Month: June 2017

Setup and Install Xamarin for Visual Studio 2015: Android Emulator

There is many options available for Android Emulator. I will list down a few:

Note: You can always debug using actual Android device instead of using Emulator for debugging.

If you need to turn ON Hyper-V in your machine, you will need to go with Visual Studio Android Emulator. To open/configure Visual Studio Android Emulator, go to Tools>Visual Studio Emulator for Android…

 1_VS2015_AndroidEmulator_05.png

You will be able to launch or configure the emulator in the new dialog popup. For details guide on Visual Studio Android Emulator please refer HERE.

1_VS2015_AndroidEmulator_06.png

This guide will be about how to work with Android SDK Emulator.

  1. To make Android SDK Emulator run without lagging, we will need to install Intel HAXM. However, Intel HAXM cannot work together with Hyper-V. So, we need to turn OFF Hyper-V in the machine. Open search windows and search for Turn Windows features on or off and open it.
    1_VS2015_AndroidEmulator_07.png
  2. Uncheck Hyper-V and restart PC. (If your PC do not have this Hyper-V features, it means that Hyper-V is not supported. So you can skip this step)
    1_VS2015_AndroidEmulator_01.png
  3. Make sure Virtualization Technology settings is Enable in BIOS settings.
    enable-vt-x-in-bios-2.jpg
  4. Download Intel HAXM installer HERE.
    1_VS2015_AndroidEmulator_02.png
  5. Remember to agree on the EULA to start the download.
    1_VS2015_AndroidEmulator_03.png
  6. After downloaded, extract the zip file. You should have the following files in the zip file. Open command prompt and RUN silent_install.bat. Intel HAXM installer should be running.1_VS2015_AndroidEmulator_04.png
  7. After Intel HAXM is installed, we can now proceed to setup the emulator. Open Visual Studio and go to Tools>Android>Android Emulator Manager
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_01 - Copy - Copy.png
  8. Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager dialog should be popup. It might take some time to show if your machine is slow. Click on Device Definitions tab.
    1_VS2015_AVD_01.png
  9. Search for Nexus 5 device and click Create AVD button.
    1_VS2015_AVD_07.png
  10. Create AVD dialog will be show. In this dialog, you can configure the settings of the AVD. Set the settings as the following screenshots. Remember to Check setting Use Host GPU, without checking this the AVD will not able to run smoothly. After all settings is configure, click OK button.
    1_VS2015_AVD_03.png
  11. The AVD will now creating and will show a success dialog after it is completed. Click OK button on the success dialog to close it.
    1_VS2015_AVD_04.png
  12. The AVD is now successfully added. You can check it under Android Virtual Devices tab.1_VS2015_AVD_05.png
  13. After the AVD is configure, you will see the AVD is available in the device selection for deploy.
    1_VS2015_AVD_06.png
  14. If you need more information about how the AVD works and some detail explanations, please refer HERE.

 

You can find the other parts of the guide here:

Setup and Install Xamarin for Visual Studio 2015: Android SDK

Previously there is some errors when installing Android SDK during Visual Studio installation. We are going to fix that problem today. Before we start, let’s have some checking on what is not working.

Open Visual Studio 2015, Click on Tools>Android>Android SDK Manager. Nothing is happening.

1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_01.png

First thing to check is whether the Android SDK path is specify in Options. So, let’s go to Tools>Options>Xamarin>Android Settings. You will notice that there is showing “No Android SDK found”1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_08.png

Now let’s start with the steps to fix the Android SDK.

