MeeGo is a hot topic among mobile OS application developers. This tutorial will show you how to install MeeGo (with a working UI) on VirtualBox or on VMWare. MeeGo spun off as a result of amalgamation of Moblin and Maemo projects and it sure is getting ready to set the stage on fire. A while ago, I posted about the upcoming UI and how multitasking is possibly being taken into account. You can visit this article to have a look at the same. Now, I know there are many among us who wish to take a look at whatever is new in the tech world, but are afraid to risk their systems which might get bad due to improper installations. Therefore, most of us try to do such things on virtual environments.
If you wish to install MeeGo on your netbook, then follow this guide. You can also boot from the Live CD and take a tour of the mobile OS, in case you don’t wish to install it directly on your hard drive.
Now, there are a few things not so pleasant about running MeeGo. First and foremost, only Intel based motherboards/chipsets would be supported (effectively Intel and Nokia are narrowing down the user base – Android could beat them at this). Secondly, a full fledged UI mode is officially not supported to run on a VM. Well, the second point is not exactly true, and below, you’ll find a way of how things have been worked around and that’s how you get MeeGo running on VirtualBox. I haven’t tried this on VMWare, but I believe it shouldn’t matter; the same process should be application to run MeeGo on VMWare.
Follow the tutorial below very closely:- Step 1: Setup
Download VirtualBox. After the download completes, install VirtualBox.
Download this almost 1 Gb file. This is a zipped copy of the MeeGo Virtual Machine that I pulled up on VirtualBox.
After download completes, unzip the file (you can use WinRar). Make sure you have enough space on your hard drive; the unzipped copy of this file would be about 4 Gb in size
Step 2: Installation
Now you don’t really need to install anything except for the VirtualBox. The huge file you downloaded is the actual VM which you can simple open up in VirtualBox. Follow the steps below to know how.
Click open VirtualBox. Go to File -> Virtual Media Manager.
Click on the “Add” button, and select the meego.vdi image which you downloaded in step 1. Click OK to get back to VirtualBox’s main window.
Now click on the “New” button to get the ‘New Virtual Machine Wizard’. Click Next to get to ‘VM Name and OS Type’ screen.
Enter a name (say MeeGo-VM). Select “Linux” from Operating System dropdown and “Fedora” from the version dropdown.
Click Next to get to the Memory Allocation screen. Typically 512 Mb is sufficient, but you can bump it up if you wish to. Click Next.
Now, you’ll have the Virtual Hard Disk screen. Checkmark “Boot Hard Disk” option and then select “Use existing hard disk”.
Click the folder button next to the dropdown and browse your system for meego.vdi file that was unzipped in step 1.
Click Next, and then Click Finish.
Step 3: Final Steps
Now that you have setup the VM, there’s just one more thing remaining – enabling virtualization.
Click on your Virtual Machine once, and then click on the “Settings” button (you can also right click the VM and select settings).
A separate Settings window popups out, select “System” from the options present on the left hand side.
Then select the “Processor” tab that appears in the right hand side pane.
Checkmark “Enable PAE/NX” option. Click OK
You can now start the VM to take a look at Meego.
Do no update MeeGo. If you do so by mistake, MeeGo would stop working and you’d have to start from the beginning again (skipping the VirtualBox installation part). This build has all applications intact and working. It has Chromium instead of Chrome as a web-browser, but everything else on the applications part remains the same to what you get in the newer builds. The UI is a bit laggy – as MeeGo was never made to run on VMs, but still it does the job of giving you a good experience of the mobile OS. Enjoy running MeeGo!
Enter 99bits.com whenever you’re prompted for a password while logging in and using MeeGo.
You can also watch the video tutorial posted below:-
Post your questions/comments in the comments section or on twitter @99bitscom.
Awesome blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers? I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so m…
Yeah I also have this baby, good in small multitasking, but I have a problem lately the wireless driver in the cd bundle is not working, and I can't use the built-in wireless. Anyone can help me about this? Thanks in advance
One thing that I have noticed is that there are a whole lot of earthquakes these days. Big ones too. So what does that have to do with anything? Easy is as easy does is what I always say. So I found an easy way to make money. This thing I found is a…
Always looking for something new! My days are filled with many hours on the internet, searching for ways to make money, checking the weather (of course), watching videos on Youtube, and simple little things like that. I think that I may have stumble…
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like 'Mixview' that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you're …
yea. its a virtualbox file… nothing to do with OS. If you can have virtualbox on ubuntu, you can very well run meego on top of it. watch/ read the tutorial to get an idea about this.
How did you generate the disk image?
How could we generate such image, for tablet, handset variants of Meego and also with more recent version (e.g Meego 1.2 preview)?
I setup MeeGo in a VBox on my work PC. Was able to see the UI come up, but now Let's have the password for user 99bits I'm unable to get in!
