[ROM-x86] Bliss-x86 [oreo 8.x] for PC's

• one build, thousands of potential component combinations, so not everything will be working on every machine, and we know this.

IcedCube said:

For those who are a little too bleeding edge and like to adventure outside the recommended method that @electrikjesus recommends, here's how to "prep" a USB using syslinux EFI to run Bliss 7.x/10.x.
Also, I'd appreciate it if he could link it in the first post as a "experimental syslinux EFI" method, because this is what I recommend if some Chinese tablets don't want to boot grub.

DO NOT BLAME HIM IF YOUR DEVICE CATCHES FIRE AFTER DOING THIS. BLAME ME INSTEAD.

I strongly recommend using a Linux VM or a Linux box for this. Ensure you have the latest version of unsquashfs (part of squashfs-tools) too. Grab the latest build of Bliss x86 7.x/10.x before continuing!

1. Grab the ZIP file from my original post, https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=74977694&postcount=1237, and extract it to the root of your USB drive. This will bootstrap syslinux EFI onto it.
2. Make a folder, if you haven't already done so, called "android".
3. Now, open up the ISO in an archiver. Extract from the root directory of the ISO image the following to your USB drive's "android" folder: initrd.img, ramdisk.img, kernel.
4. Extract system.sfs to a folder somewhere, maybe in /tmp.
5. Open a terminal and change directory (using 'cd') to /tmp. Run 'ls' and confirm you see system.sfs shown in the file list. If you get no output, start over as you misplaced a file.
   Code:

   cd /tmp && ls -al  system.sqs

6. Run the following code:
   Code:

   unsquashfs ./system.sqs

   This will make a new directory called "squashfs_root".
7. Bliss 7.x users, this is important: If you are using Bliss 10.x then skip just this step. Change directory to squashfs_root and run a 'ls'. You should have only one file, a system.img inside that directory. Copy that file to your USB's "android" folder.
8. Bliss 10.x users, this is important: If you are using Bliss 7.x then skip just this step. If you take a look inside squashfs_root, you will notice it's a complete android root filesystem. What we need to do is to move the stuff into a system image. The following will make a 2GB system.img file, format it, mount it and copy the contents of the extracted squashfs into that new disk image.
   
   Code:

   mkdir /mnt/tempMount
   truncate /tmp/system.img --size=2G
   mkfs.ext4 -m0 /tmp/system.img
   sudo mount -o loop /tmp/system.img /mnt/tempMount
   sudo cp -prv /tmp/squashfs_root/* /mnt/tempMount/
   sync
   sudo umount /mnt/tempMount

   The sync process might take some time. Now copy the /tmp/system.img file to your USB's android folder.
9. Alright, now that's the system image done. Now you need to make a data image. That's easier than system image. First, find where your USB drive is mounted, it might be at "/media/icedcube/DROIDUSB" or something and cd to the android folder on it:
   Code:

   cd  /media/icedcube/DROIDUSB/android

   . If you're using Ubuntu or any other good distro and have a "Open location in Terminal" option in your File Manager, use that as a shortcut. Now run these commands to make a 3GB data image file - you could try with 4GB but FAT32 maxes out at 4GB per file and I prefer using FAT32 as I'm not sure if the kernel supports exFAT or NTFS properly.
   
   Code:

   truncate data.img --size=3G
   mkfs.ext4 -m0 data.img
   sync

   This will be an completely empty ext4 disk image, but will be enough to kickstart Bliss.
10. Finally, check to ensure everything is in check like so:
    
    Code:

    <ROOT>
    - syslinux.cfg
    - android/
    -- kernel
    -- system.img
    -- data.img
    -- ramdisk.img
    -- initrd.img
    - EFI/
    -- BOOT/
    --- bootia32.efi
    --- bootx64.efi
    --- ldlinux.e32
    --- ldlinux.e64

11. Need to add some kernel parameters? Don't panic. Just open syslinux.cfg and add them onto the append before the "initrd=/android/initrd.img" statement.
12. Unmount the USB from your computer. Carefully plug it into your tablet or laptop and use the BIOS to boot UEFI from USB Drive, partition 1. If all goes well, you will get a black screen with small white text saying "Booting Android..." followed by loading files. You should get the Linux kernel text, then see the Bliss Oreo animation play after a few seconds/minutes depending on your USB drive read/write speed.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

mountvol X: /S

• Start Task Manager; a) CTRL+ALT+DEL -> Task Manager b) CTRL+Shift+ESC c) Right click the taskbar and select Task manager.
• Click "File" tab -> "Run new task" -> "Browse" -> "This computer" -> SYSTEM (X or type in "x:" in the filepath bar"

• Start Task Manager; a) CTRL+ALT+DEL -> Task Manager b) CTRL+Shift+ESC c) Right click the taskbar and select Task manager.
• Click "File" tab -> "Run new task" -> "Browse" -> "This computer" -> SYSTEM (Z or type in "z:" in the filepath bar"
• Now go to boot/grub/grub.cfg and edit it accordingly with Notepad++ or other editor
• Save the file and your're ready to go

• Run CMD.exe as Admin <- IMPORTANT Then enter following commands:
• Code:

  taskkill /im explorer.exe /f

  This will kill explorer.exe process - don't be surprised It's needed, because by default it's ran by "currently logged in user" and it has to be run as Administrator in order to view the mounted system drive. Administrator account is not the same as an account with administrative privileges.
• Code:
  Code:

  mountvol X: /s

  This will mount the system partition that usually consists of uefi related files. X: is the letter of the drive - you can use whatever letter you want, but it has to be free.
• Then type:
  
  Code:

  explorer

  This will run explorer as Administrator and will allow you to browse the mounted system partition.

• Run CMD.exe as Admin <- IMPORTANT and enter following commands:
• Code:

  taskkill /im explorer.exe /f

  This will kill explorer.exe process - don't be surprised It's needed, because by default it's ran by "currently logged in user" and it has to be run as Administrator in order to view the mounted system drive. Administrator account is not the same as an account with administrative privileges.
• Then type:
• Code:

  explorer

  This will run explorer as Administrator and will allow you to browse the mounted system partition.

menuentry 'Bliss-x86' --class android {
    search --file --no-floppy --set=root /AndroidOS/system.sfs
    linux /AndroidOS/kernel root=/dev/ram0 SRC=/AndroidOS androidboot.selinux=permissive quiet DATA=
    initrd /AndroidOS/initrd.img
}

menuentry 'Bliss-x86' --class android {
    search --file --no-floppy --set=root /AndroidOS/system.sfs
    linux /AndroidOS/kernel root=/dev/ram0 SRC=/AndroidOS  androidboot.selinux=permissive quiet DATA=
    initrd /AndroidOS/initrd.img
}

mountvol X: /D

mountvol Z: /D

• Boot up the Bliss-x86 USB, and select the Installation option from Grub. (second one down)
• The installer will load, and you will have an option to choose which partition you created earlier. Pick it, and select Ext4. ***You don't want to get this step wrong. If you are unsure, please boot back to Windows, and write it down this time. It will be Sd** typically.***
• When it asks if you want to install System as R/W, select YES.
• When it asks if you want to install Grub, select Grub for Legacy BIOS boot type, Grub2 for UEFI boot type, or neither if you are already running a Linux system.
• If you chose to install a Grub option, the installer will allow you to choose. Make sure you select the 300mb partition you setup earlier for Grub.
• The process will install and create the data directory/img, so go get a drink or something and come back to it.
• When finished, the installer will then ask if you want to run Android-x86, you can just reboot here, and make sure you remove the USB drive.