Broken JDK 7 Installer
Ok, how broken is this? I recently rebuilt my development machine and ran into this goodie while reloading my software development tools. I needed the Java JDK so, like any normal person, I went to Oracle’s website and downloaded the shiny new JDK 7 and Java EE 6 bundle. After running the downloaded installer I am confronted by this gem:
Error: Could not find the required version of the Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment in'(null)'.
Huh? So doing some googling I see one suggestion that the download might have been incomplete so I download it again. No good. I found a post on Stack Overflow from someone trying to uninstall Java EE 6. The “fix” for that problem is that the uninstaller is written in Java so it needs a Java VM to run.
Seriously? Yeah, so I try it. I install the basic Java 6 Runtime and hey! All fixed!
Um, Oracle… You know that the JDK comes with its own runtime right? Now I have 2 runtimes installed… Your bundle installer couldn’t install its required runtime before launching the JDK installer? Even if you couldn’t be bothered to do something like that, how about a more descriptive message instead of your buggy “couldn’t find it in ‘(null)’” crap? I mean, I’m expecting the runtime to be included in the bundle so this tells me nothing about needing it to be already installed. It just looks like I got a corrupted download or just crap software.
Update 10/20/12
Ok, so it’s been a year since this original post and Oracle still hasn’t fixed anything. Not only that, I discovered a new issue, probably what one commenter below had run into but I didn’t see it at the time.
I got a shiny new laptop the other day. 64-bit with Windows 7 Professional. So, setting up my tools I initially tried to install the JDK deliberately without first installing the runtime just to see if this issue has actually been fixed. It hasn’t. What I did discover is just as WTF worthy as the above problem.
Since I got a hot new 64-bit computer, let’s install the 64-bit JDK. Ok cool. I run the installer and it didn’t work as I expected. So, I download the Java 7 runtime. Still doesn’t work. Ok, I used the Java 6 runtime before so I try that. Nope. WTF?
Ok, I’m trying the 64-bit runtimes, surely they should work. I download the 32-bit Java 7 runtime. And it works!
Seriously? WTF? So, you can’t install the 64-bit JDK with the 64-bit Java runtime? The 64-bit JDK installer only works with the 32-bit runtime. Not only is this not documented anywhere on Oracle’s website the error message presented is still the same worthless uninformative message.
4 Comments to Broken JDK 7 Installer
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Totally agree!
I’m trying to exactly what you are and got the same error.
I get the concept that it needs a JRE to operate, so like you I downloaded and installed the JRE. I’m still getting the same error though, even after restarting my computer after the JRE install. Are there any specifics with what you did that I might be missing. Is the Java EE install not able to find the JRE for some reason? I appreciate any help you can provide. Thank you in advance.
Actually, I didn’t do anything other than what was posted. I did notice the installer put the java executables in my Windows\System32 directory and didn’t update my PATH variable. Weird. I was wondering why I could run java.exe without it being on my path. I guess that’s why.
I would try setting JAVA_HOME to where the JRE was installed and add %JAVA_HOME%\bin to your PATH variable if the installer didn’t already do it. If it did, make sure the paths are correct.
In case it helps, the system I was rebuilding is a little older and I did the install on a machine with Windows XP Pro with SP3.
I also had the same problem. Tried couple of things. Just install the JRE 32-bit version. Set path to its bin directory. Then install Java EE. It worked for me.