How to Install Android 6.0 Marshmallow on A External Hard Disk Drive

How to Install Android 6.0 Marshmallow on A External Hard Disk Drive

by Ravi Singh
10 comments 27 views

Android x86 has become very popular now and Techposts readers know well about Android x86 and it’s installation on PC with Windows or Linux OS. We wrote many HowTo guides on Android x86 and installation of Android OS on PC and netbooks. When the project was started, the installation was limited to 32-bit PC or notebooks but now you can install Android OS on a 64-bit PC or notebook and it works perfectly fine except few bugs. As it’s a beta projects so bugs are expected. Now Android x86 has partnered with Jide’s Remix OS.How to Install Android 6.0 on External Hard Disk Drive

The good news is that Android x86 developer Chih-Wei Huang has officially joined Jide as the ‘X86 Technology Lead‘ and this means the Remix OS project is going in right direction and seems to be a great success. If you haven’t read about Remix OS or if you want to try and install Remix OS on PC or Laptop then please follow the link below,

How to Install Remix OS on Windows Laptop or PC

The Android x86 project is still on and we have the latest Android x86 6.0-rc1 release which is based on the latest Android Marshmallow-MR2 release (6.0.1_r46). So today we are going to show you how you can install Android x86 6.0 Marshmallow on any laptop or PC running on 32-bit or 64-bit processors. So let’s get started,

Installing Android OS on External Hard Disk Drive:

There are some requirements to install Android Marshmallow OS on a n external HDD. So make sure you have the following things with you:

  1. A Pen Drive or USB Flash Drive (Min. 1 Gb)
  2. An External Hard Disk Drive or even another Pen drive upto 16GB will work.
  3. A Windows or Linux PC or Laptop
  4. Androidx86 6.0 Marshmallow ISO file
  5. Universal USB Installer tool to create Androidx86 installation USB stick

Step 1: Download Android 6.0 Marshmallow ISO image from Android-x86.org and save it on your PC or Laptop.

Step 2: Also Download Unetbootin or Rufus app on your PC

Step 3: Open Universal USB Installer Tool  and create a Androidx86 installation Disk drive. To do so, Select Android from the Drop Down menu, Then Browse the Android x86 ISO file and then select the USB Thumb Drive and Hit Create Button.Creating Android x86 Marshmallow Bootable USB Disk

Step 3: Next, Shutdown your PC and then insert the installation USB Flash drive or Pen drive that we just created using Universal USB installer Tool and the HDD (where you want to install the Android x86 OS).

Step 4: Now start your PC and press F2 to enter BIOS and select USB disk as bootable media or you can press F8 to boot from USB Pen Drive. Just make sure to choose USB flash drive as the source to boot.

Step 4: As soon as your PC boots from the USB Flash Disk, you will see the following screen. From the options, choose “Install Android-x86 to harddiskSelect Installation - Androidx86 to hard Disk Drive

Step 5: Select your appropriate external hard disk drive partition from the listed one to install Android x86 i.e. you can see in the image below: “sdb1 win95 FAT32     v220w” is the external USB Drive partition other than the installation media or you can install on any new partition.Select the External Hard Disk Drive where you want to Install Android OS

TIP: You can format the USB drive to ext3 or ext2 partition to get more internal storage.

Step 6: Now, You will get a few prompts messages pertaining to installation of GRUB Bootloader. Make sure to allow it.Install Android x86 Marshmallow Bootloader

Step 7: Now, another prompt message will ask you to make system /r/w. Hit Yes on this as well, especially if you’d like to modify your Android x86 installation later.Make System as Read and Write in ANdroid x86 Marshmallow Installation

Step 8: After that, you will get another prompt to install virtual SD card. Use 2048 MB for space, as that’s the maximum supported for Fat32 and NTFS formatted Hard Disk drives. For Ext3 or Ext4 HDD the storage is upto 32GB or more.2048 MB is the Maximum space for Android x86 installtion on Fat32 or NTFS Hard Disk Drive

Step 9: The installtion is finished and now you can Restart your Windows PC / Laptops. Select the HDD where we have just installed the Android OS. Make sure you remove the installation USB Flash disk and do not touch the HDD where you have installed the Android x86 6.0 Marshmallow OS.Android is Installed on External Hard Disk Drive and Reboot now

Android 6.0 Marshmallow running on Windows PC

Android 6.0 Marshmallow running on Windows PC

As soon as you do that, you will see few lines of codes flashing which is completely normal, and then Android logo will appear. Let it boot completely as it takes a little more time for the first boot. Once Android x86 OS started, you can configure and setup yor New Android 6.0 Marshmallow based PC or Laptop and enjoy your portable Androidx86 installed on external Hard Disk Drive (HDD).

