Eclipse crashes when loading the runtime workbench

Question

I am experiencing trouble when starting the Runtime workbench in eclipse. The new eclipse opens up but crashes on the "Loading Workbench" instruction.

I've tried a few things already, namely:

rm -r .metadata

or

./eclipse -clean -clearPersistedState

I also tried to delete the .snap file, the workbench.xmi file, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Eclipse, this didn't help.

Here's the log from the crash:

!ENTRY org.eclipse.core.net 1 0 2013-11-03 21:44:52.276
!MESSAGE System property http.nonProxyHosts has been set to local|*.local|169.254/16|*.169.254/16 by an external source. This value will be overwritten using the values from the preferences

!ENTRY org.eclipse.ui.workbench 4 2 2013-11-03 21:44:54.013
!MESSAGE Problems occurred when invoking code from plug-in: "org.eclipse.ui.workbench".
!STACK 0 
java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.migration.MigrationSupport.getLastMigration(MigrationSupport.java:232)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.migration.MigrationSupport.baseChangedSinceLastPresentationOfWizard(MigrationSupport.java:193)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.migration.MigrationSupport.performMigration(MigrationSupport.java:71)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.AutomaticUpdateScheduler.earlyStartup(AutomaticUpdateScheduler.java:89)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.EarlyStartupRunnable.runEarlyStartup(EarlyStartupRunnable.java:87)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.EarlyStartupRunnable.run(EarlyStartupRunnable.java:66)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$55.run(Workbench.java:2551)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:53)

!ENTRY org.eclipse.ui 4 4 2013-11-03 21:44:54.028
!MESSAGE Unhandled Exception

!ENTRY org.eclipse.equinox.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler 4 0 2013-11-03 21:44:54.030
!MESSAGE Unable to execute early startup code for an extension
!STACK 0
java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.migration.MigrationSupport.getLastMigration(MigrationSupport.java:232)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.migration.MigrationSupport.baseChangedSinceLastPresentationOfWizard(MigrationSupport.java:193)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.migration.MigrationSupport.performMigration(MigrationSupport.java:71)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler.AutomaticUpdateScheduler.earlyStartup(AutomaticUpdateScheduler.java:89)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.EarlyStartupRunnable.runEarlyStartup(EarlyStartupRunnable.java:87)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.EarlyStartupRunnable.run(EarlyStartupRunnable.java:66)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:42)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$55.run(Workbench.java:2551)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:53)

Does somebody have a solution to this particular problem? I'm becoming crazy from not finding a solution.

Otherwise, I'll have to format and reinstall everything maybe?

Thank you guys if you can help!

Answer 1

OK after messing around with all eclipse files and stuff, I found the solution:

I had to use a new workspace that wasn't in the parent folder of the current workspace, explanation:

Old workspace:

somefolder/parentfolder/workspace/

Every workspace in the parentfolder/ is corrupted, so each time I was trying a new workspace in this folder, it didn't work

By using this kind of workspace, the problem wasn't there anymore:

somefolder/workspace

My advice to you if this happens: do not only use the parent folder to try a workspace but a completely random other folder.

Hope this helps other people in the same position.

Answer 2

I was getting the same error. I was able to run it using ./eclipse -clean -clearPersistedState but then got another error of "Locking not possible in the directory" and this got resolved by giving 777 permission to eclipse folder and its contents.