Realm-java: io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path : Bad Realm file header (#1). in /Users/cm/Realm/realm-java/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 92 Kind: ACCESS_ERROR.

Created on 23 Feb 2017 · 50Comments · Source: realm/realm-java

I am receiving this crash on my production app.
I am using compactRealm whenever the app starts.

Below is my complete crash log:
Caused by io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/com.socialcops.collect.plus/files/collect.realm': Bad Realm file header (#1). in /Users/cm/Realm/realm-java/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 92 at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.nativeGetSharedRealm(Unknown Source) at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.initialize(Unknown Source) at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.initialize(Unknown Source) at io.realm.BaseRealm.beginTransaction(Unknown Source) at io.realm.Realm.compactRealm(Unknown Source) at com.socialcops.collect.plus.configuration.BootstrapApplication.compactRealm(Unknown Source) at com.socialcops.collect.plus.configuration.BootstrapApplication.onCreate(Unknown Source) at android.app.Instrumentation.callApplicationOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1012) at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4553) at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500(ActivityThread.java:151) at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1364) at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102) at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135) at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5254) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:902) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:697)

Version of Realm and tooling

Realm version(s): 2.2.0

Realm sync feature enabled: No

Android Studio version: 2.3

Reproduction-Required T-Help

Source

tanayagrawal

Most helpful comment

Am getting the same crash too:
io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.uba.uinsta/files/data/default.realm': Realm file decryption failed.

My realm encryption key is the same yet it alsways crashes. need help on this...

Jeff-Emuveyan on 21 Jan 2020

👍4

All 50 comments

realm file seems to be corrupted.
Can you access the realm file?

zaki50 on 23 Feb 2017

I haven't been able to reproduce this myself. I have got this crash on crashlytics.
But the app crashes as soon as the app starts

What might be reasons for this corruption? What are the possible recovery methods if the realm file gets corrupted? @zaki50

tanayagrawal on 24 Feb 2017

Hey, any help would be appreciated as quickly as possible. This is a critical issue our users are facing in the production environment. Thanks!

tanayagrawal on 25 Feb 2017

Compacting isn't done in-place so it is required that there is enough space on the device. If there is not enough space, compacting should fail (and return false). Do you have any indications of that?

Can you share the code where you call compactRealm()?

