jabref 2.10 fails to start on Ubuntu 15.10

[severin-lemaignan]

Using jabref 2.10 as packaged on Ubuntu 15.10, jabref fails to start most of the time: it displays the splashscreen, and stalls. Nothing special is displayed in the console either (except for Found 2 plugins:...).

Running on gnome-shell 3.16.

$ java -version
openjdk version "1.8.0_66-internal"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_66-internal-b01)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.66-b01, mixed mode)

Sometimes (roughly one out of 10 trials), jabref does start, but display a NullPointerException on the console (may or may not be related):

$ jabref
log4j:WARN No appenders could be found for logger (org.java.plugin.ObjectFactory).
log4j:WARN Please initialize the log4j system properly.
log4j:WARN See http://logging.apache.org/log4j/1.2/faq.html#noconfig for more info.
Found 2 plugin(s):
- net.sf.jabref.export.misq (jar:file:/usr/share/jabref/JabRef-2.10.jar!/plugins/net.sf.jabref.export.misq/plugin.xml)
- net.sf.jabref.core (jar:file:/usr/share/jabref/JabRef-2.10.jar!/plugins/net.sf.jabref.core/plugin.xml)

java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKEngine.native_get_gtk_setting(Native Method)
at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKEngine.getSetting(GTKEngine.java:622)
at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKLookAndFeel.getGTKStyleFactory(GTKLookAndFeel.java:1581)
at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKLookAndFeel.loadStyles(GTKLookAndFeel.java:1567)
at com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKLookAndFeel.initialize(GTKLookAndFeel.java:1452)
at javax.swing.UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.java:538)
at javax.swing.UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.java:583)
at net.sf.jabref.JabRef.setLookAndFeel(JabRef.java:669)
at net.sf.jabref.JabRef.openWindow(JabRef.java:726)
at net.sf.jabref.JabRef.<init>(JabRef.java:201)
at net.sf.jabref.JabRef.main(JabRef.java:84)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:497)
at net.sf.jabref.JabRefMain.main(Unknown Source)
Opening: /home/skadge/publications/hri2016-attention/sigproc.bib
Could not get key binding for "Open folder"
page tab list

[koppor]

@severin-lemaignan Please try to start the latest beta version. The jar is provided at https://sourceforge.net/projects/jabref/files/jabref/2.11%20beta%204/.

If that works, I would suggest to use that and to wait for a new Debian package. You can also file a bug at launchpad as we do not support Ubuntu directly, but rely on the Debian package maintainers (with whom we are in close contact).

[koppor]

No answer, therefore closing this issue. Feel free to reopen if desired.

[severin-lemaignan]

@koppor sorry for not getting back! The beta version works well in my experience. If I can reproduce the issue on a different machine with Ubuntu 15.10, I'll open a ticket on Launchpad.

Cheers!

[mastrogeppetto]

Same problem, just upgraded to 15.10:

$ jabref
log4j:WARN No appenders could be found for logger (org.java.plugin.ObjectFactory).
log4j:WARN Please initialize the log4j system properly.
log4j:WARN See http://logging.apache.org/log4j/1.2/faq.html#noconfig for more info.
Found 2 plugin(s):
  - net.sf.jabref.core (jar:file:/usr/share/jabref/JabRef-2.10.jar!/plugins/net.sf.jabref.core/plugin.xml)
  - net.sf.jabref.export.misq (jar:file:/usr/share/jabref/JabRef-2.10.jar!/plugins/net.sf.jabref.export.misq/plugin.xml)

The program 'java' received an X Window System error.
This probably reflects a bug in the program.
The error was 'BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)'.
  (Details: serial 278 error_code 8 request_code 42 minor_code 0)
  (Note to programmers: normally, X errors are reported asynchronously;
   that is, you will receive the error a while after causing it.
   To debug your program, run it with the --sync command line
   option to change this behavior. You can then get a meaningful
   backtrace from your debugger if you break on the gdk_x_error() function.)

Downloaded and tried last available but:

$ java -jar JabRef-3.0.jar 
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: net/sf/jabref/JabRefMain : Unsupported major.minor version 52.0
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:800)
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:449)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:71)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:361)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
    at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(LauncherHelper.java:482)
$ java -showversion
java version "1.7.0_91"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea 2.6.3) (7u91-2.6.3-0ubuntu0.15.10.1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.91-b01, mixed mode)
....

The "unsupported major.minor..." might indicate a discrepancy in the java versions used for compiling and executing.

Thank you

EDIT: the installed version (not the last revision) works correctly, from time to time. There is probably a race somewhere in the code.

[koppor]

JabRef 3.0 requires Java 8. Please update your Java to version 8 and try again. Think, following link is good: http://tecadmin.net/install-oracle-java-8-jdk-8-ubuntu-via-ppa/#

Or use debian backports - https://packages.debian.org/sid/openjdk-8-jre

[mastrogeppetto]

Sorry, I do not think I'll try that right now: I prefer to keep my box in sync with Ubuntu, and right now the recommended version of the jre is 7.0. I'll stick to that, and wait for next upgrade. After all, it looks like jabref works ok, when it starts :-).

Thank you!

[moorepants]

Did a launchpad ticket get opened for this? I can't run the apt-get install jabref on Ubuntu 15.10 either.

[koppor]

The solution currently is to use Ubuntu's snaps. They should be supported on Ubuntu 15.10: https://snapcraft.io/docs/core/install.

sudo apt-get install snapd
sudo snap install jabref --beta

More information is currently given at #3121.