[ale] Android 4 vm running BLAZING fast

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi guys,

I had to share this with you.  As I mentioned in some prior threads, 
I've been trying to get an Android tablet emulator running to do some 
testing and docs.  I was originally trying to use the emulator from the 
Android sdk, within a Mint VM.  I got this running, but it was DOG slow, 
taking 10 minutes to boot and 5 seconds to respond to a mouse click.  It 
also didn't have google apps like the play store.

It was unusable!

I've now got an alternate solution going from:

http://www.genymotion.com/

and I LOVE it.  It's running as a pure VM within Virtualbox.  It doesn't 
require Java or Eclipse, although the docs say it can work with the 
Android Development Kit.

Now, get this, my tablet simulator is running FASTER than my REAL 
Android tablet.  I'm not kidding.  It boots in 20 seconds and responds 
to mouse clicks in 1/2 sec.

If you have an interest in simulating Android tablets or phones, you 
need to check this out.

I can now test things on the simulator and even use google apps like the 
play store.  I can also take screen shots through the host machine.  You 
can also set up shared folders between your host and guest machines in 
virtualbox to transfer files back and forth.

Here are some docs:

http://www.genymotion.com/features/
https://cloud.genymotion.com/page/doc/
https://cloud.genymotion.com/page/faq/

I ran into a critical snag regarding a misconfigured virtualbox adapter 
that has had me beating my head against a wall figuratively for days and 
driving me nuts.  Because of this, the vm would start and the virtual 
screen would remain continually blank.  I just now solved the problem 
and now the vm is running great.

If any of you want to try this, and if you hit the snag, let me know and 
I'll document the procedure to fix it.  The installer may automatically 
fix this on other systems and you may not have the problem.  It will 
take me about an hour to do the documentation, so I'm not going to 
unless someone asks.

If you have any interest in the topic, TRY THIS.  You will like it.

I have no idea about the implications of using this in Android 
development or in your business, especially any legal issues.  But, at 
the very least, it will make it MUCH easier to do initial testing on the 
platforms that Genymotion supports.

Sincerely,

Ron


-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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