Visual studio (2015) emulator for android not working - XDE.exe - Exit Code 3

Question

I have created a new Blank App (Xamarin.Forms Portable) project in Visual Studio 2015.

When I try to run Droid project in Visual Studio Emulator for Android, I just get a generic error message:

An error occured while creating 'VS Emulator 5" KitKat (4.4) XXHDPI Phone' device.

So I looked into Tools->Visual Studio Emulator for Android, and tried to run emulator manually. After a while it fails and log says:

24.7.2015 16:22:52: [Informational] Reinitializing installed profiles.

24.7.2015 16:22:52: [Informational] Installed profiles initialized. Devices: 2 Platforms: 1

24.7.2015 16:22:52: [Informational] Reinitializing installable profiles.

24.7.2015 16:22:52: [Informational] Installable profiles initialized. Devices: 30 Platforms: 4

24.7.2015 16:22:56: [Informational] Waiting to launch device...

24.7.2015 16:22:56: [Informational] Launching Device: 5" KitKat (4.4) XXHDPI Phone

24.7.2015 16:22:56: [Informational] Validating emulator arguments...

24.7.2015 16:22:56: [Informational] Determining if emulator is already running...

24.7.2015 16:22:56: [Informational] Preparing virtual machine...

24.7.2015 16:22:58: [Critical] An error occured while creating 'VS Emulator 5" KitKat (4.4) XXHDPI Phone' device.

24.7.2015 16:22:58: [Critical] XDE Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft XDE\10.0.10240.0\xde.exe

24.7.2015 16:22:58: [Critical] XDE Arguments: /sku Android /displayName "VS Emulator 5\" KitKat (4.4) XXHDPI Phone" /memSize 2048 /diagonalSize 5 /video "1080x1920" /vhd "C:\Users\lacike\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudioEmulator\Android\Containers\Local\Devices\vhd\5_KitKat_(4.4)_XXHDPI_Phone\image.vhd" /name "VS Emulator 5-inch KitKat (4.4) XXHDPI Phone.lacike" /noStart /silent

24.7.2015 16:22:58: [Critical] XDE Exit Code: 3

However when I run WinPhone project in Windows Phone emulator, it works. It uses XDE.exe like Android Emulator, so Hyper-V network is working.

Any ideas?

UPDATE:

When I tried to install a new device profile, I run to this same issue:

Visual Studio 2015 RC Emulator for Android doesn't start

The process is stuck on "Copying .vhd files and creating virtual machine".

UPDATE 2:

When I open a command prompt and then run xde.exe with following xde arguments:

xde.exe /sku Android /displayName "VS Emulator 5\" KitKat (4.4) XXHDPI Phone" /memSize 2048 /diagonalSize 5 /video "1080x1920" /vhd "C:\Users\lacike\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudioEmulator\Android\Containers\Local\Devices\vhd\5_KitKat_(4.4)_XXHDPI_Phone\image.vhd" /name "VS Emulator 5-inch KitKat (4.4) XXHDPI Phone.lacike

I get following error:

Answer 1

After hours and hours of research, and applying following steps I finally get it working:

1) Repair Android SDK - go to Programs and Features > Microsoft Visual Studio Emulator for Android > Change and hit "Repair"

2) Remove All Hyper-V virtual switches - go to Hyper-V > Virtual switch manager > Remove all virtual switches

3) Run XdeCleanup.exe - In my case: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft XDE\10.0.10240.0"

4) In my case I had configured Internet connection sharing on Ethernet adapter before so I had to disable it

Answer 2

Usually, the System.ServiceModel.ServiceHost error means there is some residue from a botched installation.

First, go to Task Manager and kill any running XDE processes. If that doesn't fix it, go to Programs and Features > Microsoft Visual Studio Emulator for Android > Change and hit "Repair"