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Faster Android Emulator Alternative Using VirtualBox

Bobby Chan

The Android SDK Emulator can be quite slow on some systems, which makes Android app

debugging especially painful for those who arent in possession of a physical device to testtheir Android apps on. Thankfully there is a solution by the guys at Android x86.

The basic premise is to host the Android OS on VirtualBox. So far Android x64 only supportsup to Android 2.2 Froyo, but they are currently working on porting over Android 2.3Gingerbread. Lets skip the details and get started, as this is a fairly long tutorial.

Step 1: Install VirtualBox_ RECOMMENDED FOR YOU ? +

er Android Emulator Alternative - Using VirtualBox | Bo... http://www.bobbychanblog.com/2011/07/faster-android

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Go to http://www.virtualbox.org, and click the downloads link on the side. Downloadthe version for your system.Version 4.0.10 for WindowsVersion 4.0.10 for OS X

1.

Install Virtualboxusing recommended settings. Eh, its simple enough, as theresnothing to configure.

2.

Step 2: Download the Android OS ISOGo to http://www.android-x86.org/download , and download the generic ISO thatmatches your targeted Android version. (At the time this post was written, that filewould be android-x86-2.2-generic.iso)Note: Click the view link under the file to download the ISO.

Android 2.2 Froyo - android-x86-2.2-generic.iso

Android 2.3 Gingerbread - android-x86.2.3-4th-test-110620.isoThere are more Android OS ISO versions available at http://code.google.com/p/androbox/downloads/list

1.

Step 3: Creating the Virtual Machine

Open up Oracle VM VirtualBox.1.Create a new virtual host by clicking New. A dialog pops up, click next.2.Name the virtual machine whatever you want, it doesnt really matter. The operatingsystem is going to be Linux version 2.6. If you are running a 64-bit operating system,choose the 64-bit version of Linux.

3.

In the next screen, give your virtual machine 512MB of RAM.4.In the virtual hard disk screen, make sure Boot Hard Disk is checked and thatCreate new hard disk is selected. Hit next.

5.

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A new dialog will pop-up. When it prompts you for the hard disk storage type chooseFixed-size storage. Hit next.

6.

Location can be left as the default. Set the size of the virtual hard disk to 2 GB(that is

more than sufficient for the emulator). Then finish the dialog, and a virtual hard diskwill be created.

7.

Click finishagain, and the virtual machine will be created.8.

Step 4: Adjusting Settings

Select the virtual machine you just created and change the settings.1.Now to load the Android ISO disk file, go to Storage, under IDE Storage clickEmpty. Click the disk iconbeside CD/DVD drive and Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk

file

2.

Now browse to the location of the generic ISO fileyou downloaded earlier, and openthat file. We just mounted the ISO file to the virtual machine.

3.

Next, we have to change the sound device. With the settings dialog still open, go to4._


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Audio. Set the audio controller to SoundBlaster 16. ICH AC97 will not work.

The next thing to set up is the network. Go to Network(obviously). Change theAttached Tosetting from NAT to Bridged Adapter.

5.

If the name dropdown has more than one network adapter, select the one thatconnects to the internet, otherwise just leave it as the default.

6.

Click OKto save the settings.7.

Step 5: Running the Emulator

Select your virtual device and click Start. Ignore the VirtualBox dialogs and just clickOK.

1.

Your mouse wont work at this point in the BIOS so just use your arrow keys. SelectLive CD VESA Mode. Hit the return key.

2.

The emulator will now load up. You should see the following screens.3.

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Youll notice that the your mouse still wont show as you hover over the VirtualBox oremulator window. To fix this, go to the Machine dropdown menu at the top leftcorner and click Disable mouse integration.

4.

Click anywhere on the screenand youll get a VirtualBox dialog prompting you tocapture the mouse pointer. Click Capture.

5.

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You can now move the mouse around, anywhere within the VirtualBox window. Butwhat if I want to move it outside the window? Press the right control key and it will

unlock the mouse. When you want the mouse back on the emulator, click anywhereon the screen and the repeat previous step.

6.

(If you have never used an Android device, drag the lock out to unlock it.) You will thenbe brought to the home screen.

7.

Step 6: Connecting Eclipse & ADB with theEmulator

PressAlt + F1to bring up the console in the emulator (IE. VirtualBox window). (Alt + F7To bring back the Android GUI)

1.

Type netcfg, hit enter. Copy down the emulators IP address.2.

Assuming that you have ADB already installed and set up, open up the commandprompt. Type in adb connect .

3.

If everything went well, then it should say something similar to connected to

:5555.

