Hyper-V - need help setting up virtual WiFi

I am trying to create a Hypre-V VM to run and operating system that has only wireless support - no Ethernet support. I guess this would require sort of a virtual access point connected to my LAN via whatever real connection my computer is using. And I guess the guest OS needs to see a virtual wifi adapter that is already connected to the network. I have trouble even envisioning this, but it sort of happened by default in Oracle's VirtualBox so I know it can happen. Unfortunately, Oracle hides all details and just refers to the configuration as NAT. (Yes there is NAT going on between the real LAN and the virtual subnet the VM is on, but that hides all details I might use in building this under Hyper-V.)

All doc I've see about Hyper-V's virtual switch describes it as a level 2 Ethernet switch so it must look like a virtual Ethernet adapter to the guest OS. I think that does me no good. None of the Hyper-V virtual switch options - External. Internal, and Private - seem to fit the bill, but maybe I just don't understand the terminology. The "Default" switch - giving the VM access the the computer's network using NAT - sounds exactly like what I want ... except that my guest OS doesn't see any network connectivity.

The guest OS in my case is Android-x86. When running under VirtualBox it (eventually) gets internet connectivity. Under Hyper-V it searches for WiFi, connects, says "Obtaining IP address" for a long time, and goes back to searching WiFi networks. Hmm. Maybe there's a virtual DHCP server in VirtualBox. Is there such a thing in Hyper-V?

I do not think this is possible as guest OSs always see the network connection as a virtual ethernet connection. The only think I can think of is possibly a usb wifi dongle where usb passthrough connects dingke to guest OS but I have no idea if that is even feasible.

In any case as Android OS will not be an RDP server, you could not connect in enhanced mode and you would not get sound, easily share drive or clipboard etc.

pokeefe0001 said:

All doc I've see about Hyper-V's virtual switch describes it as a level 2 Ethernet switch ... None of the Hyper-V virtual switch options - External. Internal, and Private - seem to fit the bill, but maybe I just don't understand the terminology. The "Default" switch - giving the VM access the the computer's network using NAT - sounds exactly like what I want ... except that my guest OS doesn't see any network connectivity.

The guest OS in my case is Android-x86. When running under VirtualBox it (eventually) gets internet connectivity. Under Hyper-V it searches for WiFi, connects, says "Obtaining IP address" for a long time, and goes back to searching WiFi networks.

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No, I think you are understanding the terminology...

cereberus said:

I do not think this is possible as guest OSs always see the network connection as a virtual ethernet connection. The only think I can think of is possibly a usb wifi dongle where usb passthrough connects dongle to guest OS but I have no idea if that is even feasible.

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I agree with cereberus, Hyper-V just doesn't work the way you'd like it to. It's primarily designed to support Windows guests, which it does very well, pretty good for Linux guests too, but less/no support for other/older guests (eg. Windows 95 can't run in Hyper-V). VirtuallBox can do what you need, and is probably more appropriate here.

pokeefe0001 said:

that has only wireless support

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Are you attempting to run a mobile OS as a vm. May I ask what OS has only wireless support.

glasskuter said:

Are you attempting to run a mobile OS as a vm. May I ask what OS has only wireless support.

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Well, mobile-ish. Android-x86 - a port or re-implementation of Android (some Android. I'm not sure which.) And I don't actually know that it supports only wireless; I'm assuming.

cereberus said:

I do not think this is possible as guest OSs always see the network connection as a virtual ethernet connection. The only think I can think of is possibly a usb wifi dongle where usb passthrough connects dingke to guest OS but I have no idea if that is even feasible.

In any case as Android OS will not be an RDP server, you could not connect in enhanced mode and you would not get sound, easily share drive or clipboard etc.

Click to expand...

Bree said:

I agree with cereberus, Hyper-V just doesn't work the way you'd like it to.

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Mosst of the world doesn't work the way I'd like it to. I'm getting use to that.

Bree said:

It's primarily designed to support Windows guests, which it does very well, pretty good for Linux guests too, but less/no support for other/older guests (eg. Windows 95 can't run in Hyper-V).

