Logcat doesn't show Unity Debug.Log() outputs

Hello there,

Recently I needed to use Android Logcat for some debugging. But to my surprise, I couldn't find a single Unity output. All other ADB Logcat outputs were there, yet unity was failing to show a single output.

For example I could see outputs with the tags "I/UnityAds" but there was nothing with "*/Unity" tag. I then proceeded to use Unity Android Logcat package instead of the Android Studio Logcat or the ADB Logcat from command line.

Yet even Unity didn't see its own Debug.Log() outputs in the logcat, but it was showing up on the Unity console outputs. I made an empty project with a script that just screams "POTATO" at me with Debug.Log and I made it turn a cube GameObject on and off to see that the script was working.

Low and behold, it was working as intended! The console screamed "POTATO" at me, the cube was flickering on and off, yet the Logcat did not give me a single "POTATO" or any Unity tagged outputs.

Here's the code:

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2.  
3. public class testDbg : MonoBehaviour
4. {
5.     private bool flag = true;
6.     public GameObject go;
7.     void Update()
8.     {
9.         Debug.Log("POTATO");       // This should scream POTATO at Logcat
10.  
11.         go.SetActive(!flag);    //This just visualizes that the code is working
12.         flag = !flag;
13.     }
14. }

Am I going insane? Isn't this supposed to be working?

 

Yes, this should be working. What version of Unity are you using? https://forum.unity.com/threads/how-to-capturing-device-logs-on-android.528680/

 

Hello, thanks for your time. I tried using it in both 2019.2.21f1 and version 2019.4.10f1 both failed unfortunately

 

Here it is, it stops sending any new logs after the last two warnings, since it is an empty scene with nothing much going on I assume

 

Maybe it's not even getting to Update(), can you place similar debug statements in Start() and Awake()? I use a command prompt as in the article I shared using "adb logcat" but they should also show in your output. Also, ensure you attach this script to a game object in your scene.

 

The game object is getting turned on and off, which would mean Update() works right?

 

Well I see other messages with no filters as you can see and I also opened terminal to do the Command Line logcat and it works as well, its just unity thats not saying anything.

 

Unfortunately it is checked. I am really mind boggled, I tried everything in the book, fresh installing Unity, fresh installing Android studio, outsourcing the adb and putting it in sdk, and the funny thing is everything EXCEPT unity is sending outputs, that's why I am so irritated by it, hope in time a solution will emerge

 

What was the result when you placed the statements in Start() and Awake()?

 

It works as expected for me. I did Build (vs Build and Run) and then "adb install mybuild.apk" to install on my Samsung Galaxy Edge S7 . Then I ran "adb logcat | findstr -i hello" (I'm on Windows, use grep on Mac) and saw my "Hello from Awake", "Hello from Start", and then a bunch of "Hello from Update". I'm using 2020.1.13f1 but never saw an issue with Unity 2019 either.

 

I tried that and this is the project I am using as example, I will try using another phone to see if that shakes things up in my favor

 

Unfortunately didn't work either, will try using a different phone

 

Use print() instead of Debug.Log(). I have been doing this for years across many projects. This problem is not new to me so I wonder what the setup is for people that say Debug.Log() works. Also, everyone says print is identical to Debug.Log but for me it is not so again, are people making statements without even verifying or is there some setting I'm not aware of?

 

Same problem here, everyting works, but Debug.Log.
Unity version 2020.2.6f1
Could potentially some scripts intercept Debug.Log and stop it?

Edit:
print() or System.Console.WriteLine() doesn't work either

 

It is chosen, but Debug.Log doesn't appear like it was never actually called

 

I'm struggling with this too. Doesn't work in the logcat window or command prompt....
I noticed this was initially blank by default though, and this setting hasn't fixed it for me.
Anyone have any ideas?

 

The project where it doesn't work was an existing project that I migrated over. I just did a new project and it works, regardless of the settings I posted above.

Any idea what setting would mess up logging?

 

Not seeing that asset 2020.3.18.... though I do see some related files in the package manager for logcat, will dig around and post if I find a solution

 

In case this helps, there was existing code in my project that disabled / modified how logging is handled to something custom. Can search for these and see if this helps anyone else:

Application.SetStackTraceLogType(LogType.Log, StackTraceLogType.None);
OR
Debug.unityLogger.logHandler = (custom handler here)

 

Maybe You have custom Debug Class that only works for Unity Editor.
So how about using UnityEngine.Debug.Log instead of just Debug.Log?

 

If I set the Priority to Debug, I see my Debug.Log() messages.

If I set it to Verbose, I do not.

I would expect Verbose would show everything but I guess not. Unclear if that's intended behavior or a bug.

 

search your code to make sure you havent put this somewhere

Code (CSharp):

1. Debug.unityLogger.logEnabled=false

 

Hi! I miss many logs, including shader compilation, log for me. Ensure you have enabled "full log" toggle in your console

 

I am having this issue as well, I have tried numerous suggestions,
I cannot get any Debug.Logs to show in ADB Logcat with any method suggested including through a Terminal and manually filtering.
I am using Unity Version 2021.3.18f1

 

OK, I go it to work but I have to use 'UnityEngine.Debug.Log' something is screwing with the namespace.

