Intermittent NullPointerException from AppCompatDelegateImplV7.createSubDecor() [37095334]

Fixed

Bug

[AOSP] assigned

[AOSP] Released

[AOSP] FutureRelease

Status Update

No update yet.

Description

[Deleted User]

created issue #1

Apr 21, 2016 04:43AM

Library used (support-v4, appcompat-v7, ...): appcompat-v7
Version used: 23.1.1, 23.3.0, 23.2.1, 23.3.0
Theme used: Custom theme based on Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar
Devices/Android versions reproduced on: Wide variety of devices and Android versions, ranging from 4.2.2 to 6.0.1

I recently started seeing the following two crashes, both of which point to problems obtaining the content view:

Relevant Portion of Stack for Crash #1:
Caused by java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'int android.view.ViewGroup.getChildCount()' on a null object reference
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegateImplV7.createSubDecor(AppCompatDelegateImplV7.java:475)
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegateImplV7.ensureSubDecor(AppCompatDelegateImplV7.java:309)
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegateImplV7.setContentView(AppCompatDelegateImplV7.java:273)
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity.setContentView(AppCompatActivity.java:139)
at com.bleacherreport.android.teamstream.activities.HomeActivity.onCreate(HomeActivity.java:181)

Relevant Portion of Stack for Crash #2:
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Window couldn't find content container view
at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow.generateLayout(PhoneWindow.java:3611)
at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow.installDecor(PhoneWindow.java:3677)
at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow.getDecorView(PhoneWindow.java:1943)
at android.view.Window.findViewById(Window.java:990)
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegateImplV7.createSubDecor(AppCompatDelegateImplV7.java:460)
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegateImplV7.ensureSubDecor(AppCompatDelegateImplV7.java:300)
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegateImplV7.setContentView(AppCompatDelegateImplV7.java:264)
at android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity.setContentView(AppCompatActivity.java:129)
at com.bleacherreport.android.teamstream.activities.HomeActivity.onCreate(HomeActivity.java:186)

As you can see, the crash occurs within the onCreate() method of our HomeActivity, which extends android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity. Within AppCompatDelegateImplV7.createSubDecor, the call to mWindow.findViewById(android.R.id.content) sometimes returns null (crash #1). This in turn results in a NullPointerException on line 475. In other situations, even on the same version of Android, we see crash #2, with the error message, "Window couldn't find content container view". To me, this suggests a race condition within the appcompat code.

We were able to reduce the frequency of crashes by downgrading Play Services from 8.4 to 7.8. (We use Play Services exclusively for ads.) I can see no connection between Play Services and this crash, except that one version may have a longer startup than the other, which could alter the timing such that a race condition is more likely to occur.

In our experience, the frequency of crashes is also higher on emulator than on device. Similarly, we are unable to reproduce the crash in a debug build, but can recreate it with some frequency in a release build. These seemingly unrelated factors all seem to support the theory that there's a race condition here.

Based on analytical logging, the savedInstanceState parameter passed into onCreate() is always non-null when the crash occurs, suggesting that the problem is specifically related to recreating the HomeActivity. We use android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize|keyboardHidden" in our AndroidManifest.xml file, so I don't think the Activity is being recreated due to rotation. Instead, it seems that the Activity instance is dropped and then recreated as part of memory management. This is consistent with the fact that we can only reproduce the crash with any frequency by setting the "Don't keep activities" developer option.

Any suggestions? Anything we can do to help identify the source of the problem?

Comments

ch...@google.com <ch...@google.com> Apr 21, 2016 04:07PM

Assigned to ch...@google.com.

[Deleted User] <[Deleted User]> #2Apr 21, 2016 06:15PM

what Application are you trying to reproduce the issue. I tried rotating the device for couple of times, Issue not seen. Also provide Device you are using to reproduce the issue

ch...@google.com <ch...@google.com> Apr 22, 2016 02:21PM

Marked as fixed.

[Deleted User] <[Deleted User]> #3Apr 22, 2016 05:55PM

Any Android 2.3.x, really. The application is a Beta version of an unreleased app.

This issie initially appeared on a Samsung Galaxy Ace with 2.3.3, but after testing it in an Android emulator, it also appeared. The dificulty to reproduce this is because it only seems to happen after a crash of the app (either by OOM or some other bug), and we Android tries to recreate the app, it crashes again with the "ClassNotFoundException when unmarshalling".

