Troubleshooting
Last updated: 10 August 2026
Solutions to the problems users hit most often.
Before anything else, two things are worth knowing:
- The Log panel on the main window shows what the Ingester has been doing. Most problems announce themselves there first.
- The Open logs button opens the folder with the full log files. Always include these when reporting a problem.
Start here
| Symptom | Go to |
|---|---|
| Files appear in the folder but no jobs are created | Nothing happens when files appear |
| Jobs are created but sit there | Jobs pile up but nothing uploads |
| An upload never gets past 0% | Upload is stuck at zero progress |
| Access Denied | Access denied when uploading |
| Contest code not recognized | Contest code not recognized |
| Please select a partner | Please select a partner |
| API Configuration Incomplete | API Configuration Incomplete |
| The overlay logo is rejected | Overlay Image URL Error |
| The program closes on startup | Failed to load Ingest Partners |
| It says another copy is running | An instance is already running |
| It refuses to close | The Ingester will not close |
| Registration or licence trouble | Registration and licence problems |
| A job is stuck and you want to try again | Re-running a job |
Nothing happens when files appear in the watch folder
Work through these in order:
- Is WATCHER switched on? The button at the top must be blue. Without it, nothing scans the folders.
- Are the watch folders correct? Open SETTINGS and check. Folders that do not exist are dropped when you save — if a path is missing from the list, it was mistyped or the drive was not connected.
- Is the file extension in the list? A
.movfile is ignored unless.movis in Video file extensions. - Is the API configuration complete? Backend System, API url and API key must all be set. Without them the Ingester will not create jobs at all.
- Is the Video CutterV2 still writing? If the companion
.jsonfile saysFinishedCutting: false, the Ingester deliberately skips the file and writes "Skipping … because FinishedCutting is not yet true" to the log. It will pick it up once cutting completes. - Was the file cancelled before? With Ignore Canceled ticked, a previously cancelled file is never picked up again. Untick it and rescan.
Click Rescan folders to force an immediate scan rather than waiting for the automatic one.
Jobs pile up but nothing uploads
Check that WORKER is switched on. If it is off while jobs are waiting, the WORKER button blinks amber and the taskbar icon flashes — that is exactly this situation.
If WORKER is on and jobs still do not move, check the Connected indicator in the top-left corner.
Upload is stuck at zero progress
Usually a slow or unstable connection combined with a chunk size that is too large.
- Open SETTINGS and set File chunk size to 5 MB. Click Save settings.
- Right-click the stuck job and choose Cancel.
- Click Show all jobs, find the cancelled job, right-click it and choose Re-run "your file".
If the link is shared with a live stream or scoring traffic, also consider setting an Upload rate limit so the Ingester stops competing with them.
Access denied when uploading a file
An Access Denied message means the API key is missing, wrong, or not authorised for this backend.
- Open SETTINGS → API Configuration.
- Check the API key — retype it rather than editing it, to rule out stray spaces.
- Check that the Backend System matches the key. A JudoManager key will not work against Judobase.
- Click Save settings.
The change only takes effect after Save settings. Closing the dialog with Cancel discards it.
File upload failed – contest code not recognized
Every video is linked to a fight by its contest code. For the upload to succeed, that code must exist in the backend the Ingester is pointed at.
The message means the backend was reached, understood the request, and found no such contest. The usual causes, in order of likelihood:
- Wrong Backend System. You are uploading a JudoManager contest while configured for
Judobase, or vice versa. Open SETTINGS and check the Backend System dropdown —
the API url should read
https://datav2.judomanager.comfor JudoManager andhttps://datav2.ijf.orgfor Judobase. - Wrong partner (JudoManager only). The contest code must exist for that partner. Re-open the Contest Data form and select the correct partner.
- Typo in the contest code. Check it character by character against the source.
- The contest does not exist yet. If the draw or the schedule has not been published in JudoManager, its contests do not exist yet. Cancel the job, wait, and re-run it.
Please select a partner
Shown when saving the Contest Data form for a JudoManager job without choosing a partner. The partner is mandatory for JudoManager because a contest code is only unique within one partner's events.
Choose the federation or organisation that owns the event from the Partner dropdown. If you are not sure which one, ask the Control Room team.
The Partner dropdown does not appear at all when the Backend System is Judobase — Judobase does not use partners.
This replaces the older IdPartner setting in settings.json. Partners are now chosen
per job in the Contest Data form and are read from IngestPartners.json, so there is
nothing to edit by hand.
API Configuration Incomplete
Please select a Backend System (JM or JB) and provide both the API URL and API Key. All three settings are required for this process to run.
Exactly what it says: one of the three API Configuration settings is empty. The Ingester refuses to save incomplete settings and refuses to create jobs, because a job created without them could never be uploaded.
Choose a Backend System first — the API url fills itself in — then paste the API key.
Overlay Image URL Error
The overlay image URL … must be a valid HTTP or HTTPS address. Local file paths are not supported.
The overlay image is fetched by the encoder,
which runs in the cloud and cannot read your local disk. Upload the logo somewhere
reachable over the internet and paste that address instead of a path such as
D:\logos\sponsor.png.
Use the Open URL button to confirm the address really shows the image.
Failed to load Ingest Partners, and the program closes
The file IngestPartners.json is missing or invalid. Application will now close. Contact support for help.
IngestPartners.json lives in the installation folder and lists the JudoManager partners
offered in the Contest Data form. Without it, JudoManager jobs could not be given a
partner, so the Ingester stops rather than running in a broken state.
Reinstall the Ingester, which restores the file. Do not edit it by hand.
An instance of the application is already running
Only one Ingester can run at a time, because two copies would compete for the same job database. The first copy is still running — look for it in the taskbar or the notification area.
The Ingester will not close
Some jobs are processing, so the application cannot close. Please wait for jobs to complete or cancel each job individually.
This is deliberate. Stopping mid-upload leaves a partial multi-part upload in cloud storage. Either wait for the current jobs to finish, or cancel them first and then close.
Registration and licence problems
See Registration and licensing for machine key changes, expired tokens and expired licences.
Log files
Everything the Ingester does is written to disk, in far more detail than the Log panel shows. The Open logs button opens the folder directly:
C:\FairReplay\Ingester\logs
| Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
app\ | The main application log — one file per day. Start here. |
thread\ | The detailed upload and HTTP log — one file per day. Needed for upload problems. |
Open them with Notepad or any text editor. Files are archived once they pass 100 MB, and the 4 most recent archives are kept, so a busy event does not fill the disk.
When reporting a problem, send the newest file from both folders rather than one of
them — an upload failure usually needs the thread log to explain it.
Collecting information for a support request
- The version from the title bar, e.g.
2026.06.01.337-be888ea. - The Id job of the affected job, from the grid.
- The payload — right-click the job and choose Show payload for ….
- The log files — click Open logs and attach the newest file from both the
appandthreadfolders. - The exact wording of any error message.