[Android] can't run application - command config not recognized

when running the application on android using react-native run-android I get this error:

error Failed to install the app. Make sure you have the Android development environment set up: https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started.html#android-development-environment. Run CLI with --verbose flag for more details.
Error: Command failed: ./gradlew app:installDebug -PreactNativeDevServerPort=8081
:ReactNative:Unexpected empty result of running 'npx --quiet --no-install react-native config' command from 'null' directory.
:ReactNative:Running 'npx --quiet --no-install react-native config' command from 'null' directory failed.

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* Where:
Script '/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle' line: 170

* What went wrong:
A problem occurred evaluating script.
> Command `config` unrecognized. Make sure that you have run `npm install` and that you are inside a react-native project.

* Try:
Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Run with --scan to get full insights.

* Get more help at https://help.gradle.org

BUILD FAILED in 682ms

    at checkExecSyncError (child_process.js:603:11)
    at execFileSync (child_process.js:621:15)
    at runOnAllDevices (/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/build/commands/runAndroid/runOnAllDevices.js:94:39)
    at buildAndRun (/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/build/commands/runAndroid/index.js:158:41)
    at /node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/build/commands/runAndroid/index.js:125:12
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:93:5)
    at async Command.handleAction (/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli/build/index.js:164:9)

React Native version: System: OS: macOS 10.15.1 CPU: (12) x64 Intel® Core™ i7-8850H CPU @ 2.60GHz Memory: 274.45 MB / 16.00 GB Shell: 5.7.1 - /bin/zsh Binaries: Node: 13.1.0 - /usr/local/bin/node Yarn: 1.19.1 - /usr/local/bin/yarn npm: 6.12.1 - /usr/local/bin/npm Watchman: 4.9.0 - /usr/local/bin/watchman SDKs: iOS SDK: Platforms: iOS 13.2, DriverKit 19.0, macOS 10.15, tvOS 13.2, watchOS 6.1 IDEs: Android Studio: 3.5 AI-191.8026.42.35.5977832 Xcode: 11.2.1/11B500 - /usr/bin/xcodebuild npmPackages: react: 16.12.0 => 16.12.0 react-native: 0.61.5 => 0.61.5

Describe what you expected to happen: The app should run on the Android simulator

[jonakyd]

You can temporarily bypass the issue by forcing the @react-native-community/cli-platform-android to use the older version 3.0.2.

dependencies: {
    ...
    "@react-native-community/cli-platform-android": "3.0.2",
    ...
}

[idanlo]

I looked at the file the error was coming from - project_root/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle, and in line 194, the second parameter to the getCommandOutput function was commented, so it was null. And this is why the error was - :ReactNative:Running 'npx --quiet --no-install react-native config' command from 'null' directory failed., I removed the comment from the dir parameter and the build now works.

But why does it only error for me and a few other people?

Edit: The app runs but I only get a blank white screen