# Cannot start JabRef 3.7/3.6 using Java 9 on Ubuntu 16.04

**URL:** <https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-start-jabref-3-7-3-6-using-java-9-on-ubuntu-16-04/361>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [November 30, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-start-jabref-3-7-3-6-using-java-9-on-ubuntu-16-04/361 "2016-11-30T19:13:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 8

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![martinec](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/martinec/32/135_2.png) [@martinec](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/martinec)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-start-jabref-3-7-3-6-using-java-9-on-ubuntu-16-04/361/8 "2017-02-27T22:15:15Z")

</div>

Using Java 9 (build 9-ea+157) under Debian, both JabRef 3.8.2 and 4.0.0 are unable to run passing `--add-modules=java.se.ee`:

JabRef 3.8.2:

```bash
$ java --add-modules=java.se.ee -jar JabRef-3.8.2.jar
22:56:28.724 [AWT-EventQueue-0] ERROR net.sf.jabref.FallbackExceptionHandler - Uncaught exception Occurred in Thread[AWT-EventQueue-0,6,main]
java.lang.Error: Unable to make void java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(java.awt.Conditional) accessible: module java.desktop does not "opens java.awt" to unnamed module @615713f8
	at spin.off.AWTReflectDispatcherFactory.<clinit>(AWTReflectDispatcherFactory.java:139) ~[JabRef-3.8.2.jar:?]
	at spin.off.SpinOffEvaluator.<clinit>(SpinOffEvaluator.java:38) ~[JabRef-3.8.2.jar:?]
	at spin.Spin.<clinit>(Spin.java:67) ~[JabRef-3.8.2.jar:?]
	at net.sf.jabref.gui.worker.AbstractWorker.<init>(AbstractWorker.java:21) ~[JabRef-3.8.2.jar:?]
	at net.sf.jabref.gui.openoffice.OpenOfficePanel.<init>(OpenOfficePanel.java:112) ~[JabRef-3.8.2.jar:?]
	at net.sf.jabref.gui.JabRefFrame.initSidePane(JabRefFrame.java:716) ~[JabRef-3.8.2.jar:?]
        ...

```

[JabRef 4.0.0](http://builds.jabref.org/master/JabRef-4.0.0-dev--snapshot--2017-02-27--master--5d31735d1.jar):

```bash
$ java --add-modules=java.se.ee -jar JabRef-4.0.0.jar
23:00:42.266 [AWT-EventQueue-0] ERROR org.jabref.FallbackExceptionHandler - Uncaught exception Occurred in Thread[AWT-EventQueue-0,6,main]
java.lang.Error: Unable to make void java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(java.awt.Conditional) accessible: module java.desktop does not "opens java.awt" to unnamed module @3aba1890
	at spin.off.AWTReflectDispatcherFactory.<clinit>(AWTReflectDispatcherFactory.java:139) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
	at spin.off.SpinOffEvaluator.<clinit>(SpinOffEvaluator.java:38) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
	at spin.Spin.<clinit>(Spin.java:67) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
	at org.jabref.gui.worker.AbstractWorker.<init>(AbstractWorker.java:21) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
	at org.jabref.gui.openoffice.OpenOfficePanel.<init>(OpenOfficePanel.java:112) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
	at org.jabref.gui.JabRefFrame.initSidePane(JabRefFrame.java:682) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
	at org.jabref.gui.JabRefFrame.init(JabRefFrame.java:569) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
	at org.jabref.gui.JabRefFrame.<init>(JabRefFrame.java:453) ~[JabRef-4.0.0.jar:?]
       ...

```

As **workaround** , I’m launching JabRef 3.8.2 (this does not seem to work with the v4.0.0) using `--add-opens=java.desktop/java.awt=ALL-UNNAMED`:

```bash
java --add-modules=java.se.ee --add-opens=java.desktop/java.awt=ALL-UNNAMED -jar JabRef-3.8.2.jar

```

I hope this will be useful while waiting for the beta version of Java 9.

---

_[View the full topic](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-start-jabref-3-7-3-6-using-java-9-on-ubuntu-16-04/361)._