Running Android Emulator With HAXM On Thinkpad T440p

Quick guide to how to use the Android emulator with HAXM (based on VT-x) on a Thinkpad T440p.

Over the weekend, I started to work on my first Android app. I had a little trouble getting the Android emulator to run with HAXM, Intel's Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager, which builds on top of the virtualization hardware VT-x. Maybe others with the same problems find their way here...

These are the steps that worked for me - your mileage may vary. Read them carefully; I might have let my frustration slip into the steps at some point or other.

Hardware Support

First check whether your processor actually supports virtualization.

  1. go to Intel
  2. find your processor
  3. check whether Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) is listed under Advanced Technologies
  4. also read the footnote if there is one

Side note: VT-x is included in VT-d

Download HAXM installer

Now you can download the installer for the emulator accelerator.

  1. open the Android SDK Manager
    • in Android Studio it's under Tools ~> Android ~> SDK Manager
    • in Eclipse it's under Window ~> Android SDK Manager (look here if it's missing)
  2. check Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator (HAXM installer) under Extras and install packages

Install HAXM

Next step is to actually install HAXM.

  1. above the package list the SDK manager shows the path to the SDK
  2. go there and then continue to ./extras/intel/Hardware_Accelerated_Execution_Manager
  3. run the intelhaxm-android installer

Fail In Different Ways (optional)

In case the installation doesn't work because the virtualization features are not turned on, there are several ways to waste some time...

  1. you can download intel's Processor Identification Utility (for Windows and Linux) and see it claim that Intel (R) Virtualization Technology is Yes (not my wording)
  2. you can install CPU-Z or i-Nex and watch it report VT-X (under instructions) to be turned on

Fix It

After that small detour you might realize that the tools are lying to you...

  1. enter your BIOS (on my T440p: Enter on first boot screen, then F1)
  2. go to Config ~> CPU and be frustrated that it's not there...
  3. go to Security ~> Virtualization and turn everything on
  4. reboot and install successfully

Some more links...

(64-bit Virtual Machine Support) - Lenovo Forum")

Worked? Didn't work? Tweet, leave a comment, shoot me a mail...