Troubleshooting Java/Eclipse/Python Installation


This is the first quarter large numbers of students are installing Java, Python, and Eclipse. As I hear about problems and find workarounds, I will add them here, in the appropriate sections. Note that these workarounds are not guaranteed, but they have worked in some circumstances.


Running Eclipse

  1. Problem: Eclipse cannot run and prints the error message:
    "Version 1.6.0_65 of the JVM is not suitable for this product. Version: 1.7 or greater is required."

    Workaround: Go the the following Java Website and download an install the Mac OS X x64 sofware: the download is named jdk-6u67-macosx-x64.dmg which shows as about 186 MB. After doing this, if you still get the same error message when starting Eclipse, delete Eclipse, redownload it, and reinstall it.

  2. Problem: Eclipse cannot locate the JRE. The following error message will appear when Eclipse starts.

    Workaround: You need to manually set the PATH system variable to include the location of your JRE. Normally Eclipse does this automatically. Before following the instructions below, find the directory that contains Java.

    1. Click the Start button
    2. Click Control Panel entry (on the upper right)
    3. Click the System text/icon (near the end: they are alphabetical)
    4. Click the Advance System Settings shield (upper left)
    5. On the System Properties pop-up window select the Advanced tab (it is probably already selected) and click the Environmental Variables... button.
    6. In the Environmental Variables pop-up window select PATH under Variable in the top pane (it is probably already selected) and click the Edit for that pane.
    7. In the Edit User Variable pop-up window, the Variable name: text box should show PATH and the Variable value: text box should show the current value of PATH, which may be too big to fit on the screen.
    8. Put the cursor at the end of the Variable value: text box and type a semicolon and the path to the bin folder in the jre7 folder in the Java folder you found.
    9. Click the various OK buttons in the 3 pop-up windows.
    In the picture below, my PATH variables started with C:\Program files so I added at the end ;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin which is where I installed Java.

    Try running Eclipse again and see if you get the same error message; if you do, try rebooting and running Eclipse again.

  3. Problem: Eclipse cannot locate the JNI shared library. The following error message will appear when Eclipse starts.

    Workaround: I've been told this is often caused by installing incompatible version of Java and Eclipse: specifically a 32-bit version of one and a 64-bit version of the other. Go back and follow the instructions for downloading and installing Java and Eclispe (heck, do it for Python too), ensuring you are using the 32-bit versions of both.