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1page.title=Troubleshooting
2parent.title=FAQs, Tips, and How-to
3parent.link=index.html
4@jd:body
5
6
7<p>Here are some tips and tricks for common Android errors. Don't forget to use the
8    ddms logcat capability to get a deeper view when errors occur.
9    See the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/debugging/index.html">Debugging</a> documentation for more information.</p>
10<ul>
11    <li><a href="#installeclipsecomponents">ADT Installation Error: "requires plug-in org.eclipse.wst.sse.ui".</a></li>
12    <li><a href="#nodevice">ADB reports &quot;no device&quot; when an emulator is running</a></li>
13    <li><a href="#noapp">My new application/activity isn't showing up in the device application
14        list </a></li>
15    <li><a href="#noupdate">I updated my app, but the updates don't seem to be showing up on
16    the device</a></li>
17    <li><a href="#layout_wilih">I'm getting a &quot;Binary XML file line #2: You must supply a layout_wilih
18    attribute&quot; error when I start an application</a></li>
19    <li><a href="#permission">My request to (<em>make a call, catch an incoming SMS, receive
20        a notification, send an intent to an Android application</em>) is being
21        ignored</a></li>
22    <li><a href="#build">Help! My project won't build in Eclipse</a></li>
23    <li><a href="#eclipse">Eclipse isn't talking to the emulator</a></li>
24    <li><a href="#majorminor">When I go to preferences in Eclipse and select "Android", I get the following error message: Unsupported major.minor version 49.0.</a></li>
25    <li><a href="#apidemosreinstall">I can't install ApiDemos apps in my IDE because of a signing error</a></li>
26    <li><a href="#gesturebuilderinstall">I can't install the GestureBuilder sample
27app in the emulator</a></li>
28    <li><a href="#signingcalendar">I can't compile my app because the build tools generated an expired debug certificate</a></li>
29    <li><a href="#manifestfiles">Unable to view manifest files from within Eclipse</a></li>
30</ul>
31
32<a name="installeclipsecomponents" id="installeclipsecomponents"></a><h2>ADT Installation Error: "requires plug-in org.eclipse.wst.sse.ui".</h2>
33<p>
34The "Android Editors" feature of the ADT Plugin requires specific Eclipse components, such as WST. If you
35encounter this error message during ADT installation, you need to install the
36required Eclipse components and then try the ADT installation again. Follow the steps below to install the required components for the
37Android Editors feature, based on the version of Eclipse that you are using.</p>
38
39<table style="font-size:100%">
40<tr><th>Eclipse 3.3 (Europa)</th><th>Eclipse 3.4 (Ganymede)</th></tr>
41<tr>
42<td width="50%">
43<ol>
44<li>From the dialog where you select the <strong>Update sites to visit</strong>, select the checkboxes for both the
45ADT site, and the Callisto/Europa/Ganymede Discovery Site (you may want to
46check <strong>Automatically select mirrors</strong> at the bottom).</li>
47<li>Click <strong>Finish</strong>.</li>
48<li>In the <strong>Next</strong> dialog, select the Android Plugins.</li>
49<li>Now, expand the tree item of the discovery site. It seems that if you
50don't do it, it doesn't load the content of the discovery site.</li>
51<li>On the right, click <strong>Select required</strong>. This will select all the components
52that are required to install the Android plugin (wst, emf, etc...).</li>
53<li>Click <strong>Next</strong>, accept the agreement, click <strong>Install All</strong>, and restart Eclipse.</li>
54</ol>
55</td>
56<td>
57<ol>
58    <li>Select <strong>Help</strong> &gt; <strong>Software Updates...</strong></li>
59    <li>Select the <strong>Installed Software</strong> tab.</li>
60    <li>Click <strong>Update...</strong></li>
61    <li>If an update for ADT is available, select it and click <strong>Finish</strong>.</li>
62</ol>
63</td>
64</tr>
65</table>
66
67
68</p>
69<a name="nodevice"></a><h2>ADB reports &quot;no device&quot; when an emulator is running</h2>
70    <p>Try restarting adb by stopping it (<code>adb
71        kill-server</code>) then any other adb command to restart it.</p>
72
73<a name="noapp"></a><h2>My new application/activity isn't showing up in the
74        applications list </h2>
75<ul>
76    <li>You often must restart your device or emulator before a new activity shows
77        up in the applications list. This is particularly true when it is a completely
78        new application with a new AndroidManifest.xml file.</li>
79    <li>If this is for a new activity in an existing AndroidManifest.xml file, did
80        you include an <code>&lt;activity&gt;</code> tag for your app (or a <code>&lt;service&gt;</code>        tag
81        for a service, or a <code>&lt;receiver&gt;</code> tag for a receiver, etc.)? </li>
82    <li>Make sure that your AndroidManifest.xml file is valid. Errors in attribute
83        values, such as the <em>value </em> attribute in <code>&lt;action <em>value</em>=&quot;<em>&lt;something&gt;</em>&quot;&gt;</code>
84        will often not be caught by compilers, but will prevent your application
85        from being displayed because the intent filter will not be matched. Extra
86        spaces or other characters can often sneak into these strings.</li>
87    <li>Did you send your .apk file to the device (<a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/adb.html#move">adb install</a>)?</li>
88    <li>Run logcat on your device (<code>adb logcat</code>)
