Fixed Docker/Podman/LXC on Droidspaces containers when running on older kernels!! 🥳

No seccomp shield needed from now on..! 😇

Droidspaces v5.6.0 has been released!

https://github.com/ravindu644/Droidspaces-OSS/releases/tag/v5.6.0

Note: After installing this release, if you are using an old kernel like 4.14.113 (this issue is specific to this kernel version), and systemd appears to hang, systemctl commands do not work, or your phone becomes unresponsive, you are affected by the grab_super() VFS deadlock bug.

Strangely, this issue does not occur on 4.9 kernels and only manifests on 4.14.113, which affects most devices, particularly Samsung devices released between 2019 and 2020.

Previously, to fix this, all clone() and unshare() syscalls had to be blocked to prevent systemd from creating sandboxes, which resolved the deadlock and allowed systemd to boot. However, this came at the cost of losing the ability to run Docker, Podman, or LXC inside a Droidspaces container on any kernel below 5.x.

In this release, that hard-coded block has been completely removed. Users can now enable the "Deadlock Shield" only if needed, directly from the container configuration menu.

As a result, users already running an upstream kernel such as 4.14.356 can now run Docker inside Droidspaces, while affected users can still enable the Deadlock Shield manually.

Also, this release focuses on fixing critical vulnerabilities in the project related to common exploits, further hardening security, and fixing a critical security hole where a device's block devices were exposed under /sys/block, even in non `--hw-access` mode.

If you are from Reddit and wondering how my S10 Jellyfin server performs,this is how:

As you can see, I'm constantly pulling heavy FLACs from the server in real-time.

Most of the FLACs are larger than 50MB.

During this testing,the CPU stays below 20%,with idle usage around 9-10%.

Temperatures stayed the same,all below 40C.Even my room temp is ~34C rn.

So,this is a huge win for me.

This setup is very efficient for streaming my music :)

Also,Android didn't kill the server.It's up and running for 8 hours according to uptime.Also,during previous testing,it held up to 2 days until my manual reboots.

Added a guide to fix the Wi-Fi power-saving issue on Android devices, which makes the networking experience sluggish when the device’s screen is turned off:

https://github.com/ravindu644/Droidspaces-OSS/blob/main/Documentation/Troubleshooting.md#wi-fi-power-save-on-causing-sluggish-networking-on-android

Testing... Please report any issues if they happen related to the terminal/IPv6

Since no one is dropping a single screenshot, I assume the build is stable 😅

How can I tell if this has bugs in some whacky setup? You guys need to test it.

Even if it doesn’t have any bugs, you still need to report to me

Since the project is popular now, I can’t release updates every day without testing like a madman :D

Thanks for understanding the situation :)

Here's a test APK:

What's added:

- Static IPv4 support in NAT mode - fully configurable via the container config menu
- Ability to resize the sparse image
- Ability to migrate from a directory-based container to a rootfs.img-based container
- Added a help card to the home page

If you find any issues, please let us know in the discussion group.

If Droidspaces doesn't work for you, it falls into two categories.

01. Your kernel version

- If you have a legacy kernel, probably 4.19 or older, you fall into this category.

- As I clearly stated in multiple places in my README, you cannot run modern systemd like v258 on these kernels. They fail to boot, every systemctl command hangs, and everything will be broken. Even LXC cannot boot them. There is no fix for this.

If you wonder why, modern systemd requires modern syscalls, which older kernels often lack. So, if you run foreground mode with the -f flag, you will see thousands of "function not implemented" errors.

What to try on these kernels?

You can try anything below systemd v258, or any distro with a different init system like OpenRC, runit, s6, etc.

My picks: Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04, 25.04, 25.10; Alpine 3.23; Gentoo OpenRC flavor.

Notes: Especially in Kernel 4.14.113, which the Galaxy S10 uses by default, you cannot boot any systemd-based distros without enabling the "Deadlock Shield". This is a kernel bug that causes the entire systemd and host to become unresponsive when booting a container.

Symptoms: Systemd hangs, even in older distros. The entire host becomes unresponsive. You cannot reboot or power off your device.

Solution: Either enable Deadlock Shield or use an upstreamed kernel like 4.14.356.

02. Your rooting solution

- As I clearly stated in the official documentation, Droidspaces on Magisk or Apatch is highly unstable. You will face weird issues with these solutions.

More info:
https://github.com/ravindu644/Droidspaces-OSS/issues/11#issuecomment-4036688816

Droidspaces requires a custom kernel anyway. Why can't anyone switch to KernelSU when compiling their kernels?

Test APK from the latest CI.

Fixes strange DHCP issues on Void Linux and Devuan Linux, resolves runit boot failures, and other related problems.

Please test it and let us know if you cannot access the Internet in the container when using NAT mode.