iOS simulator: could not hardlink copy. Wrong path

Question

I am using Xcode Version 6.1 (6A1052d)

I am trying to launch an app on the simulator.

The first time it always works fine. If I want to launch a second time, I have an error (see log below). Then in iOS simulator I "Reset Content and Settings" and I can launch again successfully.

Given the error log, I think it must have something to do with a wrong path. The problem is I am bad with Mac filesystem and path linking, so your help would be much appreciated.

EDIT: Here is the info.plist.xml (generated by LibGDX if it matters)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key>
    <string>en</string>
    <key>CFBundleDisplayName</key>
    <string>${app.name}</string>
    <key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
    <string>${app.executable}</string>
    <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
    <string>${app.id}</string>
    <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key>
    <string>6.0</string>
    <key>CFBundleName</key>
    <string>${app.name}</string>
    <key>CFBundlePackageType</key>
    <string>APPL</string>
    <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
    <string>${app.version}</string>
    <key>CFBundleSignature</key>
    <string>????</string>
    <key>CFBundleVersion</key>
    <string>${app.build}</string>
    <key>LSRequiresIPhoneOS</key>
    <true/>
    <key>UIViewControllerBasedStatusBarAppearance</key>
    <false/>
    <key>UIStatusBarHidden</key>
    <true/>
    <key>UIDeviceFamily</key>
    <array>
        <integer>1</integer>
        <integer>2</integer>
    </array>
    <key>UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities</key>
    <array>
        <string>armv7</string>
        <string>opengles-2</string>
    </array>
    <key>UISupportedInterfaceOrientations</key>
    <array>
        <!-- <string>UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait</string> -->
        <string>UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeLeft</string>
        <string>UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeRight</string>
    </array>
    <key>CFBundleIcons</key>
    <dict>
        <key>CFBundlePrimaryIcon</key>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key>
            <array>
                <string>Icon</string>
                <string>Icon-72</string>
            </array>
        </dict>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

And my robovm.xml:

app.version=1.0
app.id=<my package name>.IOSLauncher
app.mainclass=<my package name>.IOSLauncher
app.executable=IOSLauncher
app.build=1
app.name=<my app name>

I have tried to identify more precisely the error thanks to the advice of Jeremy, in the system.log inside the folder of my virtual device. The system.log has a lot of entries around the time of the crash, so I might have missed something... Anyway I have found these potentials errors:

Nov 28 09:03:44 As-MacBook-Pro installd[668]: 0x10e3d0000 createDictFromFile: open failed for /Users/<myname>/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/D1C6E4CE-ABF3-4621-B811-913F1705CBE0/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/CA2B6D8C-1A62-4DA6-8433-AA4678D009E1/ManifestCache.plist : No such file or directory

Nov 28 09:03:44 As-MacBook-Pro installd[668]: 0x10e4d6000 writeDictToFile: ==== Successfully wrote Manifest cache to /Users/<myname>/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/D1C6E4CE-ABF3-4621-B811-913F1705CBE0/data/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.gCGKCY/extracted/ManifestCache.plist

Nov 28 09:03:44 As-MacBook-Pro installd[668]: 0x10e3d0000 validate_stream: Got manifest for version "1 1.0", but expected version "1 "

Nov 28 09:03:44 As-MacBook-Pro installd[668]: 0x10e3d0000 hardlink_copy_hierarchy: Failed to open manifest /Users/<myname>/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/D1C6E4CE-ABF3-4621-B811-913F1705CBE0/data/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.gCGKCY/extracted/com.apple.deltainstallcommands.<my app.id>

The original crash log from Eclipse console (device name folders are different as I have tested on multiple virtual devices, but the error is always the same)

11/27/14 9:58:17 AM: [ERROR] Session could not be started: 
Error Domain=LaunchServicesError 
Code=0 "Unable to run app in Simulator" UserInfo=0x7fc8eb900d70 
{Error=PackagePatchFailed, ErrorDescription=Could not hardlink copy 
/Users/<myname>/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/055A18BC-73B5-4EA6-A872-488FA69F4750/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/CCF8C472-C48F-41D7-8885-E83830256EE3/IOSLauncher.app 
to 
/Users/<myname>/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/055A18BC-73B5-4EA6-A872-488FA69F4750/data/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.TsGEn1/extracted/Payload/IOSLauncher.app 
with manifest 
/Users/<myname>/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/055A18BC-73B5-4EA6-A872-488FA69F4750/data/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.TsGEn1/extracted/com.apple.deltainstallcommands.<pathtomyappexec>, 
NSLocalizedFailureReason=An error was encountered while running 
(Domain = LaunchServicesError, Code = 0), 
NSUnderlyingError=0x7fc8ebb1a500 "The operation couldn’t be completed. 
(LaunchServicesError error 0.)", 
NSLocalizedDescription=Unable to run app in Simulator}

Answer 1

I encountered the same error using Xcode 8.2.1. Changing the order of items in the Info.plist did not help in my case. But it did lead me towards the solution. I had changed both CFBundleShortVersionString and CFBundleVersion from 3.0.0 to 3.0.1, BUT I HAD FORGOTTEN to also change to 3.0.1 in the localized and base InfoPlist.strings files. Doing that, fixed the problem.

Answer 2

I believe the issue is exacerbated if you change your app's Info.plist from one build to the next (such as revving CFBundleVersion or similar). If you do that, you should delete the app from the simulator between each launch (either via SpringBoard or using simctl) or just erase the sim device.

This issue should be addressed in recent iOS Simulator 8.2 betas that are in Xcode 6.2 betas. I think it was addressed in either beta2 or beta3, but I can't recall for certain.

Answer 3

Find the InfoPlist.strings files. And check if the version of "CFBundleShortVersionString" = "1.1"; coincides with the version of your app in Info.plist

Answer 4

This is indeed triggered by the order of certain keys in your app's Info.plist file and what seems to be a bug in the iOS simulator's installd process. installd sometimes seems to be unable to read the CFBundleShortVersionString and CFBundleVersion values. I've found that if RoboVM makes sure to always move those values first in the Info.plist it writes out we prevent the bug in installd from being triggered. We have now implemented this workaround in RoboVM (see issue #771) and it will be in the next nightly build (the 20150222 build) and in the next release.

Nightly builds of RoboVM can be downloaded from http://download.robovm.org. To install a nightly build of the Eclipse plugin you should use the update site

http://download.robovm.org/nightlies/eclipse/site.xml

Nightly SNAPSHOT builds of the RoboVM Maven and Gradle plugins are pushed to Maven Central.