Fails to start with a non-UI error

[tulipsmoke]

Describe the bug

The app suddenly gives a non-UI error each time I try to start it:

Environment

• Shadowsocks client version: 4.4.1.0
• OS version: Windows 10 Pro 21H2 build 19044.1766
• .NET version: 4.0.30319

Steps you have tried

• Restarting the PC
• Checking for major OS updates
• Checking for .NET framework updates
• Deleting ss_win_temp

What did you expect to see?

The app running as normal.

What did you see instead?

The error message quoted in the description.

Config and error log in detail (with all sensitive info masked)

shadowsocks.log has not been filled since the last time shadowsocks worked as normal.

The error message:

Unexpected error, shadowsocks will exit. Please report to
https://github.com/shadowsocks/shadowsocks-windows/issues
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at
Shadowsocks.Model.Configuration.Process(Configuration& config)
   at Shadowsocks.Controller.ShadowsocksController..ctorO
   at Shadowsocks.Program.Main(String[] args)

[eebssk1]

pls delete the config(gui-config.json) file and try again.

[tulipsmoke]

Moved gui-config.json to a different folder instead of deleting, the app launched with an error message:

This message showed up at the very start and then appeared with the 'Edit server' window.

After putting in server settings, the app connected to the server and worked fine, a new gui-config.json was generated. The server settings are preserved on consecutive launches.

However, the same error messages shows up upon:

• each launch (two times instantly and for a third time after several seconds)
• clicking OK on 'Edit server' window
• clicking each 'System Proxy' option in tray (twice for 'PAC' and 'Global', once for 'Disable')
• clicking 'Servers' ->'Load Balance' / 'High Availability' / any of the servers
• clicking 'PAC' ->'Secure Local PAC' / 'Regenerate local PAC on version update'
• clicking 'Allow other Devices to connect'
• clicking 'Help' -> 'Verbose Logging' / 'Show Plugin Output'

Clicking 'Help' -> 'Show Logs…' crashes the app with an UI error message:

[tulipsmoke]

Off-topic (?)

I looked at the original gui-config.json after moving it, for some reason it is a bunch of zeroes.

Its last modification date is ‎July ‎9, ‎2022, ‏‎23:40:49 (UTC+3), same as ss-win-temp\shadowsocks.log.

Last events in ss-win-temp\shadowsocks.log were written less than a second before that, they seem to indicate that the app was working as usual:

2022-07-09 23:40:38.5163|INFO|Shadowsocks.Controller.I18N|Current language is: en-US
2022-07-09 23:40:38.5475|INFO|Shadowsocks.Controller.I18N|Translation for en-US not found
2022-07-09 23:40:38.6387|INFO|Shadowsocks.Controller.ShadowsocksController|WPF Localization Extension|Current culture: en-US
2022-07-09 23:40:38.8846|INFO|Shadowsocks.Controller.Listener|Shadowsocks started (4.4.1.0)

Weirdly enough, the app doesn't fill this log anymore, despite connecting to the server now.

Don't if any of this would be relevant to the issue at hand but sharing it just in case.

[eebssk1]

Moved gui-config.json to a different folder instead of deleting, the app launched with an error message:

This message showed up at the very start and then appeared with the 'Edit server' window.

After putting in server settings, the app connected to the server and worked fine, a new gui-config.json was generated. The server settings are preserved on consecutive launches.

However, the same error messages shows up upon:

* each launch (two times instantly and for a third time after several seconds)

* clicking OK on 'Edit server' window

* clicking each 'System Proxy' option in tray (twice for 'PAC' and 'Global', once for 'Disable')

* clicking 'Servers' ->'Load Balance' / 'High Availability' / any of the servers

* clicking 'PAC' ->'Secure Local PAC' / 'Regenerate local PAC on version update'

* clicking 'Allow other Devices to connect'

* clicking 'Help' -> 'Verbose Logging' / 'Show Plugin Output'

Clicking 'Help' -> 'Show Logs…' crashes the app with an UI error message:

This may related to NLog.config, check it.

[eebssk1]

You may try this version https://github.com/eebssk1/shadowsocks-windows/releases/tag/4.4.1.1

[tulipsmoke]

This may related to NLog.config, check it.

Yeah, it's empty and edited on the same as gui-config.json.

You may try this version https://github.com/eebssk1/shadowsocks-windows/releases/tag/4.4.1.1

This version works fine but I'd rather wait for an update of this repository with your PR.

[tulipsmoke]

FYI: deleting the app entirely and installing it again seemed to eliminate the problem for now, but I'd prefer to keep the issue open until #3335 is included in a release.