So let's revive this, because I stumbled on a possible solution:
Depending on the Java version you are coming from you might have to check the vm arguments for the flight recorder. Some time in the past they shifted some options from -XX:FlightRecorderOptions
to -XX:StartFlightRecording
. But usually the jvm will tell you that.
In my case I also had a spelling error in one of the options, which led to your error message without any further explanation so that might have been your problem, too.
Of course this will be of little help to the SO, but maybe it can be a hint for someone else.