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I finally found a couple of postings on the web saying that Android-x86 can use a Hyper-V "legacy network adapter" but they are inconsistent and quite old. I may give that a try ... but without much hope.

Bree said:

VirtuallBox can do what you need, and is probably more appropriate here.

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Yeah, I'll probably continue using VirtualBox, but I wanted to give Hyper-V a shot.

pokeefe0001 said:

I'll probably continue using VirtualBox, but I wanted to give Hyper-V a shot.

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There are some things Hyper-V is very good at, this isn't one of them

pokeefe0001 said:

I finally found a couple of postings on the web saying that Android-x86 can use a Hyper-V "legacy network adapter" but they are inconsistent and quite old.

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In Hyper-V an XP guest requires the Legacy network adapter, that may work....

Bree said:

There are some things Hyper-V is very good at, this isn't one of them

In Hyper-V an XP guest requires the Legacy network adapter, that may work....

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@pokeefe0001 - this might work but it is an old article.

cereberus said:

@pokeefe0001 - this might work but it is an old article.

Enabling Wireless Network for a Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Tarek Majdalani Windows Server & Edge Security Portal

www.elmajdal.net

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XP machine works fairly easily if you use VMWare's free vmplayer on Windows. Note though only USB2 support, and probably IDE only - although there might be some SATA drivers. You'll need the VM's "paravirtualised video drivers" too if you want to do better than 640 X 480 VGA. The high res video screens weren't even in the realms of Science fiction back in those days.

XP with Lunar black theme and able to use networked drives :



If you do want an XP VM then get the "Service pack 3" or the "Unofficial service pack 4" - there's still quite a few hobbyists around who are running and even trying to maintain XP !!!

As others have said HYPER-V runs a load of VM's nicely - but I'd leave XP off its list. For Wifi on XP - either use a separate usb->wifi adapter and install the driver itself in the VM or use from Vmware "Bridged Networking" with the paravirtualised nic -- this emulates an ethernet nic regardless of the hardware and should work.

XP as a VM runs very fast on modern gear !!!.

Cheers
jimbo

cereberus said:

@pokeefe0001 - this might work but it is an old article.

Enabling Wireless Network for a Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Tarek Majdalani Windows Server & Edge Security Portal

www.elmajdal.net

Click to expand...

Well I tried it, and it does sort of work but it is pretty much same as external switch i.e. it uses a virtual ethernet connection, sharing wifi on host. This is not what you are looking for.

I just do not think it is possible to do what you want - Hyper-V is more geared to running corporate Windows VMs (it came to W8/10 from Windows Server OS version). It is a great tool but does have some limitations as I said earlier.

jimbo45 said:

XP machine works fairly easily if you use VMWare's free vmplayer on Windows. Note though only USB2 support, and probably IDE only - although there might be some SATA drivers. You'll need the VM's "paravirtualised video drivers" too if you want to do better than 640 X 480 VGA. The high res video screens weren't even in the realms of Science fiction back in those days.

XP with Lunar black theme and able to use networked drives :

View attachment 39105

If you do want an XP VM then get the "Service pack 3" or the "Unofficial service pack 4" - there's still quite a few hobbyists around who are running and even trying to maintain XP !!!

As others have said HYPER-V runs a load of VM's nicely - but I'd leave XP off its list. For Wifi on XP - either use a separate usb->wifi adapter and install the driver itself in the VM or use from Vmware "Bridged Networking" with the paravirtualised nic -- this emulates an ethernet nic regardless of the hardware and should work.

XP as a VM runs very fast on modern gear !!!.

Cheers
jimbo

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@Jimbo - sorry to say, you have dived in halfway through a thread. OP is not wanting to use XP but an Android OS that only connects via wifi.

cereberus said:

@Jimbo - sorry to say, you have dived in halfway through a thread. OP is not wanting to use XP but an Android OS that only connects via wifi.

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OK missed it - but thought problem was with XP VM

Cheers
jimbo

cereberus said:

@Jimbo - sorry to say, you have dived in halfway through a thread. OP is not wanting to use XP but an Android OS that only connects via wifi.

