# Collect crashes on start

**URL:** <https://forum.getodk.org/t/collect-crashes-on-start/38001>\
**Category:** Support\
**Tags:** odk-collect\
**Created:** [June 15, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.getodk.org/t/collect-crashes-on-start/38001 "2022-06-15T17:57:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LN](https://getodk.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.getodk.org/ln/32/1605_2.png) [@LN](https://forum.getodk.org/u/LN)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.getodk.org/t/collect-crashes-on-start/38001/1 "2022-06-15T17:57:06Z")

</div>

We see in logs that some number of users are getting hard crashes immediately when they open Collect. The crashes we see are very mysterious and look as if storage is either not there, not accessible, or not allowing access.

If you have seen this or heard reports of it happening, we would appreciate your help tracking it down.

To look at before trying a fix if you can:

- Try browsing to `/sdcard/Android/data/org.odk.collect.android` using `adb` or a file browser. Is the folder there? Is there anything in it?

To try and fix:

- Reboot the device. Please let us know if that works.
- Uninstall and reinstall Collect. Please let us know if that works.

General questions about the device:

- Does it have an sdcard slot? If so, does it have an sdcard in the slot?
- What's the make/model and Android version

As far as I know, this is the only related report we've received:

> [@Can’t create directory and application crashes](https://forum.getodk.org/t/can-t-create-directory-and-application-crashes/36583):
>
> Hi, In ODK collect on Samsung device when I try to open ODK collect app it Crashes. While debugging it in Log the error message is can’t create directory: /storage/emulated/sdcard0Android/data/org.odk.collect.android/files/projects/DEMO/forms kindly let us know what might be the issue here.

This seems to be manufacturer and Android version related:

- OnePlus, ITEL, Huawei devices with Android 7, 8 and 6 disproportionately report that `getExternalFilesDir` is `null`
- Huawei, Tecno, Infinix devices with Android 7, 10, 6 disproportionately report a generic I/O error when attempting to write to the directory