A black screen or instant crash on launch is the most common Frets on Fire problem on modern Windows. It is usually a graphics or compatibility problem, not a broken download — so do not re-download the same file five times before trying the steps below.
Try in this order
- Right-click
FretsOnFire.exe, choose Properties, then Compatibility, and try Windows 7 compatibility mode plus “Run as administrator”. - Update your graphics driver from your GPU maker’s website (NVIDIA, AMD or Intel) — Windows Update drivers are often the problem for old OpenGL games.
- Move the game to a short path such as
C:\Games\FretsOnFire\and run it from there; deep or restricted folders cause write failures. - If it still crashes, do a clean reinstall into a fresh folder, then copy only your
data\songs\folder back.
What not to do
Do not download individual DLL files from third-party sites, and do not download a “fixed” Frets on Fire from a random mirror. If a runtime file is missing, see the safe DLL fix. If the error mentions OpenGL, see the OpenGL error guide instead.
When to stop troubleshooting vanilla
If vanilla still will not launch after a clean install and a driver update, try FoFiX or Clone Hero. A maintained game is a better use of your evening than a fifth reinstall of a 2008 binary.
Browse the full hub. Related guides: frets on fire opengl error, frets on fire low fps, fofix startup errors.