Eclipse Neon 2 & 3 keeps Resetting the Workspace and Plugins - eclipse

Have installed Eclipse Neon 3 x86_64 bit on macOS Sierra...
Proceeded by picking a workspace folder and installed the following plugins:
Subclipse 1.10.13 (by dragging the icon on to the workspace from https://marketplace.eclipse.org/content/subclipse)
Installed the following plugins (by going to Help -> Install New Software -> All Available Sites and expanded Web, XML, Java EE and OSGI Enterprise Development):
Eclipse Java EE Developer Tools 3.8.0.v201701262139
Eclipse Java Web Developer Tools 3.8.0.v201702270442
Eclipse Web Developer Tools 3.8.2.v201702270442
JST Server Adapters 3.2.400.v201606081655
JST Server Adapters Extensions 3.3.501.v201609071751
JST Server UI 3.4.300.v201606081655
Everything works (plugin functionality) but everytime I close Eclipse, it brings up the default dialog asking for a workspace and is completely fresh (no plugins and preferences...). I have to manually install these plugins every single time I restart Eclipse!
I've deleted the following directories and files:
~/.eclipse (folder);
~/Library/Saved Application/org.eclipse.eclipse.savedState;
~/Library/Preferences/org.eclipse.platform.ide.plist;
~/Library/Caches/org.eclipse.platform.ide;
And, also unzipped Eclipse into a different folder and specified a new workspace and after installing the plugins and restarting Eclipse, its completely fresh again!
This is very annoying and also disappointing...
I even tried to put -clean as the first line of the eclipse.ini file but it didn't help any...
What's weird is that this is happening on my company issued MacBook Pro but not my personal MacBook Pro (which is the exact same model and year as the company issue one)...
Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

Have you checked Eclipse Bugzilla for a similar issue?
It looks like you are running into this:
Bug 507328 - Eclipse forgets about global settings and installed features
It's a feature of macOS introduced with Sierra called "App Translocation" or "Gatekeeper Path Randomization". Try unzipping Eclipse and moving it (drag and drop) with Finder to a different location. This should set a flag which disables Gatekeeper Path Randomization. However, it's important this this is done from within Finder.
The Eclipse Oxygen packages will ship as DMG which will motivate users to drag and drop the Eclipse.app bundle into the Applications folder using Finder. There is an Apple bug here where Apple explicitly states that Finder may be able to opt an app out of Gatekeeper Path Randomization.
To check whether Gatekeeper Path Randomization is happing in Eclipse perform the following:
Open Eclipse > About Eclipse
Click Installation Details
Navigate to tab Configuration
Check the value of osgi.install.area property
If it points to some random looking path with /var/private that path randomization is in effect.
The situation may become more complicated in future macOS versions, though.

Related

Eclipse doesn't save the previous settings like workspace & Plug-ins

I am using Eclipse Neon on my MacBook & every time I start Eclipse it prompts me for my workspace again and again even though I set it as my default one.
Same goes for the plug-ins I have installed , I need to install eclipse decompiler every time I load eclipse.
I get an error like : "This wizard helps you to import and reinstall previously installed plug-ins. It is triggered because
either you are launching eclipse for the first time or your Eclipse has been updated."
Can someone please assist me with this issue ?
I had the same problem after updating my Mac to Sierra: Eclipse would not remember the default workspace. After moving Eclipse into the Application folder, the problem disappeared.
The issue seems to come from a Mac OSX Sierra feature called 'path randomization' (see eclipse bug 507328). The actual solution to avoid the path randomization seems to be for eclipse to provide signed .dmg images (bug https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=461670).
Two workarounds that I can suggest are:
Start from the eclipse oomph installer when installing eclipse (see https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=rview&goto=1754574#msg_1754574)
Start the actual eclipse executable file instead of opening the .App container

Error in updating to ADT rev 23 for Eclipse [duplicate]

