Can no Longer open Spyder IDE for Python Programming

Question

I installed Python 3.4 on my Windows 7 laptop several months ago as part of Anaconda (https://www.continuum.io/downloads). My installation included the Spyder IDE, and I have successfully been using Spyder for Python programming.

However, since yesterday, I have been unable to open Spyder. I typically open Spyder via the Start Menu, but now, when I try to click on the Spyder icon in the Start Menu, I get no response. I then tried to go directly to the spyder.exe file in the Scripts folder in the directory where Anaconda is installed. When I clicked on this the first time, the following message flashed quickly and then disappeared:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\Scripts\spyder-script.py". line 2, in <module>
    start_app.main()
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\start_app.py", line 114, in main
    from spyderlib import spyder
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\spyder.py", line 100 in <module>
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\qt\QtSvg.py", line 10 in <module>
    from PyQt4.QtSvg import * # analysis:ignore
ImportError:DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found

I double-clicked on Spyder.exe a second time, and this time, received the following message:

kfile.py", line 146 in lock
    symlinke(str(os.getpid()), self.name)
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\utils\external\lockfile.py", line 87, in symlink
    os.rmdir(newlinkname)
OSError: [WinError 145] The directory is not empty: 'C:\\Users\\Aniket\\.spyder2-py3\\spyder.lock.1459432906109.newlink'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\Scripts\spyder-script.py". line 2, in <module>
    start_app.main()
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\start_app.py", line 106, in main
    from spyderlib import spyder
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\spyder.py", line 100 in <module>
  File "C:\Users\Aniket\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\qt\QtSvg.py", line 10 in <module>
    from PyQt4.QtSvg import * # analysis:ignore
ImportError:DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found

Both of these messages flashed very quickly and then disappeared - I captured them by quickly pressing Print Screen when they appeared. It's not evident to me what the error messages imply, nor what would have caused this. It's possible that I closed Spyder while some function was running, or that Spyder crashed and caused some persistent error. Does anyone know how I can fix this?

Nope, but I'll check it out. I'm probably going to look for a new IDE in the meantime while I try to get Spyder working. — , Mar 31 '16 at 14:45
I installed PyScripter. The Start Menu gives 3 options for PyScripter: 1) Pyscripter for Python 2.7 2) Pyscripter for Python 3.4 3) Pyscripter for Latest Python Version. The first and third open properly. The second gives me the following error message: Error 193: Could not Open Dll "python34.dll", and then "Python could not be properly initialized. We must quit" — Aniket Panjwani, Mar 31 '16 at 15:03
Sounds like something's borked in your Python 3.4 install, then. At this point I would try uninstalling and reinstalling Python 3.4. — Mason Wheeler, Mar 31 '16 at 15:04
For a good python IDE, checkout PyCharm. https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/ — Xiongbing Jin, Mar 31 '16 at 15:47

ram · Answer 1 · 2020-06-12T14:23:06.840

I had a similar problem of Spyder 2 not starting. My installation is part of Anaconda, on Win7 64-bit OS. I tried all the solutions outlined here and here, but they did not work for me. From the command line, I got the following error(s) when trying to reset spyder:

U:\>python -c "from spyderlib.spyder import main; main()" --reset
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Temp\pApps\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\qt\__init__.py", line 48, in <module> from PySide import __version__  # analysis:ignore
ImportError: No module named 'PySide'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Temp\pApps\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\requirements.py", line 40, in check_qt from spyderlib import qt File "C:\Temp\pApps\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\qt\__init__.py", line 50, in <module>
    raise ImportError("Spyder requires PySide or PyQt to be installed")
ImportError: Spyder requires PySide or PyQt to be installed

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
  File "C:\Temp\pApps\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\spyder.py", line 48, in <module> requirements.check_qt()
  File "C:\Temp\pApps\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\requirements.py", line 50, in check_qt % (qt_infos['pyqt']+qt_infos['pyside']))
  File "C:\Temp\pApps\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\requirements.py", line 25, in show_warning
    raise RuntimeError(message)
RuntimeError: Please check Spyder installation requirements:
PyQt4 4.6+ (or PySide 1.2.0+) is required.

