Just updated to Android Studio 4.2.1 on Mac and now emulator no longer works

Question

I just updated Android Studio to its latest version 4.2.1 and the emulator stopped working. Every time I try to launch a new virtual device it crashes and AVD Manager shows me this error:

"The emulator process for AVD Pixel_C_API_30 was killed"

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. Cold boot restart.

2. Deleted and recreated the virtual device inside AVD manager.

3. Removed and re-installed the emulator SDK package (version 30.7.4)

4. Quit and restarted Android Studio as well as the emulator.

5. Created a new virtual device from scratch.

6. Tried several different virtual devices.

All of the above gives me the same exact result: the emulator crashes and AVD manager shows me the error above.

And here is the error I get from MacOS (just the an excerpt of it):

Process:               qemu-system-x86_64 [25489]
Path:                  /Applications/AndroidSDK/*/qemu-system-x86_64
Identifier:            qemu-system-x86_64
Version:               0
Code Type:             X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:        studio [24338]
Responsible:           studio [24338]
User ID:               503

Date/Time:             2021-06-23 15:10:43.330 -0700
OS Version:            Mac OS X 10.15.6 (19G2021)
Report Version:        12
Anonymous UUID:        CA586B3B-F518-2387-5DB1-1CA2D33288CD


Time Awake Since Boot: 33000 seconds

System Integrity Protection: disabled

Crashed Thread:        17

Exception Type:        EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Reason:    DYLD, [0x4] Symbol missing

Dyld Error Message:
  Symbol not found: _preadv
  Referenced from: /Applications/AndroidSDK/*/qemu-system-x86_64
  Expected in: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib

Thread 0:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x00007fff713f7dfa mach_msg_trap + 10
[...]

External Modification Summary:
  Calls made by other processes targeting this process:
    task_for_pid: 0
    thread_create: 0
    thread_set_state: 0
  Calls made by this process:
    task_for_pid: 0
    thread_create: 0
    thread_set_state: 0
  Calls made by all processes on this machine:
    task_for_pid: 37606
    thread_create: 0
    thread_set_state: 2070

VM Region Summary:
ReadOnly portion of Libraries: Total=977.4M resident=0K(0%) swapped_out_or_unallocated=977.4M(100%)
Writable regions: Total=2.0G written=0K(0%) resident=0K(0%) swapped_out=0K(0%) unallocated=2.0G(100%)
 
                                VIRTUAL   REGION 
REGION TYPE                        SIZE    COUNT (non-coalesced) 
===========                     =======  ======= 
Accelerate framework               128K        1 
Activity Tracing                   256K        1 
CG backing stores                  440K        2 
CG image                            68K        1 
CoreAnimation                     5396K        5 
CoreGraphics                         8K        1 
CoreImage                            8K        2 
CoreServices                      11.4M        2 
Dispatch continuations            48.0M        1 
Foundation                           4K        1 
IOKit                              128K        2 
Kernel Alloc Once                    8K        1 
MALLOC                           468.8M       94 
MALLOC guard page                   48K        9 
MALLOC_LARGE (reserved)           9000K        1         reserved VM address space (unallocated)
MALLOC_MEDIUM (reserved)           1.3G       12         reserved VM address space (unallocated)
OpenGL GLSL                        256K        3 
PROTECTED_MEMORY                     4K        1 
STACK GUARD                       56.1M       36 
Stack                             25.8M       39 
VM_ALLOCATE                       53.8M      144 
__DATA                            64.9M      418 
__DATA_CONST                        76K        2 
__FONT_DATA                          4K        1 
__GLSLBUILTINS                    5176K        1 
__LINKEDIT                       530.2M       48 
__OBJC_RO                         32.3M        1 
__OBJC_RW                         1908K        2 
__TEXT                           447.3M      401 
__UNICODE                          564K        1 
mapped file                        2.1G       21 
shared memory                      640K       15 
===========                     =======  ======= 
TOTAL                              5.1G     1270 
TOTAL, minus reserved VM space     3.8G     1270 