kneth on 27 Feb 2017

```public class BootstrapApplication extends MultiDexApplication {

/**
 * current application instance
 */
private static Context context;
private static String TAG = BootstrapApplication.class.getSimpleName();

public static Context getContext() {
    return BootstrapApplication.context;
}

@NonNull
private RealmConfiguration getRealmConfiguration() {
    Realm.init(getContext());
    return new RealmConfiguration.Builder().name("collect.realm").schemaVersion(12).migration(new Migration()).build();
}

/**
 * initialize realm database
 * and define migrate file
 * for thatm
 */
private void initializeRealmDatabase() {
    RealmConfiguration realmConfiguration = getRealmConfiguration();
    Realm.setDefaultConfiguration(realmConfiguration);
}

/**
 * on create called, when application is started
 */
@Override
public void onCreate() {
    super.onCreate();
    BootstrapApplication.context = getApplicationContext();
    Fabric.with(this, new Crashlytics(), new CrashlyticsNdk());
    initializeRealmDatabase();
    compactRealm();
}

private void compactRealm() {
    boolean isCompact = Realm.compactRealm(getRealmConfiguration());
    LogUtils.logDebugMessage(TAG, AppConstantUtils.FUNCTION_NAME_LABEL + "compactRealm(): " + isCompact);
}


/**
 * @param base initialize activity as
 *             multi dex application
 */
@Override
protected void attachBaseContext(Context base) {
    super.attachBaseContext(base);
    MultiDex.install(this);
}

}```

I am calling compactRealm() as soon as the application class is created just after initialising the db

tanayagrawal on 27 Feb 2017

If you have any second process (android:process=":remote") in your AndroidManifest, then compacting can happen in multiple processes in which case they can easily corrupt the Realm file

Zhuinden on 27 Feb 2017

Nope, I don't have that in my Android Manifest

tanayagrawal on 28 Feb 2017

@tanayagrawal How many users are affected by this? Also what kind of devices are this being triggered on? If you cannot reproduce it, it sounds like a problem on specific devices?

cmelchior on 28 Feb 2017

According to my crash reports, it is currently being faced by 20 users.

Below is a list of devices where this issue is happening :

Xperia E3 Dual
Xperia T2 Ultra dual
Galaxy J7
Galaxy Grand2
Galaxy J5
Moto G Turbo Edition
Moto E with 4G LTE (2nd Gen)
Xperia M2 dual
Smartphone BE LS-5007
YU5010
@cmelchior

tanayagrawal on 28 Feb 2017

@cmelchior what if the Compact happens before the Migration (triggered by Realm.getDefaultInstance())?

Zhuinden on 28 Feb 2017

@cmelchior Does that make sense? ^

tanayagrawal on 3 Mar 2017

I guess that you are compacting before migration simply from the fact that compacting requires that no other Realm instance is open. That implies that compacting is the first thing you do.

By the way, do you store the Realm files on external storage (see #4140)?

kneth on 6 Mar 2017

Nope, my realm files are on the internal storage.

What happens in this case:

I send a push notification to my users which starts a background service and opens an instance of realm
While the service is running in background, user opens the app and compactRealm() is called
Will it create any problem or just return false?

tanayagrawal on 7 Mar 2017

@tanayagrawal If compactRealm() doesn't return false, I think it's a bug. Compacting requires that no other instances are open.

kneth on 7 Mar 2017

@tanayagrawal Did you have a chance to see if compactRealm() returns true prior to a crash?

kneth on 15 Mar 2017

I am closing the issue. If you have new information, we can always reopen.

kneth on 30 Mar 2017

@kneth New dev from @tanayagrawal 's team here.
It appears that compactRealm() does not return at all when this happens. The exception is thrown before it gets to return false.

vyashole on 4 Apr 2017

@adwaitv Thanks for the feedback. I will reopen the issue so we can prioritize it.

kneth on 6 Apr 2017

@tanayagrawal @adwaitv Do you access to the Realm file? Or the log? You can send it to [email protected] if you wish to share it privately.

kneth on 6 Apr 2017

The same issue here (not using compactRealm)
The issue occurs only on android 4

Stacktrace:

Fatal Exception: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to instantiate activity ComponentInfo{/....EventActivity}: io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/[package]/files/58e6a92df29a410011f3fc97.realm': Bad Realm file header (#3). (Bad Realm file header (#3)) in /home/cc/repo/realm/realm-java-release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 92 Kind: ACCESS_ERROR.
       at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2124)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2248)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.access$600(ActivityThread.java:145)
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1246)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5095)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Method.java)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:898)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:665)
       at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(NativeStart.java)
Caused by io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/[package]/files/58e6a92df29a410011f3fc97.realm': Bad Realm file header (#3). (Bad Realm file header (#3)) in /home/cc/repo/realm/realm-java-release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 92
       at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.nativeGetSharedRealm(SharedRealm.java)
       at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.getInstance(SharedRealm.java:209)
