MATLAB: Do I get the error: “Failed to start the Desktop: Failure loading desktop class” when starting MATLAB on a 64-bit Linux Machine

MATLAB

When launching MATLAB on my 64 bit Linux OS, I get the following error:
 Failed to start the Desktop: Failure loading desktop class
When I try matlab -nodesktop I get a warning that /lib64/xawt/libmawt.so is not found or missing.

Best Answer

This error has been found on certain 64-bit Linux machines. To resolve this error, a symbolic link must be made to a java file under the MATLAB directory. To do this, open a terminal and run the following commands:
cd /lib64
ln -s $MATLAB/sys/java/jre/glnxa64/jre1.5.0/lib/amd64/xawt xawt
(where $MATLAB is the root MATLAB directory on your machine)
Once the link has been created, MATLAB should launch.
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