Model: MacPro5,1, BootROM 141.0.0.0.0, 12 processors, 6-Core Intel Xeon, 3.33 GHz, 48 GB, SMC 1.39f5
Graphics: kHW_AMDRadeonRX580Item, Radeon RX 580, spdisplays_pcie_device, 8 GB
Memory Module: DIMM 1, 8 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1333 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393342314B37304248312D4348392020
Memory Module: DIMM 2, 8 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1333 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393342314B37304248312D4348392020
Memory Module: DIMM 3, 8 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1333 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393342314B37304248312D4348392020
Memory Module: DIMM 5, 8 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1333 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393342314B37304248312D4348392020
Memory Module: DIMM 6, 8 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1333 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393342314B37304248312D4348392020
Memory Module: DIMM 7, 8 GB, DDR3 ECC, 1333 MHz, 0x80CE, 0x4D33393342314B37304248312D4348392020
Bluetooth: Version 7.0.6f7, 3 services, 27 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Ethernet 1, Ethernet, en0
PCI Card: Radeon RX 580, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
PCI Card: pci8086,f1a8, sppci_nvme, Slot-2
PCI Card: pci1002,aaf0, sppci_audiodevice, Slot-1
PCI Card: pci144d,a808, sppci_nvme, Slot-4
PCI Card: PXS3, sppci_usbxhci, Slot-3
Serial ATA Device: HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH41N
Serial ATA Device: HL-DT-ST BD-RE  WH16NS40
Serial ATA Device: ST4000DM004-2CV104, 4 TB
Serial ATA Device: ST3000DM001-1ER166, 3 TB
Serial ATA Device: ST4000DM004-2CV104, 4 TB
Serial ATA Device: WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0, 1 TB
USB Device: USB 3.0 Bus
USB Device: USB3.1 Hub
USB Device: USB3.1 Hub
USB Device: USB2.1 Hub
USB Device: ProtectExecuter
USB Device: Hub
USB Device: USB2.1 Hub
USB Device: USB Audio Device
USB Device: USB 2.0 Bus
USB Device: Hub
USB Device: Apple Cinema HD Display
USB Device: USB 2.0 Bus
USB Device: Keyboard Hub
USB Device: Macally BUMPERMOUSE
USB Device: Apple Keyboard
USB Device: USB Bus
USB Device: Logitech USB Headset
USB Device: USB Bus
USB Device: USB Bus
USB Device: USB Bus
USB Device: USB Bus
USB Device: USB Bus
USB Device: BRCM2046 Hub
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller
FireWire Device: built-in_hub, Up to 800 Mb/sec
FireWire Device: unknown_device, Unknown
FireWire Device: unknown_device, Unknown
Thunderbolt Bus: 

Any ideas? I am on MacOS 10.15.6, Android Studio version 4.2.1, Runtime version: 11.0.8+10-b944.6916264 x86_64

Update: I tried to launch it from the terminal like this:

./emulator -avd Pixel_C_API_30

And I got the following output right before its crash:

emulator: Android emulator version 30.7.4.0 (build_id 7453540) (CL:N/A)
handleCpuAcceleration: feature check for hvf
cannot add library /Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64/lib64/vulkan/libvulkan.dylib: failed
added library /Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/emulator/lib64/vulkan/libvulkan.dylib
cannot add library /Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64/lib64/vulkan/libMoltenVK.dylib: failed
added library /Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/emulator/lib64/vulkan/libMoltenVK.dylib
emulator: INFO: GrpcServices.cpp:315: Started GRPC server at 127.0.0.1:8554, security: Local
emulator: INFO: EmulatorAdvertisement.cpp:93: Advertising in: /Volumes/DocumentsNew/Users/fabrizio/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/avd/running/pid_2344.ini
dyld: lazy symbol binding failed: Symbol not found: _pwritev
  Referenced from: /Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64/qemu-system-x86_64
  Expected in: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib

dyld: Symbol not found: _pwritev
  Referenced from: /Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/emulator/qemu/darwin-x86_64/qemu-system-x86_64
  Expected in: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib

Abort

Needlepoint

Did you find any solution for this ? – Ruppert

@RajeevJayaswal Try to downgrade your emulator version to fix this issue; Its resolved for me. – Silicium

I ran into this same issue today. Reinstalling the emulator in Android Studio solved it. – Orji

After upgrading to Emulator 30.9.5 on High Sierra I was unable to start any of my emulators/AVDs. I tried a number of things but ultimately, I had to upgrade all the way to Catalina before the required version of vmnet was on the system. Once I did that, things worked. If you can't upgrade to Catalina, I would recommend downgrading your Emulator to an older version and staying there. One thing that I hate is that there are is no change-log or release notes for some/most of the emulator versions. Ridiculous. – Nansen

Answer 1

All of the answers are too confusing to follow. Replace SDK or upgrade OS. The quickest way I found is to:

Tools > SDK Manager > SDK Tools

De-select Android Emulator, then click Apply. - The Android Emulator will be deleted.

