Ethereum Debugging Issue: «I got an error ‘Not Activated’ while debugging my foundry test

As a developer working with smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, it is not uncommon to encounter issues during testing and debugging. In this article, we will explore the potential cause of the «Received ‘Not Activated’ while debugging my foundry test» error you are encountering.

Understanding the Error

When an Ethereum test runs successfully, it must first call the contract function with the opcode CALLDATALOAD to load data from the storage slot. This is followed by a single opcode CALLER to invoke the contract function. Then, two opcodes PUSH0 and PUSH1 are executed to push data onto the stack.

Issue: NotActivated Error

The «Received «NotActivated» error typically occurs when a test fails to properly activate a smart contract after executing the above opcode sequence. This can happen in several scenarios:

• Incorrect activation order: If a test calls «CALLDATALOAD» and then «CALLER», but not vice versa, this can result in an incorrect activation sequence.

• Missing or insufficient data storage: The contract function may require more data than was loaded by «CALLDATALOAD». This can be caused by missing dependencies or insufficient storage.

• Incorrect print order: If a test inserts data into the stack incorrectly, it may fail to activate.

Workarounds and Solutions

To resolve this issue, you can try the following solutions:

Solution 1: Change the order of «CALLDATALOAD» to «PUSH0».

Replace the opcode sequence with this corrected version:

CALLDATALOAD
CALLER
PUSH0
PUSH1

This should reactivate your smart contract.

Solution 2: Add PUSH0 before CALLDATALOAD

Try adding PUSH0 before CALLDATALOAD to ensure the correct activation sequence:

CALLDATALOAD
PUSH0
CALLER

Solution 3: Verify data storage

Make sure your contract function requires data from storage. If the contract expects additional data, you may need to add a LOADDATA opcode before calling it.

CALLER
LOADDATA(mycontractaddress)

Solution 4: Check for missing dependencies or insufficient data

Check that all dependencies are installed in your test environment and that they are sufficient.

Solution 5: Use a different foundry test environment

If none of the above solutions work, you can try using a different foundry test environment or switching to a different testing framework.

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