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I am using the hello android tutorial and creating an avd through eclipse. When starting the emulator no image is used. It simply displays a black back screen with the word ANDROID in the center and a blinking cursor at the end of the word ANDROID. I have followed the steps to the T for installing the SDK, Eclipse, and the ADT. Even starting the emulator as a standalone produces the same result. Is there a step I am missing to get the emulator to load an android environment to test in?

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What platform and CPU are you using (just curious). –  Secko Sep 28 '12 at 15:29

1 Answer 1

How long are you leaving it before you close the emulator? In my personal experience I have found the emulator to take quite a long time (Even up to a minute, sometimes longer) to fully boot up to the home screen.

I'd advise waiting a little bit longer just to make sure you're not closing it before it loads.


Also have you tried looking at the log to the bottom of Eclipse? If for some reason there is a problem in fully loading the emulator there may be some sort of error message posted there to keep you informed.

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That did it. Took about 1 minute and 28 seconds for it to load. Silly me thinking that something that was tied to the development IDE would be instantaneous. So used to visual studio. Thank you for the help. –  Josh Aug 22 '10 at 19:37
No problem! I've been in the same situation and it's a bit annoying having to wait for so long. I use my own android handset instead to speed things up a bit. Don't forget to hit the "tick" on the answer for other people to see it as the answer. –  Jamie Keeling Aug 22 '10 at 19:45
Another good idea is just to start the emulator when you begin coding and then just leave it on until you are done working for the day. Saves a lot of time over restarting it every time you want to test. –  Andrew Guenther Aug 22 '10 at 20:11
Why isn't this accepted? –  Secko Sep 28 '12 at 15:28

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