Unable to load script. Make sure you’re either running a Metro server (run ‘react-native start’) or that your bundle ‘index.android.bundle’ is packaged correctly for release.

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Hello there dear internet friend and React-Native developer. If you happen to have been stuck on this awful error message for hours, I’ve got the solution for you! Well… at least I have the solution for me, hehe.

Okay, so my problem ended up being that the version of NodeJS I was running on my Windows Machine, Node 13, was not compatible with Metro server. Therefore Metro server would continually crash over and over again. For hours I wasn’t even able to get to hello, world. Ouch! Maybe you happen to be running into the same thing?

Anyway, here’s the solution. Downgrade from version 13 of NodeJS down to version 10. Don’t bother with Version 12, it will still crash. What you want is version 10.

  1. Go to ‘Add or remove programs’
  2. Search for Node.js, and Uninstall
  3. Visit nodejs.org and download version 10 of NodeJS in .msi format
  4. Install NodeJS version 10
  5. Close your Command Prompt, start over, and voila! Simply follow the standard React Native CLI Quickstart Guide and everything should work as expected.
 

topherPedersen