Also, we're having another crash similar to this, but in AppBarLayout.Behaviour:

Fatal Exception: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{

cm.aptoide.pt.dev/cm.aptoide.pt.AppViewActivity}: android.os.BadParcelableException: ClassNotFoundException when unmarshalling: android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout$Behavior$SavedState
at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1658)
at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1674)
at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500(ActivityThread.java:117)
at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:942)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:3735)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Method.java)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:904)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:662)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(NativeStart.java)
Caused by android.os.BadParcelableException: ClassNotFoundException when unmarshalling: android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout$Behavior$SavedState
at android.os.Parcel.readParcelable(Parcel.java:1958)
at android.os.Parcel.readParcelableArray(Parcel.java:1997)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout$SavedState.<init>(CoordinatorLayout.java:2604)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout$SavedState$1.createFromParcel(CoordinatorLayout.java:2639)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout$SavedState$1.createFromParcel(CoordinatorLayout.java:2636)
at android.support.v4.os.ParcelableCompat$CompatCreator.createFromParcel(ParcelableCompat.java:51)
at android.os.Parcel.readParcelable(Parcel.java:1981)
at android.os.Parcel.readValue(Parcel.java:1846)
at android.os.Parcel.readSparseArrayInternal(Parcel.java:2112)
at android.os.Parcel.readSparseArray(Parcel.java:1568)
at android.os.Parcel.readValue(Parcel.java:1903)
at android.os.Parcel.readMapInternal(Parcel.java:2083)
at android.os.Bundle.unparcel(Bundle.java:208)
at android.os.Bundle.getSparseParcelableArray(Bundle.java:1175)
at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow.restoreHierarchyState(PhoneWindow.java:1517)
at android.app.Activity.onRestoreInstanceState(Activity.java:844)
at android.app.Activity.performRestoreInstanceState(Activity.java:816)
at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnRestoreInstanceState(Instrumentation.java:1096)
at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1636)
at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1674)
at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500(ActivityThread.java:117)
at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:942)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:3735)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Method.java)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:904)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:662)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(NativeStart.java)

Thanks in advance.

ch...@google.com <ch...@google.com> #4May 12, 2016 07:48AM

Hi Please provide the sample project to reproduce the issue, Also our eng teams are not prioritizing changes on earlier releases.

[Deleted User] <[Deleted User]> #5Jul 1, 2019 04:30AM

It does the very same with VLC on Android:
git://

code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc-android.git

si...@shadowfax.in <si...@shadowfax.in> #6Jun 13, 2022 12:06PM

Android 2.3.3 - 2.3.7
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.rusdelphi.wifipassword/com.rusdelphi.wifipassword.MainActivity}: android.os.BadParcelableException: ClassNotFoundException when unmarshalling: android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout$Behavior$SavedState
at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1735)
at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1754)
at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500(ActivityThread.java:156)
at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1000)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:130)
at android.os.Looper.loop(SourceFile:351)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:3821)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:538)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:969)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:727)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
Caused by: android.os.BadParcelableException: ClassNotFoundException when unmarshalling: android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout$Behavior$SavedState
at android.os.Parcel.readParcelable(Parcel.java:1989)
at android.os.Parcel.readParcelableArray(Parcel.java:2028)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout$SavedState.<init>(Unknown Source)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout$SavedState$1.createFromParcel(Unknown Source)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout$SavedState$1.createFromParcel(Unknown Source)
at android.support.v4.e.d.createFromParcel(Unknown Source)
at android.os.Parcel.readParcelable(Parcel.java:2012)
at android.os.Parcel.readValue(Parcel.java:1877)
at android.os.Parcel.readSparseArrayInternal(Parcel.java:2143)
at android.os.Parcel.readSparseArray(Parcel.java:1599)
at android.os.Parcel.readValue(Parcel.java:1934)
at android.os.Parcel.readMapInternal(Parcel.java:2114)
at android.os.Bundle.unparcel(Bundle.java:239)
at android.os.Bundle.getSparseParcelableArray(Bundle.java:1198)
at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow.restoreHierarchyState(PhoneWindow.java:1538)
at android.app.Activity.onRestoreInstanceState(Activity.java:880)
at android.app.Activity.performRestoreInstanceState(Activity.java:852)
at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnRestoreInstanceState(Instrumentation.java:1132)
at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1713)
... 11 more

va...@gmail.com <va...@gmail.com> #7Jan 11, 2023 05:08AM

Comment has been deleted.

Message last modified on Jan 11, 2023 05:09AM

va...@gmail.com <va...@gmail.com> #8Jan 11, 2023 05:10AM

This is our #1 crash in crashlytics. Same behavior and types of crashes.