition and adjusting menu.lst to see if i can get it to work without the usb drive.

while i wait, a semi-important question:

how do i get the {id} to delete entries from hashirts instrutions here? If you don't save it when it first is generated I don't know how to view it later for removal...:

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

bcdedit /v

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709667(v=ws.10).aspx

[David A]

ok, after lots of tinkering i made a bit of progress.

Now I can do the following:

-power system on

-select android-x86 from boot options

-select "Install Android-x86 to hard disk"

-choose a partition (i choose "create/modify partitions" as I need to format a partition for android

and then i receive this error: "FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 2: Partition ends in the final partial cylind. Press any key to exit cfdisk"

it looks like "cylind" should be "cylinder." but the txt runs off teh screen

[David A]

well, i think i've just had a nice wave of unfortunate luck.

firstly, I was able to install android by accepting a current partition instead of trying to modify partitions. this allowed me to install android on a pre-existing partition

then...i installed grub by mistake...so now I have no access to my windows install (unless someone can help me out here...)

and whats worse, when i run android, it just hangs at a blinking cursor before even reaching the ANDROID splash logo

any thoughts?

[George Turner]

If you can edit menu.lst you could try adding this:

Title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,X)
chainloader +1

where X is the partition number. But it sounds like you can't boot anything and won't be able to edit menu.lst. As far as android not booting, what you describe is pretty much what happens when I try to boot my old computers. Wish I knew how to fix that.

--

[George Turner]

Oh, when the grub menu appears you can make a temp change to any line. It is 'e' command for grub2, but maybe different for the grub you are using. Tab maybe. Once for are editing enter what I said in the last post minus the Title line.

[George Turner]

Doesn't look like grub will let you do a multi line edit like grub2 will.

[Fajar A. Nugraha]

On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 4:35 PM, David A <dragn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> well, i think i've just had a nice wave of unfortunate luck.
>
> firstly, I was able to install android by accepting a current partition
> instead of trying to modify partitions. this allowed me to install android
> on a pre-existing partition

There are tools that let you format non-ntfs partitions from windows.
IIRC partition-tool.com lets you do that.

>
> then...i installed grub by mistake...so now I have no access to my windows
> install (unless someone can help me out here...)

Press "c" at grub menu, then try typing in manually what George wrote:

rootnoverify (hd0,X)
chainloader +1

in your case it's probably hd0,4

After that you need to find a way to either access android's partition
and edit menu.lst, or reinstall windows mbr (e.g. bootrec,
https://www.google.com/search?q=restore+windows+mbr )

>
> and whats worse, when i run android, it just hangs at a blinking cursor
> before even reaching the ANDROID splash logo

your system might not be compatible with android-x86. Try vesa mode,
to isolate whether it's graphics problem.

--
Fajar

[George Turner]

Yes, he can add nomodeset and/or xforcevesa as kernel parameters and see if that helps.

[Miker]

Ya I had that awhile.  If you have Linux try glared and see if you get the same error. Then google on disk checker.  I used something like fdisk for dos that shows where one partition ends and the other starts.  You'll see an overlap. After a couple days of banging my head against the keyboard I did a full format of the entire HDD and reparted  and reinstalled all OS'

Mike

Sent with AquaMail for Android
http://www.aqua-mail.com

--

[Miker]

Always was in my day 8-)

Mike

Sent with AquaMail for Android
http://www.aqua-mail.com

[Michael]

If Windows was his first Install It would Almost have to Be 0 or 1 (Or
1/2 Depending on GRUB), Why Not just plug in numbers till it works??

[David A]

Hey guys so to recap and update everyone, I was able to install android once I decyphered which partition was which and understood the instructions left by hashirt, however i have come into two new issue:

1. i accidently installed grub, so I can no longer boot to my windows installs:

this isn't a big deal really as I can easily repair the mistake by re-isntalling windows (can't i? or would that not remove grub and give me back windows mbr?)

2. when I boot to android it hangs at a blinking cursor right before I should reach the Android splash screen.

I'm reading up on it but it looks like theres no clear answer over what causes this, anyone have any suggsetions?

[George Turner]

You tried what Fajar wrote?

>Press "c" at grub menu, then try typing in manually what George wrote:

>rootnoverify (hd0,X)
>chainloader +1

>in your case it's probably hd0,4

--

[hashirt]

there are answers for your questions but depends on other stuff.

1. did the installation end succesfully? Giving you an option either to reboot or run android?

2. you posted a screenshot of your disk management a few posts back as follows.

http://oi60.tinypic.com/kanrj8.jpg

partition 1: unallocated

partition 2: D

partition 3: New Volume E (system partition)

partition 4: C (windows)

assuming you didn't change this layout afterwards:

- did you install it via copying to hard drive, or did usb install work?

