Android emulators are not working on macOS Big Sur 11.3+

Question

I have upgraded the mac OS to Big Sur and none of the emulators are working. It seems that all Android emulators Fails on Mac OS Big Sur Beta. I deleted the old emulators and created new ones with different HW/SW, unsuccessfully. Introduced the following issues in the android emulator.

1. ffffffffb69b4dbb: unhandled exit 1d
2. Emulator Engine Failed
3. adb Device Offline

https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/165038831

Does anyone have a solution?

EDIT 27.04.2021

~/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/emulator -gpu host -read-only -feature HVF -avd Pixel_4_API_29
emulator: Android emulator version 30.5.5.0 (build_id 7285888) (CL:N/A)
handleCpuAcceleration: feature check for hvf
cannot add library /Users/dunatv/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64/lib64/vulkan/libvulkan.dylib: failed
added library /Users/dunatv/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/lib64/vulkan/libvulkan.dylib
cannot add library /Users/dunatv/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64/lib64/vulkan/libMoltenVK.dylib: failed
HVF error: HV_ERROR
qemu-system-x86_64: failed to initialize HVF: Invalid argument
HAX is working and emulator runs in fast virt mode.
qemu-system-x86_64: Back to HAX accelerator
added library /Users/dunatv/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/lib64/vulkan/libMoltenVK.dylib
emulator: INFO: GrpcServices.cpp:301: Started GRPC server at 127.0.0.1:8554, security: Local

UPDATE: 11 Aug 2021

Currently the Emulators and Arctic Fox are working. Tested on Big Sur 11.5.1

Answer 1

Spent a whole day trying out different methods, including downloading qemu. Finally...went into Android SDK> SDK tools > updated everything, made sure HAXM installer is installed and ticked. Worked!

Answer 2

Adding proper ANDROID_AVD_HOME helps somehow. You can add export ANDROID_AVD_HOME=$HOME/.android/avd to ~/.bash_profile

Answer 3

I had the same problem, just update your android studio and all your sdk tools to the latest version and everything will work just fine.

Answer 4

1. Go to /Users/<your user>/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/qemu/
2. Inside this file you will see files. If the names of those files contain the number 64 then:
3. Create virtual device with image arm64-v8a + API LEVEL= S

After those steps emulator should be opened.

Answer 5

invalidate caches / restart and re-create the image, seems like some behind-the-curtains configuration is not forward-compatible.

Answer 6

Update: this should now be fixed by version 30.5.6 of the Android emulator in the stable channel.

However, if you are now experiencing issues after updating to the latest version of the Android Emulator you can fix this by removing and then adding back the Android Emulator from the SDK Manager.

Tools > SDK Manager > SDK Tools
Uncheck Android Emulator and hit apply.
Check Android Emulator and hit apply.

---

Original answer:

This worked for me https://www.arthurkoziel.com/qemu-on-macos-big-sur

Essentially, create an XML file called entitlements.xml with the following contents:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>com.apple.security.hypervisor</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Copy the XML file to ~/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64

Then run the following commands in terminal:

codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-aarch64
codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-aarch64-headless 
codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-armel
codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-armel-headless 
codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-i386
codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-i386-headless 
codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-x86_64
codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-x86_64-headless 

Answer 7

As mentionned by @Demirezen, for the time being, it is a code signing issue see details here. Either code signing by yourself or using emulator 30.6.4 from canary build solves the problem.

Answer 8

Steps to fix the issue:

1.Open Terminal and go to the directory /Users/<username>/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64/

2.Create an xml file named entitlements.xml with touch or cat commands

3.Add this content to the entitlements.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>com.apple.security.hypervisor</key>
    <true/>
  </dict>
</plist>

4.Then simply sign the qemu-system-x86_64 with it:

codesign -s - --entitlements entitlements.xml --force qemu-system-x86_64

5.Now simply restart Android Studio and the Android Emulator should work again!

Answer 9

Seems to work with emulator 30.2.6 (latest in beta channel at this moment) Although there was a problem with a lockfile that prevented the emu from launching.

Here's what brought everything back to normal:

1. Wiping data of all AVDs (not sure if this is required)
2. Looking through every ~/.android/avd/*.avd/ folder and removing the hardware-qemu.ini.lock file if present.

Answer 10

Running the emulator like this:

~/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/emulator -wipe-data @Pixel_3a_API_30

Fixed it for me.

Answer 11

After last BigSur beta update (11.0 Beta (20A5395g)), Android Studio keeps shuting down. UI is not responding if I open any subwindow...

Never more beta

Answer 12

Update, 10-1-2020

The Android Emulator team has pushed 30.1.5 which fixes this issue in stable. The dev build, 30.2.0 does not contain this fix. It should be available "soon" according to the Googler's working on this.

Another note, if you experience poor performance in your emulator you may wish to try using the host's GPU for rendering. This can be accomplished by running the following command in your terminal where -avd is the name of your emulator device with spaces turned to underscores.

~/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/emulator -gpu host -feature HVF -avd pixel_3a_api_29

Old information, kept for educational value:

This is the reference to the commit fixing this issue for Big Sur. This looks like it should be released in the emulator 30.1.5 (see log https://android.googlesource.com/platform/external/qemu/+log/refs/heads/emu-30-release) which should be in the next canary build.

If you can't wait, you should be able to build off that branch. Lightly tested guide heavily pulling from the readme of the repo:

# Get the google repo tool - you can skip if you already have it
curl http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/git-repo-downloads/repo > /usr/local/bin/repo && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/repo

# Get the code, will take some time. Probably best to go get a coffee here or run on a server if you have poor internet
mkdir -p $HOME/emu-master-dev && cd $HOME/emu-master-dev
repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest -b emu-master-dev
repo sync -j8

# Get XCode 10.1 - required
https://download.developer.apple.com/Developer_Tools/Xcode_10.1/Xcode_10.1.xip
sudo xcodebuild -license accept &&
sudo xcode-select --install

# Get MacOS 10.13 SDK which is required
export XCODE_PATH=$(xcode-select -print-path 2>/dev/null)
git clone https://github.com/phracker/MacOSX-SDKs
cp -r MacOSX-SDKs/MacOSX10.13.sdk/ "$XCODE_PATH/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs"

# Build the emulator, which will be another coffee break...
cd external/qemu && android/rebuild.sh

# run it :)
./objs/emulator -list-avds

Answer 13

After trying many of the answers / comments on SO, found this workaround to work and be reproducible:

1. Setup a new AVD

I used Pixel 3 & 3a, API 30, default options

2. Launch the AVD using the emulator CLI

$ ~/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/emulator @Pixel_3a_API_30

You'll see the infamous ...unhandled exit 1d

3. Cancel the command with ⌃ + c or press the x on the emulator sidebar

You should see a spinner about Saving State...

4. Run the emulator again (step 2), this time it should show:
   

5. Click DISMISS (or wait) and the emulator should boot into Android

Note: Starting the same AVD from Android Studio / AVD Manager GUI will still run into this exception, so when you need it - start the emulator like in step 2.

Answer 14

My solution is wiping data from Android studio AVD, then start it again and again until it is successfully launched, using ./emulator @Pixel_3a_API_29 command.