Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

This looks very interesting, I've used XMing before and very useful but this takes it to the next level but I would not expect less from the GP2x community, {have a look into the Open2x it's fully custom firmware build by some of the people on the GP2x community}



http://www.andlinux.org/

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

They just took CoLinux and preconfigured it for Ubuntu. I don't see anything impressive.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Last I checked CoLinux had some limitations due to limitations in Windows XP, specifically that apparently it isn't possible to allocate more than 32MB for CoLinux.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

That was resolved some time ago, you can now allocate more than that safely, provided you leave enough for Windows. Allocating too much will cause your system to destabilize.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Thanks for the update - that should make CoLinux more usable. This could possibly be interesting for some ITT developers, if scratchbox could be run inside it.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Ubuntu uses Wubi to run their distros as a Vista app without loading Vista!!.

and VMware Player can run a pretty wide and up-to-date selection of distros, OpenSuse, Fedora, Mandrake, etc.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

CoLinux isn't exactly a stable solution. It's less painful to run a Linux distro under a virtual machine.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

I've messed around with coLinux in the past, but andLinux with Ubuntu really shows promise. It's so cool running and compiling Linux programs as if they are Windows applications.

As I have it setup for file sharing via Samba, and have it mounting one of my Windows partitions automatically too, it's very easy to get files into and out of the (re-sizable) hard drive file container. I unistalled most of the KDE apps and installed a bunch of Gnome\GTK+ stuff. :D

I've installed the latest Scratchbox 4.0.1 tonight and am just completing installing Chinook 4.0.1. It's going to be so cool to play around with Scratchbox development in Windows XP without the resource drain of a full virtual machine.

Thank you for pointing this out BOFH.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Hey OSEmuTech,

Did you get "Xephyr X11 server" running under andLinux?

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Heh. I ran accross that problem last night and gave up after a few minutes of Google searching as I had to get some sleep. I'll spend time tonight seeing if I can find a solution. No doubt this is a problem because andLinux uses Xming.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

And now ... your moment of Zen (er, Xephyr that is). :D

Scratchbox 4.0.1 running the maemo testing environment on Windows via andLinux.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

I forgot that I also had to use the following command for the SecurityPolicy error:

cp /mnt/and/Xming/SecurityPolicy /etc/X11/xserver

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

So, does scratchbox & hildon-theme-tools work fully under andlinux (also the Nokia flasher-3.0)?

Because, I was going to install wubi but saw this and it made me think again.

Thanks/

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

I don't think andLinux "sees" USB devices plugged in, at least not by default, so you can't flash your tablet that way. Wubi works well for that, OTOH.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Ooh, ok thanks. I looked at Wubi and it seems to be 7.04 and to upgrade you need to transfer to a real partition which IMHO defeats the point.

I think I will reinstall Ubuntu after resizing my Hard drive :(.

Thanks.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

OSEmuTech --

Would you mind taking the general instructions for installing Scratchbox and setting up a development environment and specifying what you did additionally (or differently) to get things going using andLinux?

Thanks!

Roger

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

I've never used hildon-theme-tools (yet), but did the following in the Scratchbox running via andLinux:

svn co https://stage.maemo.org/svn/maemo/pr...tools/0.5.2-1/ hildon-theme-tools
cd hildon-theme-tools
dpkg-buildpackage -tc -rfakeroot
cd ..
dpkg --install hildon-theme-tools*.deb

[sbox-CHINOOK_ARMEL: ~] > hildon-theme-bootstrap
Theme bootstrap tool by Michael Dominic K.
Copyright 2007 by Nokia Corporation.
This tool will bootstrap a new theme directory structure.
Which layout do you want to use?
1) hildon-theme-layout-3
2) hildon-theme-layout-4
#?

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

No problem.

I uninstalled many of the KDE apps, and installed quite a few development and GTK+ packages in andLinux. I had to use the ImageResizeTool that comes with andLinux to increase the andLinux hard drive file image from 4GB to 4450 MB to make room for everything and be able to backup the image to DVD-R.

For Scratchbox and the latest Maemo Linux 2008 Chinook 4.0.1 SDK I just followed the steps here: http://www.progbox.co.uk/wordpress/?p=453

except I substituted

• http://repository.maemo.org/stable/4...stall_4.0.1.sh

for

• http://repository.maemo.org/stable/4...install_4.0.sh

and

• http://repository.maemo.org/stable/4...stall_4.0.1.sh

for

• http://repository.maemo.org/stable/4...install_4.0.sh

etc.