I updated Eclipse with the new SDK tools (rev. 23), but now when Eclipse starts I receive the error:
This Android SDK requires Android Developer Toolkit version 23.0.0 or above. Current version is 22.6.3.v201404151837-1123206. Please update ADT to the latest version.
No updates were found with "Check for updates". If I try "Install new software", I can see version 23, but I can't upgrade due to the following error:
Cannot complete the install because of a conflicting dependency.
Software being installed: Android Development Tools 23.0.0.1245622 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.feature.feature.group 23.0.0.1245622)
Software currently installed: Android Developer Tools 22.2.1.v201309180102-833290 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package.product 22.2.1.v201309180102-833290)
Only one of the following can be installed at once:
ADT Package 22.6.3.v201404151837-1123206 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package 22.6.3.v201404151837-1123206)
ADT Package 23.0.0.1245622 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package 23.0.0.1245622)
Cannot satisfy dependency:
From: Android Development Tools 23.0.0.1245622 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.feature.feature.group 23.0.0.1245622)
To: com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package [23.0.0.1245622]
Cannot satisfy dependency:
From: Android Development Tools 22.6.3.v201404151837-1123206 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.feature.group 22.6.3.v201404151837-1123206)
To: com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package [22.6.3.v201404151837-1123206]
Cannot satisfy dependency:
From: ADT Package 22.2.1.v201309180102-833290 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package.feature.group 22.2.1.v201309180102-833290)
To: com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.feature.group 22.2.0
Cannot satisfy dependency:
From: Android Developer Tools 22.2.1.v201309180102-833290 (com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package.product 22.2.1.v201309180102-833290)
To: com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.package.feature.group [22.2.1.v201309180102-833290]
After download of the last ADT from the web site, it seems there's another problem.
With SDK Tools rev. 23 proguard is not installed, the folder SDK dir/tools/proguard is missing, and other tools are missing. This version contains several bugs.
Google has released ADT v23.0.2. This solved many problems of previous ADT version 23.
Step-by-step:
Menu Help → Install New Software...
For "Work with", select the Android source https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse
Tick ADT v23.0 for installation, then click "Next"
Eclipse will show "Install Remediation Page" since there is conflict with previous version. (If it does not, see below.) Select "Update my installation to be compatible with items being installed" to uninstall the old version and install the new one. After that, proceed with the usual steps.
Note: When I installed the new version of ADT, I didn't include the new version of "Android Native Development Tools" package. Instead, I installed the rest of packages first, and then installed "Android Native Development Tools". For a reason, if I try to install all the new packages including "Android Native Development Tools", the installation fails.
If there is no "Remediation page", the only way to remove the ADT plugin from Eclipse is to go to menu Help → About Eclipse → Installation Details and uninstall from there. But there is a risk of uninstalling Eclipse itself.
Google response:
This is a packaging bug. The entire proguard file is missing. We'll have an update asap, but until then just copy it over from a previous version of the tools:
http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r22.6.2-linux.tgz
http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r22.6.2-windows.zip
http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r22.6.2-macosx.zip
and copy over the following files:
tools/hprof-conv
tools/support/annotations.jar
tools/proguard
So at the end if you started from a new ADT copy by hand the files :)
Edit: with the latest ADT release, the bundle should now work with auto-update, so install these new versions:
linux 64 bit vm: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140702.zip
linux 32 bit vm: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-linux-x86-20140702.zip
mac: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-mac-x86_64-20140702.zip
win32: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-windows-x86-20140702.zip
win64: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702.zip
Don't try to upgrade from previous version because it doesn’t work at all.
If you have got problems with zipalign, it's now under build-tools and no more under tools/ so you can do a symbolic link or just copy it into the expected folder.
None of the other answers worked for me using the ADT bundle published on developer.android.com.
I ended up downloading the latest version of Eclipse (not the ADT bundle) and then installing the ADT plugin via menu Help → Install new software → entering https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse (mentioned by #RED_).
I also had to update my workspace to point to my previous workspace, and most things seemed to be restored.
On a side note: This seems like a good time to migrate to Android Studio...
NOTE: Use this approach with caution because this might break your Eclipse installation (see comments).
This might help you if you installed the ADT plugin manually. But if you are using the version of Eclipse from the Eclipse ADT Bundle the below steps could break your Eclipse installation, and you may not be able to use Eclipse again!
Go to
Menu Help → About Eclipse SDK → Installation Details.
Now you will see all 22.0 versions and then click Uninstall button at bottom.
After uninstallation goto:
Menu Help → Install New Software → enter http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
Then install all the things, and now it is ready.
I was updating my build server today and came across the same issue. It has been reported here:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=72419
The fix is in progress and the work around according to the project manager is:
Please wait for an updated version within a day or two. Until then, your workaround is to do download one of
http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r22.6.2-linux.tgz
http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r22.6.2-windows.zip
http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r22.6.2-macosx.zip
and copy over the following files:
tools/hprof-conv
tools/support/annotations.jar
tools/proguard
[edit]
zipalign was missing for me too, check to see if you need to copy this as well
It works for me :)
If for some reason you installed an ADT preview and need to revert back to the current stable, you can't use the dialog to install "new" software since what you want is actually an older one. Instead do this:
