no network in Android x86 on VirtualBox 4.1.2

Question

My issue is nearly identical to this question. I tried those solution and none worked. But I am using a different Android x86 image. I'm using the ICS (4.0-RC1) asus_laptop image. (I tried a different image previously and couldn't get it to install.)

I installed VirtualBox 4.1.12 on Kubuntu 12.04. I followed these steps and installed the android-x86-4.0-RC1-asus_laptop.iso image in my VM. It boots up and works correctly except for networking.

Alt-F1 netcfg shows no interfaces up except the lo (127.0.0.1). eth0, which should be available, is not shown. That prevents me from trying the solution here.

New references I'm checking out:

• Android ICS x86 on VirtualBox with Internet Connection
• http://groups.google.com/group/android-x86/browse_thread/thread/30fa23d81cddfab1/2e480f6b9cbf773d
• How to setup network for Android Honeycomb in VirtualBox?

Answer 1

Update: If Android x86 does not work well for you, you might want to look at AndroVM. I run it in VirtualBox and have had no hardware related issues.

Real Answer:

Somewhat of a follow-up answer since I can't add comments yet. I think getting this setup is highly dependent on your host hardware. I am not using hardware that perfectly fits any of the current ISOs. So I tested all of them with all Ethernet settings to see what would work.

On a Dell Latitude D820 here is what I got:

• eeepc - Bridged Adapter with PCnet-PCI II
• tegav2 - NAT adapter with PCnet-PCI III
• amd_brazos - No CPU support
• asus_laptop - No eth0 option for any Ethernet adapter setting
• s104t - Would not boot

For the two ISOs that would work for me (eeepc and tegav2), I added the following two lines to /etc/init.sh (as per the other answer)

netcfg eth0 dhcp
setprop net.dns1 8.8.8.8

Answer 2

For me the solution of user1330614 worked very well. Another nice writeup for the problem can be found here: http://davematthew.blogspot.de/2012/04/android-x86-ics-on-virtualbox.html

Answer 3

If you can't edit /etc/init.sh or /etc/init.androVM.sh and the error is the read-only file (despite being su) you can just write the following as superuser on the commandline:

setprop net.dns1 10.0.0.138

or any other IP, this is often the local router (capable of DNS). Check your network connection details for getting this IP.

The drawback is, that you have to do this every time, but it is not very time-consuming.

Answer 4

Some sources in the net says you should use the PCnet-Fast III either in bridged mode or NAT in your VBox Machine settings. Just give it a try. This is a guide i found, but to be sincere, i am new to Android on VBox (and to Android at all) and i didn't test it myself.

Answer 5

The following works very good for me

sudo vi /etc/init.sh

add 4 lines below to init.sh

netcfg eth0 dhcp
echo nameserver <ip> > /etc/resolv.conf
dnsmasq 
setprop net.dns1 8.8.8.8

on virtualbox set the network interface to bridged (PCnet Fast III) and that's all.

Answer 6

try this one

VBoxManage modifyvm "Your Android VB name" --natpf1 adb,tcp,*,5555,*,5555