Android Studio 3.2.1 - Cannot sync project with gradle files: Argument for @NotNull parameter 'message' of ... must not be null

Question

I have a problem using AndroidStudio. I freshly installed it on my Kubuntu 18.04 machine and wanted to create my frist project. Everyhting worked fine and the project opened. The only problem: I can't run my apps. I can't even look at the activities in the design view - It waits forever for the build to finish. When I want to run the apps, it doesn't have any modules.

After searching for a while on the web I tried syncing my project with the gradle files, because that seems to resolve similar issues, but once I do that, the following error occurs:

Argument for @NotNull parameter 'message' of com/android/tools/idea/gradle/project/sync/GradleSyncState.syncFailed must not be null
    java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Argument for @NotNull parameter 'message' of com/android/tools/idea/gradle/project/sync/GradleSyncState.syncFailed must not be null
        at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.GradleSyncState.$$$reportNull$$$0(GradleSyncState.java)
        at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.GradleSyncState.syncFailed(GradleSyncState.java)
        at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.doPopulateProject(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:135)
        at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.populate(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:97)
        at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.access$000(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:39)
        at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask$1.run(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:86)
        at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager$TaskRunnable.run(CoreProgressManager.java:750)
        at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.lambda$runProcess$1(CoreProgressManager.java:157)
        at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.registerIndicatorAndRun(CoreProgressManager.java:580)
        at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.executeProcessUnderProgress(CoreProgressManager.java:525)
        at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.ProgressManagerImpl.executeProcessUnderProgress(ProgressManagerImpl.java:85)
        at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.runProcess(CoreProgressManager.java:144)
        at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager$4.run(CoreProgressManager.java:395)
        at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl$1.run(ApplicationImpl.java:305)
        at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)

After doing it once, the button for syncing is disabled and I can't do it again. I have to restart the IDE to do that.

I looked into the idea.log file to better track down the issue and I found the following there:

