Emulator not working windows 8

We have downloaded the software and the ai starter seems to work, the emulator shows, then we seem to end up in a loop for awhile “companion starting,” then “verifying companion started,” and then eventually there is an error that the companion app is out of date – we click “ok” to start the update but instead of getting the “done” message we get an “error parsing the package.” Any tips on getting the emulator to work? This is in Chrome.

I am adding that we have tried on a Windows 10 machine also with the same result.

@Nels3 Which version of aiStarter are you using on Windows? Is it the old version (2.3 or 2.4) or the newer (beta) one (i.e., does it look like a really old phone)? Have you tried using a Hard Reset first to see if that resolves the upgrade loop?

The App Inventor shows 2.3 as downloaded. Eventually I’ve seen the “Version 2.11ai2” show in the emulator similar to the screenshot but I can’t seem to get the companion app update to take place (get the parsing error). We have tried a hard reset…have uninstalled, re-installed also.

@Nels3 Thanks for the follow up. I’ll run some tests on my end and report back.

@Nels3 The upgrade is a two step process. The first app that is downloaded is called CompanionUpgradeHelper (has a blue icon). This app installs and then downloads the newest App Inventor companion (orange icon) and installs that. Is it the former or the latter that’s giving you the “Error parsing the package” message when it attempts to install?

I have the same problem on an XP PC. I'm stuck.

Hi @Bill_H,

Do you see any errors reported in the emulator when it tries to run the update?

The only error I get is “Error parsing the package"

Hi @Bill_H,

Did you try to perform a hard reset first? Usually this error occurs if the update package becomes corrupted.