Java – Android Device Monitor cannot be launched from Android Studio or Terminal — not supported major.minor version 52.0

This is real and frequent pain. This time my state is like this:

• I’m using a Mac
• jenv is installed to support multiple versions of Java 6 through 9
• Configure JAVA_HOME to Java 8
• Use Android Studio 3.0 Canary 5

When I try to start Android Device Monitor (which stops working from the IDE or terminal), it fails and shows the following error message in the log:

! SESSION 2017-07-01 16:43:12.457 -----------------------------------------------
eclipse.buildId=unknown
java.version=1.6.0_65
java.vendor=Apple Inc.
BootLoader constants: OS=macosx, ARCH=x86_64, WS=cocoa, NL=en_US
Framework arguments:  -keyring /Users/myname/.eclipse_keyring -showlocation
Command-line arguments:  -os macosx -ws cocoa -arch x86_64 -data @noDefault -keyring /Users/myname/.eclipse_keyring -showlocation    

...
! ENTRY org.eclipse.osgi 4 0 2017-07-01 16:43:13.674
! MESSAGE Application error
! STACK 1
org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException: Plug-in com.android.ide.eclipse.monitor was unable to load class com.android.ide.eclipse.monitor.MonitorApplication.
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.osgi.RegistryStrategyOSGI.throwException(RegistryStrategyOSGI.java:194)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.osgi.RegistryStrategyOSGI.createExecutableExtension(RegistryStrategyOSGI.java:176)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.ExtensionRegistry.createExecutableExtension(ExtensionRegistry.java:905)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.ConfigurationElement.createExecutableExtension(ConfigurationElement.java:243)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.ConfigurationElementHandle.createExecutableExtension(ConfigurationElementHandle.java:55)
    at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.app.EclipseAppHandle.run(EclipseAppHandle.java:191)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.runApplication(EclipseAppLauncher.java:110)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.start(EclipseAppLauncher.java:79)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:353)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:180)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
    at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.invokeFramework(Main.java:629)
    at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.basicRun(Main.java:584)
    at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.run(Main.java:1438)
Caused by: org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseLazyStarter$TerminatingClassNotFoundException: An error occurred while automatically activating bundle com.android.ide.eclipse.monitor (5).
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseLazyStarter.postFindLocalClass(EclipseLazyStarter.java:122)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.baseadaptor.loader.ClasspathManager.findLocalClass(ClasspathManager.java:469)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.baseadaptor.DefaultClassLoader.findLocalClass(DefaultClassLoader.java:216)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findLocalClass(BundleLoader.java:395)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClassInternal(BundleLoader.java:464)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:421)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:412)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.baseadaptor.DefaultClassLoader.loadClass(DefaultClassLoader.java:107)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:247)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.loadClass(BundleLoader.java:340)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.internal.core.BundleHost.loadClass(BundleHost.java:229)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.internal.core.AbstractBundle.loadClass(AbstractBundle.java:1212)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.registry.osgi.RegistryStrategyOSGI.createExecutableExtension(RegistryStrategyOSGI.java:174)
    ... 15 more
Caused by: org.osgi.framework.BundleException: The activator com.android.ide.eclipse.monitor.MonitorPlugin for bundle com.android.ide.eclipse.monitor is invalid
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.internal.core.AbstractBundle.loadBundleActivator(AbstractBundle.java:172)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.internal.core.BundleContextImpl.start(BundleContextImpl.java:679)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.internal.core.BundleHost.startWorker(BundleHost.java:381)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.internal.core.AbstractBundle.start(AbstractBundle.java:300)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.util.SecureAction.start(SecureAction.java:440)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.setLazyTrigger(BundleLoader.java:263)
    at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseLazyStarter.postFindLocalClass(EclipseLazyStarter.java:107)
    ... 27 more
Caused by: java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: com/android/prefs/AndroidLocation$AndroidLocationException : Unsupported major.minor version 52.0
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClassCond(ClassLoader.java:637)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:621)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.baseadaptor.DefaultClassLoader.defineClass(DefaultClassLoader.java:188)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.baseadaptor.loader.ClasspathManager.defineClassHoldingLock(ClasspathManager.java:632)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.baseadaptor.loader.ClasspathManager.defineClass(ClasspathManager.java:614)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.baseadaptor.loader.ClasspathManager.findClassImpl(ClasspathManager.java:568)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.baseadaptor.loader.ClasspathManager.findLocalClassImpl(ClasspathManager.java:492)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.baseadaptor.loader.ClasspathManager.findLocalClass(ClasspathManager.java:465)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.baseadaptor.DefaultClassLoader.findLocalClass(DefaultClassLoader.java:216)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findLocalClass(BundleLoader.java:395)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.SingleSourcePackage.loadClass(SingleSourcePackage.java:35)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClassInternal(BundleLoader.java:461)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:421)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:412)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.baseadaptor.DefaultClassLoader.loadClass(DefaultClassLoader.java:107)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:247)
    at com.android.ide.eclipse.monitor.MonitorPlugin.<clinit>(MonitorPlugin.java:28)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:39)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:27)
    at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:513)
    at java.lang.Class.newInstance0(Class.java:357)
    at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:310)
    at org.eclipse.osgi.framework.internal.core.AbstractBundle.loadBundleActivator(AbstractBundle.java:167)
    ... 33 more

Thank you very much for your help…

That’s the workaround I’m currently working on.

• Use Android Studio 3.0 Canary build comes with built-in “Android Profiler”. You can see it between the terminal and the LogCat tab at the bottom of the IDE.
• Download MAT for analyzing heap dumps. This is a standalone version, usually with the DDMS bundle. If you want to analyze a heap dump, download it. If you’re using a Mac, be sure to copy it to your Applications directory. I’ve tried running it from the Downloads directory, but I don’t think it works.