Open Help > About Eclipse... on Windows or Linux. On Mac, use the app's menu > About...
Click the "Installation Details" button.
Select the "Installation History" tab.
Select one of the previous configurations.
Click the "Revert" button at the bottom.
is what they are saying about this:
OK, guys, sorry about all this trouble, and we apologize for the messed up releases. Here's the summary:
There is no way to update an existing ADT bundle that you might have downloaded.
You can do one of two options:
Install Eclipse from eclipse.org and install ADT by pointing to the update site: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse
Download bundles from here:
Linux 64-bit VM: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140702.zip
Linux 32-bit VM: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-linux-x86-20140702.zip
Mac: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-mac-x86_64-20140702.zip
Windows 32-bit: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-windows-x86-20140702.zip
Windows 64-bit: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702.zip
Starting with ADT bundle 23.0.2, you should be able to update to future versions of ADT.
Source: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=72912
I have done following to resolve an issue.
Go to http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/installing-adt.html and download the latest ADT ZIP file (at the bottom of page).
Go to Eclipse → menu Help → About Eclipse → Installation details
Delete Android DDM, Android Development Tools, Hierarchy Viewer, Native Development Tools, TraceView, etc., 22.X version.
Menu Help* → Install New Software → Add → Archive → *Select the downloaded ZIP file in step 1.
Select all the latest version of all 23 which I have deleted in step 3 and accept the license agreement.
Restart Eclipse, and it fixes my issue.
Only helped:
Fresh Eclipse installation (http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-developers/lunar)
Help --> Install New Software --> https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
If you install a new Eclipse version it will work.
Here's what I did:
Installed the new Eclipse version, Luna
Made a backup of the current workspace.
Ran the new Eclipse, Luna, and updated the workspace
Installed the ADT plugin (Help -> Install New Software)
Restarted Eclipse
Done
There is a lot of confusion going around in this thread. There are two solutions depending on how you installed ADT.
If you installed the ADT plugin manually then I believe you can use the "Delete ADT" -> "Install New Software" approach.
If you are using the ADT Bundle then do not follow that solution! You will break Eclipse. Here is an update from a Google member - read #18:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=72912
You must download a new version of the ADT-Bundle (yep, it's frustrating!).
Just uninstall the previous ADT.
Go to menu Help → About Eclipse → Installation Details
Uninstall all plugins which Id start with com.android.ide
Install ADT again from the update site.
DO NOT DO THIS
Warning: Please see the comments below this answer. These steps have had a negative impact for many people.
Click Help / Install new software...
Click on What is "already installed" (as in picture below)
In the new window you can uninstall the old ADT (uninstall Android Development Tools, Android DDMS, Android Hierarchy Viewer, Android TraceView, Android Native Development Tools and Tracer for OpenGL ES)
Restart Eclipse
Then again click on Help / Install New Software
Choose ADT... Install
I hope it helps!
After trying the approaches in other answers without success, I just installed a new bundle from http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/index.html?pkg=adt and that worked fine.
Do the following:
As you don't want to re-download all the platforms again, copy the existing one from /OLD_ANDROID_SDK_PATH/sdk/platforms to /NEW_ANDROID_SDK_PATH/sdk/platforms.
When opening the new Eclipse from the recent downloaded bundle, make sure you reuse the previous 'workspace' folder. That will ensure that all your previous settings will be remembered.
After opening the new Eclipse on the previous workspace, please check if the used Android SDK is pointing to the new one (Eclipse preferences -> Android). It might be pointing to the old one, as you've reused the previews workspace settings.
With these steps, you should't have to reconfigure everything, and you won't need to spend time troubleshooting this BUG on this upgrade from Google Developers.
Good luck! ;-)
You need to uninstall the old version and install 23
uninstall:
Help > about Eclipse SDK > Installation Details
select Android related packages to uninstall
And then install V23.
There is no way to update an existing ADT bundle that you might have downloaded.
You can do one of two options:
Install Eclipse from eclipse.org and install ADT by pointing to the update site: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse
Download bundles from:
Linux 64 bit VM: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140702.zip
Linux 32 bit VM: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-linux-x86-20140702.zip
Mac: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-mac-x86_64-20140702.zip
Windows 32 bit: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-windows-x86-20140702.zip
Windows 64 bit: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702.zip
Starting with ADT bundle 23.0.2, you should be able to update to future versions of ADT.
I was getting the same "conflicting dependency" error on Mac OS X 10.9.3 and simply upgrading was not an option. What finally worked was downloading the latest Eclipse ADT bundle zip file from developer.android.com, extracting it and moving only "eclipse" folder to the place where my old eclipse folder was. (extracting the Eclipse ADT bundle zip file will give you "eclipse" and "sdk" folders).
If you decide to go the same route, first make sure you know what your Workspace path is. This can be found in Preferences. Then rename your old "eclipse" directory (not Eclipse.app) to something like eclipse-22.6.3, then move extracted "eclipse" folder into its place. Run new Eclipse.app inside, and when it asks you about Workspace, just enter the same path as you noted above. Or it can also be set later in Preferences.
Maybe worth adding is that to re-enable Android SDK Manager and Android Virtual Device Manager choose Window -> Customize Perspective -> Command Groups Availability and select Android SDK and AVD Manager. This will add these 2 items to the "Window" menu item for the current perspective (Java).
I didn't move the extracted "sdk" folder, because I already had sdk folder in the same directory as eclipse, which I have already updated to the latest Android tools. But if it makes you feel safer, you can also rename your old sdk folder (for backup purposes) and move the freshly extracted one into its place.
