Spyder crash on startup

Problem Description

Spyder crashing on startup. Opening spyder from Anaconda prompt shows an ImportError: cannot import name ‘constants’ from ‘zmq.backend.cython’

What steps reproduce the problem?

1. Open spyder

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

Expect to open spyder, getting error message below by opening it in the Anaconda Prompt and an error dialogue window when opening it through the windows start menu.

Paste Traceback/Error Below (if applicable)

Traceback (most recent call last): File “C:\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder\app\mainwindow.py”, line 3285, in main mainwindow = run_spyder(app, options, args) File “C:\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder\app\mainwindow.py”, line 3140, in run_spyder main.setup() File “C:\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder\app\mainwindow.py”, line 844, in setup from spyder.plugins.editor import Editor File “C:\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder\plugins\editor.py”, line 41, in <module> from spyder.utils.introspection.manager import IntrospectionManager File “C:\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder\utils\introspection\manager.py”, line 21, in <module> from spyder.utils.introspection.plugin_client import PluginClient File “C:\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\spyder\utils\introspection\plugin_client.py”, line 18, in <module> import zmq File “C:\Users\Erik Brodin\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Lib\site-packages\zmq_init_.py”, line 47, in <module> from zmq import backend File “C:\Users\Erik Brodin\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Lib\site-packages\zmq\backend_init_.py”, line 40, in <module> reraise(*exc_info) File “C:\Users\Erik Brodin\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Lib\site-packages\zmq\utils\sixcerpt.py”, line 34, in reraise raise value File “C:\Users\Erik Brodin\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Lib\site-packages\zmq\backend_init_.py”, line 27, in <module> ns = select_backend(first) File “C:\Users\Erik Brodin\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Lib\site-packages\zmq\backend\select.py”, line 28, in select_backend mod = import(name, fromlist=public_api) File "C:\Users\Erik Brodin\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Lib\site-packages\zmq\backend\cython_init.py", line 6, in <module> from . import (constants, error, message, context, ImportError: cannot import name ‘constants’ from ‘zmq.backend.cython’ (C:\Users\Erik Brodin\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Lib\site-packages\zmq\backend\cython_init_.py) [13456:13432:0805/171436.298:ERROR:broker_win.cc(59)] Error reading broker pipe: The pipe has been ended. (0x6D)

## Versions

* Spyder version: 3.3.6
* Python version: 3.7.3
* Qt version: 5.9.7
* PyQt version: 5.9.2
* Operating System name/version: Windows 10 Pro (Version 1803)

[tnankie]

thanks I think. I had got it working using pip to reinstall zmq. but I know this isn’t best practice so I’ve now uninstalled anaconda and deleted that entire directory and in the process of reinstalling.

Hopefully I’ll then have a functional and stable (and hopefully update-able) Anaconda install. Will let you know if it is still broken.

And everything appears to be working, thanks for your help.

[ccordoba12]

You have some leftovers of a previous pip installation here:

C:\Users\Grey Ghost\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python37\

and that’s what’s causing the error. Just remove that directory and you’ll be set.