Android Studios RuntimeException: Unexpected exception in dex writer thread

Question

I have been getting this strange error the whole of today - anyone know what is going wrong here?

As far as I know, I have been using the multidex library correctly (the below is from the app.gradle file):

defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.example.simon"
    minSdkVersion 14
    targetSdkVersion 23
    versionCode 1
    versionName "1.0"
    /*Enabling multidex*/
    multiDexEnabled true
}

dependencies {
    /*    Enabling multidex*/
    compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.1'
}

My top level gradle file is very basic:

buildscript {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.3.0'
        classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:1.3.1'
        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
    }
}

Error:

    Executing tasks: [:app:generateDebugSources,
:app:generateDebugAndroidTestSources]

Parallel execution with configuration on demand is an incubating
feature.
:app:preBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:checkDebugManifest
:app:preReleaseBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportAppcompatV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportCardviewV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportDesign2301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportMultidex101Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportPaletteV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportRecyclerviewV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportSupportV42301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComDigitsSdkAndroidDigits162Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComFacebookAndroidFacebookAndroidSdk440Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComFacebookConcealConceal101Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGithubCurioustechizenAndroidAgoLibrary130Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesAppinvite780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesBase780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesGcm780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesLocation780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesMaps780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComTheartofdevEdmodoAndroidImageCropper104Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComTwitterSdkAndroidTweetComposer080Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComTwitterSdkAndroidTweetUi131Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComTwitterSdkAndroidTwitter161Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComTwitterSdkAndroidTwitterCore141Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareIoFabricSdkAndroidFabric134Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareDebugDependencies
:app:compileDebugAidl UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugRenderscript UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugBuildConfig UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:mergeDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugResValues UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugGoogleServices
:app:generateDebugResources
:app:mergeDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugManifest UP-TO-DATE
:app:fabricGenerateResourcesDebug
:app:processDebugResources
:app:generateDebugSources
:app:preDebugAndroidTestBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareDebugAndroidTestDependencies
:app:compileDebugAndroidTestAidl UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugAndroidTestManifest UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugAndroidTestRenderscript UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAndroidTestBuildConfig UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAndroidTestAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:mergeDebugAndroidTestAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAndroidTestResValues UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAndroidTestResources UP-TO-DATE
:app:mergeDebugAndroidTestResources UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugAndroidTestResources UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAndroidTestSources UP-TO-DATE

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Total time: 3.913 secs Executing tasks: [:app:assembleDebug]

Parallel execution with configuration on demand is an incubating
feature.
:app:preBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:checkDebugManifest
:app:preReleaseBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportAppcompatV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportCardviewV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportDesign2301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportMultidex101Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportPaletteV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportRecyclerviewV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportSupportV42301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComDigitsSdkAndroidDigits162Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComFacebookAndroidFacebookAndroidSdk440Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGithubCurioustechizenAndroidAgoLibrary130Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesAppinvite780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesBase780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesGcm780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesLocation780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComGoogleAndroidGmsPlayServicesMaps780Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComTheartofdevEdmodoAndroidImageCropper104Library
:app:prepareDebugDependencies
:app:compileDebugAidl UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugRenderscript UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugBuildConfig UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:mergeDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugResValues UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugGoogleServices
:app:generateDebugResources
:app:mergeDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugManifest UP-TO-DATE
:app:fabricGenerateResourcesDebug
:app:processDebugResources
:app:generateDebugSources
:app:processDebugJavaRes UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugJavaWithJavac UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugNdk UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugSources UP-TO-DATE
:app:collectDebugMultiDexComponents UP-TO-DATE
:app:packageAllDebugClassesForMultiDex UP-TO-DATE
:app:shrinkDebugMultiDexComponents UP-TO-DATE
:app:createDebugMainDexClassList UP-TO-DATE
:app:dexDebugExecuting
tasks: [:app:assembleDebug]

