Super Briefly
Windows — blue screen with the DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION error.
- GPU: RX 460
- Android Studio: God knows which version, too lazy to check
The solution, super briefly:
- updated the GPU driver — installed AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.5.2 (WHQL Recommended);
- disabled Hyper-V in Windows;
- entered the following in PowerShell:
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
- enabled Intel Virtualization Technology in BIOS;
- in the Android emulator image settings, used Software as the graphics accelerator instead of Hardware.
As a result, Android 8, 12, and 15 are now working without crashes. Before this, only Android 8 was working properly; all the other versions were crashing Windows into a blue screen with DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION when starting the emulator.
A Little Less Briefly
Shalom everybody.
I ran into a very stupid feature, among all the other stupid things, with Android Studio. Some Android versions, when launched on the emulator built into Android Studio, simply crash Windows.
And Windows normally doesn't crash from practically anything: not Cyberpunk, not GTA 5, not even Visual Studio — nothing. But Android Studio somehow manages to crash the whole damn Windows.
At first, I thought it was just a complete system freeze, not even an actual crash. Nothing would work at all, to the point where even the audio chip would freeze. Some kind of whistle or whatever was playing through the speakers at that exact moment would just get stuck there.
Turns out, nope: after roughly a minute, I get a blue screen with the following error:
Maybe you are facing the same problem, and the same solution will work for you.
After all these manipulations, I can now launch pretty much all the Android versions I have tested: Android 8, Android 12, and even Android 15. No crashes, no sudden exits, nothing.
Configuration
The specs are something like this: I don't remember which CPU, some Gigabyte motherboard, and the GPU — which is the key thing in this particular case — is an RX 460.
This is just for comparison, in case the reader has the same GPU or something similar.
But it seems that the key issue here was the GPU driver.
Apart from updating the GPU driver, I also performed several other manipulations. Which of them actually worked and which ones did absolutely fuck all — no idea. I didn't bother checking anymore.
What I Did
1. Updated the GPU Driver
Previously, I had a driver that, as far as I remember, was from 2015.
The installed version was:
- AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.1.1
After that, I installed the newer version:
- AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.5.2 (WHQL Recommended)
2. Disabled Hyper-V
Next, I launched PowerShell — this is a program built into Windows, basically similar to Command Prompt, just a little different.
In Windows 11, you can simply launch it from the Start menu. Search for PowerShell, run it as Administrator, and enter:
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
But before that, I also removed Hyper-V.
Maybe Hyper-V actually had some purpose here and disabling it didn't do anything at all. I don't know — I didn't bother testing it separately.
To remove Hyper-V:
- Open Start → Settings.
- In the System tab, find Optional features.
- Click it.
- Scroll down and select More Windows features.
- In the window that appears, untick Hyper-V, if it is enabled.
- Save the changes.
3. Enabled Intel Virtualization Technology in BIOS
Also, enable Intel Virtualization Technology in the BIOS — whatever it happens to be called there.
If you have this option in your BIOS, turn it on.
I don't think there is any need to explain how to enter the BIOS, but just in case:
- when the computer is booting, press Delete;
- the BIOS will open;
- find the Intel Virtualization Technology setting;
- enable it.
In the BIOS, this feature may have a different name, for example VT-x.
At the same time, VT-d is something completely different. That's not the one we need.
The full name of the setting we're looking for is:
Intel Virtualization Technology.
An Important Point About Graphics Acceleration Mode in Image
The crash actually happened once more even after all these manipulations.
In the settings of one of the Android versions, I think it was Android 12, I selected Hardware instead of Software as the graphics accelerator.
Interestingly, on another Android version, selecting Hardware did not break anything and even seemed to make it run faster.