Using Redroid

Introduction to Redroid

Redroid is an open-source project based on Android, which is one of several cloud phone solutions aimed at providing developers and users with a flexible Android environment. It can run on different platforms, including desktop operating systems, allowing users to experience the features and applications of the Android system.

Main features

• Containerization: Redroid uses container technology (such as Docker) to run the Android system, allowing users to quickly set up and run the Android environment on their existing operating system.
• Compatibility: Supports multiple Android applications and games, and users can install and run these applications in Redroid to enjoy the rich ecosystem of Android.
• Efficiency: Redroid aims to provide a high-performance Android experience, optimize resource utilization, and run well on systems with lower hardware configurations.
• Open source: Redroid is an open source project where users and developers can freely view, modify, and contribute code.
• Easy to deploy: With tools such as Docker, users can quickly deploy and update Redroid environments, simplifying the setup process.

Source code download

mkdir ~/redroid && cd ~/redroid
repo init -u https://github.com/redroid-rockchip/platform_manifests.git -b redroid-12.0.0 --depth=1 --git-lfs
repo sync -c
sudo apt install git-lfs
repo forall -g lfs -c git lfs pull

Docker download and image compilation

Redroid officially provides a Docker image for compilation in the form of a Dockerfile, which can avoid many compilation issues when compiling using this image

sudo apt install docker.io -y #install docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
sudo chmod a+rw /var/run/docker.sock

git clone https://github.com/remote-android/redroid-doc.git
cd redroid-doc/android-builder-docker/
docker build --build-arg userid=$(id -u) --build-arg groupid=$(id -g) \
        --build-arg username=$(id -un) -t redroid-builder . #Build Docker image for compilation

The configuration of the apt source is in the sources.list under the redroid doc/android-builder-doc/, which defaults to 163 sources and can be changed to other sources at your discretion

docker run -it --rm --hostname redroid-builder --name redroid-builder \
        -v ~/redroid:/src --privileged redroid-builder #RUN docker image

#compilation redroid image
cd /src
. build/envsetup.sh
lunch redroid_arm64-userdebug
export TARGET_BOARD_PLATFORM_GPU=mali-G52
export TARGET_RK_GRALLOC_VERSION=4
m

#Packaging Redroid Images
cd out/target/product/redroid_arm64
sudo mount system.img system -o ro
sudo mount vendor.img vendor -o ro
sudo tar --xattrs -avcf redroid.tar.xz vendor -C system --exclude="./vendor" .
sudo umount system vendor

After packaging is complete, upload the redroid.tar.xz image from the out/target/product/redroid_arm64/ to SBC, import the image using the following command, and start it

#Import image
sudo xz -dcT0 redroid.tar.xz | docker import -c 'ENTRYPOINT ["/init", "androidboot.hardware=redroid"]' - redroid
#Start container
docker run -d -p 5555:5555 -v ~/redroid-build:/data --name redroid-build -v /dev/mali0:/dev/mali0 \
        --privileged redroid \
        androidboot.redroid_height=1920 \
        androidboot.redroid_width=1080 \
        androidboot.redroid_gpu_mode=mali

Frequently Asked Questions

1. After the container is started, an error message will be printed in a loop with 'init: critical process' lmkd 'exited 4 times before boot completion'

• Solution: Add psi=1 to the Linux startup parameters

2. Redroid cannot start after configuring GPU acceleration

• Solution: Check if the GPU Mali driver is enabled on Linux. If it is not enabled, the GPU cannot be used normally

Reference Documents

• redroid-doc
• github