android - Xamarin with Visual Studio not detecting CPU/ABI system image for emulator, even though system images are installed

Question

I'm using Xamarin with Visual studio 2017 and I'm having a lot of trouble getting an emulator to work with API version 25.

I have the system images installed, but the Emulator Manager does not detect them for setting up an AVD.

Here's some screenshots: Android SDK Screenshot, all images are installed

Android Emulator Manager Screenshot, cannot detect CPU/ABI system image

I've tried reinstalling visual studio and xamarin, reinstalling the sdks, repairing visual studio, reinstalling everything again, etc. What do?

Answer 1

@Jon Douglas already given the answer, I just post a more detailed answer in order to help people who has the same problem.

Xamarin with Visual Studio not detecting CPU/ABI system image for emulator, even though system images are installed

As Jon Douglas said, it would be best to upgrade to the latest tools as Google recently deprecated these old GUI programs. Here are two solutions to solve your problem.

Solution 1 :

I would recommend you try installing Android Studio, and you can share the already installed Android SDK so it will not download again.

• 1. Install Android Studio, the Official IDE for Android.
• 2. Create a blank project and open it.
• 3. Change Android SDK Path.
     • a. Go to File -> Project Structure
     • b. Change the SDK location to your Visual Studio SDK Location
       • I. Default Xamarin Android SDK Location is C:Program Files (x86)Androidandroid-sdk, you could find it in VS : Tools -> Options -> Xamarin -> Android Settings
       • II. There is a problem when you change the SDK Location: cannot contain whitespace. You could open CMD as Administrator and type: mklink /J C:Program-Files-(x86) "C:Program Files (x86)", like this.
       • III. Then you could change the SDK Location, effect.
• 4. In Android Studio, go to: Tools -> Android -> AVD Manager -> Create Virtual Device, see if it works to create a virtual device with system images you have installed.

Solution 2 :

Try using the new AVD Manager: Xamarin Android Device Manager.

• 1. Installing the Device Manager.
• 2. Launching the Device Manager
• 3. Then when you use this Xamarin Android Device Manager to create a new device, you should be able to find the system images you have installed.

Update:

What tools in particular?

I mean the latest version of Xamarin Android Device Manager.

As of Android SDK Tools version 26.0.1, Google has removed support for their UI-based AVD and SDK managers in favor of their new CLI (Command Line Interface) tools.

Because of this change, you must use the Xamarin SDK Manager and Xamarin Android Device Manager when you update to Android SDK Tools 26.0.1 and later (which is required for Android 8.0 Oreo development).