If it is unable to connect, check your virtual machines network settings. Make sure itsthe correct adapter. If that doesnt fix it refer to the followinglink: http://www.android-x86.org/documents/debug-howto .

If the command was not recognized, it means you havent set the path environmentvariable to your Android SDK folder location. Refer to http://www.cuteandroid.com/tips-for-android-developer-android-sdk-tools-path-settingto set it up, and whencomplete retry step 3.

4.

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Close the command prompt. Now to connect Eclipse with the emulator, open upEclipse(Im assuming the Android SDK and plugins are already installed.)

5.

If you dont already have an Android project opened, create a new one that matchesthe version of your Android emulators version. Note: If you do have one opened, makesure the apps Android version matches the emulators version.

6.

FileNewProjectAndroidAndroid Project1.Give your test Android app a name. It could be something like

AndroidTestProject

2.

Leave the Contents section as-is. Under the Build Target section, check off theversion of your Android emulator.

3.

In the Properties section, give your app a package name. An example would becom.test.project. Package naming is really irrelevant for this tutorial, but if youcare to learn more about it, feel free to look it up on Google. As for this tutorial,just make sure it starts with com.

4.

Click Finish5.Go to RunRun configurations7.On the left-hand side, double click Android Application, and then under it, click

New_configuration

8.

Click on the Target tab. In the Deployment Target Selection Mode section, chooseManual.

9.

Click Apply and close the window.10.Now run and compilethe project.11.Depending on if you have any existing Android Virtual Devices, a dialog may pop-upprompting you to choose the device to install your test app to. Select your AndroidEmulator, and click OK.

12.

It will compile and your app will be installed to your emulator. If you see your app,

then youve done it!

13.

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SUCCESS!

Testing Your App Again

After youve set this all up, you dont need to do all of it over again. In order to set up theemulator after restarting the computer, you have to do the following:

Start up the emulatornormally. (Open VirtualBox, start the virtual device, then chooseLive CD VESA Mode.)

1.

Get the emulators IP address(Alt+F1, then type in netcfg).2.In the host computer, open up the command prompt and type in adb connect .You have to do this every time the computer restarts.

3.

Run & compileyour project in Eclipse and choose the Android Emulator device.4.Youve once again installed your Android app to the emulator!5.

Well there you go. It was one long setup, but definitely worth it if you dont own an Androiddevice.

Keys

Enter Confirm

Escape Back/return

Alt + F1 Show console

Alt + F7 Show Android GUI

Arrows Moving navigation

Right + Control Toggle mouse capture

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Tags: alternative, android, android 2.2, android 2.2 froyo, android 2.3, android 2.3gingerbread, android emulator, android x86, debugging, emulator, fast, virtualbox

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 9th, 2011 at 11:09 PMand is filed under . You canfollow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0feed. You can leave a response, ortrackbackfrom your own site.

58 COMMENTS ON FASTER ANDROID EMULATOR ALTERNATIVE USING VIRTUALBOX

Like 53

bogdan onJuly 19, 2011 at 7:41 PM said:

Very interesting. I will try this idea!

Varunjampani on September 19, 2011 at 6:52 AM said:

Is it possible to use monkeyrunner tool with thisemulator?? If yes, can you please let me know how touse it. I tried using it but monkeyrunner is not able toconnect to this emulator.

Joseph Lu on September 23, 2011 at 2:21 AM said:

Great idea, I will try it. you know the emulator in SDK istoooooooooo slow.Thank You!

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Joseph Lu on September 23, 2011 at 2:21 AM said:

Great idea, I will try it. you know the emulator in SDK istoooooooooo slow.Thank You!

Peter Frazier on September 23, 2011 at 7:31 PM said:

any idea on how to add sd card?

Bobby Chan

on March 23, 2012 at 2:25 PM said:

Theres a tutorial here on saving data to avirtual disk: http://code.google.com/p/android-x86/wiki/VirtualBoxHowTo

No on October 13, 2011 at 11:31 AM said:

Thanks! Great tutorial really easy to follow.Only thing is latest version of VirtualBox has someslightly different or differently named choices.Any way to change the resolution of the VM?

Bobby Chan


On the live CD boot screen, where youchoose VESA MODE, press TAB before itboots up. On the command, add to orchange the parameter vga like so

vga = 788 (800600)vga = 791 (1024768)_


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vga = 794 (12801024)or vga=ask (show list of availableresolutions)Then press enter.

Luiz R. Rodrigues on October 14, 2011 at 10:04 PM said:

Very nice and very fast.

Using Android Simulator in MacOS = Impossible work!

Thanks.

But I have a problem.. When try browsing for jQuery

Mobile web site (Documentation and Demo) thebrowser close.