You can carry it anywhere and boot from any PC. You can save make changes, download videos, music or create files like you do in your Android smartphone or Tab. All changes will be saved and can be accesses through any PC. Isn’t that great? There are few other advantages of installing Android x86 on an External Media, please read further.

Benefits of installing Androidx86 on External HDD

  • No need to modify Windows BCD/Master boot partition or format hard disk.
  • Don’t need to install Grub bootloader on your Machine.
  • Update Android OS whenever it releases
  • Your Windows will work as it was working before, so you don’t have to worry about uninstalling Androidx86, just remove the USB drive and you are good to go.
  • You can test Android x86 6.0 marshmallow on different PCs or laptops to check if there are any bugs and contribute to the Android x86 development. For eg. WiFi working or not, Bluetooth and other system apps are working or crashing etc.

Also See :

So now that you have Portable Android OS with you on your USB Hard Disk Drive, just go ahead and enjoy. Also test the portable Android OS on PCs with different configurations. Please leave any queries or doubt in the comments section below, i’ll reach you asap with the appropriate solution to the problem. I also request you to share this article on your facebook or twitter profile. Also Subscribe to us  to stay updated on Androidx86 and  for more such How to Tech Guides on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and Linux below or Connect with us
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10 comments

nicaise July 13, 2016 - 1:58 pm

I have tried this method without success.
when i select android-x86 to harddisk pc reboots and nothing happens.

i have tried on several pc but same problem
what is wrong ?

could someone help me

thank you

Reply
Ravi Singh July 14, 2016 - 2:39 am

Ok, so you are not able to install or write Androidx86 on your External Hard Disk, Right? This is very rare, infact you are the first one. Anyways, i’ll recommend you to use Unetbootin to create Bootable USB drive and again try installing it on HDD. Let me know if it works.

Reply
Coke Boogie August 2, 2016 - 7:37 pm

Keeps crashing. Tried it as a VM.

Reply
John Rojas September 5, 2016 - 8:38 am

Hi,

I was considering on getting a media streamer but came across an idea of installing Android into an HDD instead.

Here’s the model and specs of my TV/HDD:
TV – SAMSUNG UA60JU6400R
HDD – Seagate STEB8000100 Expansion 8TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0

I was wondering if, after successfully installing Android x86 on my HDD, Android can be run when plugged into a UHD TV. (1) Would Android launch once the HDD is plugged into the TV? (2) Can Android be launched manually from within the UHD TV? (3) If NO for either 1 and 2, are there other options for working with my HDD and UHD TV?

Thank you!

Reply
Ravi Singh September 5, 2016 - 8:43 am

Hello John,
This is not possible in current scenario. You can’t boot Android in UHD or any TV. You can connect your Android x86 Desktop or laptop via HDMI only.

Reply
John Rojas September 5, 2016 - 2:19 pm

Thanks for the quick response Ravi!

Reply
Andrew Jones March 5, 2017 - 7:28 pm

Does not works at all.
I run the install on to an SSD a number of time with and without GRUB.
When I turn the pc off and remove the usb stick. The PC say there is no boot device.
If I go to the bios and set the first boot to my SSD it still same pc cannot find anything to boot of.

Reply
Timmy March 27, 2017 - 1:16 am

Everything worked WONDERFULLY ! …. except connecting to my wifi. It just doesn’t seem to be able to find it. Any quick answers ? I’ll keep looking on my end.

Reply
Afsg September 1, 2017 - 4:51 pm

How to remove grub loader from boot sector

Reply
Ravi Singh September 9, 2017 - 7:56 am

Use Windows repair or installation disc and use cmd to repair Windows boot sector and remove Grub loader.
Commands: bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot

Reply

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