Hyper-V - need help setting up virtual WiFi


pokeefe0001

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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?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    On board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 2043BWX
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 256GB
    WDC 1TB NVMe
    WD 3TB external USB drive
    PSU
    I don't remember
    Case
    Corsair something-or-other
    Cooling
    Air CPU + 2 case fans
    Keyboard
    DAS S Pro (Cherry Brown)
    Mouse
    Logitech USB of some sort
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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
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.
No, I think you are understanding the terminology...
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.
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.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
Are you attempting to run a mobile OS as a vm. May I ask what OS has only wireless support.
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.
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.
I agree with cereberus, Hyper-V just doesn't work the way you'd like it to.
Mosst of the world doesn't work the way I'd like it to. I'm getting use to that.

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).
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.
VirtuallBox can do what you need, and is probably more appropriate here.
Yeah, I'll probably continue using VirtualBox, but I wanted to give Hyper-V a shot.

 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    On board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 2043BWX
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 256GB
    WDC 1TB NVMe
    WD 3TB external USB drive
    PSU
    I don't remember
    Case
    Corsair something-or-other
    Cooling
    Air CPU + 2 case fans
    Keyboard
    DAS S Pro (Cherry Brown)
    Mouse
    Logitech USB of some sort
I'll probably continue using VirtualBox, but I wanted to give Hyper-V a shot.
There are some things Hyper-V is very good at, this isn't one of them :wink:
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.
In Hyper-V an XP guest requires the Legacy network adapter, that may work....
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
There are some things Hyper-V is very good at, this isn't one of them :wink:

In Hyper-V an XP guest requires the Legacy network adapter, that may work....
@pokeefe0001 - this might work but it is an old article.

 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
@pokeefe0001 - this might work but it is an old article.

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 :

asset.php.png

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
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
@pokeefe0001 - this might work but it is an old article.

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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
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
@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.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
@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.
OK missed it - but thought problem was with XP VM

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
@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.
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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    On board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 2043BWX
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 256GB
    WDC 1TB NVMe
    WD 3TB external USB drive
    PSU
    I don't remember
    Case
    Corsair something-or-other
    Cooling
    Air CPU + 2 case fans
    Keyboard
    DAS S Pro (Cherry Brown)
    Mouse
    Logitech USB of some sort
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.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
@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

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.
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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    On board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 2043BWX
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 256GB
    WDC 1TB NVMe
    WD 3TB external USB drive
    PSU
    I don't remember
    Case
    Corsair something-or-other
    Cooling
    Air CPU + 2 case fans
    Keyboard
    DAS S Pro (Cherry Brown)
    Mouse
    Logitech USB of some sort
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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
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.

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.
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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    On board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 2043BWX
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 256GB
    WDC 1TB NVMe
    WD 3TB external USB drive
    PSU
    I don't remember
    Case
    Corsair something-or-other
    Cooling
    Air CPU + 2 case fans
    Keyboard
    DAS S Pro (Cherry Brown)
    Mouse
    Logitech USB of some sort
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.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
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.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    On board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 2043BWX
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 256GB
    WDC 1TB NVMe
    WD 3TB external USB drive
    PSU
    I don't remember
    Case
    Corsair something-or-other
    Cooling
    Air CPU + 2 case fans
    Keyboard
    DAS S Pro (Cherry Brown)
    Mouse
    Logitech USB of some sort
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.)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    On board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 2043BWX
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 256GB
    WDC 1TB NVMe
    WD 3TB external USB drive
    PSU
    I don't remember
    Case
    Corsair something-or-other
    Cooling
    Air CPU + 2 case fans
    Keyboard
    DAS S Pro (Cherry Brown)
    Mouse
    Logitech USB of some sort
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.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth

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