Unity Issue Tracker - [iOS][OpenGLES2] Getting "Internal error, unrecognized message" when building

Fixed in 2020.1

Fixed in 2019.2, 2019.3

Votes

136

Found in

2019.2.5f1

Issue ID

1185078

Regression

Yes

[iOS][OpenGLES2] Getting "Internal error, unrecognized message" when building

iOS

Sep 18, 2019

To reproduce:
1. Create a new project
2. Add a 3D Cube to a scene
3. Build for iOS
4. Observe errors in the console :
"Shader compiler: Compile Standard - FORWARD, Vertex Program: Internal error, unrecognized message from the shader compiler process. Please report a bug including this shader and the editor log."
5. Deploy the Xcode project to iOS device
6. Observe the crash at: "UnityGfxDeviceWorker (33): EXC_BAD_ACCESS (code=1, address=0x0"

Expected: the project is built without any issues
Actual: getting shader errors in the console while building the project and built project crashes on launch

Reproduced on:
2019.2.7f2

Regression introduced in:
2019.2.5f1

Not reproduced on:
2017.4.32f1 2018.4.10f1 2019.2.4f1 2019.3.0b4 2020.1.0a5

Crash reproduced on these devices:
- iPhone 7 iOS 12.3.1
- iPad Pro 12.9' (2nd gen) iOS 11.2.1

Getting only a black screen on these devices:
- iPad Mini 2 iOS 11.4.1
- iPad 5th gen iOS 10.3.3

Notes:
- Attaching Editor.log for console errors
- Doesn't reproduce on Android VLNQA00015, Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SM-N950W), Android 8.0.0, CPU: Snapdragon 835 MSM8998, GPU: Adreno (TM) 540
- Reproduced on Metal, OpenGLES2
- Doesn't reproduce on OpenGLES3
- When building with OpenGLES2 getting a black screen with a grey SPHERE (sphere.png) even though there was only a CUBE in the scene
- When building for a second time, getting a pink screen in an iOS device

Comments (54)

pacolaf

Dec 19, 2019 17:08

Finally fixed on 2019.2.17!!!
smallbit

Dec 19, 2019 03:22

still happening in 2018.4.16f1
pertz

Dec 18, 2019 19:00

As some already commented, disabling Multithreaded Rendering fixes this problem
JungsangE

Dec 17, 2019 09:25

https://forum.unity.com/threads/unity-2019-2-7-build-ios-crashes-in-shader-compile.757754/?_ga=2.203052113.1739898633.1576573106-2039735313.1550711753

You can find temporary solution in this post.

agmaster :
Dear friends! This solution for Catalina OS works fine for me. Just replace UnityShaderCompiler file from 2019.3 beta to your 2019.2 (in my case 2019.2.9f1) Delete /Library folder and restart Unity

check this comment out
It works for me too
Good luck
datagreed

Dec 17, 2019 01:36

Note: the problem seems to be only on Mac OS Catalina
datagreed

Dec 17, 2019 01:35

Why is it marked as fixed in 2019.2? It's not! There are a lot of people (including me) still expriencing the problem on 2019.2 branch here - https://forum.unity.com/threads/unknown-shader-compiler-error-using-unity-2019-2-8f1-when-building-ios.758339/page-2
Finity

Dec 07, 2019 07:41

We are using latest stable Unity version to release games and this is a critical problem that should have been tested on the 2019.2.x first, not 2020 alpha or 2019.3 beta. Using alpha and beta versions as testbed could make sense, but not in this type of situation. This simply tells us that it is risky to use Unity while releasing a game for iOS.
unity_7UfNVT-7bZw8KQ

Dec 06, 2019 18:20

PAWEL_LEGOWSKI Thank you so much
"For me it got fixed by changing Graphics API from Auto (which was Metal) to OpenGLES3.
I mean it still throws me errors with some custom shaders but, the built-in shaders work and the build succeds."

This actually works, go to build settings -> player settings -> other settings
then deselect auto graphics api, remove metal and opengles2 and add opengles3
I also deselcted metal editor support idk if this attributed to the fix
So stoked my game works fine on mobile now
petterhyden_svt

Dec 05, 2019 06:55

We are having the same issues. Needed to upgrade to 2019.2.6 alteast for a critical production bug and now all developers with Catalina are unable to work!
How come this is not fixed for the current latest prod version of Unity!?!? Planned!?
seveplex_0

Nov 29, 2019 14:31

Reproduced on 2019.2.14f1