89        and then install your .apk file. Check the logcat output to see whether the
90        application is being installed and recognized properly. Here's sample output
91        from a successful installation:
92<pre>I/FileObserver( 414): *** onEvent wfd: 3 mask: 8 path: MyRSSReader.apk
93D/PackageManager( 414): Scanning package: /data/app/MyRSSReader.apk
94D/PackageManager( 414): Adding package com.example.codelab.rssexample
95D/PackageManager( 414): Registered content provider: my_rss_item, className = com.example.codelab.rssexample.RssContentProvider, isSyncable = false
96D/PackageManager( 414): Providers: com.example.codelab.rssexample.RssContentProvider
97D/PackageManager( 414): Activities: com.example.codelab.rssexample.MyRssReader com.example.codelab.rssexample.MyRssReader2 </pre>
98    </li>
99	<li>If logcat shows that the package manager is having problems loading the manifest
100	    file, force your manifest to be recompiled by adding a space in the file and
101	    compiling it.</li>
102</ul>
103<a name="noupdate"></a><h2>I updated my app, but the updates don't seem to be showing up on the device</h2>
104    <p>Did you remember to send your .apk file to the device (<a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/adb.html#move">adb
105        install</a>)?</p>
106
107<a name="layout_wilih"></a><h2>I'm getting a &quot;Binary XML file line #2: You must supply a layout_wilih
108    attribute&quot; error
109    when I start an application (but I declare a layout_wilih attribute <em>right
110        there!!!</em>)</h2>
111<ul>
112    <li>Make sure that the SDK you are building with is the same version as the Android
113        OS that you are running on. </li>
114    <li>Make sure that you're calling setContentView() early in your onCreate() method.
115        Calling other methods, such as setListAdapter() before calling setContentView()
116        can sometimes create odd errors when Android tries to access screen elements
117        that haven't been set before.</li>
118</ul>
119<a name="permission"></a><h2>My request to (<em>make a call, catch an incoming SMS,
120receive a notification, send an intent to an Android application</em>) is being
121ignored</h2>
122    <p>You might not have permission (or might not have requested permission) to
123        call this activity or receive this intent. Many standard Android activities,
124        such as making a call, have a permission assigned to it to prevent arbitrary
125        applications from sending or receiving requests. See <a
126        href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/security/security.html">Security and
127        Permissions</a> for more information on permissions, and
128		{@link android.Manifest.permission Manifest.permission} for a list of
129        standard permissions supported by the Android platform.
130</p>
131<a name="build"></a><h2>Help! My project won't build in Eclipse</h2>
132<p>If your project doesn't build, you may notice symptoms such as new
133resources added in the <code>res/</code> sub-folders not showing up in the R class,
134the emulator not being started, not being able to run the application, or even seeming to run an old version of the application.</p>
135<p>To troubleshoot these types of problems, first try:</p>
136<ol>
137  <li>Switch to the DDMS view in Eclipse (if you don't already have it open):
138    <ol type="a">
139      <li>From the menu select <code>Window &gt; Open Perspective &gt; Other</code></li>
140      <li>Select DDMS from the list and hit OK</li>
141    </ol>
142  </li>
143  <li>In the Devices panel (top right panel by default), click on the down triangle
144  to bring up the panel menu</li>
145  <li>Select <code>Reset ADB</code> from the menu, and then try running the
146  application again</li>
147</ol>
148<p>If the above still doesn't work, you can try these steps:</p>
149<ol>
150  <li>
151    Check the console and problems tabs at the bottom of the Eclipse UI
152  </li>
153  <li>
154    If there are problems listed in either place, they should give you a clue
155    what is wrong
156  </li>
157  <li>
158    If you aren't sure if the problems are fresh or stale, clear the console
159    with a right click &gt; Clear, then clean the project
160  </li>
161  <li>
162    To clean the project (a good idea with any kind of build error), select
163    Project &gt; Clean from the eclipse main menu, then select the project you
164    are working on (or clean all)
165  </li>
166</ol>
167<a name="eclipse"></a><h2>Eclipse isn't talking to the emulator</h2>
168<p>When communication doesn't seem to be happening between Eclipse and the emulator, symptoms can include: nothing happening when you press run, the emulator hanging waiting
169for a debugger to connect, or errors that Eclipse reports about not being able
170to find the emulator or shell. By far the most common symptom is that when you press run, the emulator starts (or
171is already running), but the application doesn't start.</p>
172<p>
173You may find any of these steps will fix the problem and with practice you
174probably can figure out which one you need to do for your particular issue, but
175to start with, the safest option is to run through all of them in order:</p>
176<ol>
177  <li>
178    Quit the emulator if it is running
179  </li>
180  <li>
181    Check that any emulator processes are killed (sometimes they    can hang, use ps on unix or mac, or task manager in the process view on
182    windows).
