Current hardware requirements

[Antony Stone]

Hi.

I'm just about to buy a new PC, and I'd like to be sure it's capable of
running a current (or near-current) version of Android-x86.

https://www.android-x86.org/releases/releasenote-9-0-r1.html tells me "most
modern devices should be able to run the 64-bit ISO", but what does "most"
mean? What do I need to look out for, and what are the caveats, either in the
CPU capabilities, or the GPU (I'm assuming nothing else is critical, other
than whether I get specific device support), that determine whether Android-x86
will run at all?

I've tried looking around the site to find a hardware compatibility list, or a
set of CPU/GPU requirements for various releases, but I haven't found it yet.

Can anyone point me at the minimum requirements for being able to run a
current release, and if it makes a difference, specifically on an AMD-based
system?


Thanks,


Antony.

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[Daniel Cheung]

I think you need to look at the actual kernel and see what's supported. A quick search seems like Ryzen 2xxx non APU is supported. However, I wouldn't pick the latest GPU and their support is a bit problematic. I'm using an older Intel Atom (Cherrytrail) CPU with iGPU and it works fine most of the time.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/bnmkag/question_how_is_the_linux_support_for_amd_ryzen/

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[Jeff M.]

Also don't forget about all the wifi and Bluetooth issues

[Antony Stone]

On Wednesday 18 March 2020 at 18:06:42, Jeff M. wrote:

> Also don't forget about all the wifi and Bluetooth issues

Since those aren't built onto the motherboard, I'm assuming I can identify and
select compatible devices (probably connected by USB) once I have the machine.


Antony.

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[Antony Stone]

On Wednesday 18 March 2020 at 17:34:54, Daniel Cheung wrote:

> I think you need to look at the actual kernel and see what's supported.

Any pointers on how to do that?

> A quick search seems like Ryzen 2xxx non APU is supported. However, I
> wouldn't pick the latest GPU and their support is a bit problematic. I'm
> using an older Intel Atom (Cherrytrail) CPU with iGPU and it works fine
> most of the time.

I'm currently looking at a 6-core Ryzen 5 2600 with no built-in GPU. I
already have a Radeon PCIe graphics card which I know works fine under Linux.

> https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/bnmkag/question_how_is_the_linux_s
> upport_for_amd_ryzen/

Hm, thanks for that link - interesting to me since my primary usage of the
machine will be Linux and the secondary will be Android-x86. I don't ever
expect to install Windows on anything.


Antony.

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Ein Kaminchen...

[Daniel Cheung]

Sorry don't have any pointers exactly. The arch folder only list x86 so I assume any x86 processors will work since they all use the same x86_64 instruction set. If you can get a flavor of Linux using 4.19 kernel to install then I would assume android_x86 9.0 r1 would also work. I would also Google which Wifi and Bluetooth module would work the best. Realtek stuff is pretty awful but I'm stuck with it since I'm on a tablet.

[Povilas Staniulis]

For CPU requirements, see Android's x86 ABI requirements.
https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis

Peripherals (Touchscreen, WiFi, Camera, Bluetooth, etc.) are hit and
miss. On some devices, pretty much everything works properly OOB, on
others you may need out-of-tree drivers and/or firmware or even a custom
kernel (my Surface Pro 5 is a good example).
For some devices (eg. Intel Atom ISP and other custom Intel cameras)
there is no support at all.
For GPUs, you are dependent on whatever FOSS drivers are available since
proprietary drivers will not work on Android. Intel iGPUs mostly work
fine. Newer Nvidia stuff is pretty much out of the question due to lack
of firmware. For AMD, there's AMDGPU which should (in theory) work with
newer stuff, not sure about it's current state though as I have no AMD
hardware to test on.

On 2020-03-18 19:39, Daniel Cheung wrote:
> Sorry don't have any pointers exactly. The arch folder only list x86
> so I assume any x86 processors will work since they all use the same
> x86_64 instruction set. If you can get a flavor of Linux using 4.19
> kernel to install then I would assume android_x86 9.0 r1 would also
> work. I would also Google which Wifi and Bluetooth module would work
> the best. Realtek stuff is pretty awful but I'm stuck with it since
> I'm on a tablet.
>
> On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 10:13 AM Antony Stone
> <Antony...@and-x86.open.source.it

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