I'm aware of the android-x86 project and as far as the end result (bootable live/install iso), I am looking to do the same thing. The difference is, I'm looking to do this with the ice cream sandwich branch from android master repo. Ice cream sandwich adds full support for x86 hardware and even sports a build target specifically for running the OS in virtualbox. So my question is, is anyone aware of any documentation for building and deploying to that target?
Just in case it's not clear, I'm not just using the android-x86 project because they haven't yet put up a build for anything later than android 3.
Okay so I was going to just delete my question because a few minutes after posting it, I found a tutorial! So, I figured I'd share this info here rather than just deleting, since that's a bit of a waste. Here is a link, plus an excerpt from the tutorial in case the link is ever lost:
http://ricston.com/blog/?p=1705
The second approach gives you direct access to the latest Android code. However, it’s barely documented due to the fact that previously you couldn’t build ‘out of the box’ an Android VDI (Virtual Disk Image) with the AOSP. To build the Android VDI and install it in your VM, follow these steps:
- Get the Android source code from the AOSP site and follow the online instructions to setup the environment.
- When you are ready to build the project, execute the following command to set the environment variables for Make: “lunch vbox_x86-eng”.
- Run “make installer_vdi” to build the project. Make will build the project and produce a VDI named “installer.vdi” located in “out/target/product/vbox_x86″. This VDI contains Android plus its installer.
- Create a Linux VM and add the “installer.vdi” as an extra HD to the VM.
- Start the VM and press “F12” during bootup.
- Select the HD which represents the “installer.vdi”.
- Choose the first option, that is, “Android Install to /dev/sda from /dev/sdb”.
- When installation is complete, enter the command “reboot”. After that, you should be able to launch Android from your VM.
I want to expand on this approach and end up producing a live CD rather than a VDI so I'm going to post this answer as a community wiki so it can be expanded by myself and others in the future.
Edit Nov 26/11 The above method of building right from the source alone is lacking features like proper keyboard and mouse support. Here is a link to an article (in Japanese but you can use google translate) of an individual who has compile the ICS sources with added in keyboard, mouse and network support. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/td2sk/20111125/1322192772
The precompiled VDI disk can be downloaded from here: http://kie.nu/26G