I faced the same problem and solved it. You need to uninstall the Android plugin entirely from within Eclipse (from the "about" section..), including trace view..
Then added the ADT Plugin again (https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/) and install it.
The problem is solved!
I guess it's a bug with the SDK manager or ADT Plugin update mechanism...
How to update from 22.xx.x to 23.0.2 (my solution). This will beat the dependency issues.
I was suffering from this issue for days, and I have tried every single solution on this link, but no luck. I finally figured out a solution that actually works!
Please note that this solution works in Windows 7 (64 bit). It should probably work for other Windows operating systems.
Here we go:
download the latest ADT bundle from
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#download
unzip it and open "eclipse" folder --> "plugins" folder
Now go to your old eclipse and open "eclipse" folder --> "plugins" folder, and copy everything inside.
Now paste them into the "plugins" folder of the (NEW ECLIPSE), but DO NOT overwrite anything.
While inside of the "plugins" folder of your new Eclipse, do the search. Type in 22. (notice 22 with a dot) and hit enter.
The search result will show up all the files or folders with .....22.6...... For example,
com.android.ide.eclipse.adt_**22.6.2**.v201403212031-1085508
Highlight all of these files/folders and hit delete key.
Make sure to update your old API/SDK to the latest version and load this sdk directory to work with your new eclipse.
or
You can watch this video, which shows you how to move all your SDK/API to your new SDK folder.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPZpJdnbbN0
I have not tried to update from any other ADT versions, but I think it should work for any old ADT versions too.
Don't forget to backup stuff before attempting.
What I have just found is that you need to update your ADT plugin in your Eclipse (whether stand alone or ADT Bundle) before updating your build tool.
If your Eclipse installation points to the most recent Build Tool and your Eclipse is having ADT 22.x, it will show those errors.
What worked for me: (on Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit)
Installed an older version of Eclipse and ADT (from the Bundle)
This copy of Eclipse was pointing to an older SDK verion with old build tools (before 20)
Updated the ADT to v23 (via archive, in my case)
Pointed Eclipse to the latest version of build tools.
You may not have an older copy of Eclipse and Build tools, in that case you can uninstall latest build tool from SDK Manager and install the older copy.
Once everything starts working fine, do the above steps.
I am trying to upload older copies of such bundles somewhere on the Internet, will update the links here, once I am done uploading.
I found these instructions in a comment.
Download the newest version of ADT and use your existing workspace. This is actually the least pain-full upgrade you'll ever do. It didn't mess with the .android folder so I still had my original debug key. Only things missing were a couple of add ons I hardly ever use and they are easily installed into the new version.
Note don't install into your existing adt folder create a new folder so you can still fall back if the new install doesn't work.
On ADT-bundled Eclipse I had to first uninstall the ADT and then do a fresh install.
To remove the ADT plugin from Eclipse:
Go to menu Help → About Eclipse → Installation Details.
Select ADT plug-in, then click Uninstall.
After uninstallation install ADT from Help → Install new software.
For me it helped to delete Android 4.4W which is also API 20 and might be a cause for the conflict. So only install Android 4.4W or Android L until they fix it.
And (again this might only be for me) it only works in Android Studio not in Eclipse ...
I had to delete ADT and install it again.
However be warned, this caused me and one other person to have an annotations.jar missing errors in the Java Build path for certain projects, probably because it was trying to look for an old SDK, so upgrading projects is the next step I have to take.
The errors relate to libraries mostly, Google Play Services, Facebook SDK, ActionBarCompat.
For this step, you uninstall ADT, then put the URL back in to download them. The url is: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse
I found a solution for the problem with "conflicting dependency". I don't have the same page of Daniel Díaz's response, but a page show "conflicting dependency", and I can't make anything.
The problem is that I'm not the owner of the file. Eclipse was installed in other session (on OS X). I have the right to read and write the Eclipse file, but I'm not the owner. Make a "chown" command on all Eclipse files to solve the problem. After, I have the same result as Daniel Diaz.
I hope this helps someone.
WARNING
There is now an update for ADT 23.0.1, but the Windows and Linux scripts are messed up, so wait with the upgrade!
You could check for example tools/proguard/bin/*.sh in http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r23.0.1-windows.zip.
I did this to solve the same issue (in OS X):
Help > Install New Software > Add or select this repository "http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/updates/4.3"
Under "Eclipse platform" select the newest version of Eclipse.
The installer will ask if you want to uninstall the ADT, click finish.
Restart Eclipse and install ONLY the ADT 23 using this repository: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse.
Restart Eclipse and install DDMS, Hierarchy Viewer, Trace View etc.
Restart Eclipse again.
Hope it helps.
If Eclipse gives an error after uninstalling the ADT plugin from your Eclipse installation, try to edit file config.ini in the Eclipse folder → configuration. Find:
eclipse.application=
And change it to:
eclipse.application=org.eclipse.ui.ide.workbench
I hope it works for you too.
I simply went to my Android resources folder on my C:/ drive (C:/Android), deleted the 'eclipse' folder and all its contents. I downloaded Android Developer Tools once more and just moved over the 'eclipse' folder.
I started up and everything was fine; I had updated to version 23.
Hopefully this helps, possibly not suitable for everyone as some of you have Eclipse modifications but for someone who, like me, wanted a quick fix and get back to developing this seemed to be the easiest path.
I am using Eclipse v4.3 (Kepler), and this is how I solved my problem.
Goto menu Help → Install new software → click Add.
In the popup, give any name (I named it as Eclipse ADT Plugin), and in the link's place, use https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
Once you click OK, you will be displayed with new packages that will be installed and old packages that will be deleted. Don't worry about these packages. Click OK.
New packages will be installed, and this should solve your problem.

