Xamarin Android Player is unable to run API 21 or higher emulators

Question

I'm using Xamarin Studio and Xamarin Android Player on my windows 10 PC.

I'm having trouble starting Lollipop/Marshmallow (API 21/23) devices using the XAP, but on the other hand, launching Kitkat (API 19) works prefectly.

I've downloaded the required android SDK, tried reinstalling everything again and again but nothing works.

It seems wired, because it is not a problem with Virtual Box, nor with my PC or my XAP installation (if it was, than why Kitkat works?).

I've tried every solution I could possibly find, but nothing works.

Any ideas on what could cause this problem?( If further information is required, I will be happy to add :)

EDIT

It does not matter whether I start the devices through VS/XS/XAP. It all comes down to the same problem, but for the sake of simplicity, let's say I'm running them directly through XAP. Here is a screen shot of what happens when I launch Lollipop (which is API 22, and not 21, for a strange reason) :

For like 5 minutes, the following occur:

Than, forever:

And after a few hours it says booting or something like that, and than restarts to the first position.

With Kitkat, it just starts :).

Answer 1

you probably missed the intel HAXM update.. may be a possible duplicate: Android 5.0 (API Level 21) AVD not launching Intel Atom x86_64

Answer 2

First off, it's difficult to determine the problem without more information. Please list or screenshot the build error(s) you receive when you try to debug your app on a XAP emulator.

But on a hunch... within the past week, I had a problem with similar symptoms. In my case, I had to update project packages in order for my Xamarin Forms project to run on the higher Android APIs.

Reference on how to update packages: https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/application_fundamentals/nuget_walkthrough/#Package_Updates

Answer 3

It might be that hyper-v is causing the problem: "VirtualBox and Hyper-V cannot co-exist on the same machine".

Try to disable it using bcedit as explained in the link. For further reference, see this discussion

Answer 4

After launching xamarin android player, manually launch virtual box. You should see the device listed on the left. There is a good chance it will say "stalled." If it says anything other than "Running," try reseting it or starting it.