AOSP build with fastest emulator boot

Question

Which android build target results in the shortest emulator boot time on a mac?

Context: I am debugging a UI issue in the android framework. Building and deploying the framework is reasonably fast, but waiting for the emulator to reboot is painful. My machine is a mac with Yosemite. Given my framework focus, I care much more about speed than the build target.

Which of the available targets will result in the fastest boot?

You're building on Darwin

Lunch menu... pick a combo:
     1. aosp_arm-eng
     2. aosp_arm64-eng
     3. aosp_mips-eng
     4. aosp_mips64-eng
     5. aosp_x86-eng
     6. aosp_x86_64-eng
     7. aosp_deb-userdebug
     8. aosp_flo-userdebug
     9. full_fugu-userdebug
     10. aosp_fugu-userdebug
     11. aosp_grouper-userdebug
     12. aosp_tilapia-userdebug
     13. mini_emulator_arm64-userdebug
     14. mini_emulator_arm-userdebug
     15. mini_emulator_mips-userdebug
     16. mini_emulator_x86-userdebug
     17. mini_emulator_x86_64-userdebug
     18. aosp_flounder-userdebug
     19. aosp_hammerhead-userdebug
     20. aosp_mako-userdebug
     21. aosp_shamu-userdebug
     22. aosp_manta-userdebug

Which would you like? [aosp_arm-eng]

So far I have tried aosp_x86_64-eng which is reasonable, and aosp-arm-eng which is painfully slow. Wondering about the impact of the various x86 options, -eng vs -user vs -userdebug, etc.

I'm also wondering if there are key emulator command line options that help. -memory is obvious, but the impact of things like -accel are not.

you could also use a headless emulator for extra speed, x86 will be the fastest if you use Intel's HAXM along side it — Blundell
nope I can't see why built for userdebug would speed or slow — Blundell

Digit Digit · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-22T13:00:30

1

votes

Use aosp_x86-userdebug with HAXM installed, this will give you the fastest boot of all.

AOSP build with fastest emulator boot

1 Answers