 

Same here. There must be something wrong with the logging. I've been using

Debug.Log()

all the time and always been able to read the messages from android via adb logcat from the terminal. Since a while it does not work anymore.

Debug.LogWarning()

and

Debug.LogError()

work as expected.

I'm using Unity 2021.3.15f1 on a Mac (Silicon). I have had this with some prior version as well.

I can reproduce it by creating a blank new Project. And adding the following Script:

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. public class Test : MonoBehaviour {
3.     void Start() {
4.         UnityEngine.Debug.Log("UnityEngine.Debug.Log");
5.         Debug.Log("Debug.Log");
6.         Debug.LogWarning("Debug.LogWarning");
7.         Debug.LogError("Debug.LogError");
8.     }
9.  
10.     void Update() {
11.     }
12. }
13.  

When deploying on Android and runing adb logcat (from the terminal), only the

Debug.LogWarning

and

Debug.LogError

get printed. This is similar to what nuClide reported.

I see all kinds of other Info, Debug, Verbose messages from other packages.

There is no

/UserSettings/AndroidLogcatSettings.asset

in my projects.

 

I did some more testing. Same problem with editor version 2019.4.29f1 when trying the script from above. I also tried another machine with version 2021.3.14f1 (also a Mac), same issue.

I was going to try some more even older versions to get a clue of when the problem might have kicked in. But then I stumbled into the next stupid issue: when trying to create a simple 3D project with editor 2019.2.21f1 (which only has two options, "2D" and "3D") it fails with the error "Failed to resolve project template: [com.unity.template.3d] is not a valid project template.".

It turns out this is another annoying complication people are struggling with for example here: https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/is...reating-a-new-project-with-2d-or-3d-templates
It's supposed to be fixed but people still suffer it (including me now).

Another thought that I had was that it might perhaps be somehow (also) related to or depending on the Android API level being used.

Maybe it's only on macOS. Nobody really mentions their platform except JeffDUnity3D which is on Windows and not able to reproduce it.

 

@Tomas1856 Thanks for responding! If I do

Code (CSharp):

1.         Debug.LogFormat(LogType.Log, LogOption.None, this, "Debug.LogFormat Log");
2.         Debug.LogFormat(LogType.Warning, LogOption.None, this, "Debug.LogFormat Warning");
3.         Debug.LogFormat(LogType.Assert, LogOption.None, this, "Debug.LogFormat Assert");
4.         Debug.LogFormat(LogType.Exception, LogOption.None, this, "Debug.LogFormat Exception");
5.         Debug.LogFormat(LogType.Error, LogOption.None, this, "Debug.LogFormat Error");
6.         Debug.Log("Debug.Log");
7.         Debug.LogWarning("Debug.LogWarning");
8.         Debug.LogError("Debug.LogError");

I will get

Unity  W  Debug.LogFormat Warning

Unity  E  Debug.LogFormat Assert

Unity  E  Debug.LogFormat Exception

Unity  E  Debug.LogFormat Error

Unity  W  Debug.LogWarning

Unity  E  Debug.LogError

Log is simply ignored. Only messages with Warning or Error level make it to logcat. I see things like this though

MONO  I  Getting locale

Mono  I  Locale en-US

(These have Info level.)

 

It might be worth mentioning that if I run the app in the Unity Editor I will see all messages in the Console panel as expected (Log as well as LogFormat). It is only that when built as an Android app it will loose the basic Log messages.

 

I'm just realizing that this only happens when running on a HTC Vive Flow VR headset. On a Pico G2 4K all messages are shown. Will investigate further later.

 

Interestingly the messages from Java get through.

When I do

Code (CSharp):

1. AndroidJavaClass logClass = new AndroidJavaClass("android.util.Log");
2. logClass.CallStatic<int>("v", "Test", "Log.v");
3. logClass.CallStatic<int>("d", "Test", "Log.d");
4. logClass.CallStatic<int>("i", "Test", "Log.i");
5. logClass.CallStatic<int>("w", "Test", "Log.w");
6. logClass.CallStatic<int>("e", "Test", "Log.e");
7. Debug.Log("Debug.Log");
8. Debug.LogWarning("Debug.LogWarning");
9. Debug.LogError("Debug.LogError");

I get

Test   V  Log.v

Test   D  Log.d

Test   I  Log.i

Test   W  Log.w

Test   E  Log.e

Unity  W  Debug.LogWarning

Unity  E  Debug.LogError

 

The developer settings on the HTC Vive Flow are rather spartanic. There is only "USB debugging" (on/off) and "OEM unlock" (on/off).

 

I tested building the app with Android Target API Level 28 instead of 29.

Debug.Log

messages are still ignored.

 

I got it. It's unbelievable. Seems like HTC got sick of Debug messages from Unity so they set the log level for messages with tag

Unity

explicitly to

WARN

. It can be changed to

DEBUG

as follows:

adb shell setprop log.tag.Unity DEBUG

As a bonus annoyance you have to do it on every reboot.

See here:
https://forum.htc.com/topic/3398-unity-debug-logging/
and here:
https://forum.htc.com/topic/10031-unity-log-missing-on-htc-vive-focus-plus/

I'm speechless...

 

One last note. Before setting the prop to

DEBUG

I was reading it with

adb shell getprop log.tag.Unity

and what I got was

WARN

and it will be

WARN

again after each reboot.