Eclipse Crash “java was started but returned exit

Question

I'm aware there is an identical post here but none of the proposed solutions have changed anything and they are quite old (problems to do with Java6) and seem to be referring to a bug to do with Eclipse.

My problem is when I am developing in Eclipse for RCP and RAP Developers; either making changes to java files or changing dependencies etc, Eclipse randomly hangs and then freezes. I have to force close eclipse and I get this message

Things I have tried so far:

• Restarted eclipse and PC
• Added the -clean command to the very beginning of the eclipse.ini file
• Created a brand new work space and attempted to develop in that

I'm running on the latest version of Java (1.7.0_13) and haven't got a clue what to do next.

The problem has happened 4 or 5 times in a number of different occasions:

• When I have tried to add a new package to the src folder
• When I have tried to add a class to a package in the src folder
• When I have tried to edit a class in a package in the src folder
• When using Ctrl+Space in a class in the src folder

Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated! Need to get this problem sorted so I can get developing for my 3rd Year University Project :)

Answer 1

After a lot of researching and filing bug reports to no avail I tried one last clear out of Java and fresh installs of Eclipse to try and fix the error and it seems to have worked.

Here is what I did:

• Un-installed Eclipse for RCP and RAP developers
• Un-installed Java from my PC and deleted any old Java folders that were left behind (I didn't do this in previous clear outs so maybe there was an old version of Java messing something up)
• Did a fresh install of Eclipse for RCP and RAP developers and a fresh install of the latest Java
• I also deleted my old PATH variable for Java in Environment Variables and put the new one at the front of all the other entries

This seems to have fixed the error for now so hopefully it won't be a short term fix

Answer 2

java was started but returned exit code = -805306369

is caused by Eclipse´s corrupted workspace, I solved my problem with these 3 steps:

1) Go to your workspace and rename it.

2) Start your eclipse and by default it will create a workspace.

3) Go to File -> Switch Workspace, choose your original workspace.

Answer 3

java was started but returned exit code = -805306369 caused by Eclipse´s currupted workspace, I solved my problem with this 4 steps:

1. Close Eclipse.
2. Kill the adb from task manager.
3. Start Eclipse and by default it will create a workspace or start with new workspace.
4. Go to File -> Switch Workspace, choose your original workspace.

Answer 4

If using Maven projects, check pom.xml, this may corrupted. Mine resolved by fixing pom file.

Answer 5

I opened another instance of eclipse and it prompted me to choose a new workspace. I did so and there it was resolved. Then I closed the new workspace and resorted back to old workspace as usual.