Hi everyone First post, and I'm having an issue already. I stumbled across this site last week, and found the forums very interesting and seemed everyone was really helpful, so hopefully someone can help me here. I didn't want my first post to be a cry for help, so have been busy searching for the solution myself, but alas I can't find it, and I really want to get started with my programming as I've got a few ideas. So, I think my problem is within Eclipse, and probably not installing it correctly. I've installed all the packages that I can on the Android SDK Manager, so I don't think there is an issue there. However, the reason I think there is an issue is: In Eclipse: If I go File -> New, there is not an option for Start New Android Project. However, if I click New Project, I can then select the Android folder, and from this I do have a few options including New Android Project from Source code, or Android Sample?Test Project so maybe that isn't the problem. In AVD Manager, I've tried to load my first emulator but it's just stuck on the Android loading screen. It says ANDROID in the middle of the black screen in grey letters with like a flash going across the letters (suggesting it is loading) but it stays on this screen forever, and my project (which I've tried to load using the New Android Project from Existing Source Code does not load). Any help for an App Developer newbie would be very much appreciated...

Hi @Simon, Welcome to buzztouch! Frankfurt...love that city! Been there a couple of times for work, and have loved it each and every time. Spent quite some time in Mainz as well! To start, I'll point you to this step-by-step, illustrated guide to buzztouch and Android. It'll probably answer some of your questions. https://www.buzztouch.com/files/howtos/buzztouch_For_Android-A_Users_Guide.pdf The Emulator is notorious for taking forever to load, especially on systems with low memory available. Somebody recently came up with a trick that seems to work well : with Eclipse shut down, run the "AVD Manager.exe" file from your android-sdk install folder, and wait for the Emulator to come up fully. Then open Eclipse and do your thing. I tried it a couple of times, and it worked well. If you are trying to work with a project you downloaded from buzztouch, I've found the best method is to use the Import...Existing Project into Workspace option. That's the way I always do it. Give the doc a read and let us know if you have any other questions! Mark

Hey, Thanks for your reply Mark, much appreciated. I've only been living in Frankfurt for the last two and a half months, but I'm really enjoying it here. It's a nice city, lots to do, but there are some things which take some getting used to, like the lack of queueing! We love to queue in the UK, not so much here! lol. Thanks for the link to the guide, and for the advive with the AVD. I have read through the guide, and tried out your tip. And it worked! So the Emulator has now loaded, although then when I pressed Run, it said that my project had errors and when I looked, there seemed to be a problem with the java on the map page I have for some reason. so that's my next little challenge I have to figure out. Does it sound to you like I have installed Eclipse properly? I think I have considering the Emulator is loading.etc., and I can start a new android project from existing source code, it just seems odd that I cannot see some of the options that they can in the example installations such as Start New Android Project from the main menu?

Howdy! Yep, it sounds to me like you have things set up correctly. The options seem to change with new versions of Eclipse...if you poke around a bit, you'll probably find what you're looking for. You won't need to use the Start New Android Project unless you are building an app from scratch. If you use the downloaded source code from buzztouch, it'll always be use existing project. As for the maps errors, those are due to you not having the correct Google API selected for your project. Right-click on the project in Eclipse, select Properties, and then make sure you have Google API 8 selected. That'll clear up the errors. If you don't have that API as an option, then you need to do into the SDK Manager and download it. If you get a chance, head up to Mainz. Super cool cathedral there, it's a cit on the river, and some great restaurants! Mark

I was sure I had Google API 8 as that seemed to be drummed into me as being so key in all the guides I was reading. But I will check when I get home from work, and fingers crossed it will be that easy to get it fixed. I will look into Mainz, thanks for the recommendation. I have seen it has a football (soccer) team which I was considering going to watch soon anyway so I might have to combine the sport trip into a culture/sight seeing one too! :) I've just read the rest of that guide, and they mention when you have a Map, you need to get Google certification but I guess that's something I jsut need to do when putting the app out into the big bad world. For now, it appears that would not be the problem. So like I say I'll check when I get back from work and let you know how I get on. Thanks again! :)

Yep, you'll need the Google API keys in order to see any map tiles. Your pins will show up, as will your location, but no map tiles. Trust me, though, it works if you have the keys setup correctly, and the app signed with the right certificate. Let me know how things go, and post back if you hit any snags! Mark