Firebase - "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" - how to further analyse it?

Questions & Answers
1

Hello everyone,

I am using Firebase for authentication and for storing data.
Now I have the curious problem that this initialization fails sometimes with the error “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” (with the InitializeFirebase method) and I have no idea how to get to the root cause.

This is my code:

public class FirebaseManagerAuth : MonoBehaviour
{
    public static FirebaseManagerAuth instance;
    [SerializeField] private PlayerDataSO playerData;

    //Firebase variables
    [Header("Firebase")]
    public DependencyStatus dependencyStatus;
    public FirebaseAuth fbAuth;
    public FirebaseUser fbUser;


    void Awake()
    {
        //Check that all of the necessary dependencies for Firebase are present on the system
        FirebaseApp.CheckAndFixDependenciesAsync().ContinueWith(task =>
        {
            dependencyStatus = task.Result;
            if (dependencyStatus == DependencyStatus.Available)
            {
                //If they are avalible Initialize Firebase
                InitializeFirebase();
            }
            else
            {
                Debug.LogError("Could not resolve all Firebase dependencies: " + dependencyStatus);
            }
        });

        if (instance == null)
        {
            instance = this;
            Debug.Log("FirebaseManagerAuth - awake - instance was null");
        }
        else if (instance != null)
        {
            Debug.Log("Instance already exists, destroying object!");
            Destroy(this);
        }
    }
  
    private void InitializeFirebase()
    {
        try
        {
            fbAuth = FirebaseAuth.DefaultInstance; **ERROR HAPPENS HERE**
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Debug.Log("Gotcha - AUTH! " + e.Message); 
            //throw e;
        }
        if (fbAuth == null)
            Debug.Log("INIT FirebaseManagerAUTH + fbAuth = null");
    }

And this the output:

Gotcha - AUTH! Object reference not set to an instance of an object
UnityEngine.Debug:Log (object)
FirebaseManagerAuth:InitializeFirebase () (at Assets/Scripts/FirebaseManagerAuth.cs:68)
FirebaseManagerAuth:<Awake>b__5_0 (System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1<Firebase.DependencyStatus>) (at Assets/Scripts/FirebaseManagerAuth.cs:32)
System.Threading._ThreadPoolWaitCallback:PerformWaitCallback ()

Unfortunately, I have no idea why this reference is not always set correctly and how to further analyse it, since some “Firebase magic” happens here which I cannot control directly.

I would be very glad for any advice, since it fully blocks my development at the moment…

2

I would be very grateful for any tipps how to solve or further analyse this problem!