Emulator: emulator: warning: updatecheck: failure: error

We are in such a time, where technology has been evolving every day. Many new technologies try to make our life easy in so many ways. This advancement of technology has also introduced many new terms to us. One such term is virtual machines. I hope, the readers have heard about this term. The virtual machine is a computer resource or a virtual environment that functions on the software of a computer instead of hardware. We run a virtual machine on our devices with the help of an emulator. Sometimes, while doing this we get an error as emulator:warning:updatecheck:failure. So, what is this error? and why does it occur? Before learning about this, let us first know what is an emulator?

Do not miss: Emulator: error: x86 emulation currently requires hardware acceleration!

What is an emulator?

An emulator can be hardware or software which allows a computer device to run another virtual computer device above it using its resources. The actual computer device is known as a host and the virtual device that runs on it is known as a guest. With the help of an emulator, the guest device uses the software and input/output devices of the host. An emulator can be a hardware device or a software program, operating system or CPU. It imitates the functions of the host device for the guest computer running on it. Most emulators imitate the hardware environment of the host for the guest device in most cases.

The emulation technology was innovated to recreate the environment of the hardware and software of one machine in a different machine. When the emulation process is complete, the users can obtain an operating system on an emulated environment above the original host system. The users do find any difference in using the emulated operating system as it is the same as the host operating system. Emulators are used when a user wants to play a video game or run a different operating system on their computer. They allow the users to run any application that does not work on their device. They take a lot of processing power and usually runs a little slower than the host device.

Why do people use emulators? 

Every computer device has its distinctive features. These features might run on one device but are not supported by the other device. There are many operating systems as well which support some features that are not present in another operating system. An example of these is the multiple games that are supported by one operating system but not on the other. In such situations, we make use of the emulators. They act as a bridge to overcome the gaps between the devices. With the help of emulators, programs can work on various types of hardware.

We can also emulate one operating system in another. For example, if we want to run a Windows application on a MacBook then we can make use of emulators. Emulators will create a windows operating system in the MacBook. Here, Windows will act as a guest operating system and MacBook will act as the host system. Host hardware is enhanced by some emulators as well. With the help of emulators, one can run any type of program on any device.

Emulators in Android:

The emulators in Android are used to test applications on different devices that work on Android Operating System. With the help of emulators, one does not need to have a variety of physical device and can test the Android API Levels. The emulator imitates the Android device and provides almost all the functions. The imitation works for phone calls, text messages, live location and network speed. It can even obtain hardware sensors and Google Play Store as well.

If we test our android device on an emulator, the process becomes much easier and it is faster than doing it on a physical device. Data transfer is faster on a device that we have emulated than on a device in which we connect to USB. Android phones, Android TVs, Tablets and Wear operating system has a predefined configured emulator. The emulator can be used manually through its GUI (Graphical User Interface) or can be programmed through a command-line interface. The emulator can also be configured through the emulator console.

Requirements for Emulators in Android: 

There are additional requirements for emulators in Android which follows as:

1. The SDK Tools should be higher than or equal to SDK Tools 26.1.1
2. The device should have a 64-bit processor.
3. The windows must have support for unrestricted guests with the CPU.
4. The recommended HAXM version is HAXM 7.2.0 or the later version. However, the users can also opt for HAXM 6.2.1 or its later versions.
5. The internal processor should have support for Intel EM64T or Intel 64, Intel VT-x, and functionality to Execute Disable Bit (XD) for Windows operating system and Linux operating system.
6. For Linux operating system, the AMD processor should have support for AMD-V or AMD Virtualization. They must also support Supplemental Streaming SIMD with Extensions 3 (SSSE3).
7. For Windows operating system, the AMD processor should have support for Android Studio 3.2 or any higher version from that. The operating system must be Windows 10 version releases after April 2018. There must be a WHPX (Windows Hypervisor Platform) functionality in it.
8. The webcam must be able to capture in a quality of 720p frame which should work well with Android having an application programming interface of level 27 or Android 8.1.