Parallel execution with configuration on demand is an incubating
feature.
:app:preBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:checkDebugManifest
:app:preReleaseBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportAppcompatV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportCardviewV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportDesign2301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportMultidex101Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportPaletteV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportRecyclerviewV72301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportSupportV42301Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComDigitsSdkAndroidDigits162Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareDebugDependencies
:app:compileDebugAidl UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugRenderscript UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugBuildConfig UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:mergeDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:app:generateDebugResValues UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugGoogleServices
:app:generateDebugResources
:app:mergeDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:app:processDebugManifest UP-TO-DATE
:app:fabricGenerateResourcesDebug
:app:processDebugResources
:app:generateDebugSources
:app:processDebugJavaRes UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugJavaWithJavac UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugNdk UP-TO-DATE
:app:compileDebugSources UP-TO-DATE
:app:collectDebugMultiDexComponents UP-TO-DATE
:app:packageAllDebugClassesForMultiDex UP-TO-DATE
:app:shrinkDebugMultiDexComponents UP-TO-DATE
:app:createDebugMainDexClassList UP-TO-DATE
:app:dexDebug AGPBI:
{"kind":"simple","text":"UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL
EXCEPTION:","sources":[{}]} AGPBI:
{"kind":"simple","text":"java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected
exception in dex writer thread","sources":[{}]} AGPBI:
{"kind":"simple","text":"\tat
com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.runMultiDex(Main.java:397)","sources":[{}]}
AGPBI: {"kind":"simple","text":"\tat
com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.run(Main.java:275)","sources":[{}]}
AGPBI: {"kind":"simple","text":"\tat
com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.main(Main.java:245)","sources":[{}]}
AGPBI: {"kind":"simple","text":"\tat
com.android.dx.command.Main.main(Main.java:106)","sources":[{}]}


 FAILED

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong: Execution failed for task ':app:dexDebug'.
com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: org.gradle.process.internal.ExecException: Process 'command
'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_76\bin\java.exe'' finished with
non-zero exit value 2

* Try: Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output.

BUILD FAILED

Total time: 1 mins 5.426 secs

Have you tried running with --info or --debug to get more info? If nothing else, you can try finding and manually running the exact command that gradle is running, in order to see its output and why it's failing. — JesusFreke, Sep 13 '15 at 19:42
Hi, I will run it later today and get back to you - sorry for the slow response. — Simon, Sep 15 '15 at 13:24

score 71 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

71

After googling for a while, I found the problem was that not enough heap was allocated to the dex writer.

I fixed it by putting in the following in my app gradle.build:

android {
    dexOptions {
        incremental true
        javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
    }
}

This option also managed to speed up my gradle build significantly.

Extremely long build with Gradle (Android Studio)

edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

Community

1
1

answered Sep 16 '15 at 10:11

Simon

19,658
27
149
217

20

Detail: dexOptions {} is to be put inside android {} block in build.gradle. – tarkeshwar Sep 18 '15 at 13:52
3

`incremental true` deprecated But `javaMaxHeapSize "4g"` works great! Thank you! – sagus_helgy Sep 28 '16 at 21:07

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 13 '17 at 09:50

2

Adding this to my Project level gradle.properties helped -

org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx1536m -XX:MaxPermSize=512m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8

answered Feb 13 '17 at 09:50

Arpit

1,052
2
13
25

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 06 '16 at 10:18

change your manifist to this

defaultConfig 
{
    applicationId "com.example.simon"
    minSdkVersion 14
    targetSdkVersion 23
    versionCode 1
    versionName "1.0"
    /*Enabling multidex*/
    multiDexEnabled true
}
android {
    dexOptions {
        incremental true
        javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
    }
}

dependencies {
    /*    Enabling multidex*/
       compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.1'
}

and this problem shows when you add the :

/*Enabling multidex*/
    multiDexEnabled true

most of the times. and for more information please tell me the exact thing you didnt undestand

Android Studios RuntimeException: Unexpected exception in dex writer thread

3 Answers3

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