Mihon crashes immediately upon launching app

[zomgimobbq]

Steps to reproduce

1. Tap Mihon app to open
2. Mihon app opens for ~1-2 seconds
3. Mihon crashes

Expected behavior

Mihon does not crash immediately upon launching

Actual behavior

Mihon crashes immediately after launching

Crash logs

I'm unable to grab crash logs natively from within the Mihon app, since it crashes before I can navigate anywhere within the app. Therefore this was pulled via Logcat reader.

I'm not a technical person and not familiar with this process, so I YouTube'd how to use Logcat reader. I hope I did it correctly and have included relevant info.

2025-2-6 hisense touch mihon crash.txt

Mihon version

0.17.1

Android version

Android 11

Device

Hisense Touch

Other details

Currently only using the Weeb Central extension.

App works just fine after initial install if I stay within the app. But once the app is closed, the device turned off, etc. and I try to launch Mihon again, it will exhibit this same crashing behavior. I have uninstalled and reinstalled it three times and each time it has the same behavior: works perfectly fine after initial install and I can use it as normal, but once the app is closed and launched again it will crash.

Thank you for your help.

Acknowledgements

• I have searched the existing issues and this is a new ticket, NOT a duplicate or related to another open or closed issue.
• I have written a short but informative title.
• I have gone through the FAQ and troubleshooting guide.
• I have updated the app to version 0.17.1.
• I have updated all installed extensions.
• I will fill out all of the requested information in this form.

[cuong-tran]

After installing the app, did you initially open it by tapping Open button on the successful installation popup?
If yes, what if you don't do that, instead close the popup then open the app from icon on home screen?

[zomgimobbq]

After installing the app, did you initially open it by tapping Open button on the successful installation popup? If yes, what if you don't do that, instead close the popup then open the app from icon on home screen?

Yes, I usually open it by tapping the Open button on the successful installation popup.

I uninstalled, installed again, and this time it seems to be working ok:

1. opened Mihon via the home screen
2. go thru initial Mihon set up: choose theme, granted access to the storage location/folder
3. Mihon crashed after granting access to storage location/folder
4. opened Mihon via home screen
5. initial set up choices not saved, go thru set up again. This time Mihon did not crash after granting access to storage location/folder
6. seems to work fine for now!

Was the initial way of launching the app really the cause of the issue? Thank you!

[MajorTanya]

@zomgimobbq Did you do anything to your Mihon folder at some point before or after the crashes started happening? Did you have something downloaded / actively downloading, did you delete the folder / something inside it?

Also, did you do a backup restore at any point before, during, or after the crashes? If so, where did that backup come from (another phone or this one? Was it a Mihon backup or one made in one of the compatible forks?)

[zomgimobbq]

@zomgimobbq Did you do anything to your Mihon folder at some point before or after the crashes started happening? Did you have something downloaded / actively downloading, did you delete the folder / something inside it?

No, did not change anything with the folder before or after the crashes. I do not know if I had anything downloaded in the folder. Prior to reinstalling, I only had two titles "added to library", and I did not choose to explicitly download them (if that's even an option). I'm a new Mihon user, so I'm not sure of all the details -- does "adding to library" mean I download those titles? If so, then perhaps I had downloaded files.

Also, did you do a backup restore at any point before, during, or after the crashes? If so, where did that backup come from (another phone or this one? Was it a Mihon backup or one made in one of the compatible forks?)

No backup restores. This is my first time using Mihon so I have nothing to restore from.

[zomgimobbq]

Spoke too soon. Mihon is back to crashing immediately upon launching :(

[MajorTanya]

@zomgimobbq I can see in the logs you provided that the crash is always happening when Mihon gets into contact with the storage system. Have you checked that Mihon has the requested permissions, especially for the folder/for storage? Do you use some sort of custom/third-party Android version or is this the one that came with your device?

[zomgimobbq]

@zomgimobbq I can see in the logs you provided that the crash is always happening when Mihon gets into contact with the storage system. Have you checked that Mihon has the requested permissions, especially for the folder/for storage? Do you use some sort of custom/third-party Android version or is this the one that came with your device?

I checked Mihon's permissions and originally:

Trust the application / allow all permissions was off --> now set to on
Read and write external storage was set to Inquire --> now set to Accept

Current permission settings:

Screenshot

Once updated with these permissions, Mihon still crashes immediately upon launching. Attached another log from Logcat reader -- is it still crashing when it gets into contact with the storage system?

2025-2-8 hisense touch mihon crash.txt

This Android version came with the device. However, this device is from Aliexpress and did originally come with mostly Chinese settings, which I had to switch to English. Not sure if that helps/matters.

Thanks again.

[MajorTanya]

I'm not sure, it looks similar to the previous crash logs. Could you try to uninstall all extensions you have installed right now (check your device's apps listing, they should all start their names with "Tachiyomi", uninstall them all. Then force stop Mihon if it's somehow still alive, and try to open it again. If it crashes again, try clearing Mihon's cache and data (this will wipe your collection as well but it's not recoverable in this state anyway it seems), then try to open it again.

In any crash case, please record the logcat output again, thank you.

Edit: And if all fails, try uninstall/reinstall, then BEFORE opening the app, grant it the permissions manually in that app info view you screenshot.

[zomgimobbq]

Thank you.