Im deploy a app in PhoneGap and using jQuery Mobileto this, so have same problem Open my app, showhome page, but if try go to other page app close.

Any help?

cvoronin on October 25, 2011 at 2:06 AM said:

My application uses Google API. When I try to install myapplication on this VM, I see an error: Installation error:INSTALL_FAILED_MISSING_SHARED_LIBRARY

Google API seems not to be included in this ISO

tiny gipxy on October 25, 2011 at 10:44 PM said:

tks very much

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George on October 31, 2011 at 2:37 PM said:

Hi

Thanks for the help. I get everything as you haveexplained in the tutorial. The only problem is, i need a

emulator for the samsung galaxy tab 7. The screen sizefor the same is 1024 * 600 . How can i give this screenresolution for my virtual Box Emulator

Petemccarthy

on April 29, 2012 at 2:47 AM said:

Did you ever get this solved?

George on October 31, 2011 at 3:28 PM said:

Hi Thanks very much. This worked for me. However myproblem is i wanted the emulator for samsung Galaxy

Tab 7. Can you help me on how to set it

saurabh on November 7, 2011 at 8:48 AM said:

very very usefull

Deepakchougule111 on November 8, 2011 at 3:29 AM said:

Very Awesome Blog but how about Menu Button?? Ifsome app uses menu then wht?? how to handle it

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Prallin

on February 8, 2012 at 8:38 AM said:

+1

Deepthi Aravind on November 8, 2011 at 7:44 AM said:

Very useful !! Thank you

manish bansal on December 25, 2011 at 1:42 PM said:

hi, actually i am not able to connect adb withemulatorit always says unable to connecti havechecked my emulators network settings..its same asyou have mentioned above..i have also tried changing itto host only adapterbut still error persists..plz help.

mahesh

on March 23, 2012 at 10:23 AM said:

absolutely same problem.. n cudn find ananswer anywhere!!

Bobby Chan


You may need to set up a DHCPserver. http://www.howtoforge.com/dhcp_server_linux_debian_sarge

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Another option may be to use NATand PCnet-Fast III as the network adapter,as described here:http://code.google.com/p/android-x86/wiki/VirtualBoxHowTo

Let me know if that works.

Avillas onJanuary 6, 2012 at 3:13 PM said:

Tnx so much!

Eric Pabst onJanuary 26, 2012 at 1:45 AM said:

Very cool!

Deepikamandapalli on February 2, 2012 at 6:28 AM said:

nice.

Adithya on February 15, 2012 at 6:12 AM said:

What is emulator IP adress

Gus Trik on March 13, 2012 at 5:03 PM said:

I followed the described procedure, but on the next_


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start-up of my laptop its network card did not work andit was inaccessible. I tried everything but in vain, so Iuninstalled virtualbox and it started running again. Ibelieve there was a conflict. Can anyone help me?

Gus Trik on March 13, 2012 at 5:03 PM said:

I followed the described procedure, but on the nextstart-up of my laptop its network card did not work andit was inaccessible. I tried everything but in vain, so Iuninstalled virtualbox and it started running again. Ibelieve there was a conflict. Can anyone help me?

Jhonnatan Cebidanes on March 16, 2012 at 11:05 PM said:

Very nice! Perfect! Faster test app.Tks!

guest on April 9, 2012 at 8:24 AM said:

Hi, any way to change the resolution of the emulator? orget it to run in portrait instead of landscape?

Grega Tratnik on April 10, 2012 at 6:44 AM said:

This is great thanks a lot! it is very fast instead ofandroid sdk emulator

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Pingback: Mono for Android & Android on VirtualBox Memory extender

Ronaldo9 on April 25, 2012 at 8:33 AM said:

Thanks a lot this works perfectly

zameer on April 28, 2012 at 2:42 PM said:

hi bobby!i have installed everything properly but im not able tofigure out how to add an sdcard to the emulator.Because when i try to download or install any app itsasking for an sdcard. please tell me the solution thesoonest,

Liamci on May 7, 2012 at 11:53 PM said:

works great ! much more faster than the emulator .thanks for the tutorial

Nishant Bajracharya onJune 6, 2012 at 11:54 AM said:

works great and works much more faster than the

emulator thanx for the tutorail.. THANX

Bla onJune 7, 2012 at 8:20 AM said:

I tried to use other Android OS ISO but there is no eth0to connect to._


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Shikshya Bhattachan onJune 10, 2012 at 1:48 AM said:

any idea how to make it work with Mac OS X? It says

vt-x/amd-v has been enabled but not operational..