- if you installed it via copying android to hard drive, which partition did you copy it to?

- which partition did you install android?

- during installation did you choose "do not format" or did you format it (to ext3? to ext2? to ntfs? to fat32?)?

- did android installer ask you something similar to this: "the installer found a windows partition in /dev/sdaX do you want to create a boot item for windows?"

3. there should be 4 entries in your grub menu, titled as follows:

Android-x86 4.4-r2

Android-x86 4.4-r2 (Debug mode)

Android-x86 4.4-r2 (Debug nomodeset)

Android-x86 4.4-r2 (Debug video=LVDS-1:d)

did you try the third one (Debug nomodeset) to see if you can boot into android then?

4. did you try adding an entry for windows to grub as George and Fajar suggested?

10 Ocak 2015 Cumartesi 08:46:38 UTC+2 tarihinde David A yazdı:

[David A]

yes I've read what fajar suggested and I get stuck at the "either edit grub's menu.lst or repair windows mbr" part, because that always requires either getting inside the linux os, using a linux live boot cd, or being in windows/windows repair mode, none of which are options due to the lack of bootable options.

I can easily replicate what's been done this far (Pull HDD, install in another laptop, rebuild 3 new partitions, format, install windows, create bootable install partition for android/windows, boot to installers)

so I'm not overly concerned with getting windows back up and running, my main concern is figuring out why the current install of android hangs at a curosr, that way when i DO reinstall everything, preferably I can come out with a functional windows and android OS

but googling doesn't seem to give any answers for why we hang at a blinking cursor...lot's of people have the issue, no one seems to have an answer...

[George Turner]

Did you try VESA mode?

--

[George Turner]

If VESA mode doesn't work as is, hit tab on that line and add xforcevesa to the line. You can also try DEBUG mode and some of the messages may give you a clue as to what it does not like.

[David A]

I don't see a "vesa" mode, but I have tried every option available:

Android-x86 4.4-RC2:

Freezes at a binking cursor 

Android-x86 4.4-RC2 (Debug Mode):

"use alt-F1/F2/F3 to switch between virtual consoles

Type 'exit' to enter Android..."

lots of info appears when typing exit but vanishes swiftly, can't make anything out before the screen clears, then it tells me to type exit to enter android again

upon doing so i reach a point where it constantly displays:

[xxx.xxxxxx] init: untracked pid xxxxx exited

then the screen flashes quickly (can't make anything out) with a full page of txt and repeats with the x's being different numbers

Android-x86 4.4-RC2 (Debug nomodeset):

Same as Debug mode

Android-x86 4.4-RC2 (Debug video=LVDS-1:d):

Same as Debug mode

would it be worth attempting to repeat what ive done to get to this point, but instead of installing 4.4-RC2, to install one of the "generic" android iso's?

[George Turner]

I tried a few on my old computers. No luck. I had better results using 4.4-r1 and 4.4-r2 on my old Toshiba laptop than the two RC versions. It could boot up and get to the welcome script but could not make it though all the way.

--

[David A]

George:

one reason why I think this might be pheasable is because theres a youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iMXUmxII3s) of someone running android on a portege M400. Granted it's a slightly newer model with a different chipset, but i like to hold out hope that this project has a chance

[George Turner]

I can't tell for sure if what he is running is an ISO from android.org. I don't think I have tried any Honeycomb versions.

On Sun, Jan 11, 2015 at 12:11 AM, David A <dragn...@gmail.com> wrote:

George:

one reason why I think this might be pheasable is because theres a youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iMXUmxII3s) of someone running android on a portege M400. Granted it's a slightly newer model with a different chipset, but i like to hold out hope that this project has a chance

[George Turner]

Make that android-x86.org

On Sunday, January 11, 2015, George Turner <geo....@gmail.com> wrote:

I can't tell for sure if what he is running is an ISO from android.org. I don't think I have tried any Honeycomb versions.

On Sun, Jan 11, 2015 at 12:11 AM, David A <dragn...@gmail.com> wrote:

George:

one reason why I think this might be pheasable is because theres a youtube video (Toshiba Portege M400 Running Android Honeycomb) of someone running android on a portege M400. Granted it's a slightly newer model with a different chipset, but i like to hold out hope that this project has a chance

[Miker]

I do.  Ever try to force an Atari 5200 cartridge into an Atari 2600?   About the same results...  8-)

Mike

Sent with AquaMail for Android
http://www.aqua-mail.com

--

[George Turner]

Did you try:

nomodeset VGA=788

and remove video=-16

On Sun, Jan 11, 2015 at 12:11 AM, David A <dragn...@gmail.com> wrote:

George:

one reason why I think this might be pheasable is because theres a youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iMXUmxII3s) of someone running android on a portege M400. Granted it's a slightly newer model with a different chipset, but i like to hold out hope that this project has a chance