OSX 10.5 Leopard may show the following error in the console when opening certain Java applications in Rosetta:
JavaVM FATAL: Java for ppc cannot run in this configuration.
JavaVM FATAL: Please consult documentation.
This error appears in PPC applications that have a Java component and are trying to use an older version of the Java runtime. Apple seems to have not included the complete 1.3.1 JDK with Leopard, instead the 1.3.1 folder simply contains an alias to the Java application launcher.
** WARNING! AS OF THE OSX UPDATE ON 10/1/2008 THIS PATCH MAY CAUSE SOME APPLICATIONS TO STOP WORKING. THERE IS NOW AN ADDITIONAL FILE UNDO.ZIP WITH THE PATCH THAT YOU CAN USE TO REVERT THE PATCH CHANGES. KNOWN APPS THAT ARE AFFECTED ARE ECLIPSE AND FLEX BUILDER. OTHER JAVA APPS MAY BE AFFECTED AS WELL. **
A patch file LeopardJavaPatch.zip includes a replacement for the 1.3.1 JDK that resolves the issue in some cases. Installation is easy – simply unzip the archive and follow the instructions to update your 1.3.1 JDK folder.
If this doesn’t solve your problem, you can also try downgrading the JDK using the instructions included in the “Advanced” section of the LeopardJavaPatch.zip ReadMe. Or alternatively macoshints.com provides a script to manage your system JDK settings.
Please note that this patch only fixes issues for Leopard. If you are running Tiger or an earlier version, then you are more likely to solve your problem by downgrading the JDK (see above).
If you have any comments or additional information about this error, please feel free to leave a comment.
Hi,
the link to the patch does not work anymore. There’s a new version of the patch available at http://www.pcguild.com/updates/LeopardJavaPatch_V2.zip
Cheers
Thanks Florian – I updated the link in my post. I should have remembered to update it since I work at PC Guild and am the person who created the patch! FYI, anybody who is trying to install the new patch and gets a permission error – you now have to close all programs (including your browser) before installing due to some Java files that are in use when your browser is open.
Hmm, I am curious what is in the patch now. I thought I could just copy the 1.3.1 folder from Tiger to Leopard but when I tried that it didn’t work. Your patch also install a folder called ‘A’, what’s the magic in it?
Thanks for sharing.
Hey Peter, the version numbered folders are the Java core classes, whereas the “A” folder contains the actual Java runtime implementation for OSX.
Apple releases a system update around april ’08 which added Java 6 and updated the “A” folder – which broke the backwards compatibility with Java 1.3.1. So the V2 patch simply contains the “A” folder exactly as it was just prior to that system update.
So V1 of the patch was completely safe because it was just adding some missing files. V2 actually downgrades the runtime. Unfortunately I can imagine this will eventually cause some problems with Java 6 applications, but thus far I have not heard any problems reported.
Did anyone test this on an Intel architecture?
When trying to run a 1.3.1 (only) app, I get a
java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.3.1/Libraries/libawt.jniliberror.The library exists at this location but I suspect, it is PPC only and I do not have access to a JDK 1.3.1 available under Tiger.
The patch files are actually just copied from an Intel Tiger install (the last time Apple included Java 1.3.1)
I wish I could help you more, Apple seems determined to destroy Java 1.3.1. Sucks for those of us that are still trying to support a legacy app.
I tried this and it borked my flash install, even when i followed the reset instructions… be careful with this patch
Hey Daniel, Thanks for the info. We have several hundred people using it and haven’t seen any problems with flash or other program.
That being said, I do worry that one day this patch will mess up something because it is downgrading some system files. The only reason we use this patch is to support a legacy software package that is in the process of being upgraded. But anybody using this patch should be aware they may be living on borrowed time. It’s not a great solution, but it is keeping things working for us until we can remove our dependencies from some legacy code.
I just posted a warning about this patch – Apple released a Java patch as of around 10/1/2008 and this patch now causes problems with some Java apps. We’ve included another file Undo.zip with the patch that will allow you to revert the patch in case you have any problems.
For many users the patch won’t cause any conflicts, however it will definitely crash some apps that are written in Java.