Android Virtual Devices (AVD) Problem on Ubuntu 12.04

While creating a new AVD for an Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) device, I discovered several peculiarities in the emulator. Upon starting the newly created AVD, it displayed a message ("Unfortunately, System UI has stopped") as shown in the figure below.


        Error message

Upon clicking OK, the emulator displayed the login screen after a brief red flash along the borders. Then I noticed that the hardware buttons (second row of buttons) and the DPAD has not been enabled (see figure below with the messages pointed by the yellow arrows).


        Not enabled items

Upon doing some research on the internet, I found the solution to this problem. To reiterate the solution:

1. Open a terminal and then edit the AVD config file by executing:
   
     nano .android/avd/(avdname).avd/config.ini
   
   NOTE: Replace the (avdname) with the name used when creating the AVD.
   
   The file would look something like this:
   
   ---------------------------------------------------
   hw.dPad=no
   hw.lcd.density=160
   sdcard.size=128M
   hw.cpu.arch=arm
   hw.device.hash=-1537072293
   disk.dataPartition.size=200M
   hw.gpu.enabled=yes
   skin.path=1024x600
   skin.dynamic=yes
   hw.keyboard=yes
   hw.cpu.model=cortex-a8
   hw.ramSize=768
   hw.device.manufacturer=Generic
   hw.sdCard=yes
   hw.mainKeys=no
   hw.accelerometer=yes
   skin.name=1024x600
   abi.type=armeabi-v7a
   hw.trackBall=no
   hw.device.name=7in WSVGA (Tablet)
   hw.battery=yes
   hw.sensors.proximity=yes
   image.sysdir.1=system-images/android-15/armeabi-v7a/
   hw.sensors.orientation=yes
   hw.audioInput=yes
   hw.camera.front=webcam0
   hw.gps=yes
   vm.heapSize=16
   ------------------------------------------------------
    
2. Notice that the 'hw.dPad' and 'hw.mainKeys' have both been set to 'no' - i.e., they are disabled. Change both items to 'yes' so that they are enabled. They should look like this:
   
   hw.dPad=yes
   hw.mainKeys=yes
   
   Save the changes and exit the editor and terminal.

Start the AVD again - this time, you should not see any error messages upon startup and both the hardware buttons and DPAD has been enabled. You can check it out by playing around with AVD and using these keys.