# Why do I get a "ASM ClassReader failed to parse class file" error with Java 8?

**URL:** <https://talk.openmrs.org/t/why-do-i-get-a-asm-classreader-failed-to-parse-class-file-error-with-java-8/3555>\
**Category:** Ask OpenMRS\
**Tags:** java\
**Created:** [November 3, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/why-do-i-get-a-asm-classreader-failed-to-parse-class-file-error-with-java-8/3555 "2015-11-03T02:37:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jbroeck](https://talk.openmrs.org/letter_avatar/jbroeck/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@jbroeck](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/jbroeck)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/why-do-i-get-a-asm-classreader-failed-to-parse-class-file-error-with-java-8/3555/1 "2015-11-03T02:37:17Z")

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I have attempted to download both OpenMRS standalone 2.2 and 2.3 onto my MacOSX 10.10.5 with Java 8 downloaded and have gotten error messages each time: Open MRS not able to start ASM ClassReader failed to parse class file - probably due to a new Java class file version that isn’t supported yet: class path resource [javax/swing/JFrame.class]; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException

I have read that perhaps I need to downgrade java from 8 to 7, but is this the case for the new version of standalone 2.3 as well? What do I need to be able to do to run Open MRS??

Thanks

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**Author:** ![dkayiwa](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/dkayiwa/32/179_2.png) [@dkayiwa](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/dkayiwa)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 9:11am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/why-do-i-get-a-asm-classreader-failed-to-parse-class-file-error-with-java-8/3555/2 "2015-11-03T09:11:51Z")

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Hi Justine,

The standalone does not yet support Java 8. Can you take a look at this page and see how to run the standalone with lower versions of Java? [https://wiki.openmrs.org/display/docs/OpenMRS+Standalone](https://wiki.openmrs.org/display/docs/OpenMRS+Standalone)

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**Author:** ![jbroeck](https://talk.openmrs.org/letter_avatar/jbroeck/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@jbroeck](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/jbroeck)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/why-do-i-get-a-asm-classreader-failed-to-parse-class-file-error-with-java-8/3555/3 "2015-11-03T15:44:05Z")

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Hi, How do I downgrade to java 7 on my mac? i am having trouble uninstalling java 8.