I’m trying to compile a python application using Pyinstaller with the following spec file:

# -*- mode: python ; coding: utf-8 -*-


a = Analysis(
    ['src\\cdi_live.py'],
    pathex=['src', 'venv/Lib/site-packages'],
    binaries=[],
    datas=[
        ('example_data/*.tif', 'example_data'),
        ('LICENSE.txt', '.'),
        ('README.md', '.')
    ],
    hiddenimports=[],
    hookspath=[],
    hooksconfig={},
    runtime_hooks=[],
    excludes=[],
    noarchive=False,
)
pyz = PYZ(a.pure)

exe = EXE(
    pyz,
    a.scripts,
    [],
    exclude_binaries=True,
    name='cdi_live',
    debug="all",
    bootloader_ignore_signals=False,
    strip=False,
    upx=True,
    console=True,
    disable_windowed_traceback=False,
    argv_emulation=False,
    target_arch=None,
    codesign_identity=None,
    entitlements_file=None,
)
coll = COLLECT(
    exe,
    a.binaries,
    a.datas,
    strip=False,
    upx=True,
    upx_exclude=[],
    name='cdi_live',
)

When I run Pyinstaller on this, it works exactly as expected. No red flags while compiling, and the output goes into my dist directory. When I run the executable, a terminal opens up, I get my verbose debugging messages, and then my GUI opens on top of that. Everything in the application functions perfectly, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, because I don’t want to open a console every time I run my application, I change one line in the spec file:

exe = EXE(
   ...
   console=False,
   ...
)

I run Pyinstaller again. At first, it seems to have worked again. But when I run the executable, I get a message saying that it failed to execute the script due to an unhandled AttributeError when I imported scipy.ndimage (full traceback given below).

Why would that single line cause the compiled executable to fail, and how do I fix it?

Additional information

I don’t know how much of this will be useful, but I’ll include everything I think might have bearing on the question.

I’ve gone back and forth with the console option and it always works with console=True and always fails with console=False.

I’ve used the same spec file to compile this app in the past, and it worked fine. Since the previous version, I’ve added some matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg.FigureCanvasTkAgg widgets.

The traceback that shows up in the error pop-up is long and burrows deep into the dependencies:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "cdi_live.py", line 20, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "phasing.py", line 7, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "scipy\ndimage\__init__.py", line 152, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "scipy\ndimage\_filters.py", line 37, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "scipy\_lib\_util.py", line 18, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "scipy\_lib\_array_api.py", line 21, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "scipy\_lib\array_api_compat\numpy\__init__.py", line 1, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "numpy\f2py\__init__.py", line 19, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "numpy\f2py\f2py2e.py", line 23, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "numpy\f2py\crackfortran.py", line 159, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "numpy\f2py\auxfuncs.py", line 19, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
  File "PyInstaller\loader\pyimod02_importers.py", line 378, in exec_module
  File "numpy\f2py\cfuncs.py", line 19, in <module>
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'write'

The last call to my own code (File "phasing.py", line 7, in <module>) is an attempt to import scipy.ndimage. Before that point, python has already imported tkinter, numpy, and several packages from matplotlib.

Running the EXE with a debugger active doesn’t provide much help. The output is identical to the console output. After I close out the error message, I get a few additional lines:

00000047    33.55646133 [31580] [PYI-31580:DEBUG] LOADER: ERROR.    
00000048    33.55653381 [31580] [PYI-31580:DEBUG] LOADER: cleaning up Python interpreter... 
00000049    33.63221741 [31580] [PYI-31580:DEBUG] LOADER: unloading Python shared library...    
00000050    33.63228989 [31580] [PYI-31580:DEBUG] LOADER: end of process reached!

>Solution :

that’s a bug in numpy 2.0 that was fixed 2 months ago, https://github.com/numpy/numpy/issues/26862

either upgrade to the latest numpy 2.1 or downgrade to 1.26, or just dump stderr manually by putting this as the first line in your program.

import sys
class dummyOut:
    def write(self, data):
        pass
sys.stderr = dummyOut()