Getting VBox Guest Addtions for Android x86

Question

I am running Android x86 on VirtualBox, and I want the pointer integration enabled, which needs VirtualBox Guest Additions to be installed on the guest OS.

I have searched a lot, but what I have found is that one has to compile Guest Additions with Android-x86 kernel headers. Can anyone please share how to do this?

Thanks in advance.

Ardellaardelle

Answer 1

The VMs provided by Genymotion have theses features integrated (at least for the mouse pointer capture/release which is automagically done).

So I don't have the solution, but it's at least completed on a commercial software providing VirtualBox-compatible images.

Photography

unfortunately, genymotion is closed source. I'd rather like to see an open solution. – Sacred

Genymotion not works in Fedora/RedHat like systems :( – Nissen

Answer 2

Just disable "mouse integration" in Host Machine tab.

ref. https://code.google.com/p/android-x86/issues/detail?id=341#makechanges

Scepter

How is this relevant to the question? – Debra

Answer 3

Android is not a supported guest OS according to Sasquatch, a moderator at the VirtualBox forums, at https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=42240

Android is not a supported Guest OS, so there are no GA. Also, it doesn't meet the requirements for guest addition support: you can't install support packages for the kernel to make kernel modules. At least not that I am aware of.

Jessie

This doesn't sound right to me. First, Android doesn't need to be a "supported Guest OS". "Linux 2.6" is a supported Guest OS. Second, you can install an entire Debian system in a chroot (android.stackexchange.com/questions/12207/…) - so you could certainly then install everything you needed to compile the guest additions. Or you can cross-compile them on another Linux system. Not easy, but surely not impossible. – Pollypollyanna

Answer 4

I haven't tried it myself, but apparently you can just use the "Enable Remote Display" feature on VirtualBox to enable the pointer support according to a post in the android-building group:

If you use the 'rdesktop' command to connect to your Android VirtualBox instance, you can have a working mouse an cursor. First enable the remote display with:

devices -> Enable Remote Display

Then, connect via the rdesktop command

apt-get install rdesktop # ubuntu  
yum install rdesktop     # fedora 
rdesktop -a 16 localhost:3389

Milwaukee

Yeah but when i enable absolute mouse pointer, then i could not see any mouse movements, otw i see two mouse pointers, one of guest and other of host which i dont want. – Ardellaardelle

Two pointers and their movements don't synchronize. This makes it extremely difficult to navigate the interface. – Exsect

Answer 5

after you enabling the absolute mouse pointer, you should to start your virtual OS and then you click on device > and search for "turn off mouse integration"

Bedraggle

How does this solve anything? Now you have a mouse in the guest and not the host - and Android manages to take over my Host key, so I can't even get out of it. – Pollypollyanna

@Auspex: 1. If Android is using your host key, you should change it. 2. The idea is to capture it by clicking and un-capture with the host key when you need to. – Suggestible

Answer 6

In VirtualBox change the input setting from usb tablet or whatever to ps/2 mouse

Summons

Answer 7

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=snc5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA309&lpg=PA309&dq=vbox+guest+additions+android+x86&source=bl&ots=z4hQqfdDcb&sig=ACfU3U0Dg32vu0RqIIWhvM44kvKkrZbR9g&hl=bg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwikvfLMo5fsAhXXUhUIHYtVDvA4MhDoATAHegQIARAC#v=onepage&q=vbox%20guest%20additions%20android%20x86&f=false

You can read here how to build VBox additions for Android x86. And eventually to create a package for unexperienced users.

Glabrescent

Link-only answers are discouraged on SO. – Suggestible