StackOverflowError when sending my last Bitcoins about bitcoinj

[mikehearn]

That's interesting. Is it the full stack trace? Seems the bottom may have been truncated.

Presumably this is a bug in the Java serialization implementation (on Android only?).
I don't think it's supposed to be possible to crash the serializer like that.

If some platforms have a buggy serialization engine, that's a strike against using
it for wallets.

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-07-02 08:52:28

[mikehearn]

Yes, it is truncated at the bottom. The above output is followed by these lines:

E/AndroidRuntime(24167):        at java.io
W/ActivityManager(  103):   Force finishing activity de.schildbach.wallet/.WalletActivity

I would very much like to send you the wallet, but unfortunately I still haven't had
the fix in place that put the wallet in a world readable location for testnet. (I have
fixed this now. I promise ;-)

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-07-02 09:08:40

[mikehearn]

This issue was closed by revision r124.

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-07-06 12:12:27

• Status changed: Fixed

[mikehearn]

Oops, typo closed wrong bug.

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-07-06 12:14:15

• Status changed: Accepted

[mikehearn]

Ah, got it again. Attaching the wallet this time.

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-07-07 23:51:44

---

- _Attachment: [wallet-testnet](https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-attachments/bitcoinj/issue-36/comment-5/wallet-testnet)_

[mikehearn]

And here is a bit more of stack trace this time:

W/InputManagerService(  103): Starting input on non-focused client com.android.internal.view.IInputMethodClient$Stub$Proxy@406515a0
(uid=10050 pid=4407)
D/dalvikvm(  174): GC_EXTERNAL_ALLOC freed 75K, 43% free 3640K/6343K, external 4957K/4964K,
paused 52ms
D/dalvikvm(  174): GC_EXTERNAL_ALLOC freed 91K, 44% free 3610K/6343K, external 5219K/5502K,
paused 50ms
I/System.out( 4407): about to send 22000000 (BTC 0.22) to mjcZDSDtroERr1jnnZdwjWhTjjVbhGW86H
W/System.err( 4407): 262418 [main] INFO com.google.bitcoin.core.Wallet - Creating send
tx to mjcZDSDtroERr1jnnZdwjWhTjjVbhGW86H for 0.22
W/System.err( 4407): 262420 [main] INFO com.google.bitcoin.core.Wallet -   with 0.78
coins change
D/dalvikvm( 4407): GC_CONCURRENT freed 1104K, 50% free 3678K/7239K, external 2785K/3201K,
paused 2ms+8ms
W/System.err( 4407): 262791 [main] INFO com.google.bitcoin.core.Wallet -   created
c43b589872623fb7c0edbfc026b7e7c9282b65de9cc488f2a62f5982b718fce2
I/System.out( 4407): discovering peers
W/System.err( 4407): 263350 [backgroundThread] WARN com.google.bitcoin.discovery.IrcDiscovery
- IRC nick does not parse as base58: u2f43AKh726St3P
I/System.out( 4407): 59 peers discovered, took 639 ms
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@40616c58
W/System.err( 4407): 263439 [main] INFO com.google.bitcoin.core.Wallet - confirmSend
of c43b589872623fb7c0edbfc026b7e7c9282b65de9cc488f2a62f5982b718fce2
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@4057b0f8
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@406302e0
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@40610540
I/dalvikvm( 4407): threadid=1: stack overflow on call to Ljava/util/IdentityHashMap;.findIndex:ILL
I/dalvikvm( 4407):   method requires 32+20+12=64 bytes, fp is 0x4214a310 (16 left)
I/dalvikvm( 4407):   expanding stack end (0x4214a300 to 0x4214a000)
I/dalvikvm( 4407): Shrank stack (to 0x4214a300, curFrame is 0x4214a4ac)
D/AndroidRuntime( 4407): Shutting down VM
W/dalvikvm( 4407): threadid=1: thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x40015560)
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@4061be78
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@40616c58
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407): java.lang.StackOverflowError
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.util.IdentityHashMap.get(IdentityHashMap.java:371)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.dumpCycle(ObjectOutputStream.java:471)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObjectInternal(ObjectOutputStream.java:1739)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1689)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1653)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeFieldValues(ObjectOutputStream.java:1143)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.defaultWriteObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:413)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1241)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1205)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeNewObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1575)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObjectInternal(ObjectOutputStream.java:1847)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1689)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1653)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.util.ArrayList.writeObject(ArrayList.java:651)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1219)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeNewObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1575)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObjectInternal(ObjectOutputStream.java:1847)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1689)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1653)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeFieldValues(ObjectOutputStream.java:1143)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.defaultWriteObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:413)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1241)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeNewObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1575)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObjectInternal(ObjectOutputStream.java:1847)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1689)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1653)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeFieldValues(ObjectOutputStream.java:1143)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.defaultWriteObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:413)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1241)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeNewObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1575)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObjectInternal(ObjectOutputStream.java:1847)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1689)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1653)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeFieldValues(ObjectOutputStream.java:1143)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.defaultWriteObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:413)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1241)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1205)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeNewObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1575)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObjectInternal(ObjectOutputStream.java:1847)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1689)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1653)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeFieldValues(ObjectOutputStream.java:1143)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.defaultWriteObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:413)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1241)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeNewObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1575)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObjectInternal(ObjectOutputStream.java:1847)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1689)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1653)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.util.HashSet.writeObject(HashSet.java:192)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeHierarchy(ObjectOutputStream.java:1219)
E/AndroidRuntime( 4407):    at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.write
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@4057b0f8
I/System.out( 4407): broadcasting to com.google.bitcoin.core.Peer@406302e0
D/dalvikvm( 4407): GC_CONCURRENT freed 1178K, 51% free 3672K/7367K, external 2817K/3201K,
paused 2ms+6ms
W/ActivityManager(  103):   Force finishing activity de.schildbach.wallet/.SendCoinsActivity