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Actually, I'm not certain about that wifi only. I haven't yet found a description of the Android-x86 network interface(s), but when running it on a bare-metal the first thing it does is is scan for a wifi connection. It ignores Ethernet connections. (It also ignores the built-in WiFi adapter in the laptop I'm using; I have to use an external WiFi adapter. It obviously has limited network adapter support.)

For now I've given up trying to run it under Hyper-V.

I've used a few of the Android Emulators and they work perfectly fine with the regular settings and no Wi-Fi (enabled) with total Internet access. From this list I've personally used BlueStacks and NoxPlayer extensively, and LDPlayer and BlissOS for a few short minutes (testing, didn't really like either of them). Of course, I also have the Android Studio, but never tried to actually use it for the Android Emulator built into it.

Interestingly, it mentions that Windows 11 can do it natively, with the Amazon App, but also links to a GitHub repository for getting actual Google Play Store installed in the Android Subsystem for Linux for Windows 11. However, I also recall that at least one of those methods to get that installed was a fake that was linked to malware of some sort - still, these instructions seem to be a bit safer as you first clone the repository for yourself, and then run through the steps - pretty lengthy, but it might be interesting to try out in a VM of Windows 11 itself (to keep your main computer safe) and see if it works.

FWIW - I've tried numerous times to get Android X86 to install in Hyper-V, both Win 10 and Win 11, and never really had success, there was always an issue where the bootloader refused to boot after installation. But, It's been a while, and I'm curious if I can get it working or not. The list I linked up there also links to 2 Android-based OSs for X86, BlissOS and PrimeOS, and I might give all three another look (although going back to such older OSs is not really the most fin thing I can think of lol).

Out of curiosity, though, why are you running Android in a VM that A) the native ASL does not work, and b) an emulator will also not work? I'm just curious, as my own reasons for trying ot get A-X86 to work, repeatedly, is because I wanted a more recent offering than the emulators and Prime (and later Bliss) were offering.

@johnlgalt, I'm going to answer your questions and respond to your comments out of order. I'm also going to lose all credibility as a techie

johnlgalt said:

Out of curiosity, though, why are you running Android in a VM that A) the native ASL does not work, and b) an emulator will also not work? I'm just curious, as my own reasons for trying ot get A-X86 to work, repeatedly, is because I wanted a more recent offering than the emulators and Prime (and later Bliss) were offering.

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Actually, I don't much care what vehicle I use - Windows-based emulator, VM running an emulator, or x86 bare metal.

I don't have, and don't particularly want, a smart phone, but I want to be able to run the XFinity app while I'm diagnosing a cable modem problem, and when (most likely) switching to another modem. In other words, I have a very limited need for Android. And my eventual configuration would make Rube Goldberg envious:
USB cellular modem (or dumb cell phone) tethered to (or acting as a WiFi hot spot for) a computer running an Android emulator running the Xfinity app.

johnlgalt said:

I've used a few of the Android Emulators and they work perfectly fine with the regular settings and no Wi-Fi (enabled) with total Internet access. From this list I've personally used BlueStacks and NoxPlayer extensively, and LDPlayer and BlissOS for a few short minutes (testing, didn't really like either of them). Of course, I also have the Android Studio, but never tried to actually use it for the Android Emulator built into it.

Click to expand...

I first tried the Win11 WSA but the app is available only through Google Play so that was DOA.
I tried BlueStacks but could not get the app to log into my XFinity account. (It would display the signin page, accept (and save) my id but would redisplay the signin page after I entered my password. So I decided to try the Android-x86 emulator.

johnlgalt said:

Interestingly, it mentions that Windows 11 can do it natively, with the Amazon App, ...

... but also links to a GitHub repository for getting actual Google Play Store installed in the Android Subsystem for Linux for Windows 11. However, I also recall that at least one of those methods to get that installed was a fake that was linked to malware of some sort - still, these instructions seem to be a bit safer as you first clone the repository for yourself, and then run through the steps - pretty lengthy, but it might be interesting to try out in a VM of Windows 11 itself (to keep your main computer safe) and see if it works.

Click to expand...

