Eclipse doesn't start : JVM terminated. Exit code=14

Question

Tried searching for a fix couldn't find one! I am running fedora 17 with :

Eclipse(juno) version

eclipse-platform.x86_64                   1:4.2.1-2.fc17 

A which java yields

/usr/bin/java

so eclipse is using the right one.

A java -version yields

java version "1.7.0_09-icedtea"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (fedora-2.3.3.2.fc17-x86_64)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.2-b09, mixed mode)

the Eclipse/Installation page says : A Java 6 JRE/JDK is recommended for Eclipse 4.2.
Do i need to downgrade?

---

I have seen this question :

JVM terminates with exit code 14 when trying to launch Eclipse

But my configuration seems to be right.

---

Any ideas?

Contents of eclipse.ini (path /etc/eclipse.ini) :

-preventMasterEclipseLaunch
-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.v20120522-1813.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.gtk.linux.x86_64_1.1.200.v20120522-1813
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
256m
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-vmargs
-Xms128m
-Xmx512m
-Dorg.eclipse.equinox.p2.reconciler.dropins.directory=//usr/share/eclipse/dropins


-Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.UseWebKitGTK=true
-Dhelp.lucene.tokenizer=standard
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/core/internal/dtree/DataTreeNode,forwardDeltaWith
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/jdt/internal/compiler/lookup/ParameterizedMethodBinding,
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/semantics/CPPTemplates,instantiateTemplate
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/pdom/dom/cpp/PDOMCPPLinkage,addBinding
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/python/pydev/editor/codecompletion/revisited/PythonPathHelper,isValidSourceFile
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/python/pydev/ui/filetypes/FileTypesPreferencesPage,getDottedValidSourceFiles

Here is the complete error message

JVM terminated. Exit code=14
/usr/bin/java
-Xms128m
-Xmx512m
-Dorg.eclipse.equinox.p2.reconciler.dropins.directory=//usr/share/eclipse/dropins
-Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.UseWebKitGTK=true
-Dhelp.lucene.tokenizer=standard
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/core/internal/dtree/DataTreeNode,forwardDeltaWith
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/jdt/internal/compiler/lookup/ParameterizedMethodBinding,
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/semantics/CPPTemplates,instantiateTemplate
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/pdom/dom/cpp/PDOMCPPLinkage,addBinding
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/python/pydev/editor/codecompletion/revisited/PythonPathHelper,isValidSourceFile
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/python/pydev/ui/filetypes/FileTypesPreferencesPage,getDottedValidSourceFiles
-XX:MaxPermSize=256m
-jar /usr/lib64/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.v20120522-1813.jar
-os linux
-ws gtk
-arch x86_64
-showsplash /usr/lib64/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.platform_4.2.1.v20120814-120055/splash.bmp
-launcher /usr/lib64/eclipse/eclipse
-name Eclipse
--launcher.library /usr/lib64/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.gtk.linux.x86_64_1.1.200.v20120522-1813/eclipse_1503.so
-startup /usr/lib64/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.v20120522-1813.jar
--launcher.overrideVmargs
-exitdata 1f40006
-preventMasterEclipseLaunch
-vm /usr/bin/java
-vmargs
-Xms128m
-Xmx512m
-Dorg.eclipse.equinox.p2.reconciler.dropins.directory=//usr/share/eclipse/dropins
-Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.UseWebKitGTK=true
-Dhelp.lucene.tokenizer=standard
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/core/internal/dtree/DataTreeNode,forwardDeltaWith
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/jdt/internal/compiler/lookup/ParameterizedMethodBinding,
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/semantics/CPPTemplates,instantiateTemplate
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/pdom/dom/cpp/PDOMCPPLinkage,addBinding
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/python/pydev/editor/codecompletion/revisited/PythonPathHelper,isValidSourceFile
-XX:CompileCommand=exclude,org/python/pydev/ui/filetypes/FileTypesPreferencesPage,getDottedValidSourceFiles
-XX:MaxPermSize=256m
-jar /usr/lib64/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.v20120522-1813.jar 

Answer 1

This is what resolved the problem :

on a hunch(all the .ini files that I had seen on the net did not have the first line. And the meaning(English) of the words involved in the first line seemed weird), I removed the first line

-preventMasterEclipseLaunch 

and eclipse seems to be working!

Answer 2

First, sorry for all the trouble that I caused by introducing this flag, but... you should really know what you're doing if you want to start Eclipse as root, because:

• Eclipse is a plugin based app and runs all plugins no matter what. Working as root with IDEs is generally NOT a good idea.
• Eclipse writes a lot of configuration details in the root filesystem - your installation is no longer verifiable by RPM, Eclipse installation is effectively broken - depending on what you have installed you may not be able to install any other Eclipse plugin.