Troubleshooting jamovi
When running jamovi under windows, a very small number of users experience an error message indicating that jamovi is unable to start. This problem is typically caused by unusual administrative policies, or unusual system state. Unfortunately, the exact cause of this issue is highly varied, and debugging individual computers goes beyond what we as a community producing free desktop software can provide.
Below we provide some pointers for debugging this, but for most users who experience this issue we recommend either simply using a different computer, or use the cloud version of jamovi instead. The cloud version runs inside a web browser, making it practically immune to unusual system configurations. Purchasing a priority subscription to the cloud version is a great way to support the project as well.
Debugging
When jamovi starts up, a number of processes are begun in sequence. Firstly, electron starts up (jamovi.exe), which in turn spawns the jamovi server which is implemented in python (python.exe). The jamovi server process then launches a number of R based engine processes (jamovi-engine.exe) for performing the analyses.
The problems at start-up are usually occur within the python.exe or jamovi-engine.exe processes, and will be indicated by the error message.
It’s possible to investigate the exact cause by examining the events generated these processes as they run and then fail. This can be done with Microsoft’s Process Monitor tool. Using the Process Monitor is beyond the scope of this document (and not for the feint of heart), however you will find resources about using it online.
Again, we recommend you simply use the cloud version instead.