Using Android Kit-Kat on the PC

[surferking]

I am a newbie to this forum, and haven't found an associated thread on this topic.

I installed downloaded and installed the Android Kit-Kat OS by burning the ISO file on a DVD. The installation worked, and I was pleased to see how much I could do with it. The problem came when I tried to shut it down. I could not find a shutdown option, so I elected to power off my PC. The ramifications of that decision was a destroyed Master Boot Record. I have successfully installed over versions of Ubuntu without any problems.

How do I exit Kit-Kat on the PC without doing some damage?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I am not sure myself, but maybe I can get an answer, or someone to answer you.

Signed, an M8, Liquidsmooth, and the AC Forums App

 

[zkSharks]

So you installed Android over an existing Ubuntu partition on your drive? Without knowing the details of your current configuration and desired configuration it's hard to advise one way or the other. Are you receiving any errors when you attempt to boot? Which partitions, if any, are left intact? Any problems with your MBR are more likely a result of the Android installation and related steps than from powering off your machine with Android running. Installing Android with GRUB over an existing MBR partition will remove the MBR table; I suggest using EasyBCD or similar to set up a valid MBR (manually

Do not attempt to manually recreate/recover a previous MBR (first 512+ bytes of the first sector, consisting of partition table + bootstrap + timestamp + signature) unless the partition environment is unchanged and you are comfortable with manually manipulating MBR/GPT configurations. It's worth knowing about GPT; this section in particular can be helpful when navigating MBR/GPT issues with multiple operating systems:

Traditionally, in IBM PC compatible systems the first sector of the disk holds the Master Boot Record (MBR), containing the drive's partitioning information and the code of the first stage boot loader for BIOS-based systems. For limited backward compatibility, this sector is still reserved for a MBR in the GPT specification, but it is now used in a way that prevents MBR-based disk utilities from misrecognizing and possibly overwriting GPT disks. This is referred to as a protective MBR.

See the GPT diagram on that Wikipedia page if a visual representation might be helpful. Android x86 can be installed in both MBR and GPT UEFI environments, so just be sure to look into any differences in your environment from any instructions you may be referencing. I'll link you to these for now... there are resources, files, and steps that may be of some help depending on what you'd like your final setup to be.

[GUIDE] Installing android x86 without CD or… | Android | XDA Forum
[android-x86] Problem while booting pc [android x86 boot error 15] - Grokbase
linux - Remove GPT - Default back to MBR - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange

This link also has succinct information on managing, backing up, and restoring MBR tables:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Master_Boot_Record

 

[surferking]

Thank you very much for information. I have a great deal to learn on this topic!