183  </li>
184  <li>
185    Quit Eclipse
186  </li>
187  <li>
188    From the command line, type:
189<pre>adb kill-server </pre>
190  </li>
191  <li>
192    Start Eclipse and try again
193  </li>
194</ol>
195
196<a name="majorminor"></a><h2>When I go to preferences in Eclipse and select "Android", I get the following error message: Unsupported major.minor version 49.0.</h2>
197<p>This error is displayed if you are using an older version of the JDK. Please make sure you are using JDK version 5 or 6.</p>
198
199<h2 id="apidemosreinstall">I can't install ApiDemos apps in my IDE because of a signing error</a></h2>
200
201<p>The Android system requires that all applications be signed, as described in
202	<a href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/app-signing.html">Signing Your Applications</a>. The ApiDemos
203applications included with the SDK are preinstalled on the emulator and for that reason have been
204compiled and signed with a private key.</p>
205
206If you want to modify or run one of the ApiDemos apps from Eclipse/ADT or other IDE, you can do so
207so only after you uninstall the <em>preinstalled</em> version of the app from the emulator. If
208you try to run an ApiDemos apps from your IDE without removing the preinstalled version first,
209you will get errors similar to: </p>
210
211<pre>[2008-08-13 15:14:15 - ApiDemos] Re-installation failed due to different application signatures.
212[2008-08-13 15:14:15 - ApiDemos] You must perform a full uninstall of the application. WARNING: ...This will remove the application data!
213[2008-08-13 15:14:15 - ApiDemos] Please execute 'adb uninstall com.android.samples' in a shell.</pre>
214
215<p>The error occurs because, in this case, you are attempting to install another copy of ApiDemos
216onto the emulator, a copy that is signed with a different certificate (the Android IDE tools will
217have signed the app with a debug certificate, where the existing version was already signed with
218a private certificate). The system does not allow this type of reinstallation.  </p>
219
220<p>To resolve the issue, you need to fully uninstall the preinstalled and then reinstall it using
221the adb tool. Here's how to do that:</p>
222
223<ol>
224  <li>In a terminal, change to the tools directory of the SDK.</li>
225  <li>If no emulator instance is running, start an emulator using using the command <code>emulator</code>.</li>
226  <li>Uninstall the preinstalled app using the command <code>adb uninstall com.example.android.apis</code>.</li>
227  <li>Reinstall the app using the command <code>adb install &lt;path to the ApiDemos.apk&gt;</code>. If you are
228  working in Eclipse/ADT, you can just compile and run the app in the normal way. </li>
229</ol>
230
231<p>Note that if multiple emulator instances are running, you need to direct your uninstall/install
232commands to the emulator instance that you are targeting. To do that you can add the
233<code>-s &lt;serialNumber&gt;</code> to the command, for example: </p>
234
235<pre>adb -s emulator-5556 install</pre>
236
237<p>For more information about adb, see the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/adb.html">Android Debug Bridge</a>
238documentation.</p>
239
240<h2 id="gesturebuilderinstall">I can't install the GestureBuilder sample
241app in the emulator</a></h2>
242
243<p>This is similar to the ApiDemos problem described above, except that
244you cannot fix it by uninstalling GestureBuilder from the emulator. The
245GestureBuilder app cannot be uninstalled because it is currently installed
246within the system files themselves.</p>
247
248<p><strong>Symptoms</strong></p>
249
250<ul><li><p>You cannot run GestureBuilder in the emulator:</p>
251
252<pre>[2009-12-10 14:57:19 - GestureBuilderActivity]Re-installation failed due to different application signatures.
253[2009-12-10 14:57:19 - GestureBuilderActivity]You must perform a full uninstall of the application. WARNING: This will remove the application data!
