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For an old Inspiron 1420 laptop, how can I dual boot (not VirtualBox) with android-x86? What options do I select when installing Ubuntu 16.04 that the partition scheme will work for both OS's.

GPT from Android x86 shows:

sda1    ext3    FUJITSUMHV2080B 

However, I'm not terribly familiar with GPT and would have to do quite a bit of reading to understand the codes it uses for different types of formatting.

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  • FYI it'll probably not be a quick solution. Jun 5, 2016 at 12:17
  • if I wanted to dual boot ubuntu and fedora, that would be much easier?
    – Thufir
    Jun 5, 2016 at 22:00
  • Yes. Much, much easier. Jun 6, 2016 at 0:10

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I believe this is adaptable for use on any Ubuntu distribution to dual boot with Android X86 without having to use separate partitions for each OS. This works thanks to the ability to use the same ext4 journaling file system for both operating systems. It took me a couple days to compile this. If your Ubuntu or Android X86 distribution are different, simply remember to make the appropriate terminal command changes (Android X86 4.4 to 5.1 would look like; initrd /android-4.4-r3/initrd.img} to initrd /android-5.1-r1/initrd.img}). Check system for 64 bit support before downloading .ISO files. If your system does not support 64 bit, use 32 bit, or 86 bit.


How to install dual boot of Android 4.4 x86 r3 and Ubuntu (on the same partition)

(Works with other revisions and versions of Android X86)

Things you will need:

  • Non-partitioned HDD (formatted)
  • (x2) USB flash drives 2GB or larger
  • Secondary PC to flash .ISO files to USB flash drives

Begin by downloading Unetbootin, and .ISO files for both Android x86, and Ubuntu.

Flash the .ISO files to each of the USB flash drives.

Enter BIOS on PC with formatted HDD and enable booting from USB/CD.

Reboot PC with USB flash drive inserted containing Ubuntu .ISO and complete a full install.

Reboot PC with USB flash drive inserted containing Android x86 4.4 r3 and begin install following these exceptions:

  • When prompted, select HDD sda1 and DO NOT format or select another file system.
  • When prompted, DO NOT install GRUB, or EFI GRUB 2.
  • When prompted, select as read and write.

Remove all media and boot the PC (it will automatically load Ubuntu).

Open the terminal and type:

sudo -i
nano /etc/grub.d/40_custom

Using the arrow keys, navigate the the line below the last current entry in the custom boot loader menu and make the following four entries:

menuentry "Android-x86" {
set root='(hd0,1)'
linux /android-4.4-r3/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=generic_x86 acpi_sleep=s3_bios,s3_mode SRC=/android-4.4-r3
initrd /android-4.4-r3/initrd.img}

Press and hold ctrl, x, then press y, and then press Enter

Type:

sudo chmod +x /etc/grub.d/40_custom
sudo update-grub
sudo reboot

Immediately after BIOS loads, press and hold the Shift key until GRUB loads.

Select which operating system you wish to use.


RECOMMENDED! Load Ubuntu first, and create a disk image (.ISO file) of your new dual boot set-up and flash it to another USB flash drive and store it as a backup. You can do this after you apply any updates, or install any programs you wish.


The result should be a dual booted Ubuntu and Android X86 utilizing the default Ubuntu GRUB2 boot loader menu with the benefits of; no separate partition for OS's, shared Linux swap space, same file system (ext4), space for installation of Android applications limited ONLY to the space remaining on your HDD (not a weak 2Gb-??Gb partition), and the ability to file browse between Ubuntu and Android X86. Essentially you have installed Android X86 within Ubuntu.

note: Unetbootin now has a self contained application downloadable and compatible with Windows.

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