I uninstalled all extensions via the apps listing, then opened Mihon again (did not force stop it as it was not open, so force stop button was greyed out). It crashed, and here's the logcat for that.
2025-2-8 hisense touch mihon crash 2 - after ext delete.txt

Then I:

1. cleared cache, cleared storage
2. opened Mihon
3. It opened fine. I went thru initial setup steps, eg choose app theme.
4. Choose folder/storage location, granted access to folder (same as every previous setup).
5. Mihon crashed after granting folder access (crash file below)
6. open Mihon, go thru initial setup steps again
7. Choose folder/storage location again, granted access. This time it did not crash.
8. Working ok for now.

2025-2-8 hisense touch mihon crash 3 - after clear cache.txt

This is basically the same thing that happened after reinstalling last time: #1704 (comment)

Fingers crossed that the issue is solved for good, but last time the crashing behavior came back the next day :<

[Smol-Ame]

Just curious (and just in case), what's the storage location path you are setting the app to? Screenshot your Mihon Settings > Data and storage page

[zomgimobbq]

Just curious (and just in case), what's the storage location path you are setting the app to? Screenshot your Mihon Settings > Data and storage page

Here it is:

[MajorTanya]

I have little hope for this being a solution. While I'm not certain, I am getting a weird feeling that this is your OS being weird about Mihon interacting with the storage engine. One line I have seen a few time:

2025-02-08 16:25:40.928  1238-1492  ActivityManager         system_server                        I  Killing 30279:app.mihon/u0a184 (adj 0): depends on provider com.android.externalstorage/.ExternalStorageProvider in dying proc com.android.externalstorage (adj 0)

Indicating that the system's storage service is the one dying and leaving behind those massive native stack traces. There's nothing I'm aware Mihon can do when the system's storage service dies like this. Mihon uses the device's storage extensively (obviously), for example, it uses it for caching extension's little badges/images, storing downloaded chapters (both the temporary and permanent ones), as well as maintaining its database of your library, which gets also stored in the storage

I'm afraid your device, for one reason or another, is not coping well with Mihon and therefore probably entirely incompatible. Considering it's marketed as some sort of e-Ink-Reader & Music player, maybe that's to be expected.

I'll leave this issue open for you to report back if it crashes again (or maybe not? Hope never dies, after all).

[zomgimobbq]

Back to crashing :<

Here's the latest logcat
2025-2-9 hisense touch mihon crash.txt

The Hisense Touch is a niche product for sure, but many users use it specifically for Mihon/manga reading, and it's one of the reasons I purchased it myself. I wonder why it's not working in this instance.

Any last ideas or suggestions? Thanks, and appreciate all your help!

[MajorTanya]

No ideas (and no Mihon-related lines in this log output), but have this funny line from the logs you just posted:

One half-hearted question is whether you have an SD card or something in your device, and whether removing it if you do fixes the problem. I don't believe for a second that this would be the cause but it's the literally last idea I have at all.

Oh, and you could try installing older Mihon versions to see if this problem has always been there or is a recent addition. But that'd be a lot of work and I fully understand if you have better things to do than help us cope with this.

[zomgimobbq]

Haha yeah, it has some random "inspirational" quotes that it shows on the lockscreen, that's probably one of them.

Sorry, here's another logcat file. I never know how much of it to grab.

2025-2-11 hisense touch mihon crash.txt

No SD card on the device, there's no slot for external storage on it. Appreciate all the investigation!

[MajorTanya]

Honestly, my theory at this point is that Mihon tries to query the storage service during backup creation (which it normally does on a schedule, e.g. daily). If the schedule drifts or Mihon dies in the background, it'll start making a new backup the next time the app is reawakened (that's apparently a frequent occurrence on my phone). Assuming Mihon doesn't make a fresh backup right after install (which would be sensible), I'm guessing the reason it's working for you for a while until it randomly doesn't comes down to this automatic backup process starting. Obviously, with it stuck in a crash loop like it is for you, it's not possible to change the auto backup frequency settings, so yet another reinstall would be needed to try this hypothesis.

If you still wanna try this hypothesis, you can reinstall Mihon (restore a backup if you have one but I'd expect there to be problems), and then set the Automatic backup frequency in the Data and storage menu to OFF.

Caution

This is a stupid thing to do if Mihon is working fine. It's counterproductive and risky under any normal circumstances. This instruction is specifically to test the hypothesis at hand and should not be taken as a recommendation for literally anyone other than OP.

After doing that, just force restart the app for good measure. Not needed but honestly, it can't do harm either. Now, you can see if Mihon works for you for more than like, a day or so. (Incidentally, I believe "Daily" is the default auto backup frequency, so...)

This will obviously put you in a somewhat awkward situation regarding your Mihon data. You can also try if a manual backup would work but considering the underlying process is not different enough in my eyes to matter, it will probably crash as well and you might get stuck in a crash loop all over again.

IF you want to use Mihon anyway, I'd strongly recommend you use the external tracker services like MyAnimeList, AniList, etc. to at least keep track of what you're reading and your progress on each. It won't magically restore into Mihon if you have to reinstall again but at least you won't have to struggle remembering what that one weird manga you saw two years ago was (assuming any of the trackers have a listing for it). And you could use it to rebuild some parts of your collection next time around. Other than that, keep your Mihon collection smaller so you don't have to spend as much time rebuilding the collection, etc etc.

Hope this dangerous workaround will at least enable you to read a bit for a change, instead of manually having to capture logcat output.