There were a couple things on GitHub. The malware disguised as a modified WSA has been pulled and replaced with warnings. The steps for doing myself are a bit above my pay grade.

johnlgalt said:

FWIW - I've tried numerous times to get Android X86 to install in Hyper-V, both Win 10 and Win 11, and never really had success, there was always an issue where the bootloader refused to boot after installation. But, It's been a while, and I'm curious if I can get it working or not. The list I linked up there also links to 2 Android-based OSs for X86, BlissOS and PrimeOS, and I might give all three another look (although going back to such older OSs is not really the most fin thing I can think of lol).

Click to expand...

I went with Android-x86 because I could try it on bare metal and make user I knew the product and get the app to successfully work before trying it under Windows. My using it under Hyper-V and VirtualBox were really just for convenience when testing.

The app running on the Android-x86 on bare metal works fine when using a wifi connection to my router but not when talking to a wifi hot spot on my cell phone. Network performance, perhaps. It works very slowly and erratically when running under VirtualBox.

I'll try some of the other emulators mentioned in that list you pointed to. I'll extend the learning experience.

OK, now the picture is a lot more clear, and you've already gotten it to work on bare metal, which is good - you're trying now for convenience's sake so you don't have to either 1) dual boot, or 2) carry multiple devices around. I totally get it from that perspective.

I went digging around, since it had been a minute since I looked at these different emulators and such. Blue Stacks was good for gaming but not much else. BlissOS shocked me - their current testing for BlissOS 15 is based on Android 12 - a major leap forward from the last time I looked at them. PrimeOS has similarly moved forward, and PrimeOS 2.1.3 is based upon Android 11. Android X86, in contrast , is *still* only on Android 9.

I'd look at BlissOS Stable v14, or PrimeOS, they should install rather easily into a VM and give connectivity, being designed for PC hardware to begin with., However, as you noted, you already successfully tried A-X86 on bare metal, and it worked.

I'd love to take another stab at making VMs for all 3, but it will be at least a couple of days, if you're willing to wait around that long / take a stab at them yourself. But those three, along with BluewStacks and NoxPlayer, should have 0 issues with connectivity - BS even showed like it was on a wireless connection but was fully connected to a wired network only with 0 config from me (though both they and NoxPlayer use their own virtualization, not the native Hyper-V). Also, as I used them for nmsotly playing games, I never actually tried connecting them to physical devices, no ADB, no Nearby Share, nothing like that. That could still be an issue with the emulators.

I've grabbed the latest ISOs for PrimeOS and BlissOS, and 2 for Android X86 - the regular 9.-r2 and the 9.0 r2 k49. I'll also try to dig up an older how to on installing them specifically in Hyper-V for Windows 10, which should be pretty much the same for Win 11 - I think the key is going to be making sure they are gen 1 VMs, more than anything.

Now, on to your responses. Mine are also out of order, sorry, it just happened that way.

pokeefe0001 said:

Actually, I don't much care what vehicle I use - Windows-based emulator, VM running an emulator, or x86 bare metal.

Click to expand...

Grab an old laptop with WiFi or a tablet, even that you can put this on bare metal with and be done with it, if you don't mind the bare metal, and dual devices. That would be the easiest, as you know it works this way, and it is using the native hardware. You already had issues with VBox, and similar ones may arise in Hyper-V.

However, I love projects like this, to learn, to test, and even if they ultimately fail, we learn something. I suspect you're similar in that aspect.

pokeefe0001 said:

There were a couple things on GitHub. The malware disguised as a modified WSA has been pulled and replaced with warnings. The steps for doing myself are a bit above my pay grade.

Click to expand...

It's more time consuming than anything, if you follow the stuff, and especially the stuff posted in the last month, it's pretty straight forward. I've used Magisk to root my phone before, I've rooted every phone I've owned at some point, going back to the original Motorola DROID, when it was full manual, so root tools don't bother me, and John Wu, Magisk developer, is pretty legitimate, not shady. Still, though, I can see how this would at least give most people a bit of pause, and that';s why I may plan to do this *inside* a VM, so if the sky starts falling, I can nuke it and be done.

pokeefe0001 said:

It would display the signin page, accept (and save) my id but would redisplay the signin page after I entered my password.