       at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.getInstance(SharedRealm.java:186)
       at io.realm.RealmCache.createRealmOrGetFromCache(RealmCache.java:124)
       at io.realm.Realm.getInstance(Realm.java:227)
       at .......getRealmInstance(Linkry.java:215)
       at .....ActivityPresenter.(EventActivityPresenter.java:31)
       at .....ActivityPresenter.newInstance(EventActivity.java:1037)
       at java.lang.Class.newInstanceImpl(Class.java)
       at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:1319)
       at android.app.Instrumentation.newActivity(Instrumentation.java:1057)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2115)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2248)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.access$600(ActivityThread.java:145)
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1246)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5095)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Method.java)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:898)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:665)
       at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(NativeStart.java)

atouchsimo on 7 Apr 2017

@atouchsimo what device, which Realm version?

Zhuinden on 7 Apr 2017

device: HUAWEI P6100
realm version: 2.3.0

atouchsimo on 7 Apr 2017

@atouchsimo Is it similar to http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Huawei-Ascend-G610_id9408?

kneth on 7 Apr 2017

@kneth i have no idea, i got the crash report on fabric

atouchsimo on 7 Apr 2017

@atouchsimo We have experience a rather ugly bug in older devices - see #3651. I don't think this issue is related. I haven't seen Huawei P6100 (or G610) in the shops I typically find older devices in.

kneth on 7 Apr 2017

@kneth just got another report, a crash happened on OnePlus 3 with android 7.1.1

atouchsimo on 10 Apr 2017

@atouchsimo What is the exception you get on OnePlus 3? Is it:

io.realm.exceptions.RealmError: Unrecoverable error. Invalid argument in /home/cc/repo/realm/realm-java-release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 87

Are you using realm on the external storage?

beeender on 12 Apr 2017

@beeender no the same exception i got at the top,

Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/[package]/files/58e6a92df29a410011f3fc97.realm': Bad Realm file header

internal storage

atouchsimo on 12 Apr 2017

👍1

@atouchsimo Is it possible for you to reproduce it? Can you provide the source code of your app? Or just an apk? You are welcome to send it to [email protected] if you wish to share it privately.

kneth on 18 Apr 2017

For our users, the issue seems to be occurring on all Android versions rather uniformly whenever it does.
I can't find a way to reproduce this myself and I don't have access to the realm file either. All I have to show is that Stacktrace which comes from crashlytics. It has affected 13 users in the last 90 days.

vyashole on 24 Apr 2017

@kneth Got the same issue on LG device (not rooted). Crash report from Fabric Crashlitycs

Basic info & Stacktrace:
1) DB on external storage
2) DB file has custom name (see in logs)
3) Without migration process
4) This crash was called once only

Date: 2017-04-23T17:52:12Z
OS Version: 5.0.2
Device: LG-D724
RAM Free: 34.3%
Disk Free: 13.7%

Fatal Exception: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to create application com.onebit.nimbusnote.application.App: io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.bvblogic.nimbusnote/NimbusNote/SciJoker/DB/NimbusNoteDB4.realm.lock': open() failed: Interrupted system call. (open("/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.bvblogic.nimbusnote/NimbusNote/SciJoker/DB/NimbusNoteDB4.realm.lock") failed: Interrupted system call) (/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.bvblogic.nimbusnote/NimbusNote/SciJoker/DB/NimbusNoteDB4.realm.lock) in /home/cc/repo/realm/release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 217 Kind: ACCESS_ERROR. at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4653) at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500(ActivityThread.java:151) at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1370) at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102) at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135) at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5356) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:908) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:703) Caused by io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.bvblogic.nimbusnote/NimbusNote/SciJoker/DB/NimbusNoteDB4.realm.lock': open() failed: Interrupted system call. (open("/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.bvblogic.nimbusnote/NimbusNote/SciJoker/DB/NimbusNoteDB4.realm.lock") failed: Interrupted system call) (/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.bvblogic.nimbusnote/NimbusNote/SciJoker/DB/NimbusNoteDB4.realm.lock) in /home/cc/repo/realm/release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 217 at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.nativeGetSharedRealm(SharedRealm.java) at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.<init>(SharedRealm.java:190) at io.realm.internal.SharedRealm.getInstance(SharedRealm.java:237) at io.realm.BaseRealm.<init>(BaseRealm.java:80) at io.realm.Realm.