[Worker0] Tried select unknown importer for id ‘-2’ ‘00000000000000000000000000000000’
Thanks for looking.
I’d also like to know what this is. This is literally the 1 Google result for it.
I don’t even remember posting this 
So I’m the only one, then…
I guess.
I’m also getting this error and am similarly having trouble figuring out what it is. I believe I’m trying to asychronously modify a Renderer that is deleted elsewhere
Does it happen to a new/empty project? If not, then use divide-and-conqueror to find the cause. Can you share a screenshot of the error?
I’ll try to grab a screenshot it when it pops up again.
It seems to happen completely randomly. Sometimes it shows up right as I open my project, sometimes it comes during play mode, other times when play mode is not engaged. Sometimes it pops up repeatedly, a dozen times per minute, other times it doesn’t appear for a whole day. Sometimes it appears when I save a scene or prefab, and sometimes when I’m literally doing nothing. In no instance does it cause a crash or cause any actual problem.
The [Worker] number is different, usually 0 or 1 but sometimes higher, and the id is not always the same, but it’s always “00000000000000000000000000000000.”
Of course there’s something causing it, and I think it’s something in my project, but so far I haven’t been able to use any of my normal bug hunting strategies.
I would suggest my other approach then.
What other approach?
I had asked if it happens in a new project too, sorry about that. If so, then use the process of elimination to find out what it might be causing it in your project. That would rule out custom editor scripts, etc.
Here’s a screenshot. Not very helpful. I think it happened when I enabled a new GameObject in edit mode (it was part of a Vertical Layout Group, if that’s any hint), but I’m not certain that’s what triggered it.
That’s my normal technique, but it’s not possible here. It happens truly randomly. There’s no reliable way to know if whatever I disable or remove fixes it because absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
What would be helpful is know is:
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What is a “worker” in this context?
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What is an “importer” in this context?
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What “id” does this refer to?
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The “id” is a negative value, is that the problem? What could cause that number to be selected, and what selects it?
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What does ''00000000000000000000000000000000" refer to. Is it a GUID?
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What does it mean that that value is all zeros?
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Where is this code? Is it part of the engine? A third-party DLL?
The error message is written in broken English, so could this be a sloppily-written internal message not meant to be seen by users?
The more I can know about what this error actually is, the more likely I can figure out what (if anything) to do about it.
So it happens in a new project, eventually? Otherwise, this would also rule out a 3rd party DLL. Granted divide-and-conqueror might not work effectively since it is random, but just knowing if a new project behaves the same way could be a path forward. I’m not familiar with the errors. A string of zeros doesn’t sound like a GUID. And the grammar as you point out might suggest a non-Unity component, but not necessarily.
As I said, my assumption is that it’s a problem with my current project. I’ve not seen it in other projects I’ve opened recently. It occurs on multiple dev machines and I’m pretty sure I’ve updated the editor version since it started showing up (running 2021 LTS currently).
It’s hard to track not just because it’s random, but because its so easy to ignore. It doesn’t seem to be causing any problems other than making me nervous. It also feels like it’s an editor thing because of the use of the word “importer.” I haven’t seen it in a development build, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
I ask if it’s a GUID because System.Guid.Empty is equal to “00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000”
When I say “third-party” I’m also referring to any compiled libraries that might ship with the editor.
Maybe this is a silly request, but can the someone at Unity with source-code access to the UnityEngine SDK or the Editor do a string search for the phrase “Tried select” and see if if/where pops up, just so I know what it’s actually complaining about?
I just found a similar issue in the Unity Issue Tracker that appears to be new. It doesn’t sound like it’s quite the same problem but perhaps the fix “Planned for 2021.3.X” there will solve mine, too.
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just to tie up this loose end, my suspicion was correct: I was synchronously getting a list of Renderers, while elsewhere I was asynchronously deleting GameObjects, one of which was parent to a Renderer in the list
when I tried to access the Renderer (in my case, setting the shadowCastingMode) it was throwing that error.
fixed by adding a null check for the Renderer