Review/Guide For Android x86 3.2 RC2 Tega V2

[Fragile Avatar]

I'm new to Android x86 developing/testing but I'm trying to slowly try
out builds and write guides for users to follow. I also slowly am
making a compatibility report. This is my first guide/review and was
done on a Tablet PC.

Let me know if I've missed anything or if I need to correct a mistake.
Thanks!

Android 3.2 x86 Review/Guide

PXD Thread Corporation

Before you install decide whether you will be multi-booting or running
Android exclusively. If you are multi-booting research your options as
I have not had any experience with that.

Step 1: Download latest Android 3.2 from android-x86.org. When
downloading Android 3.2, download an appropriate version for your
hardware. If you have a tablet with a touchscreen, grab the Tega
release. If you have an EEEPC, grab the EEPC release. Note that I have
only installed Android on x86 Intel. I have not tried with AMD.

Make sure your HDD has no partitions. The Android installer is very
picky about partitions. If you boot using a Windows 7 install DVD and
choose "Repair Computer" and open Command Prompt, these are the basic
commands to wipe your disk. (Backup First!!!)

diskpart
list disk
(usually disk 0 is always your internal, but check list to make sure
just in case you have external plugged in)
select disk 0
clean
exit

Ignore any diskpart errors, the clean command will have cleaned enough
for Android to work.

Boot into Android installer. Select disk partitioner. You will use
arrow keys and Enter to navigate. Highlight "New" and make new
partition. Now highlight "Bootable" and hit Enter. Then you MUST
highlight "Write" as so far the partitioner is just visualizing
everything. It will ask you to type "yes" to confirm. Once complete
you can highlight Quit and go back to Android installer.

Format partition as Ext2. If you want read/write access for debug you
can enable that. But note this is development only, it doesn't give
you root or other ability. Say yes you want to install GRUB. You can
optionally make a fake SD card, once I figure out how to make it
active it will make things run smoother for you. Many apps refuse to
run without SD.

Ethernet is broken in many builds, but WiFi does work for a select few
chipsets. Mine is a AR5B95 Half Height and WiFi works out of box.

If WiFi works for you latest builds (should?) have complete Market
Access (The Tegra does for sure as that's what I'm using) so you can
login using google id. Once you login with your id you will see an
application crash, it's Exchange Services process. This is a bug, it
can't be fixed but everything still works. You can check gmail, go to
market, etc.

Do note when you access the market, you will not see the full market
like your phone sees it. It seems the Tegra (and possibly other)
builds are tagged as "Tablet" so Android Market filters and only shows
"tablet approved" apps.

The good news about the x86 branch is that USB Flash support is there
so you can put files, APK's on a USB flash drive and use File Manager
to browse to /mnt/USB/. If your USB device is not recognized, did you
have it plugged in while booting? Android won't always see it that
way. Unplug and plug back in and Vold should catch it.

Don't try and install launchers, as the system may not allow you to
select them and leave the system in a rather awkward position.
Workaround: If you do try a launcher and you can't get back home,
click on the clock in the lower right corner and you should be able to
scroll over a few options. A link to settings should be there, and
from settings you can uninstall any launcher that caused a problem and
start again. I did find that ICS Launcher did work, but that was the
only one.

Alot of apps simply don't work. It depends how they were built. Many
were built specifically for ARM CPU and so panic when run on x86.

The built in keyboard isn't that great, at least on my tablet, so you
can install extra keyboard from market or directly from apk. AI Type
is a good keyboard. Text prediction is a trial, but the keyboard
itself is free.

My next post will be to list applications I have tried and what the
status is. I have a bunch I am trying. :)

I also want to figure out how to enable root on the device, I may try
and pick up a USB to USB cable and see if ADB can pick up the
connection so I can use ZergRush and root the device.

Compatibility Report

Android 3.2 Honeycomb x86

I'll start this report off with an interesting find, although probably
not unexpected. I purchased a 64GB flash drive and it's formatted as
FAT32. Android does not recognize it. My A-DATA 32GB it did recognize.
Same with my Lexar 16GB.


Known Bugs:

Android x86 has bugs with default actions. If you have multiple
applications that can handle various file types, normally you will
recieve a pop-up menu asking you to select the application you want to
use. In Android 3.2 x86 this doesn't happen and instead the screen
will dim as if it's trying to load the menu option.

Some applications like Documents To Go work perfect if you open them
from the launcher. However if you open a document directly they will
crash.

Don't queue too many apps for installation as some apps will cause x11
server (windows manager) to crash or require restart.




A.I. Typ[e Keyboard - OK
Adobe Reader - Launches without issue unable to test with PDF file
Advanced Task Killer - OK

Alchemy - OK
AppBrain OK (Note even though AppBrain will show you market items yo
could install, Market will refuse the install due to Tablet mode"
A Torrent - Launches OK but warns about no SD Card - Unable to test
further
Barcode Terminal - OK but Barcode Reader crashes when trying to launch
(ZXing Barcode Reader)
Battery Indicator - OK
Battle.net Authenticator - Launches OK Will complain regarding system
status (non-retail/rooted)
Bejeweled 2 - Crashes
Better Terminal - Launches OK basic commands returned no errors
Bunny Shooter - Intro Scenes work but actual game load crashes
Concise English Dictionary - OK Needs to download dictionary data
files first
Contact 2 Sim - Runs but unable to access SIM Card (not unexpected
although my tablet does have a sim slot with sim in)
Documents To Go - Launches OK but "prefers" SD card
Dolphin Browser - Crashes silently
Dolphin Player - Native x86 media player, launches ok but doesn't play
any media thus far
Droid Mini Golf - OK Game play works
Ghost Commander - OK
Glow Hockey - CRashes
Hotel Mogul - Crashes
Kingsoft Office - OK - Tested browse function - ok thus far
Monopoly - CRashes
Europe Navigon - CRashes
Netflix - Launches but nothing but black screen
NFS Shift - Crashes
Norton Security - OK
Norton Utilities - OK
OfficeSuite - Launches OK
Packages Tracker Pro - OK
Plants VS Zombies - Crashes
Player Pro - Launches but complains no sd card
PrinterShare - Launches and seems to function, no network printers to
test with)
Quadrant - Runs some of the time but can crash from time to timne
SlideIT Keyboard - Launches OK
STCom (Star Trek Communicator App) - OK
Stupid Zombies - Crashes
Tetris - CRashes
Ttorrent - Launches but complains no sd card
WiFi File Explorer - OK
Picsel Smart Office - Crashes
Regina 3D launcher - crashes
SPB 3D Shell - Crashes
5001 amazing facxts - ok
Assasin's Creed HD - Launches but complains of missing sd
Backstab HD - crashes
Fifa 12 - crashes
Guitar Hero 5 - Launches and game works
Guitar hero 6 wor - launches but goes portait mode in small windows
nfs shift - crashes
kaspersky mobile security - crashes
pocket cloud remote - crashes
Sygic navigation - complains of missing sd card
talking tom cat - crashed
weather services pro - crashed but then opened? then crashed again for
good measure
imediumshare premium - crashed
androzip - ok

montezuma 2 - launches and game plays
Mozilla Fennic - crashes (beta)
Fancy Widgets - ok
opera mini 5 beta - crashes
spb tv - launches can accept Eula - very low res- opening channels
does nothing
fruit ninja - crashes

ebay android - launches ok - was able to sign in
startup auditor - launches

google staff pick for tablets:
imdb - ok
realcalc - launches - goes portrait works
top free

dolphin browser hd - launches - can go through startup config goes
portrait and does load pages
weather chanel launches and can acept eula - selected city and
everything loaded

[Chih-Wei Huang]

Thank you for the detailed review,
especially the long list of tested app.

Are you interested to maintain such an
app compatibile list in our website.
That would help people a lot!

2012/2/3 Fragile Avatar <fragile...@gmail.com>:

> I'm new to Android x86 developing/testing but I'm trying to slowly try
> out builds and write guides for users to follow. I also slowly am
> making a compatibility report. This is my first guide/review and was
> done on a Tablet PC.

--
Chih-Wei
Android-x86 project
http://www.android-x86.org

[Fragile Avatar]

Yes, I would be happy to maintain a list like that. I have many more
apps to test still. :)

Just point me in the right direction. I also will have a guide soon
for ICS and some things have changed/fixed so that will be out in next
couple of days.

I'm going to try and get my hands dirty with a little dev work/testing
so I can make a guide for users who ask does x/y/z work with some
simple steps they can do to poke around to make support easier so I
may need everyone's help on that.

On Feb 3, 8:33 am, Chih-Wei Huang <cwhu...@android-x86.org> wrote:
> Thank you for the detailed review,
> especially the long list of tested app.
>
> Are you interested to maintain such an
> app compatibile list in our website.
> That would help people a lot!
>

> 2012/2/3 Fragile Avatar <fragile.ava...@gmail.com>:

[Bocar Ndiaye]

Great initiative, would like to help as needed to compile something like faq list and list of terminal commands that many members posted.
Cheer!!
Bocar

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[Fragile Avatar]

I also found a way to delete stock apps from Android-x86 because some
apps would refuse to update (terminal) saying something was wrong with
signature files.

On a linux system attach your Android-x86 HDD and let it mount. Using
terminal go to /media/Android-86/android-2012-01-01/system/app/
(that's how it showed up for ICS in Ubuntu 11)

Then delete the apk and odex file for each app that you wish to remove
as root (su). Just a word of warning though, if you delete the wrong
thing or remove an essential application things could get messy, ie;
if you delete the launcher.

I haven't tested putting applications in, just deleting ones that had
issues.

I'm sure there is probably a way to do this inside android itself, but
I don't like touching a running system, can be bad if something goes
wrong.

On Feb 5, 10:56 am, Bocar Ndiaye <bocar2...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Great initiative, would like to help as needed to compile something like
> faq list and list of terminal commands that many members posted.
> Cheer!!
> Bocar

[tintar]

you know, you can already use adb over wireless not just usb right?

(which will also let you delete APKs without moving physical hd)