Android AVD won't start

Issue

When I try to start an AVD from the android tool, all I see is just a big black screen with "ANDROID" written on it. Nothing happens. What could be the problem?

Solution

If you want to know if the AVD emulator is hanging or just taking it's sweet time, then look at the Console and LogCat views in Eclipse. When your app is up in the emulator you should see lines in LogCat that says

04-04 16:49:51.475: INFO/ActivityManager(58): Displayed activity Your_packagename/.Your_App Name: 1191 ms (total 30764 ms)
04-04 16:49:51.475: INFO/ActivityManager(58): Displayed activity com.android.launcher/com.android.launcher2.Launcher: 30766 ms (total 30766 ms)

And the Console will generally say

[2011-04-04 16:48:58 - YourApp] ------------------------------
[2011-04-04 16:48:58 - YourApp] Android Launch!
[2011-04-04 16:48:58 - YourApp] adb is running normally.
[2011-04-04 16:48:58 - YourApp] Performing your application here activity launch
[2011-04-04 16:48:58 - YourApp] Automatic Target Mode: launching new emulator with compatible AVD 'AVD_2.2_L8'
[2011-04-04 16:48:58 - YourApp] Launching a new emulator with Virtual Device 'AVD_2.2_L8'
[2011-04-04 16:48:59 - YourApp] New emulator found: emulator-5554
[2011-04-04 16:48:59 - YourApp] Waiting for HOME ('android.process.acore') to be launched...
[2011-04-04 16:49:20 - YourApp] HOME is up on device 'emulator-5554'
[2011-04-04 16:49:20 - YourApp] Uploading YourApp.apk onto device 'emulator-5554'
[2011-04-04 16:49:20 - YourApp] Installing YourApp.apk...
[2011-04-04 16:49:48 - YourApp] Success!
[2011-04-04 16:49:48 - YourApp] Starting activity your_application on device emulator-5554
[2011-04-04 16:49:50 - YourApp] ActivityManager: Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] cmp=your_package/.your_app }

If you don't get to the end of these statements in their respective consoles in a minute or so, then your emulator has probably frozen.

Answered By - angryITguy