What surprised me was that spyder worked fine till yesterday, and I just did a full update yesterday as follows:

conda update --all

So I again updated spyder today with the following:

conda update spyder

And the following package plan was presented to me:

The following packages will be UPDATED:

        spyder:     2.3.7-py35_3      None://None/<unknown> --> 2.3.8-py35_1
        spyder-app: 2.3.7-py35_0                            --> 2.3.8-py35_0

    The following packages will be DOWNGRADED due to dependency conflicts:

        matplotlib: 1.5.3-np111py35_1                       --> 1.5.1-np111py35_0
        pyqt:       5.6.0-py35_0                            --> 4.11.4-py35_7
        qt:         5.6.0-vc14_0                            [vc14] --> 4.8.7-vc14_9
         [vc14]
        qtconsole:  4.2.1-py35_2                            --> 4.2.1-py35_0

After the update, spyder works fine now. In essence, my problem was due to dependency conflicts.

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 12 '20 at 18:09

5

I ran into the same issue. The following worked for me Please close Spyder IDE, in Anaconda Prompt run

conda update spyder

then

spyder --reset

Restart Spyder

answered Aug 12 '20 at 18:09

Gaga

91
2
7

Under my case, I was able to get the spyder IDE launched again by running `conda update spyder` without `spyder --reset`. – Zeno Oct 19 '21 at 20:36

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 14 '16 at 20:22

3

Had the same exact problem as you a few days ago and reinstalling won't work so I went to:

C:\Users\'YourName'\\.spyder2-py3

delete every spyder, lock file/folder in it and relaunch.

edited Sep 14 '16 at 20:22

DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ

7,681
17
73
127

answered Sep 14 '16 at 18:27

Jim

31
2

SarahD · Answer 4 · 2019-01-18T11:19:28.227

3

I know this is an old thread but having just had the same problem an answer that worked for me from https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/issues/3005

My problem appeared to be that the status of spyder was still running so wouldn't open. To fix this you need to look for a directory called .spyder2 in your Users\ directory, then find a file called spyder.lock and remove it.

edited Jan 18 '19 at 11:19

answered Feb 28 '17 at 10:53

SarahD

91
8

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 20 '21 at 11:12

My solution:

I uninstalled Anaconda spyder
Removed all directories of it from c: programs/ and c:users/Username/ and c:users/username/AppData/local and c:users/username/AppData/
I downloaded a newer version of Anaconda Spyder and installed it. It's all fine now.

Stefan · Answer 6 · 2022-01-14T22:33:55.097

You might get additional information if you run

from spyder.app import start
start.main()

as a python script. For example I got following output:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\python_env\workspace\TechDiff\src\demo.py", line 1, in <module>
    from spyder.app import start
  File "C:\python_env\App\WinPython\python-3.10.1.amd64\lib\site-packages\spyder\app\start.py", line 24, in <module>
    from spyder.config.base import get_conf_path, running_in_mac_app
  File "C:\python_env\App\WinPython\python-3.10.1.amd64\lib\site-packages\spyder\config\base.py", line 25, in <module>
    from spyder.utils import encoding
  File "C:\python_env\App\WinPython\python-3.10.1.amd64\lib\site-packages\spyder\utils\encoding.py", line 23, in <module>
    from spyder.py3compat import (is_string, to_text_string, is_binary_string,
  File "C:\python_env\App\WinPython\python-3.10.1.amd64\lib\site-packages\spyder\py3compat.py", line 77, in <module>
    from collections import MutableMapping
ImportError: cannot import name 'MutableMapping' from 'collections' (C:\python_env\App\WinPython\python-3.10.1.amd64\lib\collections\__init__.py)

=> Maybe for Python 3.10 the import of collections needs to be fixed. => Try to use 3.9

Spyder have lots of various issues. I found this solution works better as a general solution. — taufikedys, Nov 06 '22 at 00:33

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 28 '16 at 07:07

0

I've got exactly the same error messages before, and I fixed it by installing spyder again under anaconda:

conda install spyder

answered Apr 28 '16 at 07:07

xuwei

1
1

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered May 20 '16 at 21:12

Well it says it is missing PyQt4.dll, which you can check by: searching pyqt4 in your anaconda3 directory. There are several possibilities:

it is still in: ~\Anaconda3_x86\Library\plugins\designer

That would mean python can't find since it ain't searching in this directory, I highly doubt that possiblity, since that would mean you'd have tweaked some code.

it ain't anywhere

Maybe you or more likely one of your programs did deleted it per accident?

it isnt in: ~\Anaconda3_x86\Library\plugins\designer

I also doubt this possibilty since it would mean the file has been moved...

However you can fix that by reinstalling spyder as mentioned by xuwei.

Can no Longer open Spyder IDE for Python Programming

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