Here is my solution that I posted in another thread where I got some very good feedback.
https://community.smartbear.com/t5/SoapUI-Pro/NoSuchMethodError-SimpleTimeLimiter-Error-while-invoking/m-p/163726/highlight/false#M36833
Okay, I have this fixed.....for now.
As I mentioned above, I have local policy rule restrictions on top of the file compatibility issue.
The issue isn't the compatibility related to the \ext directory, it’s the files in the \lib directory. I'd like to know if there is a relationship between the two directories. We have similar files but different versions. So how are these directories used?
Solution: Replace \lib files "gson-2.3.1.jar", and "guava-20.0.jar"
with "gson-2.8.2.jar", and "guava-23.6-jre.jar" (from the Selenium 3.9 zip or whatever you are using)
Copy/Archive the \lib and \ext sub directories
Rename the installation directory to Ready_API_ORG
Run the Ready_API installer and perform a new install
(The v2.23 update feature caused me weeks of pain so I don't suggest using it at this time.)
Copy jar files to \ext Selenium(from the zip file), custom, sql ,and any others that you were using.
Copy the gson, and guava files from \ext and replace the ones in \lib.
This got rid of the various NoSuchMethodErrors for me. Now I had another connectivity error related to the options questions that I asked about above. I need the FF equivalent settings defined for Chrome.
I modified my groovy script to use Chrome again and the Chrome browser launched successfully.
Couple of thoughts:
I would caution telling folks to use FF as if it is the exclusive browser supported by SmartBear, unless that is in fact the case. May just say that you happen to be using FF for the purpose of your example. Ultimately we want our scripts to be able to perform cross browser testing.
One potential problem is maintaining the \ext directory with no guidance from SmartBear. I'm sure that I broke something out of ignorance. As I update selenium, I add the updated files to the directory. I don't really know what needs to be removed from the old files so I'll typically rename them. this makes for a mess, as I have Selenium, SQL, Custom and whatever jar files that I need to include in here.
My suggestion is to keep all files archived and given their own directories in the archive.