Emulators for 32-bit Windows system and Android Virtual Devices: 

For the 32-bit windows system, the android emulators were put down in June 2019. Though the support for the emulators continued till June 2020 no new features were added to it. The support contained a fix for deprecatory bugs. The users who use emulators in the 32-bit Windows system should migrate to Windows 64-bit architecture. The SDK manager will help the users using the 32-bit Windows to install any latest version in their system. It is still recommended to the users to shift to a 64-bit windows system as they might be missing many important emulating features.

To specify the version of the Android and the characteristics of hardware of the imitated device, Emulators make use of AVD (Android Virtual Device). A user needs to create an AVD to test the app effectively. The AVD must model each device that is meant to run the app. AVD Manager is used to managing and creating AVD for users. Also, AVD has its storage to store user data, an SD card and it functions as an independent device. AVD specific directory is used by the emulator to store the data of the user, data on the SD card and the directory cache. The data of the user and the data on the SD card are loaded from the AVD directory by the emulator when the user launches it. We sometimes get Emulator: emulator: warning: updatecheck: failure: error.

How to run an app in an emulator?

An emulator can run apps that are installed on it as any other app runs on the device. The user can also run the app from the Android Studio Project. There are some steps to run an app in Android Studio:

1. The user must create an AVD in Android Studio. This will be used to install and run the application by the emulator.
2. There is a toolbar. The user must select the AVD that can run the app from the target device. It is in a drop-down menu.
3. Then the user needs to click on the run. If there is any prompt for an error, the user must first troubleshoot it. The errors must be fixed to continue.
4. To start the emulator, the user must open the AVD manager and double click on the AVD option,
5. Then the user must click on RUN. The Android Emulator will start to load. 

After the emulator starts to run, the users can run the projects in Android Studio. The target device will be the emulator. The emulator can run more than one APK by dragging and installing it. There are few limitations in using extended controls of emulators. The emulator must be used as a stand-alone app if there is heavy workflow on the extended controls. Android studio cannot run Android TV and some other virtual devices as they have specialized user interface requirements. Some important functions cannot be run by the emulator as it is in the extended control.

What is Emulator: emulator: warning: updatecheck: failure: error?

Emulator: warning: updatecheck: failure: error is an update check error. The user gets this error when a computer’s security settings are blocking the update check for an emulator. When a user updates the application programming interface a couple of times while upgrading to Android Studio 3.0, he is not able to run the AVD. And thus, he gets the error message as emulator: warning: update check: failure: error. This happens when he is not connected to the internet. The internet connection should be stable with the user’s preferred proxy settings. If there is some problem in the proxy settings then the user will get this error.

How to fix Emulator: emulator: warning: updatecheck: failure: error?

There are few things that the user can do to fix this error:

1. Method 1: Uninstall the HAXM and reinstall it. While installing it again, the users must allocate a minimum of 2 GB ram for it. When the user creates the emulated device then they must allocate less space for it from the HAXM space. This will speed up the process. When the user is shifting to a new version, he must go to the files option. There will be an Invalid Cache option, the users must click on it. Then they must click on the Restart option.
2. Method 2: Some users disable their hardware acceleration. They have to enable it from the BIOS to fix this issue.
3. Method 3: The other way to fix this issue is by wiping the data in the virtual device. They can do this by going to the Actions option in the dropdown menu and then choosing Wipe Data. They can also clean Android Studio Project and restart the emulator.
4. Method 4: The firewalls and incorrect proxy must be checked as they can stop the app from updating. Android SDK application programming interface level must be completely installed in our simulator. The user must also check the proxy as they can also block the update.
5. Method 5: The simulators must be configured properly with the AVD Manager. The ram allocations and control properties should have default values.
6. Method 6: The fast deployment option must not be checked in project properties. The users can check the “Generate one package per ABI” option for generic android devices. The linking options must be set to none. The users can also try to use alternate simulators and archive their simulator APK and deploy it later.

Conclusion:

An emulator runs a virtual computing device above a physical computer device using its resources. People use emulators to run the devices or apps which are not supported in their device. In android, emulators are used to testing the apps that run on various android devices. There are some requirements for emulators in android mentioned in the article above. From 2019, emulators have stopped their support and new features for Windows with 32-bit architecture. There are few ways to run apps in emulators. Emulator: emulator: warning: updatecheck: failure: error is an update check error caused by a computer’s security settings that block the update check for an emulator. There are few methods mentioned in the article to fix this issue.