Android x86 on Xen

I currently use a custom gui application for accessing my media files.  It uses lirc to browse and select what video you want to watch.  Every TV has a computer with this software installed on in.  Since the software was custom written by me, adding screens for other services might not be possible.  Specifically, my wife wants to access our Pandora and Netflix subscriptions.  At this point, I think the better move is to migrate to Android.  I could write a new frontend as an Android app and install it on Android x86.

The frontend computer in the living room is also my Xen server.  I downloaded the 2.2, 2.3, 3.2 and 4.0 versions of the eeepc iso.  Each version started just fine in Xen.  After booting, I wasn't able to use the mouse to unlock some of the versions.  I figured out that the usbdevice='tablet' entry in the xen config file didn't work on older versions of Android-x86.  After commenting out that entry, I was able to use the mouse again.  The DomU mouse cursor doesn't match the position of the VNC mouse cursor (the exact reason you use usbdevice='tablet').

Although the operating system seems to support an Ethernet configuration, no device shows up in the dropdown.  Ethernet support is essential inside of a VM.  The Google group says there is a patch.  It has not been merged into the mainline because there is a bigger effort to make the patch better.  As a programmer, I have complete respect for that.

The gui performance was pretty good in comparison to what I expected.  Xen doesn't support a virtualized 3d card and I am streaming the output over WiFi to my laptop using VNC.  I was expecting the speed to be unusable.  The gui wasn't fast enough for everyday use, bit it was good enough to do your configuration without too much frustration.  I gave a quick attempt at VGA passthrough but nothing came up.  I know one person has reported VGA passthrough working with Android x86.

At this point, it seems like replacing my current frontend with an Android 86 VM is not an option, but I am very hopeful for the future.  The Android x86 people have made great progress.  I am looking forward to the 4.0 release.