Problem installing Anbox

[Stevo]

Seems like you need to do it the Debian way and forget about snaps: https://dev.to/sbellone/how-to-install- ... ebian-1hjd

I'll see if I can backport the upstream Debian version.

[Jerry3904]

We still would need the two modules (binder and ashmem) @Stevo. See above.

[Stevo]

The Readme file says they are already included in Debian kernels since 4.17.

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In order to run Android system inside container, you need two kernel
modules: ashmem_linux and binder_linux. Since Debian kernel 4.17, these
two modules are enabled. You can find theme at,
/lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/android/binder_linux.ko and
/lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/staging/android/ashmem_linux.ko.
.
If your kernel doesn't have these two modules, you can follow upstream
instructions to install them with DKMS. Please see
<https://github.com/anbox/anbox-modules/>.
.
Run following commands to check if you have the kernel modules:
.
  modinfo binder_linux
  modinfo ashmem_linux

I've found that you have to precede modinfo with sudo or run it as root. Doesn't seem that the Liquorix kernels enable those, though. Since it has something mysterious to do with containers and namespaces, it may not be as simple as just copying the Debian config for those. The Readme still recommends starting with systemd for the anbox service, also.

I've almost finished the backport of Bullseye's anbox for MX 19 test..armhf version is building.

[Jerry3904]

I saw that, but the app isn't seeing the modules.

[Stevo]

I saw that, but the app isn't seeing the modules.

The snap version or the native Debian version? It also won't do anything without the android img file manually downloaded and installed, at least that's what the guide and Readme say.

[Jerry3904]

Look at my long post above, which starts with the repo version.

[Stevo]

I just installed and tested the test repo version on our 5.10 kernel booted with systemd, also installing the android.img file manually per the guide.

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⌁0% steve@msigp63:~ $  ls -1 /dev/{ashmem,binder}
ls: cannot access '/dev/ashmem': No such file or directory
ls: cannot access '/dev/binder': No such file or directory
⌁0% steve@msigp63:~ 2 $ sudo modprobe ashmem_linux
[sudo] password for steve: 
⌁0% steve@msigp63:~ $ sudo modprobe binder_linux
⌁0% steve@msigp63:~ $ ls -1 /dev/{ashmem,binder}
/dev/ashmem
/dev/binder
⌁0% steve@msigp63:~ $ 

As seen above, I also had to manually load the two modules per the guide to get them to work. After that, I restarted the service and then:

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anbox launch --package=org.anbox.appmgr --component=org.anbox.appmgr.AppViewActivity

and got an Android desktop--the web browser even works.

IDK if our adb needs updating in order to install apks per the guide. I would appreciate if anyone else that gets it working follow the guide to try and install Fdroid.

[Stevo]

I installed the stock Buster android tools, and then followed the commands to wget the Fdroid apk file, and then abd to install it, after which it appeared in Android and I was able to use it to get and install more free android apps.

I'd like to get some feedback if others can't do the same, otherwise it can be marked solved.

[Jerry3904]

I'm hoping this might go into MXPI to get all that into a script for MX-21

[Stevo]

I rebooted to the same kernel with systemd, and this time did not have to modprobe the two modules to get Anbox to start from the menu. We may have to create our own init script to get the service to start from sysvinit, though.

I'll take a look at the PPA for those that aren't using kernels that already include the modules, too.