Android dex gives a BufferOverflowException when building

Question

When compiling a specific Android project, and only on my Windows machine, I get a java.nio.BufferOverflowException during from dex. The problem occurs both when using Eclipse and when using Ant.

The output when using Ant is:

...
  [dex] Pre-Dexing C:MyProjectlibsandroid-support-v4.jar -> android-support-v4-5f5341d3c1b10a79d7d93f9c1e64421e.jar
  [dex] Converting compiled files and external libraries into C:MyProjectinclasses.dex...
   [dx]
   [dx] UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION:
   [dx] java.nio.BufferOverflowException
   [dx]     at java.nio.Buffer.nextPutIndex(Buffer.java:499)
   [dx]     at java.nio.HeapByteBuffer.putShort(HeapByteBuffer.java:296)
   [dx]     at com.android.dex.Dex$Section.writeShort(Dex.java:818)
   [dx]     at com.android.dex.Dex$Section.writeTypeList(Dex.java:870)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger$3.write(DexMerger.java:437)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger$3.write(DexMerger.java:423)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger$IdMerger.mergeUnsorted(DexMerger.java:317)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.mergeTypeLists(DexMerger.java:423)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.mergeDexes(DexMerger.java:163)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.merge.DexMerger.merge(DexMerger.java:187)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.mergeLibraryDexBuffers(Main.java:439)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.runMonoDex(Main.java:287)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.run(Main.java:230)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.command.dexer.Main.main(Main.java:199)
   [dx]     at com.android.dx.command.Main.main(Main.java:103)

BUILD FAILED
C:UsersJaapandroid-sdksoolsantuild.xml:892: The following error occurred while executing this line:
C:UsersJaapandroid-sdksoolsantuild.xml:894: The following error occurred while executing this line:
C:UsersJaapandroid-sdksoolsantuild.xml:906: The following error occurred while executing this line:
C:UsersJaapandroid-sdksoolsantuild.xml:284: null returned: 2

When using Eclipse the message is shorter but similar:

[2013-11-01 14:29:44] APK file is not created for Project: 
[2013-11-01 14:29:46 - Dex Loader] Unable to execute dex: java.nio.BufferOverflowException. Check the Eclipse log for stack trace.
[2013-11-01 14:29:46 - MyProject] Conversion to Dalvik format failed: Unable to execute dex: java.nio.BufferOverflowException. Check the Eclipse log for stack trace.

Like I said, I don't have this problem on my MacBook, even though they are both upgraded to the latest versions of the Android Build tools: 19.0.0.

Answer 1

No need to downgrade the build tools back to 18.1.1¹, this issue is fixed with build tools 19.0.1.

If you can't use 19.0.1 for some reason then:

Make sure that the value of android:targetSdkVersion in AndroidManifest.xml matches target=android-<value> in project.properties. If these two values are not the same, building with build tools version 19.0.0 will end in the BufferOverflowException. ^Source

There is also some indication from comments on this post that you need to target at least 19 (android-19). Please leave a comment if this solution also works if your target is < 19.

This is how the fix looks for my project. The related AOSP issue is #61710.

^{1 If you really need to downgrade, you don't need to uninstall build tools 19.0.0, simply install 18.1.1 and add sdk.buildtools=18.1.1 to the local.properties file.}