TUTORIAL: PrimeOS how to install Android on your PC

We want to present in a simple way a user manual for the PrimeOS system, a compilation of Android for Intel or AMD processors with window manager, keyboard and mouse support, configurable environment for games and other options. This system requires few resources and can be a good alternative for old computers, let’s see in this manual the different ways to run it or install it on our computers.

You can see our best models of mini PC compatible with that system.

Table of Contents

PRIMEOS: BASIC CONCEPTS

The PrimeOS system allows us to run or install an Android version on our computers pre-configured with a multi-window floating manager, Google Play, DecaPro game administrator and real-time key mapper for our keyboard and mouse combo.

First runs Natively in our hardware and has much better performance than an Android emulator.
We can assign all hardware resources to the system.
This OS can be installed autonomously in our hardware without another operating system.
Allows to execute all Google Play apps like YouTube or powerful games like PUBG.

INSTALL PRIMEOS IN OUR PC

We can install PrimeOS or run it temporarily as a Live distribution to test it quickly. Before executing it or installing it, we have to have certain considerations that we are going to explain.

NOTE: AndroidPCtv is responsible for any problem related to the installation on your PC

PrimeOS versions

The OS is available for download PrimeOS in three different versions that adapt to the hardware that we have available.

PrimeOS Mainline 64 bit (systems 2014+)
– Intel Core Gen 5 / Celeron 4000 / AMD A8 7410 or superior with support SSE 4.2 / 4.19 kernel and 18.1.0 mesa
– Not recommended for Nvidia GPU.
PrimeOS Standard 64 bit (systems 2011+)
– Intel Core Gen 2 / Intel Atom Z8350 / Celeron 3350 / AMD A8 5550M or superior with support SSE 4.2 / 4.14 kernel and 17.1.10 mesa
– Recommended for all types of GPU.
PrimeOS Classic 32 bit (old systems)
– Intel Core Gen 1 / Intel Atom Z3735F / Pentium G620 / AMD Phenom II X6 1100T or similar / 4.14 kernel and 17.1.10 mesa
– Recommended for old GPU.

Installation options for PrimeOS

In addition to the available versions we can install PrimeOS in two different ways depending on the method we will use to run it or install it, in any case its use is quite simple.

ISO Image – We download the ISO and we can execute it as Live, install it manually or execute it in a virtual machine.
Windows Installer – By means of an installer a partition and dual boot system with Windows will be created

Execute PrimeOS from a USB memory with ISO image

This is the least aggressive way to test PrimeOS and we can see how our hardware is defended for later if we are interested in installing the system on our disk to obtain better performance.

Download the ISO from the PrimeOS version that we are interested.
Download Rufus and install it in our PC
Insert in the PC a USB memory and in Rufus we load the ISO of PrimeOS.
Proceed to create the unit recording the ISO with Rufus. THE USB WILL BE ERASED !!
Connect the USB memory to the PC to be tested.
Restart the PC by entering the BIOS and executing the boot unit created in the USB.
From the GNU GRUB menu, we select PrimeOS Live.
The space available to install applications in very limited.

Other options

PrimeOS Installation – Allows us to run the complete installer (advanced mode)
Advanced Option
– Various Debug modes / No configuration wizard / No hardware acceleration
– Auto install erasing the entire disk CAUTION

Install PrimeOS using Windows Installer with Dual boot

This is the most convenient method if we want to install it directly from Windows creating a new partition and a dual boot menu in our system to run it natively, we can choose Window or Android.

Run the downloaded PrimeOS Windows Installer and follow the steps, the process is fully automatic.
When restarting we will have a dual boot menu with GRUB between PrimeOS and Windows.
To uninstall we can remove GRUB, then just delete and join the partition again with Windows.

Run PrimeOS in a virtual machine

It is a practical method to test PrimeOS if we know the system but it loses some sense since we do not access the hardware directly and we no longer take advantage of the system completely.

Download VirtualBox
We have to have in BIOS the Virtualization of the processor activated for the 64bit versions
We create a virtual machine:
– We put name / Type = Other / Version = Other-Unknown 64bit- We assign 2 or 3GB of RAM
– Create virtual disk / VDI / Dynamic / Assign 16 or 32GB
We start virtual machine:
– Install / Create partition / GPT SI / Primary Linux / Mark as Boot / Select / Ext4 / Format
The system has certain resolution and performance limitations

PRIMEOS SYSTEM TESTS

Environment and system

Start with PrimeOS is very simple since it is a classic mix between the Android settings system and the Windows windows environment, the management has the same concepts as these two OS and we will quickly get to use it.

Featured applications: Google Play, Chrome, Youtube, Settings, FX Explorer, Music, Camera, Gallery and Gaming Center.
Management: High keyboard and mouse compatibility / Easy window management / Access alt + tab, alt + f4, win + d.
Hardware Compatibility: On an Jumper EZBook 3 Pro with Intel Celeron N3450 all hardware detected.
System: Base version for tablets / Android 7.1.2 / Kernel 4.19.27

Browsing with Chrome or using Youtube to watch videos does not have any problem thanks to the hardware acceleration for rendering of the contents. The compatibility of Google Play is high and we can install games like PUBG without problems, we will not find apps like Netflix but we can install them via apk easily, the quality is SD since we do not have DRM certificates.

Games

One of the most careful aspects in the PrimeOS system is its game manager and the mapping app for keyboard and mouse. It is very easy to configure the use of buttons on the screen with the app, we just have to put the icons on the screen for the actions we want. Many games already come with pre-programmed actions and we will not have to map them.