<init>(Realm.java:140) at io.realm.Realm.createAndValidate(Realm.java:287) at io.realm.Realm.createInstance(Realm.java:266) at io.realm.RealmCache.createRealmOrGetFromCache(RealmCache.java:145) at io.realm.Realm.getDefaultInstance(Realm.java:211) at com.onebit.nimbusnote.application.App.realm(App.java:199) at com.onebit.nimbusnote.material.v4.db.DBInjector.exec(DBInjector.java:13) at com.onebit.nimbusnote.material.v4.db.repositories.FolderObjRepository.createImportantForWorlFoldersI(FolderObjRepository.java:744) at com.onebit.nimbusnote.application.App.initializeDB(App.java:134) at com.onebit.nimbusnote.application.App.startSetup(App.java:100) at com.onebit.nimbusnote.application.App.onCreate(App.java:68) at android.app.Instrumentation.callApplicationOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1011) at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4650) at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500(ActivityThread.java:151) at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1370) at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102) at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135) at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5356) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:908) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:703)

ablack13 on 24 Apr 2017

@ablack13 it seems that your problem is different. It doesn't say "Bad realm header". Check storage permissions maybe?

vyashole on 24 Apr 2017

@adwaitv You're right. Write permissions denied. But after reboot all ok
Thanks. My issue solved

ablack13 on 24 Apr 2017

We haven't been able to reproduce this issue. Please upgrade to a recent version and see if it still persists.

kneth on 26 Apr 2017

We can't reproduce this issue either. We'll get back to you if the problem persists on upgrading realm.

vyashole on 26 Apr 2017

👍1

Hey guys, I'm going to close this ticket. Please feel free to re-open it if the problem shows up again or open a new one, if we can help you with anything else

bmeike on 16 May 2017

I'm having the same issue, do i need any extra configuration if i'm using realm in different library but accessing them in another library ?

I'm using clean-architecture in my project my data-layer use realm. the presentation layout configure realm, i do it in the onCreate of my application but it's still crash

                                                                     Caused by: io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/com.example.blabla/files/default.realm': Realm file decryption failed. (Realm file decryption failed) (/data/data/com.example.blabla/files/default.realm) in /home/cc/repo/realm/release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 252 Kind: ACCESS_ERROR.

bitsydarel on 22 Aug 2017

If think its because the realm file from the data-layer is created without encryption and i'm setting the encryption in my presentation layer. and realm try to access the unencrypted realm file .

bitsydarel on 22 Aug 2017

If think its because the realm file from the data-layer is created without encryption and i'm setting the encryption in my presentation layer. and realm try to access the unencrypted realm file .

@bitsydarel yeah, that is expected. You need to use different RealmConfiguration with different name if you want to use two Realms at the same time.

beeender on 23 Aug 2017

I also get this error from a lot of users. Just switched to use Realm (3.5.0)

io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException: Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/com.myapp/files/mydb.realm': Not a Realm file. (Not a Realm file) (/data/data/com.myapp/files/mydb.realm) in /home/cc/repo/realm/release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 252 Kind: ACCESS_ERROR.

I'm not using encryption, never have compacted the file.

Maxxan on 24 Aug 2017

Do you ever delete the Realm file?

Zhuinden on 24 Aug 2017

No, never. Could it be a problem if they reinstall the app? I do a backup of the mydb.realm file and restores it, using a BackupAgent.

Maxxan on 24 Aug 2017

That can cause trouble if the Realm you back up is open when it is backed up, backing up a Realm file created by writeCopyTo is safer.

Zhuinden on 24 Aug 2017

Ok, so in the BackupAgent, I write a copy, and the make a backup of that
and when android is restoring, I rename it to the real file?

Maxxan on 24 Aug 2017

Yep, but generally it's best if on restoration, the Realm is not open.

Zhuinden on 24 Aug 2017

Android restores when it installs the app, before it's even opened the first time, so I guess that shouldn't be any problem.

Maxxan on 24 Aug 2017

Still have this issue in my production environment on Samsung SM-J730FM (android 8). Any thoughts?
Caused by io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/megakit.mirandakotlin/files/miranda.realm': Realm file has bad size. (Realm file has bad size) (/data/data/megakit.mirandakotlin/files/miranda.realm) in /Users/cm/Realm/realm-java/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_OsSharedRealm.cpp line 101

thatrun on 25 Sep 2018

I too have the issue on Android. Reading from internal storage Downloads location
"Unable to open a realm at path '/storage/emulated/0/Download/1539961870123_0_MyFile.realm.management'. Please use a path where your app has read-write permissions."

pmahend1 on 19 Oct 2018

Same issue on

Device
Brand: samsung
Model: Galaxy S8+
Version: 7.1.2

Fatal Exception: io.realm.exceptions.RealmFileException Unable to open a realm at path '/data/data/com.drved.astrology/files/default.realm': Not a Realm file. (Not a Realm file) (/data/data/com.drved.astrology/files/default.realm) in /home/cc/repo/realm/release/realm/realm-library/src/main/cpp/io_realm_internal_SharedRealm.cpp line 252