Linux can not open arduino IDE - java.lang.NullPointerException

Question

I use arch linux. I installed arduino ide with pacman. When I try to run it, loading window will show for few socends and than program crashes. There are logs:

john@arch-thinkpad ~ [1]> arduino
Picked up JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS:
Set log4j store directory /home/john/.arduino15
java.lang.NullPointerException
 at processing.app.Base.rebuildProgrammerMenu(Base.java:1705)
 at processing.app.Base.<init>(Base.java:286)
 at processing.app.Base.main(Base.java:150)
john@arch-thinkpad ~ [255]>

john@arch-thinkpad ~> arduino --version
Picked up JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS:
Loading configuration...
Initializing packages...
Preparing boards...
Arduino: 1.8.13

What should I do to fix it ?
Thank you for your help

• Majenko: Delete your preferences.txt file.

Answer 1

I had to install arduino-avr-core package:

sudo pacman -S arduino-avr-core

Now it works fine

Answer 2

The first thing to do is delete your preferences.txt file. This is the most common cause of startup issues - some corruption or an invalid setting in that file can break the IDE completely.

rm ~/.arduino15/preferences.txt

If that doesn't fix it then you can delete your entire Arduino working directory, which will remove all installed cores and boards and give you a fresh installation:

rm -rf ~/.arduino15

• Peter Feerick: There was some corruption to the package_index.json a little while ago - mid July - perhaps the OP was affected by that, even though it though the post phrasing suggests that they have only just installed the Arduino IDE. Anyway, the fix for that issue was to remove file ~/.arduino15/package_index.json and remove folder ~/.arduino15/cache - which would be worth trying before deleting the preferences file or entire settings directory if it is an old/configured install.
• Jan Černý: Thank you for your answer but it did not change anything and issue still remains.