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Eclipse can't create the Java virtual machine [message #988945]

Mon, 03 December 2012 23:14

Louis Caston

Messages: 5
Registered: December 2012

Junior Member

Hi,

Eclipse can't create the Java virtual machine, but my existing Java apps have no problems running.

I've been using the Eclipse IDE for quite a while now, and have never encountered this problem before. I've spent several days now trying to sort this out on my own, and have not been successful. My Eclipse IDE simply stopped working. The only thing I can think of is I allowed Java 7 to be loaded onto my XP machine, though I'm not convinced that's the issue. I uninstalled Java 7, and reinstalled jdk-6u37-windows-i586.exe. My JDK for Eclipse is loaded to it's own directory, and nothing there has changed. Here's my eclipse.ini file, and it's attached to this message:

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.1.1.R36x_v20101122_1400.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_1.1.2.R36x_v20101222
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.jee.product
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
512M
-vm
C:/Program Files/Java/jdk1.6.0_13/bin/javaw.exe
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.5
-Xms40m
-Xmx1024m

I've been running Eclipse so long, I'm not even sure which Eclipse it is anymore. The binary is dated 12/22/2010 2:08pm, and I believe it is Galileo. To check, I went and downloaded the following distribution eclipse-java-juno-SR1-win32.zip, and still get the same error.

I see no log files in my eclipse home directory nor the workspace directory. I can get something running from a rudimentary command line execution, but I'm not trying to fully replicate the command line implied by the eclipse.ini file. As such, Eclipse runs into memory issues, etc.

Any ideas what I should do next?

Thanks,

Attachment: eclipse.ini
(Size: 0.43KB, Downloaded 344 times)

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Re: Eclipse can't create the Java virtual machine [message #989070 is a reply to message #988945]

Tue, 04 December 2012 14:01

Russell Bateman

Messages: 3798
Registered: July 2009
Location: Provo, Utah, USA

Senior Member

On 12/04/2012 06:27 AM, Louis Caston wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Eclipse can't create the Java virtual machine, but my existing Java apps have no problems running.
> [snip]
> Any ideas what I should do next?
>
> Thanks,

The JDK you're using is quite old and I know of many bugs fixed over the
next 20 or so builds. This isn't in itself the problem.

What happened when your platform upgraded to Java 7 is a good reason to
install and wire up to Eclipse an independent JDK, even if not
materially but only for peace of mind. This way, what's happening to
your computer Java-wise will have nothing to do with Eclipse. (You
should not have uninstalled Java 7 for general use by other programs on
your computer.) I advise these steps:

1. Download a Sun Java JDK; install it privately.
2. Download a later Eclipse package; I would suggest Indigo or Juno.
3. Modify eclipse.ini per http://wiki.eclipse.org/Eclipse.ini to wire it
up to the JDK you just downloaded.

Then, if you have trouble, come back with a description of what you're
experiencing. I hope we can solve this problem quickly for you.

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Re: Eclipse can't create the Java virtual machine [message #989166 is a reply to message #989070]

Tue, 04 December 2012 23:18

Louis Caston

Messages: 5
Registered: December 2012

Junior Member

Hi Russell,

The -vm path in my eclipse.ini is an independent JDK. It was not impacted by the java 7 download, according to a time-stamp review of all files in that directory. I also downloaded and tried the jdk1.6.0_37 with my old Eclipse download and a new download of eclipse-java-juno-SR1-win32.zip. The following steps do absolutely nothing, other than causing two dialogs to pop up (one after the other), as shown in the attached Wordpad file:

eclipse -debug
eclipse -clean
eclipse -data {another_workspace_directory_path}
eclipse -data {a_new_workspace_directory_path}

Not sure what to do next. This is stumping me...

Attachment: Startup-Problems.rtf
(Size: 1.93MB, Downloaded 434 times)

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Re: Eclipse can't create the Java virtual machine [message #989171 is a reply to message #989166]

Wed, 05 December 2012 00:01

Louis Caston

Messages: 5
Registered: December 2012

Junior Member

I googled "Java was started but returned exit code=1" and found a thread here -
www.coderanch.com_t_503269_vc_Eclipse-start-return-exit-code
(you'll need to change the '_' to '/', due to a forum filter not liking the external link)

that suggested changing the -vm to the jdk's jre/bin/server/jvm.dll path. Now, when I go to a dos-box/cmdline and run eclipse -debug I actually get output. This output is shown in the attached file. This output showed a -vm arg that I had not seen, and apparently isn't documented:

-XX:MaxPermSize=1024m

Originally, the -debug output showed this value being set to 512m. I explicitly included it in my eclipse.ini, and increased the value to 1024. The new eclipse.ini is here:

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.1.1.R36x_v20101122_1400.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_1.1.2.R36x_v20101222
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.jee.product
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
512M
-vm
C:/Program Files/Java/jdk1.6.0_13/jre/bin/server/jvm.dll
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.5
-Xms40m
-Xmx1024m
-XX:MaxPermSize=1024m

It still doesn't come up, but at least I'm getting an error message:

"could not reserve enough space for object heap"

This makes no sense to me, as I've been running with the exact same setup now for _years_.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Attachment: Startup-Problems2.rtf
(Size: 1.33MB, Downloaded 385 times)

[Updated on: Wed, 05 December 2012 00:01]

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Re: Eclipse can't create the Java virtual machine [message #989861 is a reply to message #989171]

Sat, 08 December 2012 16:56

Louis Caston

Messages: 5
Registered: December 2012

Junior Member

Still can't get this working.

I've uninstalled all Java, and reinstalled jdk-6u37-windows-i586. I've reinstalled Eclipse in new directory using eclipse-java-juno-SR1-win32. I've hardwired the -vm option in that eclipse.ini to my jdk. Here' the eclipse.ini file:

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.v20120522-1813.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_1.1.200.v20120522-1813
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.java.product
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
256M
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
256m
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_37\jre\bin\server\jvm.dll
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.5
-Dhelp.lucene.tokenizer=standard
-Xms40m
-Xmx512m

Running this new install from the command line using "eclipse -debug" produces the output attached as a wordpad document (see attached StartUpProblems.rtf). The error is "could not reserve enough space for java heap".

Have been googling this error, and getting no where.

Any ideas what I can try next?