ExoPlayer - java.lang.IllegalStateException: sending message to a Handler on a dead thread

Question

I am using a SimpleExoPlayer in a RecyclerView and sometimes there is an error when calling

simplePlayer.setPlayWhenReady(true);

The video player remains blank and the moments when the issue appears are not always the same (I did not find an exact way to simulate this)

Exception:

java.lang.IllegalStateException: Handler (android.os.Handler) {edbfbdd} sending message to a Handler on a dead thread
        at android.os.MessageQueue.enqueueMessage(MessageQueue.java:545)
        at android.os.Handler.enqueueMessage(Handler.java:662)
        at android.os.Handler.sendMessageAtTime(Handler.java:631)
        at android.os.Handler.sendMessageDelayed(Handler.java:601)
        at android.os.Handler.sendMessage(Handler.java:538)
        at android.os.Message.sendToTarget(Message.java:418)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.setPlayWhenReady(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:183)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImpl.setPlayWhenReady(ExoPlayerImpl.java:245)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.SimpleExoPlayer.updatePlayWhenReady(SimpleExoPlayer.java:1188)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.SimpleExoPlayer.setPlayWhenReady(SimpleExoPlayer.java:896)

My code runs inside a custom view (updated in recycler view adapter):

MyView h = this;
h.playerView = new PlayerView(getContext());

h.playerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
h.postFrameLayout.addView(h.playerView, 0);

h.postFrameLayout.getLayoutParams().width = swidth;
h.postFrameLayout.getLayoutParams().height = (int) (swidth ); 

h.playerView.getLayoutParams().width = swidth;
h.playerView.getLayoutParams().height = (int) (swidth  ); 


if (player != null){
            player.release();
}

DefaultLoadControl loadControl = new DefaultLoadControl.Builder()
                .setBufferDurationsMs(1100, 2000, 1000, 1000).createDefaultLoadControl();
final SimpleExoPlayer simplePlayer = ExoPlayerFactory.newSimpleInstance(getContext(), trackSelector, loadControl);
h.playerView.setUseController(false);

    h.playerView.setResizeMode(AspectRatioFrameLayout.RESIZE_MODE_FIXED_WIDTH);
h.playerView.setPlayer(simplePlayer);

simplePlayer.addListener(new Player.EventListener() {
            @Override
            public void onPlayerStateChanged(boolean playWhenReady, int playbackState) {
                if (playbackState == Player.STATE_ENDED) {
                    h.videoPlay.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                    h.postImage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                    simplePlayer.setPlayWhenReady(false);
                    simplePlayer.seekTo(0);
                }
            }
        });
Uri uri = Uri.parse(videoUrl);
final MediaSource audioSource = new ExtractorMediaSource.Factory(dataSourceFactory)
                .createMediaSource(uri);
simplePlayer.prepare(audioSource);

h.player = simplePlayer;

h.videoPlay.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
h.videoPlay.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                displayArticles(false, post.getPhotoItems(), h);

                h.videoPlay.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                h.postImage.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                h.playerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                simplePlayer.setPlayWhenReady(true);

            }
        }); 

I release the player on detaching from the window (when recycler view calls onDetachedFromWindow() on my custom view):

if (player != null) {
        videoPlay.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        postImage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        player.release();
        player = null;
}

Is there a way to avoid this issue or make retries when the player is started?

Answer 1

I have same problem when I try to use ..exoplayer2.ui.PlayerView class. There is not problem with ..exoplayer2.ui.PlayerControlView. this is my code:

 public static void setUp(Context context){
    ExoPlayerTool.context = context;
    player = new SimpleExoPlayer.Builder(context).build();
    dataSourceFactory = new DefaultDataSourceFactory(context,
            Util.getUserAgent(context, "SingerApp"));
}

public static void setSource(String link){
    Uri uri = Uri.parse(link);
    MediaSource videoSource = new ProgressiveMediaSource.Factory(dataSourceFactory).createMediaSource(uri);
    player.addListener(playerListener);
    player.prepare(videoSource);
    player.setPlayWhenReady(true);
}

I am calling setup() function once, and setSource() function every time I want to change source.

When i want to turn off music I call player.release(); and after release the setSource(), gives same error on player.prepare(videoSource); line.

I was able to fix the issue by creating new SimpleExoPlayer on every source change. code looks like this:

 public static void setSource(String link){
    Uri uri = Uri.parse(link);
    MediaSource videoSource = new ProgressiveMediaSource.Factory(dataSourceFactory).createMediaSource(uri);
    player.release();
    player = new SimpleExoPlayer.Builder(context).build();
    player.addListener(playerListener);
    player.prepare(videoSource);
    player.setPlayWhenReady(true);
}

I don't know how optimized this solution is but better than not releasing player at all.