Bobby Chan

onJune 18, 2012 at 3:00 AM said:

Youll need to enable hardwarevirtualization in your BIOS. Not exactly sureif, or how you can do that on Mac OS X.

_


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Lester Ingber onJune 25, 2012 at 10:21 AM said:

Hi. I tried this process on my HP dv8t/Win7 x64 withthe latest VB (I use Ubuntu on this VB regularly), but Iget stuck at Step 5.3-top (black screen with androidlogo).

I used android-x86-2.2-r2-tx2500.iso, since the android-x86-2.2-generic.iso version you mention is deprecated(probably was OK when you first wrote this?).

Bobby Chan

onJune 26, 2012 at 12:19 AM said:

Hi. I couldnt get that iso to work either. Idid have success usingandroid-x86-2.2-r2-eeepc.iso (http://android-x86.googlecode.com/files/android-x86-2.2-r2-eeepc.iso)

Hope that helps

Jayson Tamayo onJune 28, 2012 at 10:41 PM said:

How do I emulate a 320480 device using the VirtualBox? My application should be run a 320480 device.Help me please.

Bobby ChanonJune 28, 2012 at 11:27 PM said:

In Step 5, instead of selecting VESA Modepress TAB. Change or add the parametervga=ask (without quotes) and press enter.

It will boot up prompting you Press ENTERto see video available modes So pressenter. Then select the video resolution that_


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you want.

Jayson Tamayo

onJuly 1, 2012 at 7:36 AM said:

I cant find a mode for a320480 device.

Mehd Armach

onJuly 10, 2012

at 1:55 PM said:

You have to add ityourself, the way to

do that is verysimple.First you have haveto open the foldercontaining the filesof the VirualMachine, thenopen the .vboxwith notepad.Paste this line :

after theExtraDataItemstuff, usually itsarround the 23rdline.After all this, justrepeat the previousprocess and thenew resolution will

appear in the list.

NB: In order forthis to work, boththe Emulator andVirtualBox itselfshould be shutdown.

Good luck_


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Dont pay intentionto the line below,its just a thing thatQisqus does.

helena

on

October

26,

2012

at

5:28

PM

said:

It does

notworkfor m/Whatto do?

SabbatoR onJuly 5, 2012 at 9:03 PM said:

Really great ! Thanks

Emile Jobity on September 12, 2012 at 5:17 PM said:

Thanks alot very informative:-) help me out. GOD BLESSu.

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RishiKant on October 1, 2012 at 4:22 PM said:

I followed the step shown by you, everything remainfine until I reached step 5, after that only the screenshowing Android written in the middle of the screenremain constant with no progress

What should I do to go further

RishiKant on October 1, 2012 at 4:24 PM said:

I followed the step shown by you, everything remain

fine until I reached step 5, after that only the screen(Android Loading Screen) showing Android written inthe middle of the screen remain constant with noprogress

What should I do to go further

helena on October 26, 2012 at 4:33 PM said:

Excellent article/tutorial!!!!Step 5 was problematic: Try do download all availabledownloads until it works (This applies to the networkfix too).

gregko on November 28, 2012 at 9:57 AM said:

Excellent, thank you! All worked as described. Onlyproblem cannot login to Google account. Any attemptto setup and account results in empty screen, onlyoffering some WiFi configuration options.

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Shylah Barnes onJanuary 17, 2013 at 10:37 AM said:

This worked perfectly! I am running Windows 7 HomePremium 64 and this worked for me and I havefollowed the instructions exactly, using the samesoftware and tool versions that Bobby has mentioned in

this article. Thanks so much! Bobby!

Tung Mai Le onJanuary 19, 2013 at 12:42 AM said:

Hi Bobby, kudos for this article. I managed to connect tothe Android Emulator in VB and install my apps on it,

following instructions in step 6.However, my device cant connect to the Internet,although I use Bridged Atapter in step 4.5 above. Whatshould I check? Tks

Ion Farima onJanuary 29, 2013 at 9:49 AM said:

If you dont want to type each time the things in the cmdyou can create a text file and write in :

-

@Path=%path%;(the path to your adb.exe);

@adb connect (the ip adress obtained from vBox(netcfg)

-

and then save as myconnect.batGood luck!

Guyra onJanuary 31, 2013 at 12:58 PM said:_


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Fantastic, thanks for this tutorial!

Chris De David on March 21, 2013 at 7:01 AM said:

Thank you, Worked like a charm!

Simon on April 3, 2013 at 4:50 PM said:

Great!!!

Qaiser Mahmood on May 31, 2013 at 1:49 PM said:

AlhamduLILLAH worked perfect with android-x86-2.2-r2-eeepc

thanks.

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