Trying to get started - Database failed to start

[k_s_hartmayer]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to get started with Neo4j Desktop and start a DB, but I was greeted with an "Initialization Error" when I first opened it and also with the following message:

Database failed to start: Database process terminated, see logs.. Check the logs

I'm on Windows 7 using Neo4j Desktop 1.3.11 and already tried to start a database as an admin which resulted in the "Database failed to start [...]" message again. Moreover, this popped up:

Conflicts occurred

Database Movie Database can not be started due to conflicts with external processes.

To fix this problem, let us change these port configurations:

• bolt : 11005 → 11004
• http : 11006 → 11007

"Fix configurations" button did not resolve the issue.

I tried reinstalling multiple times on 2 different computers now (both Windows 7).

Navigating from within Neo4j Desktop to Developer -> View logs leads to an empty folder.
From log from .Neo4jDesktop:
[info] Starting Neo4j Desktop 1.3.11 @ Windows_NT 6.1.7601
[error] Protocol Manager type error: url must be string. url = undefined
[warn] C:\Users\Kai.Neo4jDesktop\neo4jDatabases not found
[warn] Failed to parse manifest file for Graph-App[neo4j-bloom]. {
constructor: 'Error',
stack: 'Error: Graph-App[neo4j-bloom] does not contain manifest.json\n' +
' at Object.t.getManifest (C:\Users\Kai\AppData\Local\Programs\Neo4j Desktop\resources\app.asar\dist\main.prod.js:1:45087)\n' +
' at N.resolveConfig (C:\Users\Kai\AppData\Local\Programs\Neo4j Desktop\resources\app.asar\dist\main.prod.js:1:69697)\n' +
' at v (C:\Users\Kai\AppData\Local\Programs\Neo4j Desktop\resources\app.asar\dist\main.prod.js:1:60160)\n' +
' at async Promise.all (index 1)\n' +
' at C.getGraphApps (C:\Users\Kai\AppData\Local\Programs\Neo4j Desktop\resources\app.asar\dist\main.prod.js:1:63243)'
}

[mfyfe]

Hey, I had this exact same problem just a few days back and could find no way to fix it.

The way I got around it was by going back a few versions. I now have desktop 1.2.8 and it works fine so far.

It might be that you can go a couple versions after that.

Hope that helps.

[k_s_hartmayer]

Thank you for the reply!
I would like to try it, but I can not find an option to download or change my current version to e.g. 1.2.8.
Could you tell me how you were able to go back some versions, please?

[mfyfe · Accepted solution]

Sure thing. Basically, after you click the download, you simply edit the address in the command bar and replace it with the version you want. As below:

I hope this helps

[k_s_hartmayer]

Thank you so much!
It automatically started the preinstalled DB, therefore it seems to work now!

[mfyfe]

Happy to be of assistance . Good luck!

[dlonergan]

I was able to fix this exact problem on Windows Pro 7 SP 1.

1. I uninstalled an old version of desktop
2. I upgraded Windows Powershell to 5.1
3. I installed dot net runtime 4.8

Item 2 (Powershell) is probably the essential change.