Now, by default the Emulator version shown will be 30.6.5. Select the checkbox and click apply. This version of emulator will be installed.

That is it, just 2 minutes of you time.

Update: 1 Jul 2021 Issue solved with latest Emulator version 30.7.5

Sauropod

You the real MVP. I was having this problem on Mojave and this fixed it. Thanks! – Glick

Thanks! Reinstalling the Android Emulator via android sdk settings solve this error – Chirk

Best Answer! Working like a charm – Counterpoint

Yes, best answer. Thank you very much. – Needlepoint

Nice job. It's July 1st, 2021 and this fixed it for me. Oddly, I just upgraded to 30.7.5 when this problem started occurring. However, uninstalling and then reinstalling 30.7.5 of the emulator from SDK Tools seemed to have fixed it. Thanks again for your timely answer and update! – Nansen

I use Emulator v30.7.5, and it have bugs still "The emulator process for AVD Pixel_5_API_30 has terminated." – Gnome

i installed the latest v30.7.5 update using sdk manager but when i run emulator it still create device with old version, i deleted my devices and created new still they boot on older version while my SDK shows 3.7.5 :( any help :( – Torrez

updating Android Studio to 4.2 and emulator stopped working. did everything available on internet. nothing is working. – Nautilus

UPDATE: I have updated to the latest Android studio version and now the new emulator works again. – Needlepoint

I installed the latest version Emulator v30.7.5 using SDK manager. The same issue happens to me I tried many ways but not working. Anyone can help me? – Dicast

Answer 2

I've had the same exact error. It's caused by Android Emulator 30.7.4 in combination with macOS Catalina. You can track the issue here

• https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/191799887
• https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/191805460

The work around that worked for me was upgrading to Big Sur.

Moonraker

Thank you for your reply. That's funny though because it was working fine until I updated Android Studio. Anyway, I'll have to downgrade it. Thanks again. – Needlepoint

Ok, the only list I could find is this mirror: mirrors.cloud.tencent.com/AndroidSDK download the version just before the latest one (30.7.3.0) and works fine. Thank you guys! – Needlepoint

Answer 3

I manually reverted to 30.6.5 and it works back again.

Keffer

Thank you for your reply. Where can I download that version? Can you help me? – Needlepoint

Ok, the only list I could find is this mirror: mirrors.cloud.tencent.com/AndroidSDK download the version just before the latest one (30.7.3.0) and works fine. Thank you guys! – Needlepoint

Answer 4

you must downgrade emulator for Catalina

1. download emulator 30.7.3
2. unzip emulator-darwin_x64-7425822.zip
3. do command "xattr -rc *" to remove all extended attributes
4. replace your emulator folder(/Users/xxx/Library/Android/sdk)
5. modify package.xml to <revision><major>30</major><minor>7</minor><micro>3</micro></revision>

Behoove

By the way, where did you find it? Is there an official list of previous emulator versions anywhere? – Needlepoint

what does step 3 mean, where to run this command ? – Sauropod

step 3 at your unzip emulator folder – Behoove

Answer 5

You can download the emulator and palce it into SDK folder. It worked for me. Here I found the files. How to download android emulator without using android studio

Meadors

Thank you very much for your reply and your provided links, fact is, I am unable to find a list of downloads for the emulator so that I can pick the latest one before this buggy one. Ideas? Thanks again. – Needlepoint

Answer 6

With the help of this link able to downgrade the version to v30.6.5; Now able to run the emulator

Silicium

Answer 7

I downgrade the version to v30.9.4, but I still got the error: "The emulator process for AVD xxx was killed"

Then I found I can start the emulator via the command line:

cd /Users/jinlei/Library/Android/sdk/emulator
./emulator -list-avds
./emulator -avd Pixel_2_API_Sv2

But starting from the IDE, this error still appear.

Valerie

Answer 8

Like the other answers suggests, you can downgrade the emulator version to check which version works for you, but download the emulator setup from the Official channels.

Official emulator archives maintained by Google is available at:
https://developer.android.com/studio/emulator_archive

Please read the release notes to track the changes in each of the emulator versions at:
https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/emulator

Gyno

While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - From Review – Unwish

I have updated the answer to include context to the original question, I am sharing the links to the index where emulator setups for all platforms are maintained as of now. I understand that link can become invalid, but as of now they are available there. – Gyno