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-07-07 23:52:54

[mikehearn]

Another one of these StackOverflowErrors:

http://i.imgur.com/vA7lc.jpg

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-07-15 00:17:07

[mikehearn]

This issue has got nothing to do with "sending the last coins".

Looks like this is a quite old problem with Java serialization:

http://bugs.sun.com/view_bug.do?bug_id=4152790

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/438875/stackoverflowerror-when-serializing-an-object-in-java

Let me quote the stack overflow page:

    Java serialization keeps a record of every object written to a stream. If the same
object is encountered a second time, only a reference to it is written to the stream,
and not a second copy of the object; so circular references aren't the problem here.

    But serialization is vulnerable to stack overflow for certain kinds of structures;
for example, a long linked list with no special writeObject() methods will be serialized
by recursively writing each link. If you've got a 100,000 links, you're going to try
to use 100,000 stack frames, and quite likely fail with a StackOverflowError.

    It's possible to define a writeObject() method for such a list class that, when
the first link is serialized, simply walks the list and serializes each link iteratively;
this will prevent the default recursive mechanism from being used.

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-07-16 17:17:56

[mikehearn]

Have you got a more recent example wallet? It seems the one that's attached no longer
deserializes.

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-07-18 21:07:39

[mikehearn]

If you can reproduce the issue, you could try just winding up the stack size for now.
It's obviously only a temporary fix but might let you deserialize wallets that got
too complicated for the stack size allowed. See the Thread constructor that lets you
control the size.

I played about with stuffing wallets full of transactions on the desktop JRE but couldn't
reproduce the problem.

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-07-18 22:14:43

[mikehearn]

I've upped stack to 64 kb (from 8 kb? - don't know) and this seeems to do the trick
with my problem-ridden testnet wallet.

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-07-18 23:24:28

[mikehearn]

I just hit the stack size boundary again with my test wallet with these two addresses:

http://blockexplorer.com/testnet/address/mwhsLCBMmTXgzjMXhteKk63siFRsCboVEm
http://blockexplorer.com/testnet/address/mx6WWrWgYHhHevB3KJqduRU8qpaopdWBJF

About 50 sends and 50 receives is quite a lot for the average user, but some power
users might hit the limit soon.

I'll extend to 96 kb stack...

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-09-05 20:31:09

[mikehearn]

Is increasing the stack size a viable medium-term workaround, or should the priority
on this be increased?

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-10-14 20:35:35

• Status changed: New
• Blocked on: #

[mikehearn]

I have pretty much no idea of how high stack size can be set on Android without side
effects.

I'd rather increase priority; not having a stable and extendable wallet format is a
blocker for several other enhancements as well:

- storing creation timestamps with keys/addresses (for more effective retreival of
block chain)
- export/import/backup of wallet

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-10-14 20:51:23

[mikehearn]

Issue #370 is already high priority.  I was just wondering if there's something quick
we can do to improve the current serialization or if we should focus on #4.

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-10-14 21:39:48

[mikehearn]

Oh, it can be set to a megabyte and that should last a long time. Long chains of transactions
should be rare in normal usage.

Serialization sucks, I know. We'll get to it eventually.

Reported by [email protected] on 2011-10-15 16:22:17

[mikehearn]

One user just hit this error at 108 incoming and 108 outgoing transactions with 96 kb
of stack.

Reported by andreas.schildbach on 2011-11-10 14:10:17

[mikehearn]

Miron has implemented protobuf serialization for the wallet, which should resolve this
once users are upgraded.

Reported by [email protected] on 2012-01-11 18:54:36

• Status changed: Fixed