Arduino IDE Not Launching on macOS - Interface Not Displaying

[bencek0124]

Hello everyone,

I'm encountering an issue with Arduino IDE on my Mac where the application's interface fails to appear upon starting the program. The menu bar shows up, but nothing beyond that. I've gone through various troubleshooting steps such as restarting, checking permissions, updating the software, and even reinstalling the IDE without any success. The usual logs from the Terminal don't seem to point towards a clear solution.

Below are the Terminal logs I've gathered during the IDE launch attempt:

Last login: Wed Mar 13 15:42:57 on ttys000
/Applications/Arduino\ IDE.app/Contents/MacOS/Arduino\ IDE ; exit;
kovacsbence@Kovacss-MacBook-Pro ~ % /Applications/Arduino\ IDE.app/Contents/MacOS/Arduino\ IDE ; exit;
Arduino IDE 2.3.2
Checking for frontend application configuration customizations. Module path: /Applications/Arduino IDE.app/Contents/Resources/app/lib/backend/electron-main.js, destination 'package.json': /Applications/Arduino IDE.app/Contents/Resources/app/package.json
2024-03-14 18:34:44.544 Arduino IDE[10710:642393] WARNING: Secure coding is not enabled for restorable state! Enable secure coding by implementing NSApplicationDelegate.applicationSupportsSecureRestorableState: and returning YES.
Setting 'theia.frontend.config.appVersion' application configuration value to: "2.3.2" (type of string)
Setting 'theia.frontend.config.cliVersion' application configuration value to: "0.35.3" (type of string)
Setting 'theia.frontend.config.buildDate' application configuration value to: "2024-02-20T09:53:59.281Z" (type of string)
Frontend application configuration after modifications: {"applicationName":"Arduino IDE","defaultTheme":{"light":"arduino-theme","dark":"arduino-theme-dark"},"defaultIconTheme":"none","electron":{"windowOptions":{}},"defaultLocale":"","validatePreferencesSchema":false,"preferences":{"window.title":"${rootName}${activeEditorShort}${appName}","files.autoSave":"afterDelay","editor.minimap.enabled":false,"editor.tabSize":2,"editor.scrollBeyondLastLine":false,"editor.quickSuggestions":{"other":false,"comments":false,"strings":false},"editor.maxTokenizationLineLength":500,"editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled":false,"breadcrumbs.enabled":false,"workbench.tree.renderIndentGuides":"none","explorer.compactFolders":false},"appVersion":"2.3.2","cliVersion":"0.35.3","buildDate":"2024-02-20T09:53:59.281Z"}
Starting backend process. PID: 10772
Using browser-only version of superagent in non-browser environment
Configuration directory URI: 'file:///Users/kovacsbence/.arduinoIDE'
Configuring to accept webviews on '^.+\.webview\..+$' hostname.
2024-03-14T17:34:44.853Z root INFO Backend Object.initialize: 2.0 ms [Finished 0.259 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.855Z root INFO Backend Object.configure: 1.5 ms [Finished 0.259 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.855Z root INFO Backend s.onStart: 0.9 ms [Finished 0.259 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.855Z root INFO Backend s.configure: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.272 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.855Z root INFO Backend d.onStart: 0.1 ms [Finished 0.272 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.856Z root INFO Backend d.configure: 0.1 ms [Finished 0.273 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.856Z root INFO Backend d.initialize: 13.7 ms [Finished 0.273 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.856Z root INFO Backend c.onStart: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.273 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.856Z root INFO Backend a.configure: 1.8 ms [Finished 0.275 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.857Z config INFO >>> Initializing CLI configuration...
2024-03-14T17:34:44.857Z root INFO Backend c.initialize: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.275 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.857Z root INFO Backend R.onStart: 0.4 ms [Finished 0.275 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.857Z config INFO Loading CLI configuration from /Users/kovacsbence/.arduinoIDE/arduino-cli.yaml...
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z daemon INFO Starting daemon from /Applications/Arduino IDE.app/Contents/Resources/app/lib/backend/resources/arduino-cli...
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend a.initialize: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.275 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend w.onStart: 0.5 ms [Finished 0.276 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend r.configure: 0.8 ms [Finished 0.276 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z discovery-log INFO start
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z discovery-log INFO start new deferred
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend d.initialize: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.276 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend y.onStart: 0.8 ms [Finished 0.277 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend r.configure: 0.7 ms [Finished 0.277 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend a.onStart: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.277 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend h.configure: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.277 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend s.configure: 0.1 ms [Finished 0.278 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.858Z root INFO Backend l.configure: 0.0 ms [Finished 0.278 s after backend start]
2024-03-14T17:34:44.859Z root ERROR Failed to start the backend application:
2024-03-14T17:34:44.859Z root ERROR Error: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND localhost
    at GetAddrInfoReqWrap.onlookup [as oncomplete] (node:dns:108:26)
2024-03-14T17:34:44.859Z root ERROR Uncaught Exception:  Error: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND localhost
2024-03-14T17:34:44.859Z root ERROR Error: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND localhost
    at GetAddrInfoReqWrap.onlookup [as oncomplete] (node:dns:108:26)
2024-03-14T17:34:44.864Z root WARN The local plugin referenced by local-dir:/Users/kovacsbence/.arduinoIDE/plugins does not exist.
2024-03-14T17:34:44.864Z root WARN The local plugin referenced by local-dir:/Users/kovacsbence/.arduinoIDE/extensions does not exist.

I would appreciate any insights or suggestions on resolving this. Has anyone else experienced this or something similar?

Thank you in advance for your help!

[ptillisch]

Hi @bencek0124. Have you made any modifications, or is there anything notable about your "hosts file", especially in regards to the definition of localhost?

The "hosts file" is located at /etc/hosts (AKA /private/etc/hosts).

Arduino IDE communicates with some of its components via an internal TCP/IP port in your computer on "localhost". The error messages in the terminal logs you shared indicate that the IDE was not able to get the IP address of localhost on your computer, which should be configured in the hosts file.

[bencek0124]

Yes, I modified the file, I tried to solve the problem. I think the application became unusable after I installed the ArduinoCreateAgent. What would you suggest to solve the problem?

[ptillisch]

Please revert your modifications to the hosts file and then check to see if Arduino IDE is able to start up after that.

[bencek0124]

Thank you very much!

I saved the following code in the host file and it works again.

##
# Host Database
#
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1	     localhost
255.255.255.255	broadcasthost


::1		    localhost

[ptillisch]

You are welcome. I'm very glad it is working now!

It wasn't completely clear to me, but from your previous mention of Arduino Create Agent I got the impression that the reason you made the modification to the hosts file was in order to fix some problem with Arduino Create Agent (or Arduino Cloud in general). Is that correct? If so, are you still able to use Arduino Cloud after restoring the hosts file?