  1. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk (default installation path of Visual Studio installer). In my case, the Android SDK is actually installed in the path but it is not setup correctly in Visual Studio. If you cannot find the Android SDK in the path, you can download it from GitHub and get android-sdk-initial folder.1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_11.png
  2. Let’s try to add the path into Options. Open Visual Studio and go to Tools>Options>Xamarin>Android Settings. Then click on Change button.1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_08 - Copy.png
  3. Specify the Android SDK path as C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk and click OK button.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_09.png
  4. However, there is some error is pop up saying “Cannot find adb.exe in specified path: …”.  This is because the Android SDK Manager that ship with Visual Studio 2015 is outdated. We will need to update it first before we continue.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_10.png
  5. Go back to File Explorer with the Android SDK Manager. Double click on SDK Manager to RUN it.1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_11.png
  6. You should be seeing Android SDK Manager dialog. It might take some time if your machine is slow.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_12.png
  7. Uncheck everything. Then check only the following:
    – Android SDK Tools
    – Android SDK Platform-tools
    – Android SDK Build-tools (I don’t think this is necessary, but I just install it :D)
  8. Click Install 2 packages and accept the terms to proceed the installation.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_14.png
  9. However, if you are using Windows 10 like I am, you should be having error to install the packages. The error is reporting “Failed to create directory C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\temp”.  This is because you will need to have Administrator rights to work in Program files folder.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_15.png
  10. What I normally do is put the Android SDK to other location. In this guide, I put the Android SDK folder in C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk
  11. After moved the folder, RUN the SDK Manager and install the packages. You should be able to install the packages normally and seeing the following status. If you having problem to update the SDK Manager, you can download it from GitHub and get android-sdk-updated folder.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_17.png
  12. After complete update the packages, you will need to RESTART the Android SDK Manager. Just close the SDK dialog and reopen it by double clicking the SDK Manager. You will notice that the folder structure of the SDK folder is already updated too.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_19.png
  13. After reopen the SDK Manager, you will see more packages is listed.
  14. Proceed to update and install the remaining packages that we need. Recommended packages to install can be refer to HERE
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_18.png
  15. After all packages is installed, we may proceed to set the path in Visual Studio. Open Visual Studio, go to Tools>Options>Xamarin>Android Settings. Then click on Change button.
  16. Specify the Android SDK path as C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk and click OK button.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_20.png
  17. You should be able to set the Path successfully and seeing a green check mark for Android SDK Location.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_21.png
  18. Finally, after so many steps, you are now setup Visual Studio with Android SDK successfully.

 

You can find the other parts of the guide here:

Setup and Install Xamarin for Visual Studio 2015: JDK Setup

Java Development Kit (JDK) Setup

  1. Open command prompt and type in java -version.
    If it is showing ‘java’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file, it means that we need to install JDK in the machine.
    Important: If your java version is less than 1.8, you will also need to update the JDK because the latest Android version needs java 1.8 and above to compile.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_00.png
  2. Download Java SE Development Kit 8 from Oracle site and follow the installation instructions. You might need to restart your machine after the installation of JDK.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_04.png1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_05.png1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_06.png
  3. Open Visual Studio and click on Tools>Options
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_02.png
  4. Options dialog should be prompt up. Navigate to menu Xamarin>Android Settings. Then click Change button beside Java Development Kit Location.1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_03.png
  5. Select JDK dialog should be prompt up. Select the path that JDK is installed and click OK button.
    1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_07.png
  6. Java Development Kit Location section should be showing with green check mark.1_VS2015_AndroidSDK_08.png

 

You can find the other parts of the guide here:

Setup and Install Xamarin for Visual Studio 2015

Recently when I conducting training/workshop, there is quite a numbers of peoples is having problems with Xamarin installation. My machine is setup with Xamarin long time ago and I only deal with updates all the time. So, I am wondering is there really so much problem with Xamarin installation. I decided to give it a try to check it out.

Visual Studio Installation with Xamarin

  1. Download Visual Studio 2015 installer and RUN. You will not able to download VS2015 community now from visualstudio.com (Only VS2017 is available now). I downloaded mine from MSDN subscriber download section. The details of the installer I use for this guide:

    Visual Studio Community 2015 with Update 3 (x86 and x64) – Web Installer (English)
    Released: 6/27/2016
    en_visual_studio_community_2015_with_update_3_x86_x64_web_installer_8922963.exe

  2. After the installer is appear and complete some of the initialization steps, you should see a page with as image below. Please select Custom as the type of installation. After that, click on Next button.
    1_VS2015_Install_01.png
  3. You should see a page with list of features to select. Please expand Cross Platform Mobile Development and SELECT C#/.NET (Xamarin v4.2.1). After you select it, a few other features will be auto selected too. After that, click on Next button.
    1_VS2015_Install_02.png
  4. The next page will be a pages to confirm your selected features. Just click on Install button.
    1_VS2015_Install_03.png
  5. Please wait for the installation to finish. Make sure you are connected to the internet because the installer will download the components for installation.
  6. After the installation completed, you should be seeing the following screen. I’m having 2 warnings regarding Android SDK Setup. I will explain in next guide on how to fix the Android SDK.
    1_VS2015_Install_04.png
  7. After installed, open Visual Studio and go to Tools>Options. Then select Xamarin>Other in left pane. Click on Check Now button to check for updates.1_VS2015_Update_01.png
  8. Xamarin for Visual Studio Updates dialog is show. Download updates available and install it.
    1_VS2015_Update_02.png

 

You can find the other parts of the guide here: