Most of us have long been accustomed to using the Android operating system most often on mobile smartphones and tablets, but not everyone has thought that it can be installed on the most ordinary PC or laptop. Would you like to work with the Android-x86 mobile OS on your home terminal in the same way as on the phone, but only with great comfort? Most likely, most users will answer this question in the affirmative. Let's see if it is worth installing this system on a PC or laptop and how to perform all the necessary steps.
Foreword
As you know, this operating system was once developed by Google's IT giant for mobile devices. However, relatively recently, it has become available for the most ordinary PCs thanks to a group of enthusiasts who created their own modification of “Android-x86”. There is nothing surprising in this, since initially the system was distributed with open source code.
At the moment, the following versions of Android-x86 are available for installation: 4.4 - 6.0 (version 4.4 was taken as a basis when creating a stationary OS). We will consider the installation and configuration process using the example of the sixth modification.
But let's think about how appropriate it is to put this system on your home terminal. Android has more advantages than disadvantages: the system loads faster, works faster, and is not so much affected by viruses. After installation, you don’t have to look for suitable emulators to play your favorite game that worked exclusively in this environment. You can easily install any mobile applet (for example, “Android TV x86”) on a computer, etc.
On the other hand, the desktop modification also has flaws. Firstly, the system is installed in only one partition and can use only one type of bootloader. Secondly, it is undesirable to install the system in GPT partitions. Thirdly, despite the declared support for FAT32, the system correctly (and even then not always) works only with ext4 and the GRUB loader. Fourth, some devices installed on a PC may simply not work. Therefore, if you need an "Android-x86" with monitor support, it is better to take care of the drivers in advance, or at least read the technical documentation about the support.
In addition, many users are particularly keen on choosing a system, because today you can install not only “clean” Android, but also several of its main modified versions of x86 like Remix OS, Phoenix OS, Bliss OS, and even the notorious Chrome OS. However, since we are talking about installing a “clean” system, we will dwell exclusively on it (the installation procedure for other varieties, if not different, is not much).
System requirements
The system requirements of the Android-x86 system for computer devices, by modern standards, look quite modest. You will need an Intel processor on your computer, 2 GB of RAM and about 10 GB of free space on your hard drive. In addition, pay attention to the modification of your own computer device. Despite the fact that, ideally, this system should work without problems on any device that supports 32-bit architecture, in reality everything looks a little different. It is mainly designed for laptops like ASUS, Dell, EeePC and some others. The full list can be viewed either on the official website or on the w3bsit3-dns.com forum. “Android-x86”, among other things, even with the indicated devices may not have full, but partial compatibility. Therefore, before proceeding with further steps, make sure that your computer device has full support and compatibility, otherwise the OS will simply not start or, even worse, even an existing system will stop working.
Creating a bootable USB flash drive with the “Android-x86” installer for PC
Now let's start creating bootable media. The distribution downloaded from the SourceForge repository takes about 400 MB. Of course, you could create a bootable USB flash drive using utilities like Rufus, but many experts do not recommend using such programs, but record the downloaded image manually through the command line, specifying dd if = ~ / android-x86-6.0.iso of = / dev / sdc bs = 5M (if the name of the downloaded ISO image is different, enter what is required).
BIOS setup
With the parameters of the primary BIOS, which should be entered when you turn on the computer or when you restart, there should not be any special problems. Here, in the standard version, expose your flash drive as the first boot device and save the changes on exit. Please note that the media must be inserted into the port before turning it on, otherwise it may not be recognized.
Start of installation "Android-x86"
Suppose that the start from the flash drive took place. The first installer window appears in front of you, in which there will be several points of action with the Live environment and the installation point directly on the hard drive.
You need to choose it. After that, the bootloader will start working (a black window will appear similar to the command console). The process is fast enough, so you don’t have to wait much.
Disk selection and partition table
Then a window for selecting a disk or partition will appear. Then act as desired (it is better to choose a virtual partition). After that, you will be asked to perform GPT disk partitioning.
Most experts and users who have encountered installation in practice do not recommend using GPT, because installation may simply freeze at this or the next stage. Therefore, in the window you need to refuse the offer by pressing the No. button
Create Partition
Next, the built-in cfdisk utility will be launched, which is used to create partitions.
In it, first press the New button, and select Primary as the type. In the next step, you will be asked to indicate the size of the new partition. Here you can not change anything, but simply accept what is offered by the utility itself by pressing the enter key. Now you need to click the Bootable button (this will make the partition bootable), and then use the Write button to record the changes. At the end of all actions, it remains to click the exit button (Quit).
File System Selection and Formatting
Then a window will appear in which it is proposed to select the section in which the system will be installed.
It goes without saying that you just need to use it. In theory, he will be presented on the list first. After pressing the confirmation button (OK), the file system selection step will be followed. As mentioned above, you should not experiment, but it is better to immediately select ext4. The next step is to confirm the formatting of the created partition.
Select bootloader and access mode
But in the next bootloader selection window, you need to agree to the GRUB installation, and in the next step skip the creation of the EFI bootloader by clicking the Skip button.
This will be followed by the appearance of a window with a question about mounting the partition in read and write mode. Here you must agree by clicking Yes. And only after that the unpacking of files will begin with the further installation of the entire operating system, so you have to wait a bit.
Finally, when all operations are completed, a window will appear in which there will be points for immediately starting the installed system and rebooting. It is strongly recommended that you select a reboot.
Start of the installed system and setup
After the restart is completed, in the GRUB loader window, select the first item (and not the three below marked Debug).
Next, the system will start loading, and upon its completion, the familiar “Desktop” will appear on the screen, which previously could only be seen on a smartphone or tablet.
As for the basic settings and parameters, they are not particularly different from what you did on your mobile phone, including activation of the debug mode and permission to install applications from unknown sources. If some equipment does not work, you will have to use specific commands, however, based on the fact that they will unambiguously seem to be quite complicated for the average user, they are not given.
Epilogue
As you can see, installing “Android-x86” on a computer device is even easier than Windows. However, from a practical point of view, you will have to think a hundred times how appropriate it is to use this system on your home terminal. As many have probably noticed, it’s mainly just about installing the system on laptops and netbooks, since it is unlikely that it will work on a stationary terminal without a hitch. However, if you like experiments, there is nothing to worry about using this OS at home as a desktop (stationary). But, again, you need to be aware of the possible negative consequences if the system suddenly for some reason doesn’t work or partially deletes important information for you at the installation stage, because it doesn’t have any tools for partitioning the disk into “on fly ", as in Windows ...