2018-10-22 22:38:32,254 [d thread 3]   INFO - xecution.GradleExecutionHelper - Passing command-line args to Gradle Tooling API: -Didea.version=3.2 -Djava.awt.headless=true -Pandroid.injected.build.model.only=true -Pandroid.injected.build.model.only.advanced=true -Pandroid.injected.invoked.from.ide=true -Pandroid.injected.build.model.only.versioned=3 -Pandroid.injected.studio.version=3.2.1.0 -Pandroid.builder.sdkDownload=false --init-script /tmp/ijinit.gradle --offline 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,063 [d thread 3]   INFO - e.project.sync.GradleSyncState - Started setup of project 'TestApp'. 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,065 [e-1136-b06]   INFO - idea.project.IndexingSuspender - Consuming IndexingSuspender activation event: SETUP_STARTED 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,263 [e-1136-b06]   INFO - ule.android.SdkModuleSetupStep - Set Android SDK 'Android API 28 Platform (1)' (/home/myusername/Android/Sdk) to module 'app' 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,567 [d thread 3]   WARN - ea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask - Sync failed: null 
java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.NullPointerException
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.LaterInvocator.invokeAndWait(LaterInvocator.java:179)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl.invokeAndWait(ApplicationImpl.java:651)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl.invokeAndWait(ApplicationImpl.java:656)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.util.ExternalSystemApiUtil.executeOnEdt(ExternalSystemApiUtil.java:480)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.util.ExternalSystemApiUtil.executeProjectChangeAction(ExternalSystemApiUtil.java:469)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.service.project.manage.ProjectDataManagerImpl.dispose(ProjectDataManagerImpl.java:442)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.service.project.manage.ProjectDataManagerImpl.importData(ProjectDataManagerImpl.java:163)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.service.project.manage.ProjectDataManagerImpl.importData(ProjectDataManagerImpl.java:221)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.service.project.manage.ProjectDataManagerImpl.importData(ProjectDataManagerImpl.java:228)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.doPopulateProject(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:120)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.populate(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:97)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.access$000(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:39)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask$1.run(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:86)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager$TaskRunnable.run(CoreProgressManager.java:750)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.lambda$runProcess$1(CoreProgressManager.java:157)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.registerIndicatorAndRun(CoreProgressManager.java:580)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.executeProcessUnderProgress(CoreProgressManager.java:525)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.ProgressManagerImpl.executeProcessUnderProgress(ProgressManagerImpl.java:85)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.runProcess(CoreProgressManager.java:144)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager$4.run(CoreProgressManager.java:395)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl$1.run(ApplicationImpl.java:305)
    at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
    at com.intellij.openapi.extensions.Extensions.disposeArea(Extensions.java:171)
    at com.intellij.openapi.module.impl.ModuleImpl.dispose(ModuleImpl.java:146)
    at com.intellij.openapi.util.Disposer$1.execute(Disposer.java:48)
    at com.intellij.openapi.util.Disposer$1.execute(Disposer.java:44)
    at com.intellij.openapi.util.objectTree.ObjectTree.executeActionWithRecursiveGuard(ObjectTree.java:169)
    at com.intellij.openapi.util.objectTree.ObjectTree.executeUnregistered(ObjectTree.java:181)
    at com.intellij.openapi.util.objectTree.ObjectTree.executeAll(ObjectTree.java:140)
    at com.intellij.openapi.util.Disposer.dispose(Disposer.java:129)
    at com.intellij.openapi.util.Disposer.dispose(Disposer.java:125)
    at com.intellij.openapi.module.impl.ModuleManagerImpl$ModuleModelImpl.dispose(ModuleManagerImpl.java:895)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.service.project.AbstractIdeModifiableModelsProvider.dispose(AbstractIdeModifiableModelsProvider.java:476)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.service.project.manage.ProjectDataManagerImpl$3.execute(ProjectDataManagerImpl.java:445)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.util.DisposeAwareProjectChange.run(DisposeAwareProjectChange.java:36)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl.runWriteAction(ApplicationImpl.java:1010)
    at com.intellij.openapi.externalSystem.util.ExternalSystemApiUtil.lambda$executeProjectChangeAction$6(ExternalSystemApiUtil.java:469)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.TransactionGuardImpl$2.run(TransactionGuardImpl.java:315)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.LaterInvocator$1.run(LaterInvocator.java:156)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.LaterInvocator$FlushQueue.doRun(LaterInvocator.java:447)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.LaterInvocator$FlushQueue.runNextEvent(LaterInvocator.java:431)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.LaterInvocator$FlushQueue.run(LaterInvocator.java:415)
    at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(InvocationEvent.java:311)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(EventQueue.java:762)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.access$500(EventQueue.java:98)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(EventQueue.java:715)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(EventQueue.java:709)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.security.ProtectionDomain$JavaSecurityAccessImpl.doIntersectionPrivilege(ProtectionDomain.java:80)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:732)
    at com.intellij.ide.IdeEventQueue.defaultDispatchEvent(IdeEventQueue.java:822)
    at com.intellij.ide.IdeEventQueue._dispatchEvent(IdeEventQueue.java:763)
    at com.intellij.ide.IdeEventQueue.dispatchEvent(IdeEventQueue.java:423)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThread.java:201)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.java:116)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:105)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:101)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:93)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:82)
2018-10-22 22:38:43,570 [e-1136-b06]  ERROR - intellij.openapi.progress.Task - Argument for @NotNull parameter 'message' of com/android/tools/idea/gradle/project/sync/GradleSyncState.syncFailed must not be null 
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Argument for @NotNull parameter 'message' of com/android/tools/idea/gradle/project/sync/GradleSyncState.syncFailed must not be null
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.GradleSyncState.$$$reportNull$$$0(GradleSyncState.java)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.GradleSyncState.syncFailed(GradleSyncState.java)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.doPopulateProject(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:135)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.populate(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:97)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.access$000(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:39)
    at com.android.tools.idea.gradle.project.sync.idea.IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask$1.run(IdeaSyncPopulateProjectTask.java:86)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager$TaskRunnable.run(CoreProgressManager.java:750)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.lambda$runProcess$1(CoreProgressManager.java:157)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.registerIndicatorAndRun(CoreProgressManager.java:580)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.executeProcessUnderProgress(CoreProgressManager.java:525)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.ProgressManagerImpl.executeProcessUnderProgress(ProgressManagerImpl.java:85)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.runProcess(CoreProgressManager.java:144)
    at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager$4.run(CoreProgressManager.java:395)
    at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl$1.run(ApplicationImpl.java:305)
    at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
2018-10-22 22:38:43,572 [e-1136-b06]  ERROR - intellij.openapi.progress.Task - Android Studio 3.2.1  Build #AI-181.5540.7.32.5056338 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,572 [e-1136-b06]  ERROR - intellij.openapi.progress.Task - JDK: 1.8.0_152-release 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,572 [e-1136-b06]  ERROR - intellij.openapi.progress.Task - VM: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,572 [e-1136-b06]  ERROR - intellij.openapi.progress.Task - Vendor: JetBrains s.r.o 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,572 [e-1136-b06]  ERROR - intellij.openapi.progress.Task - OS: Linux 
2018-10-22 22:38:43,572 [e-1136-b06]  ERROR - intellij.openapi.progress.Task - Last Action: Android.SyncProject

It seems like the project can't be synced to my gradle files. Probably the actual problem of running my app is based upon this one. Has anyone had this issue before or can help me by telling me how to tackle this?

I am completely new to AndroidStudio and also to Gradle.

Answer 1

Ok, I was finally able to figure out the reason.

The problem was, that my project folder resided on a different hard disk partition, than my home folder. The folder containing my android projects was linked to my home folder with a symbolic link.

I can't tell whether its the symbolic link, or the other partition, that is causing the problem. I haven't checked that. Maybe it works if you have it on the same partition but linked with a symbolic link. Maybe it works when used on another partition without symbolic links. But for anyone experiencing this problem -> Check if one of these might be your cause as well.

Some extra information: My android project folder resided on a hard disk partition formatted with ZFS.