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 hav

Answer 1

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

conda install spyder

Answer 2

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

Answer 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.

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

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.

Answer 6

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.