Linux Debian launcher fails to start

What if you delete the "launcher_settings.json" file? (Make a copy of it first).

deleting launcher_settings.json then restarting the launcher produces the same file and same error.

[Error: 2021-03-09 12:48:38.429041814: SettingsManager.cpp(106)] : Deserializing: * Line 1, Column 1
  Syntax error: value, object or array expected.

Can you check permissions on the .minecraft directory and its files such as launcher_settings.json file?

I also have this issue on Ubuntu 18.04, updated the launcher and now it won't start from either the command line or clicking the icon. Removed the .minecraft folder, now there is nothing there but an empty .launcher folder. Launcher is still not launching. I also tried downloading the alternative .deb from https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/download/alternative but that didn't change anything. Since I removed the .minecraft folder I have no logs unfortunately.. I can't even reinstall the game because the launcher does nothing, it doesn't even open a process or give any kind of error message.

Download new launcher and also tried the https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.tar.gz 
I am still getting a persistent error on initial run.

Steps to reproduce .deb package

• uninstall using existing mincraft using Eddy package manager for popOs

  • https://github.com/donadigo/eddy

• clear out my .minecraft folder

• clear out my /tmp folder 

• install new .deb minecraft

• Launch Minecraft from launcher

  • gui status pops up and progress bar get to "updating" 

  • status gui goes away and nothing launchers 

  • checking .minecraft logs it always finishes on the initial run as following

[Error: 2021-03-16 13:30:44.083081382: SettingsManager.cpp(106)] : Deserializing: * Line 1, Column 1
  Syntax error: value, object or array expected.[Error: 2021-03-16 13:30:44.083099486: SettingsManager.cpp(106)] : Deserializing: Expected object
[Error: 2021-03-16 13:30:44.083109505: SettingsManager.cpp(111)] Failed parsing main configuration file: .../.minecraft/launcher_settings.json

nick@pop-os:~/.minecraft$ ll
total 96
drwxrwxr-x  3 nick nick  4096 Mar 16 09:30 ./
drwxr-xr-x 32 nick nick  4096 Mar 16 09:30 ../
-rw-rw-r--  1 nick nick 73173 Mar 16 09:30 bootstrap_log.txt
drwxrwxr-x  5 nick nick  4096 Mar 16 09:30 launcher/
-rw-rw-r--  1 nick nick  7692 Mar 16 09:30 launcher_log.txt
-rw-rw-r--  1 nick nick   121 Mar 16 09:30 launcher_settings.json

Since the latest update i now see a

and i do see an error near the beginning of the log about the configuration 

[Error: 2021-03-16 13:30:36.079290715: Settings.cpp(40)] Failed to determine configuration file size: No such file or directory

Also here is launcher dir.  the contents of bootstrap.version print out `921`

nick@pop-os:~/.minecraft/launcher$ ll
total 233492
drwxrwxr-x 5 nick nick      4096 Mar 16 09:30 ./
drwxrwxr-x 3 nick nick      4096 Mar 16 09:30 ../
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick         3 Mar 16 09:30 bootstrap.version
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick    205889 Mar 16 09:30 cef_100_percent.pak
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick    282925 Mar 16 09:30 cef_200_percent.pak
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick   1324674 Mar 16 09:30 cef_extensions.pak
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick   1949947 Mar 16 09:30 cef.pak
-rwxrwxr-x 1 nick nick   1632560 Mar 16 09:30 chrome-sandbox*
drwxrwxr-x 2 nick nick      4096 Mar 16 09:30 icons/
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick  10518160 Mar 16 09:30 icudtl.dat
-rwxrwxr-x 1 nick nick 162397568 Mar 16 09:30 libcef.so*
-rwxrwxr-x 1 nick nick   1842688 Mar 16 09:30 libEGL.so*
-rwxrwxr-x 1 nick nick  28873496 Mar 16 09:30 libGLESv2.so*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick  24082600 Mar 16 09:30 liblauncher.so
drwxrwxr-x 2 nick nick      4096 Mar 16 09:30 locales/
-rwxrwxr-x 1 nick nick   5702008 Mar 16 09:30 minecraft-launcher*
-rwxrwxr-x 1 nick nick     51306 Mar 16 09:30 snapshot_blob.bin*
drwxrwxr-x 2 nick nick      4096 Mar 16 09:30 swiftshader/
-rwxrwxr-x 1 nick nick    171634 Mar 16 09:30 v8_context_snapshot.bin*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 nick nick         8 Mar 16 09:30 .version

Here is the latest logs from newest launcher downlaod

I've been having this issue on Pop_OS 20.10 and Ubuntu 20.10. I opened my issue later than you, and they stopped helping after a few days.

I've switched to GDLauncher, and it's working great.

Hay, I'm having the same issues,

Running PopOS 20.10, AMD 5700 XT GPU with a AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor.

0c:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 10 [Radeon RX 5600 OEM/5600 XT / 5700/5700 XT] (rev c1)

Upon first start up, I have got the same issue. (attached files). No existing solutions seem to resolve the fact that the launcher will never visually show. It's running in the background but will not display.

(Installed via .deb package and attempted to use flatpak at some point)

Hi there!

Does this issue still occur on the newest version of the Launcher?
If the background app is closed, starting it again will fix the issue?

This ticket will automatically reopen when you reply.