3D example does not work on Windows 7

Describe the bug

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OSError                                   Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-6-5903cabfd600> in <module>
----> 1 mne.viz.set_3d_backend('pyvista')
      2 for method, stc in zip(['DICS', 'LCMV', 'dSPM'],
      3                        [stc_dics, stc_lcmv, stc_dspm]):
      4     title = '%s source power in the 12-30 Hz frequency band' % method
      5     brain = stc.plot(hemi='rh', subjects_dir=subjects_dir,

<decorator-gen-152> in set_3d_backend(backend_name, verbose)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\site-packages\mne\viz\backends\renderer.py in set_3d_backend(backend_name, verbose)
    114     _check_option('backend_name', backend_name, VALID_3D_BACKENDS)
    115     if MNE_3D_BACKEND != backend_name:
--> 116         _reload_backend(backend_name)
    117         MNE_3D_BACKEND = backend_name
    118 

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\site-packages\mne\viz\backends\renderer.py in _reload_backend(backend_name)
     29 def _reload_backend(backend_name):
     30     global backend
---> 31     backend = importlib.import_module(name=_backend_name_map[backend_name],
     32                                       package='mne.viz.backends')
     33     logger.info('Using %s 3d backend.\n' % backend_name)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\importlib\__init__.py in import_module(name, package)
    125                 break
    126             level += 1
--> 127     return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
    128 
    129 

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\importlib\_bootstrap.py in _gcd_import(name, package, level)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\importlib\_bootstrap.py in _find_and_load(name, import_)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\importlib\_bootstrap.py in _find_and_load_unlocked(name, import_)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\importlib\_bootstrap.py in _load_unlocked(spec)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\importlib\_bootstrap_external.py in exec_module(self, module)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\importlib\_bootstrap.py in _call_with_frames_removed(f, *args, **kwds)

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\site-packages\mne\viz\backends\_pyvista.py in <module>
     33     from pyvista import Plotter, PolyData, Line, close_all, UnstructuredGrid
     34     try:
---> 35         from pyvistaqt import BackgroundPlotter  # noqa
     36     except ImportError:
     37         from pyvista import BackgroundPlotter

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\site-packages\pyvistaqt\__init__.py in <module>
      1 """PyVista package for 3D plotting and mesh analysis."""
      2 from pyvistaqt._version import __version__
----> 3 from pyvistaqt.plotting import BackgroundPlotter, MainWindow, QtInteractor
      4 
      5 __all__ = ["__version__", "BackgroundPlotter", "MainWindow", "QtInteractor"]

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\site-packages\pyvistaqt\plotting.py in <module>
     49 import scooby
     50 import vtk
---> 51 from PyQt5 import QtCore, QtGui
     52 from PyQt5.QtCore import QTimer, pyqtSignal
     53 from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QAction, QFrame, QMenuBar, QVBoxLayout

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\site-packages\PyQt5\__init__.py in <module>
     47 
     48 
---> 49 find_qt()
     50 del find_qt

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\site-packages\PyQt5\__init__.py in find_qt()
     42 
     43     try:
---> 44         os.add_dll_directory(dll_dir)
     45     except AttributeError:
     46         pass

~\Anaconda3\envs\mne-new\lib\os.py in add_dll_directory(path)
   1107         """
   1108         import nt
-> 1109         cookie = nt._add_dll_directory(path)
   1110         return _AddedDllDirectory(
   1111             path,

OSError: [WinError 127] The specified procedure could not be found: 'C:\\Users\\jasmine\\Anaconda3\\envs\\mne-new\\lib\\site-packages\\PyQt5\\Qt\\bin'

​

Steps to reproduce

Followed the installation instructions for Windows and ran the plot_evoked_ers_source_power.ipynb.

Thank you!

[hoechenberger]

What did you try @hoechenberger ?

• verified that PyQt5 was actually installed
• ensured MNE and pyvista is the latest version
• added mne.viz.set_3d_backend('pyvista')

[drammock]

I’ve tried the following installers and I’m still having the same problem.

Anaconda3-2019.03-Windows-x86.exe Anaconda3-2019.10-Windows-x86_64.exe Anaconda3-2020.02-Windows-x86_64.exe

The Anaconda docs say that only 2019.10 and earlier can be expected to work with Windows 7. But that is not a guarantee; Anaconda’s official minimum supported version is Windows 8 (same is true of Microsoft).

I have an old virtual machine that runs windows 7 (enterprise edition). I just fired it up, downloaded the Anaconda3-2019.10-Windows-x86_64.exe installer from their archive page, and ran it. It worked. Then I downloaded the environment file and followed the instructions here, which also worked. But then:

(base) C:\Users\dan\Desktop>conda activate mne
(mne) C:\Users\dan\Desktop>mne sys_info
2020-11-19 10:14:00.450 (   1.335s) [                ]vtkWin32OpenGLRenderWin:63
5    ERR| vtkWin32OpenGLRenderWindow (000000000E39AB40): failed to get wglChoose
PixelFormatARB
ERROR:root:failed to get wglChoosePixelFormatARB
2020-11-19 10:14:00.481 (   1.359s) [                ]vtkWin32OpenGLRenderWin:71
3    ERR| vtkWin32OpenGLRenderWindow (000000000E39AB40): failed to get valid pix
el format.
ERROR:root:failed to get valid pixel format.
2020-11-19 10:14:00.528 (   1.406s) [                ]vtkOpenGLRenderWindow.c:56
9    ERR| vtkWin32OpenGLRenderWindow (000000000E39AB40): GLEW could not be initi
alized: Missing GL version
ERROR:root:GLEW could not be initialized: Missing GL version
Windows fatal exception: access violation

Current thread 0x00000c40 (most recent call first):
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\lib\site-packages\pyvista\plotting\plott
ing.py", line 766 in render
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\lib\site-packages\pyvista\plotting\plott
ing.py", line 4102 in show
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\lib\site-packages\pyvista\utilities\erro
rs.py", line 117 in get_gpu_info
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\lib\site-packages\pyvista\utilities\erro
rs.py", line 130 in __init__
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\lib\site-packages\mne\utils\config.py",
line 558 in sys_info
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\lib\site-packages\mne\commands\mne_sys_i
nfo.py", line 26 in run
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\lib\site-packages\mne\commands\utils.py"
, line 107 in main
  File "C:\Users\dan\Anaconda3\envs\mne\Scripts\mne-script.py", line 10 in <modu
le>

Similar results if I start python and run import mne; mne.sys_info(). I’m afraid @hoechenberger may be right that the best path forward is a Windows OS upgrade (or switch to Linux, it’s free!).