254[2009-12-10 14:57:19 - GestureBuilderActivity]Please execute 'adb uninstall com.android.gesture.builder' in a shell.</pre>
255</li>
256
257<li><p>Running <code>adb uninstall com.android.gesture.builder</code> fails:</p>
258<pre>$ adb uninstall com.android.gesture.builder
259	Failure</pre>
260</li></ul>
261
262<p>For now, the work-around is to change the sample's package name
263so that the system can install it as a new app rather than as a
264replacement for the existing GestureBuilder app. To change the
265package name, open the manifest file and modify the package attribute
266of the manifest element. Next, update imports and other references to
267the package name, rebuild the app, and run it in an AVD.</p>
268
269<p>For example, here's how you could do this in Eclipse:</p>
270
271<ol>
272  <li>Right-click on the package name
273(<code>src/com.android.gesture.builder</code>).</li>
274  <li>Select <strong>Refactor &gt; Rename</strong> and change the name, for example to
275<code>com.android.gestureNEW.builder</code>. </li>
276  <li>Open the manifest file. Inside the <code>&lt;manifest&gt;</code>
277tag, change the package name to
278<code>com.android.gestureNEW.builder</code>.</li>
279  <li>Open each of the two Activity files and do Ctrl-Shift-O to add
280missing import packages, then save each file.</li>
281<li>Run the GestureBuilder application on the emulator.</li>
282</ol>
283
284<p>If you get an error message such as "Could not load /sdcard/gestures.
285Make sure you have a mounted SD card," be sure that your target AVD has an
286SD card. To create an AVD that has an SD card, specify one when creating
287an AVD with the AVD manager. See
288<a href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/devices/managing-avds.html#createavd">
289Creating and Managing AVDs with AVD Manager</a> for more information.</p>
290
291<h2 id="signingcalendar">I can't compile my app because the build tools generated an expired debug certificate</h2>
292
293<p>If your development machine uses a locale that has a non-Gregorian calendar, you may encounter problems when first trying to compile and run your application. Specifically, you may find that the Android build tools won't compile your application because the debug key is expired. </p>
294
295<p>The problem occurs because the Keytool utility &mdash; included in the JDK and used by the Android build tools &mdash; fails to properly handle non-Gregorian locales and may create validity dates that are in the past. That is, it may generate a debug key that is already expired, which results in the compile error.</p>
296
297<p>If you encounter this problem, follow these steps to work around it: </p>
298
299<ol>
300<li>First, delete the debug keystore/key already generated by the Android build tools. Specifically, delete the <code>debug.keystore</code> file. On Linux/Mac OSX, the file is stored in <code>~/.android</code>. On Windows XP, the file is stored in <code>
301C:\Documents and Settings\&lt;user&gt;\.android</code>. On Windows Vista, the file is stored in <code>
302C:\Users\&lt;user&gt;\.android</code></li>
303<li>Next, you can either
304<ul>
305<li>Temporarily change your development machine's locale (date and time) to one that uses a Gregorian calendar, for example, United States. Once the locale is changed, use the Android build tools to compile and install your app. The build tools will regenerate a new keystore and debug key with valid dates. Once the new debug key is generated, you can reset your development machine to the original locale. </li>
306<li>Alternatively, if you do not want to change your machine's locale settings, you can generate the keystore/key on any machine using the Gregorian calendar, then copy the <code>debug.keystore</code> file from that computer to the proper location on your development machine. </li>
307</ul>
308</li>
309</ol>
310
311<p>This problem has been verified on Windows and may apply to other platforms. </p>
312
313<p>For general information about signing Android applications, see
314<a href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/app-signing.html">Signing Your Applications</a>. </p>
315
316<h2 id="manifestfiles">Unable to view manifest files from within
317Eclipse</a></h2>
318
319<p>When you try to open an application's manifest file from within
320Eclipse, you might get an error such as this one:</p>
321<pre>An error has occurred. See error log for more details.
322org.eclipse.wst.sse.ui.StructuredTextEditor.isBlockSelectionModeEnabled()Z</pre>
323
324<p>Try reverting to the 3.0 version of the Eclipse XML Editors and
325Tools. If this does not work, remove the 3.1 version of the tool. To do
326this in Eclipse 3.4:</p>
327
328<ol>
329	<li>Select <strong>Help > Software Updates...</strong></li>
330	<li>Select the <strong>Installed Software</strong> tab.</li>
331	<li>Select <strong>Eclipse XML Editors and Tools</strong>.</li>
332	<li>Click <strong>Uninstall</strong>.</li>
333	<li>Click <strong>Finish</strong>.</li>
334</ol>
335
336<p>When you restart Eclipse, you should be able to view the manifest
337files. </p>