Game won't boot - getting config error - [JSON] failed to read file, not valid json

Discussion in 'Technical & Support' started by Michael Havlena, Feb 9, 2021.

  1. Michael Havlena

    Michael Havlena Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2019
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    Hi guys, as the title states: getting the following error when trying to boot the game:
    Game won't boot - getting config error - [JSON] failed to read file, not valid json.
    I obviously tried to validate all game files, did it twice actually with all files looking good...but game still won't boot and still getting this error...

    Appreciate any help as the game simply won't boot anymore...
    Thanks and best regards,
    MH
     
  2. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    12,345
    Likes Received:
    6,572
    Move all the .JSON files out of UserData\player and try again. They're probably corrupt.
     
  3. Michael Havlena

    Michael Havlena Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2019
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    from every folder? will they be re-uploaded? thanks...

    edit: I get a black screen, then game crashes...;(
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2021
  4. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    12,345
    Likes Received:
    6,572
    There's only 4 JSON files in the player folder. Verifying files won't replace/fix them because the game itself creates them. When you move them all out and then start the game, it should create new ones.

    If you moved other files out it may cause other issues, but your problem may be bigger than just broken JSON files - they're just the first thing to try.

    Check your video config as well to make sure it's ok (click PLAY in steam rF2, then choose video config from the menu).
     
  5. Michael Havlena

    Michael Havlena Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2019
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    Thanks so much for the info, but how can I choose the video config when launching rF2 when it crashes before any menu loads up?
    Thanks again
     
  6. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    12,345
    Likes Received:
    6,572
    If you click PLAY in steam it should pop a menu up in steam. RF2 isn't launching yet.
     
  7. Michael Havlena

    Michael Havlena Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2019
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    Thank you, yes, I've verified the video config and all is good. I do believe that the culprit was the player.json file. I deleted it, launched the game, I get the rF2 logo, then black sreen, followed by a white screen, then black screen again ,then crash to back steam. is there not a log file that I can view to verify why the game is crashing?
    Thanks again!

    fun fact: the game launches in dev mode, but only recognizes two tracks and one car (skip barber) and no controller profiles...
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2021
  8. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    12,345
    Likes Received:
    6,572
    You could try creating a trace file like this: https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/how-to-create-a-trace-file.62304/

    and then attach it here. It may or may not help, that obviously sounds like an early crash. How long have you had the game? Did you have it working fine before on the old UI and now updated and it's doing this, or is this a fresh install?

    Try going into rF2\Support\Runtimes, and run and Install (or maybe Repair) each one (all 4; don't skip any), just to make sure you have the required runtimes for the game.

    On the devmode, it actually uses its own content and player folders. So it's normal to only have the 3 items, and different profiles. Doesn't really help your normal game either way.
     
  9. Michael Havlena

    Michael Havlena Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2019
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    Thanks so much for the support...to answer your questions...:
    I've had the game for over a year now, always ran quite well and i own all the S397 content. This morning, I launched the game, went to the track and car selection screen, then clicked on the car selection so that I could select another car, then the screen went white for a long time...I waited maybe 10 minutes, then proceeded to kill the game via task manager. After that, I kept getting the JSON config error, did some troubleshooting, deleted the player.json file which seemed to solve the config error, but now game crashed soon after the rF2 logo disappears...
    I just selected to use old UI for fun and the game launches fine with the old UI. I do recall sometime last Nov, when S397 recommended that we all switch to the new UI, I used the new UI until one day, the game crashed, reverted back to the old UI, then had no issues.
    Just FYI, I have no clue why I would have issues with the new UI, especially since I was successfully using it since the new UI was imposed on us in Dec 2020.
    Appreciate any ideas, thanks again guys!
    EDIT: I ran the 4 repairs, then reverted back to the new UI. I now get a white screen that states please wait, loading new UI, then the screen goes black and the game continuously runs with a black screen. The only way to kill the game is through task manager.
    EDIT2: when killing the game through task manager, I noticed that there are 5 rF2's running?? I only have to kill one of them to kill the game...not sure that this is normal....
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Feb 10, 2021
  10. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    12,345
    Likes Received:
    6,572
    @Michael Havlena just to confirm, did you also remove the other .JSON files when you removed player.JSON? If one breaks they tend to all break.. and at least one will stop the game running when it's broken.

    So you should remove:
    • Controller.JSON
    • CustomPluginVariables.JSON (<--- this can cause silent crashes if broken)
    • Multiplayer.JSON
    • player.JSON
     
  11. Michael Havlena

    Michael Havlena Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2019
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    In the end, I removed the entire UserData folder and had the game reinstall it for me....BTW, just attached the trace file in my previous post. i never saw so many errors...yikes...
    Edit: In summary, the game launches just fine with the old UI, but will not launch with the new one. I guess I am Ok with using the old UI, but I guess I won't be eligible for any future build updates? It would seem that there are many others having issues with the new UI, do we know whether this might be something that S397 might be working on?
    As always, really do appreciate the support, thanks guys!
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2021
  12. Michael Havlena

    Michael Havlena Registered

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2019
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    4
    Just a quick update to those that might have been following this thread. Even though the game was launching just fine with old UI, I still troubleshot trying to load the game with the new UI. After 5 days of the new UI not launching, either experiencing a forever lasting blackscreen with game running or game crashing post rf2 logo disappearing, I decided to try to release candidate version yesterday. The first 5 tries or so, I was getting the same blackscreen whilst game was running, but then finally, steam decided it wanted to update my game with a 1.2GB download??? Now, the game works with the new UI??!! Don't get me wrong, I'm quite pleased, but certainly, I have no clue what happened. I have read elsewhere some people experiencing launch issues with the game only to have it rectified with a late steam update days down the road....interesting...as verifying the game files doesn't seem to force a required steam update all the time or in a timely fashion...Anyway, for what it's worth...
     
  13. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    12,345
    Likes Received:
    6,572
    Indianapolis update. I had the same yesterday.
     

Share This Page