Then after installing Xephyr, I eventually figured out to install xfonts-base to fix the "fixed fonts" error and copy the SecurityPolicy to where Xephyr could find it.

cp /mnt/and/Xming/SecurityPolicy /etc/X11/xserver

If you get stuck anywhere, I might be able to assist.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Ok thank you very much but I've been cleaning up my HD to install Ubuntu again :D

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

I've gotten farther along than I expected :-)

When I start up Xephyr as indicated in Pete Savage's how-to, I get this message:

Xephyr unable to use SHM XImages
error opening security policy file /etc/X11/xserver/SecurityPolicy

I do get a window for Xephyr to open, but it is completely gray.

Any idea what might need to be done?

Thanks,

Roger

Added later: Well, the example worked fine, even with the error message. I guess that means it works!

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Good. From a terminal run the following copy command:

cp /mnt/and/Xming/SecurityPolicy /etc/X11/xserver

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Well, I did that (before writing my earlier post). That file is there, and looks to contain the same contents as SecurityPolicy in Xming.

But (as I just edited that post to add), it works fine, even with that error message.

Thanks for your post and your responses. And thanks to BOFH and Pete Savage!

Roger

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Glad you got it working. andLinux is pretty awesome as you pointed out about being in both Windows and Linux at the same time with no rebooting or using a full virtual machine host/guest setup.

And thank you for the mention in your earlier article: Me and Linux, round 4 and a half ;)

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

One thing I don't understand —

The KDE apps you mentioned: I don't have any of them to uninstall. Or am I just unaware of where they are?

And what is the Ubuntu aspect? With no Linux desktop, I'm not certain what parts of Ubuntu are there for me to see. (Is it that Synaptic will install Ubuntu versions of the software?)

Also, I got lots more font error messages, so I installed several more x-font packages to avoid them (100dpi, 75dpi and Cyrillic, IIRC). Unnecessary?

And what GTK+ apps have you opted for? (OK, this is more than one question.) I'd like to have the connection between the tablet apps and the Linux apps I use in andLinux and getting to know GTK+ is part of my plan.

Any advice you have on that would be appreciated.

Heck, everything you've done so far is much appreciated! I'm suddenly over the big hump I was dreading having to face (as Pete Savage wrote, it was a heckuva lot more complicated the last time I tried it).

Roger

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Using the andLinux pop-up menu in the Windows systray I launched Synaptic and selectively removed many of the applications and libraries that come with the KDE "desktop environment". I had to make sure I didn't remove any packages that were required for Konqueror or Konsole to run, as I still needed a way to launch those programs from Windows via the systray. Mind you that by uninstalling packages like KWrite, they are no longer launchable via the systray.

Then I used Synaptic to install the basic development packages that after 8 years of minor fooling with Linux and Linux development I knew I needed, including some GTK+ stuff I would need for compiling source code for my favorite emulators - Basilisk II and SheepShaver. And while I was at it I installed some Gnome (GTK+) "desktop environment" packages like GFTP and Nautilus which I like using. At the moment I have to launch Gnome applications using the KDE Konsole, but I believe there is a way to add their icons to the andLinux menu on the Windows systray.

andLinux is just Cooperative Linux running Ubuntu, but without any desktop environment's er desktop. Ubuntu can run KDE, Gnome, XFCE, etc. desktop environments and related programs. Most linux distros run the same desktop environments and programs Ubuntu can.

I get those font errors to, it's just Xephyr trying to load as many fonts as it can from the Xserver.

You probably should not uninstall any KDE stuff and just use the ImageResizeTool (zipped inside the andLinux directory) to expand the base.drv hard drive image file to make more room on the image for packages you want to install. Run the following command in Konsole to see how much free space you have available on /dev/cobd0.

df -h

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Let me add a few minor details to the above, before you install scratchbox and the SDK you _need_ to increase the disk space available to andLinux. I found out the hard way the default size isn't big enough. In the windows directory where andLinux was installed there is a zip file called ImageResizeTool. Unzip it, read the directions, and add 500MB to the base file that is used for andLinux.

To add the fonts needed for Xephyr, load the linux app Synaptic, do a search for xfonts-base and install it.

These 2 steps along with the website mentioned above will get you the Maemo SDK running on windows (on andLinux)

Thank you to OSEmuTech for all the information on getting this installed!

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

I'd add that over 1 GB and preferrably 2 GB of free disk space is required to download\install Scratchbox and the Maemo SDK. I think an exact free disk space requirement was around 1.4 to 1.5 GB free. Someone can verify that before\after installing Scratchbox\Maemo.