Did I miss it the article above?
Of course it is there and I missed it. Sorry about that!
This is the first time I'm seeing MeeGo in action Than you very much. Now I'm wondering if it'll run inside Virtualbox on my Nokia Booklet (with GMA500). Can;t wait to go home & try!
Great work dude, I've been fighting with this for quite a while until this showed up.
BtW. you can still update with yum if you install yum-plugin-versionlock and do a "yum versionlock xorg-x11-server*" before "yum update" (This keeps the old …
I haven't tried that. You can make a copy of the downloaded VM and try it out with that.
If you loose the original VM, you can always download it from my website!
MeeGo 1.1 was released later yesterday.. I will see if I can spin things around that build so that we can have it on a VM..
Thanks much for this tutorial. Meego ran a bit slow on virtual box, but atleast I got the UI. Before, I faced similar issues as thadeus did.
Thumbs Up!
i have been struggling with this for many days now. meego never booted after installation on vm – always gave a black screen. thank you so very much for putting up this post. Yahoooooooo meego now runs on my virtualbox
Link to the zipped copy of the MeeGo Virtual Machine died! Please upload again! Thanks
Link to the zipped copy of the MeeGo Virtual Machine died! Please post again! Thanks
Awesome blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers? I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so m…
Yeah I also have this baby, good in small multitasking, but I have a problem lately the wireless driver in the cd bundle is not working, and I can't use the built-in wireless. Anyone can help me about this? Thanks in advance
Regards for this post, I am glad I noticed this website on yahoo.
I'm not easily imrpessed. . . but that's impressing me!
"this almost 1 Gb file" link is dead
hola amigo la imagen se borro sera que la puedes subir otra vez
gracias
Thanks man, this works for me in Ubuntu.
One thing that I have noticed is that there are a whole lot of earthquakes these days. Big ones too. So what does that have to do with anything? Easy is as easy does is what I always say. So I found an easy way to make money. This thing I found is a…
Whoever edits and pulbihses these articles really knows what they're doing.
Always looking for something new! My days are filled with many hours on the internet, searching for ways to make money, checking the weather (of course), watching videos on Youtube, and simple little things like that. I think that I may have stumble…
What am I missing got version 4.0.6 and it will only let me add either a .xml or .vbox file not vdi
I just tried it with 4.0.6. Works fine! See what file type option is it that you have while browsing for the file.
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like 'Mixview' that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you're …
Is it possible to install your meego file in ubuntu?
yea. its a virtualbox file… nothing to do with OS. If you can have virtualbox on ubuntu, you can very well run meego on top of it. watch/ read the tutorial to get an idea about this.
I had no idea how to approach this bfoere-now I'm locked and loaded.
Thanks for this tutorial.
How did you generate the disk image?
How could we generate such image, for tablet, handset variants of Meego and also with more recent version (e.g Meego 1.2 preview)?
Paul
yeah, please do that. some plugins aren't working in v1.0
I setup MeeGo in a VBox on my work PC. Was able to see the UI come up, but now Let's have the password for user 99bits
I'm unable to get in!
Did I miss it the article above?
Of course it is there and I missed it. Sorry about that!
This is the first time I'm seeing MeeGo in action Than you very much. Now I'm wondering if it'll run inside Virtualbox on my Nokia Booklet (with GMA500). Can;t wait to go home & try!
Hi Yogesh,
I'm glad that you were able to follow the tutorial and bring up Meego on your PC
Thanks,
Vivek
It's all right for me: MeeGo@PC. Read this too: http://wiki.meego.com/MeeGo_1.0_Netbook_VirtaulBox
Hi Anselmo,
The links gives an idea of how to run MeeGo's barebone UI on Virtualbox.
What you'd get with the image that I provide is one with a fully working UI
Vivek
Unrpalaelled accuracy, unequivocal clarity, and undeniable importance!
Great work dude, I've been fighting with this for quite a while until this showed up.
BtW. you can still update with yum if you install yum-plugin-versionlock and do a "yum versionlock xorg-x11-server*" before "yum update" (This keeps the old …
Hi Tschensen,
I haven't tried that. You can make a copy of the downloaded VM and try it out with that.
If you loose the original VM, you can always download it from my website!
MeeGo 1.1 was released later yesterday.. I will see if I can spin things around that build so that we can have it on a VM..
Thanks,
Vivek
it runs slow on virtual box, but that is ok. looks nice.
thanks
What version of Meego is it?
Hi Rich, its MeeGo 1.0
Thanks much for this tutorial. Meego ran a bit slow on virtual box, but atleast I got the UI. Before, I faced similar issues as thadeus did.
Thumbs Up!
i have been struggling with this for many days now. meego never booted after installation on vm – always gave a black screen. thank you so very much for putting up this post. Yahoooooooo meego now runs on my virtualbox