Click to expand...

Now that I've started reminiscing about this a bit more, I do recall a similar issue, may have been the exact same issue - I had to start again with a *(second* instance, that worked fine the first go around, and then kill the first one. At one point I had 4 instances running on my old machine because I was managing 4 separate accounts in an RTS I used to play a lot on weekends several years back. But once I got whatever my original issue was fixed, it worked like a champ.

Well, I ran out of time for the practical side of this project. I needed to switch cable modems today (in order to start testing and intermittently failing modem) and needed the XFinity app if I wanted to avoid Comcast phone support. So I went with my least favorite, but most consistently workable solution: Android-x86 in VirtualBox. I was successful, but I'll have to go through the process again when I'm done debugging the modem so I'll plug away at finding a better solution. But I need to put it on the back burner for a few days.

johnlgalt said:

Grab an old laptop with WiFi or a tablet, even that you can put this on bare metal with and be done with it, if you don't mind the bare metal, and dual devices. That would be the easiest, as you know it works this way, and it is using the native hardware. You already had issues with VBox, and similar ones may arise in Hyper-V.

Click to expand...

That, indeed, was my preferred solution. It worked very well when I had my "real" network - a cable modem and a router/WiFi access point. But without the cable modem I needed access to the cellular network - a cellular modem of a phone acting as a "hot spot". Android-x86 did not have a driver for the USB-attached cellular modem (No surprise there.), and I could not maintain a wireless connection between the laptop and a hotspot on my (dumb) phone. Interestingly, Windows had no trouble maintaining connection.

I tried Bliss OS - 3 different versions. The first worked well, but it was the version without Google Play so it did me no good. The other 2 I may have botched the install, but I couldn't get them to work at all. One have "No services" displayed in the upper left. I don't remember what happened with the other.

I tried going through the process of building a modified WSA but goofed somewhere - probably in installing ADB. I could not get a connection to ADB so couldn't install Google Play. I'm definitely going to try that again in a few days.

That is helpful, so when I am playing I can see what may occur on my end and be able to find fixes / preventive steps to address those issues.

I uninstalled VirtualBox (in case it was getting in the way of the modified WSA installation or activation), but I noticed it didn't require a reboot afterwards. The uninstall left the VirtualBox network stuff still in place - strange, and with consequences later on.

I then tried 3 different recipes for building WSA with Google Play that I found on the web - 3 recipies that did not refer to the corrupt walware implementation. Each left something out of the installation process, and each failed in it's own way. The GitHub installation instructions seemed most clear so I started over with them and finally succeeded ... almost. I actually succeeded in getting WSA with Google Play installed, but it hung waiting for a wireless connection. I'm guessing that the VirtualBox network adapters may have still been messing things up.

I gave up and reinstalled VirtualBox and was very surprised with the results. Not only were the VirtualBox interfaces still in place, but so was my Android-x86 VM. I don't know what the uninstall did, but it left a lot of VirtualBox around. If I can find a way to completely uninstall VirtualBox - including it's network stuff - I will try that. I may also try installing the modified WSA on another computer - one that has never had VirtualBox installed. I'm not sure what I'll do then though; the laptop is the only place I want to use it.

I uninstalled VirtualBox again, rebooted, and tried the modified WSA again. This time it asked to be connected to WiFi again, but then said that "This device isn't Play Protect certified" and "Google apps and services can't run on this device via Windows Subsystem for Android". According to my web search there seem to be ways to turn this off on a real Android device. I would assume the option to turn this off (if it exists) would be in the developer settings, but I don't see anything.

I don't know how this certification works, but I assume WSA actually connected with Google to check the certification, so msybe I actually got network connnectivity this time. (Not that it did me any good.)

In order to get dev ops in Android, you need to go to About and tap 7 times on the build number. Did you try that to get dev ops to show?

I was unable to try installing any of those X86 builds of Android -I've got less than a month to renew my A+, and I've been busy playing whack-a-mole with trying to get fresh VMs of 7, 8.1, 10 and 11 installed and configured for some hardcore studying. Managed to get them done, but it sounds like the X86 is a no go for you now.