Eclipse entries under launch group are missing

I do C++ embedded development for the NetBurner platform. They have plug-ins that customize Eclipse and in addition to a build tool-chain they add a Launch Group under the Run Configuration area. Everything was working fine under Indigo (32 bit) when I decided to install Subclipse (big mistake). As soon as the install finished I could no longer run my existing configurations successfully. When I went into the Run Configurations area I noticed the Launch Group I used to use was missing. Here is what it looked like earlier yesterday:
Here's what it looks like today:
Things I've tried
First I uninstalled the Subclipse plugins using the
Help->About->Installation Details and then selecting them one at a
time, Uninstalling and restarting after each uninstall. No change.
Then I unpacked the original Eclipse Indigo/CDT 32 bit download to a
fresh folder. Copied over the NetBurner plugins from the zip I got
from the manufacturer. No change.
Launched with different Workspaces, no change.
Launched a Galileo version, it uses older plug-ins, and it still
works.
Copied older plug-ins into Indigo, the older NetBurner launcher
shows up (but it doesn't really work with Indigo)
Removed the older plug-ins put in the newer ones, old NetBurner
launcher went away new launcher does not show up.
Tried removing the
{Workspace}.metadata.plugins\org.eclipse.debug.core.launches - no
change.
Interestingly even though launches has many .launch files that should show up under Run Configuration, nothing shows up.
One other strange (possibly relevant) thing is that icon for the NetBurner Perspective went away, now it just has <NetBurner> as the text and a generic perspective icon.
I can still cross-compile and build for the NetBurner (i.e. the build toolchain still works), it's just the ability to use run configurations that seems to be missing.
I'm out of ideas, does anyone know of some global setting that sits outside the workspace and outside the Indigo installation folder that could be causing this?
I'm running on Win 7 64 bit ultimate, I run the 32 bit version of Indigo because the 64 bit doesn't appear to work with the NetBurner plug-ins. I've also disabled the two Mylyn tasks under General->Startup and Shutdown (they seemed to cause many Permgen memory crashes). This is the same setup I had working flawlessly yesterday.
Update
I also noticed that only 3 of the 4plug-ins are showing up in the Installation Details plug-in pane. The nbeclipse.core_2.6.0.jar is in the eclipse plugin directory but not showing as loaded. So I guess I know now the problem is the plug-in isn't loading but I don't know why or how to get it to load, or what subclipse could have changed that would cause this.
I suspect that the Subclipse installation may have caused an update to some other plugin(s) that it depended on (keep in mind the transitive nature plugin dependency resolution; if you're installing plugin A and it requires a certain version of Plugin B that you don't have, Plugin B will be installed or updated to that version). In doing so, maybe the NetBurner plugin can no longer load because its declared dependencies are no longer met (ie, it depended on an earlier version and does not tolerate a later version).
You can use the OSGi Console to help determine why a plugin is not loading. Here are a couple of references that should help:
http://grep.elasticpath.com/community/techblog/blog/2010/05/27/eclipse-plugins-and-the-osgi-console
http://www.vogella.com/articles/OSGi/article.html#osgiconsole
By the way, you can not just copy plugins into an Eclipse installation and expect them to work. For several versions now, Eclipse has not supported that ability. You must use Help > Install New Software or File > Import > Install > From Existing Installation to install plugins. Ask the vendor if they have an update site to install from; like I said above, simply dropping things into Eclipse's plugins folder is not supported any more, it won't work. Other than the vendor providing an update site, the only other option is to use the dropins folder, as described here.