What is neat (as with standard virtual machines\emulators) is the base.drv can be copied or backed up elsewhere then replaced if the base.drv you are using gets messed up somehow. Also, different versions of Scratchbox\Maemo SDK can be installed on different base.drv files and switched if desired.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Maybe you installed the xfce version of andlinux (about 150 mb of size).

yes.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Hey OSEmuTech,
One quick question: When I installed Scratchbox on my Ubuntu box (which is no more) I noticed the message "Scratchbox cannot be run as user root". In andLinux you are 'root' by default, is this a problem for Scratchbox? That is, do I need to add another user and make sure that I can bring up the terminal as that other user before installing Scratchbox? -- Or will Scratchbox be okay with me running as root?

Thanks in advance,
MrCarney

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

One has to add a non-root user to whatever Linux distro, add the user to Scratchbox, then "log out of your system and log back in again to allow the permissions to propagate".

Here are good directions to set things up: http://www.progbox.co.uk/wordpress/?p=453

But Scratchbox/Chinook is up to 4.0.1 so use the following instead if you want the latest build stuff (sans Diablo):

wget http://repository.maemo.org/stable/4...stall_4.0.1.sh
chmod +x maemo-scratchbox-install_4.0.1.sh
sudo ./maemo-scratchbox-install_4.0.1.sh -d

wget http://repository.maemo.org/stable/4...stall_4.0.1.sh
chmod +x maemo-sdk-install_4.0.1.sh
./maemo-sdk-install_4.0.1.sh

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Hi,
I'm new to this linux world but with IT in my hand I've been recently trying to get into it. I use windows vista in my PC and I've recently installed andLinux and also scratchbox. But as this scratchbox can't be run as user root I tried to hit the code to create user but I get error "-bash: sudo: command not found". I also tried using the command "/scratchbox/sbin/sbox_adduser USER yes" but now I get: "User USER does not exit in the system, aborting." So, can you please tell me what should i do. Thanks

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

You need to create a user in andLinux, then add that user to the Scratchbox environment. (You are trying to add a user called "USER" which does not exist.)

Add a non-root user to andLinux: http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/L...x-adduser.html

Then follow the step-by-step instructions located here: http://www.progbox.co.uk/wordpress/?p=453

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Thank you for the reply. Luckily I did the same. I used the following code to create user:

# useradd Name
#passwd Name

Then I was able to create user in scratchbox as well with the same Name. Then I exited from scratchbox with 'Ctrl+D' cmd and then typed the #wget http://repository.maemo.org/stable/4...stall_4.0.1.sh but I got error that it can't write to "maemo-sdk-install_4.0.1.sh" so I went to the root directory from the same user(not root) and gave the cmd #./maemo-sdk-install_4.0.1.sh as I got this file from the same wget cmd when I was root. It luckily started off well but later it gave me error that no space in disk. So, how can I increase the disk size for it and also is my process alright? THanks.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

In order to make room for all the SDK files, you either have to:

1. Carefully remove many Linux packages from andLinux using the Synaptic Package Manager
2. or resize the container file to make it bigger using the files inside ImageResizeTool.zip in the andLinux directory.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Hi,
I now installed everything even the xephyr and while executing the cmd # Xephyr :2 -host-cursor -screen 800x480x16 -dpi 96 -ac -extension Composite. I got error so I did the apt-get install xfonts-base. At the end of the installation I got some warnings saying that sth(I can't say exactly as I erased it while trying to run cmds) is not a file or directory. After that i did the copying SecurityPolicy thing as well and again run the same command and now it showed up but blank like this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/...ac738ee2ec.jpg

The error messages are as follows:
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
xfonts-base is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 29 not upgraded.
[root@andLinux ~]# Xephyr :2 -host-cursor -screen 800x480x16 -dpi 96 -ac -extens
ion Composite

Xephyr unable to use SHM XImages
error opening security policy file /etc/X11/xserver/SecurityPolicy
Extended Input Devices not yet supported. Impelement it at line 625 in ../../../
../hw/kdrive/src/kinput.c
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic, removing from li
st!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled, removing
from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled, removing
from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi, removing from list
!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueTyp
e, removing from list!
X connection to 192.168.11.1:0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).
[root@andLinux ~]#

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

I see some people talking about running KDE in a VM on Windows. You can also run KDE natively on Windows. See http://windows.kde.org

Also, some GTK/GNOME applications already run on Windows native e.g. GIMP, Evolution.

Running native is cleaner, and probably faster, too.

Re: Run Linux on top of windows, without a virtual machine
 

Why, is there no solution for it? Btw, I can compile and run C++ in IT itself, and jalimo is there for java and I think thats enough for me. So, I think I should give andLinux a miss. andLinux will be sadly missed....