Unable to launch Surface Duo emulator in Windows 11

[samurai2083]

Here's my environment(s):

Surface Book 2 running Windows 11

Surface Book 3 running Windows 10

I have the Surface Duo emulator installed on both systems. On Surface Book 3 the emulator starts fine. On Surface Book 2, I can't launch the emulator (the taskbar slightly opens as if an app is launching but then quickly closes). 

I don't know enough to be able to figure out this issue. I've scoured the web looking for an answer but can't find one. 

Possible related issue:

I will eventually use this emulator in Visual Studio. On my Surface Book 3, I can run my android project / debug it from Visual Studio using the Surface Duo emulator. On the Surface Book 2, I can't even start an android emulator for the same project. I've found numerous complaints on running Android emulators in Windows 11, but I'm not sure it relates to the Surface Duo emulator (I figure if I can get the Surface Duo emulator issue worked out, it might fix the android emulator issue in general). I've tried all the various suggestions on fixing the android issue (disabling Hyper-V, updating android emulator to version 31.2, etc), but nothing is working. 

Can someone here suggest another way to get this emulator working in Windows 11?

[#2]

Hi @samurai2083,

sad to hear! Could you please check the versions of your JDKs, emulator versions, Android versions, etc.?

Are you able to build the project add all (but just not able to run it?)

I had the same problem as I had Visual Studio with the Xamarin extension installed besides Android Studio. I was not able to run any Android app.

To be fair, I had no idea how to fix it - but hopefully someone will help this time out.

[#3]

Hello @samurai2083,
Thank you for using our Surface Duo Emulator and reporting the issue.

From the information you provided I cannot figure out what exactly is root cause,
but I can provide some documentation for you to follow then report back with other
information in case things are not fixed.
The way you are describing the emulator on the Surface Book 2, "the taskbar slightly opens as if an app is launching but then quickly closes" sound like the command prompt in which emulator is executed but fails, it could happen for a number of reasons: misconfigured Android SDK or hardware acceleration.
You can try to follow our installation instructions here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dual-screen/android/emulator/surface-duo-download?tabs=windows
Pay attention to the Android SDK installation, if it's in the default path or a custom one.
Then check the hardware acceleration guide for Windows here: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-acceleration#vm-windows

For debugging I would need to know the specific emulator version [SurfaceDuoEmulator_Android11_<VERSION>_windows.exe] you downloaded from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100847
Then, specify which Android SDK you are using, from Android Studio or Visual Studio, which versions and the specific paths where you installed them.
Specify if you configured the related Environment Variables or updated the pointer to the Android SDK.
In order to see the execution logs, don't start the emulator from the Desktop of Start Menu shortcuts, but instead open a Command Prompt, navigate to the directory where you installed the Surface Duo Emulator and execute the script called "run_SurfaceDuo2.bat". This way the prompt won't close in case of error, and you can copy and paste the logs.

Please let us know if any of the steps above fixed the issue, or if you have other questions.
Thank you!

[#4]

Thank you for responding. I don't have answers to all your questions, but a few.

Not sure where to get the JDK version, but the Surface Duo emulator should be the latest (downloaded and installed a few days ago).

I am able to build the project just fine, but whenever I try to launch it in an emulator the emulator just closes. To be more specific, I'm trying to debug the project in an Android emulator, any Android emulator, and those emulators simply disappear.

[#5]

I appreciate your response. Before I go into all your suggestions, let me describe a few more things.

Since my post, I uninstalled all Android emulation software (Android studio, emulators from the visual studio installer), and uninstalled Xamarin completely. I also uninstalled all the Surface Duo emulators as well. After a reboot and checking for any updates, I went ahead and did a fresh install of Xamarin and the latest android emulator packages through visual studio installer.

I loaded my project in Visual Studio 2022 and tried to debug it with the default android emulator that was created. I still get all the same issues (the android emulator loads the skin, but then the whole emulator disappears).

So I believe this is first an android emulator issue. I think I need to fix this before moving on to installing/running the Surface Duo emulators.

With this being said, I'll look over your above comments and suggestions to see if anything there could fix the android emulator issue, but barring that, do you have any suggestions on how I can resolve the android emulator not working?

Here are the specs and details that you may need:
Windows 11 Pro (Version 21H2, Build 22000.613)
Visual Studio 2022 (17.1.5)
Xamarin 17.1.0.329 (d17-1@bc74cf0)
Xamarin.Android SDK 12.2.4.3 (d17-1/fc1125e)

[#6]

Thanks for your detailed post.
Just one last question you maybe told us already - or what I witnessed it earlier the year.

I could not use the VS Android emulator with Android Studio and vice versa. But I guess you already sorted it out.

Did you check the emulator's log? (https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/26449/does-the-android-emulator-generate-some-sort-of-lo...)