NullPointerException in HardwareRenderer

Question

I wish I had more information about this error but I just don't. I have a tool called BugSense(Now it is Splunk MINT) that sends crashes to a remote server and this is all I'm getting:

java.lang.NullPointerException
at android.view.HardwareRenderer$GlRenderer.checkCurrent(HardwareRenderer.java:960)
at android.view.HardwareRenderer$Gl20Renderer.destroyLayers(HardwareRenderer.java:1148)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl.destroyHardwareResources(ViewRootImpl.java:576)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl.performTraversals(ViewRootImpl.java:973)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl.handleMessage(ViewRootImpl.java:2448)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4482)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:787)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:554)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)

The interesting thing is that all of the error instances came from:

• BLU DASH 4.0
• They are all rooted
• They all had Mobile Net turned off
• They all had at least 12 running apps

So... what do you think?

• has anyone had a NPE in the HardwareRenderer class?
• Could it be a 'root' thing (i.e. an issue with the device being rooted)?
• Could it be a 'hardware' thing (i.e. an issue with the BLUE DASH 4.0)

Hairless

Not just BLU Dash 4.0. I'm seeing the same on kyocera_rise_c5155. But other than that I don;t have anything else to add. – Schlieren

I found this same exception on SEMC MK16i. I don't know, what cause this too. :/ – Ryurik

code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=30743 – Myrick

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's a bug report. – Terrance

Answer 1

The problem is that the code is using an null object.

MyClass class;
class.doStuff(); // Will throw NullPointerException as class is null

MyClass newClass = new MyClass();
newClass.doStuff(); // Will work as newClass is pointing to an object.

As I do not have the offending code, I cannot help further. I would suggest you include the code at (HardwareRenderer.java:960), and the call route from the stack, as this is what is causing the exception.

Toast

HardwareRenderer is part of the Android operating system and OP was experiencing a bug in it. – Laius

Either you have passed in a null object to this class or an injector of this class, or I have misunderstood the question. – Toast

I would recommend you try to recreate the problem using example code, and add that to the question so others can use it to find a solution. – Toast

@RobertFry It's been 3 years. I doubt OP even remembers this. – Yoder

Still the question may help others with a similar issue. I have solved many problems in the past by looking at similar problems on this site. – Toast

This answer is of no use. Of course, a nullpointerexception is by definition calling a method on a non-initialized object. The point here is why this exception is triggered from the android HardwareRenderer class that we do NOT directly manipulate. I got a crash similar on crashlytics. – Furie