Eclipse crashes with error message "java was started but returned exit code=1"

Question

My java program is running but the eclipse IDE crashes and shows the error message-

“Java was started but returned exit code=1”

I have set my environment variables correctly on my “System Environment Variables” settings.

I have tried some other solutions found online but nothing worked for me unfortunately. 

Any help would be appreciated with thanks.

Answer 1

Exactly the same error has been killing me for several days until I found a simple solution that worked for me right away that saved my life straigt away. 

I had to find eclipse.ini file (generally it resides on the installation folder of the eclipse.exe) and add the following simple command line to the end of the file: 

 -XX:-UseCompressedOops 

And I also found that people had the same error if they are not running the eclipse IDE as adminstrator.

Note: you may still get this error in special circumstances, so be aware of the java version, jdk version and other settings.

Answer 2

Probably, this error means that you have done something wrong. You have to check;

• Are you have the latest JDK (java development Kit) downloaded?
• What is the architecture of your PC, 64 bit or 32 bit?
• The architecture is the same as the JDK version because it should be the same.
• Have you set the path in the environment variable like shown in the fix JVM not found error?

Fix java was started but returned the exit code-1:

Go to the eclipse folder and right-click on the eclipse.ini and then select the edit option.

Now add the following lines;

-XX:-UseCompressedOops

-vm

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_21\jre\bin\server\jvm.dll

The path of the JDK should be the same where you have installed the JDK.

Note:

The above error can also fix the Eclipse error: Java was started but returned exit code=2. Make sure that the –VM option occurs before the –vmargs command. This is because every command that occurs after the –vmargs is passed directly to the JVM.

Everything that is passed directly to the JVM. If you don’t know where the eclipse.ini file is. Regularly this is in the folder of your eclipse.exe.

That’s it, hopefully, you have successfully learned how to fix java was started but returned the exit code 1.