Cannot find installed plugin on my Eclipse IDE after update

I have updated my ubuntu desktop and the eclipse which i was running on the system got updated automatically. After the update all the options inside the eclipse are the same as they used to be by default.. all my customization has been lost and the perspectives, project templates are no more. Now when i tried to installed the plugins, eclipse returns me that the selected plugins has already been installed..
I want to know is it common with eclipse to show this behavior after each update? How to can i get back my old customization without deleting the installed plugin folder and install them from scratch again..
I didn't met the issue you mentioned before. but I suggest you can check whether your workspace location is changed after your plugin is installed/updated.
Actually, all your eclipse plugins configuration/preferences settings are stored into your {workspace_home}.metadata folder. it's not relevant about what plugin eclipse has installed, That's the reason why each time switch workspace, you need to re-customized preferences settings.
So, if you want to protect customized settings, pls consider backup .metadata folder properly.

How to update Eclipse from 3.4 (Ganymede) to 3.5 (Galileo)?

I've got my Eclipse 3.4 envirnoment set up nice and cozy the way I like it. Took me some time too, to find all the plugins (Mylin, PDT, Subclipse), set all the settings, etc. Now I see that some of the plugins (like PDT) only support 3.5 in their latest versions.
Is it possible to update from 3.4 to 3.5? I'd hate to do it all again.
I read in some mailing list where they noted that it's possible, but the conversation trailed off in another direction. Google wasn't much help, and Eclipse's documentation either.
All of your settings are actually stored as part of your workspace. So you could do a fresh install of the latest version of Eclipse, add the extra plugins that you want (many of which will have newer versions for Eclipse 3.5) and when you launch, just make sure you point to your old workspace.
Help -> Software Updates... -> Available Software tab -> Add Site...
Enter the update site for the Galileo (3.5) release train: http://download.eclipse.org/releases/galileo
Now go back to the Installed Software tab and click the Update... button.
After some computation you should be presented with a list of available updates (or some cryptic errors about how your current environment cannot be updated due to compatibility issues).
This is what I did.
1.- My workspace was in c:\Users\me\workspace.
I copied this folder to c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.4 and to c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.5
So now I have twice the same, just with different names.
2.- Extracted eclipse-SDK-3.5-win32.zip to C:\program files\eclipse-SDK-3.5-win32
3.- Run Eclipse 3.4 and changed the workspace from c:\Users\me\workspace to c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.4. Then I closed Eclipse.
4.- Run Eclipse 3.5 and selected c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.5 as the workspace location (you can also use the -data argument I think).
5.- Downloaded and installed the PDT plugin (I develop in PHP).
And "Voila", now I'm able to run Eclipse 3.4 and 3.5.
BTW, even if I had to install the PDT plug in, I didn't had to touch the configuration. It took the former one from the workspace folder.
There is some information at help.eclipse.org/galileo/index.jsp, look in Workbench User Guide\Tasks\Upgrading Eclipse.