Python3.5 backend_tkagg no longer available?

Question

I'm trying to run an application that was running before. It used to run on both Ubuntu and Windows 7. I now have a Windows 10 machine, and the code fails. It might be because I'm on python 3.5 now, though I frankly can't remember what I was on on the other machines (which are no longer available).

The key lines are:

import matplotlib
matplotlib.use("TkAgg")
from matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg import FigureCanvasTkAgg, NavigationToolbar2TkAgg

which has been lifted from various places some time ago. However, now when I run it, it throws an error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\....py", line 17, in <module>
    from matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg import FigureCanvasTkAgg, NavigationToolbar2TkAgg
  File "C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backends\backend_tkagg.py", line 13, in <module>
    import matplotlib.backends.tkagg as tkagg
  File "C:\Users\g...\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backends\tkagg.py", line 9, in <module>
    from matplotlib.backends import _tkagg
ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

In an interactive session, it seems that it's the third line that's failing:

>>> import matplotlib
>>> matplotlib.use("TkAgg")
>>> from matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg import FigureCanvasTkAgg, NavigationToolbar2TkAgg
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#4>", line 1, in <module>
    from matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg import FigureCanvasTkAgg, NavigationToolbar2TkAgg
  File "C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backends\backend_tkagg.py", line 13, in <module>
    import matplotlib.backends.tkagg as tkagg
  File "C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backends\tkagg.py", line 9, in <module>
    from matplotlib.backends import _tkagg
ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

I tried

pip uninstall matplotlib
pip install matplotlib

in the command prompt, but the error remained.

It seems there may be a python-matplotlib-tk package, but I'm not sure what this is.

Should I drop back to python 3.4, or is there a solution for this? Is this a known problem?

In response to the below comment on installing matplotlib:

C:\>pip install matplotlib
Collecting matplotlib
  Downloading matplotlib-1.5.1-cp35-none-win32.whl (6.2MB)
    100% |################################| 6.2MB 67kB/s
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): numpy>=1.6 in c:\users\...\appdata\local\programs\python\python35-32\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): pytz in c:\users\...\appdata\local\programs\python\python35-32\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): python-dateutil in c:\users\...\appdata\local\programs\python\python35-32\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): cycler in c:\users\...\appdata\local\programs\python\python35-32\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): pyparsing!=2.0.4,>=1.5.6 in c:\users\...\appdata\local\programs\python\python35-32\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): six>=1.5 in c:\users\...\appdata\local\programs\python\python35-32\lib\site-packages (from python-dateutil->matplotlib)
Installing collected packages: matplotlib
Successfully installed matplotlib-1.5.1

Here's a link to a tutorial that uses this method for python 3.4: [here](https://pythonprogramming.net/how-to-embed-matplotlib-graph-tkinter-gui/) — Dr Xorile, Mar 04 '16 at 20:54
How did you install matplotlib? Did it all compile properly? — MattDMo, Mar 04 '16 at 20:57
Oh, right, I forgot there were Windows wheels on PyPI. Next question: can you successfully `import tkinter`? — MattDMo, Mar 04 '16 at 21:06
I'm going to try to go back to python 3.4. It seems I also need Microsoft Visual C++ 10.0, which is (as far as I can tell) Visual Studio Community 2015. I'm installing that now. Others have said to try to install numpy from [sourceforge](https://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/files/NumPy/1.9.2/), which I might try next. — Dr Xorile, Mar 05 '16 at 00:01
Does anyone have a window 10 machine with python 3.5 and matplotlib and able to run the first three lines I gave above. — Dr Xorile, Mar 05 '16 at 00:02
Okay, so with python 3.4 and the sourceforge install of numpy and visual studio community 2015, the code now works — Dr Xorile, Mar 05 '16 at 00:12

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 09 '16 at 17:04

4

I had the same problem

I read the docs in matplotlib

For Python 3.5 the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 needs to be installed. In case Python 2.7 to 3.4 are not installed for all users (not the default), the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 ( 64 bit or 32 bit for Python 2.7 to 3.2) or Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 ( 64 bit or 32 bit for Python 3.3 and 3.4) redistributable packages need to be installed.

And I installed the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 It solved the problem

answered Oct 09 '16 at 17:04

Smart Manoj

5,230
4
34
59

1

That fixed it for me. How do you find it out? – CaTx Oct 21 '17 at 01:38
2

Yes! Thank you! I was following [pythonprogramming.net](https://pythonprogramming.net) tutorials on tkinter GUI and ran into this exact issue. – Serzhan Akhmetov Nov 29 '17 at 09:23
1

Which Redistributable should I install for Python 3.7.1? – Adrian Keister Mar 15 '19 at 15:49
@CaTx https://wiki.python.org/moin/WindowsCompilers#Which_Microsoft_Visual_C.2B-.2B-_compiler_to_use_with_a_specific_Python_version_.3F – Smart Manoj Mar 16 '19 at 09:53

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 07 '19 at 12:39

3

For those who just recently ran into this problem, I found the redistributable solution to not work, as I had both 32bit and 64bit redistributables already installed.

The solution I found was to replace NavigationToolbar2TkAgg with NavigationToolbar2Tk.

answered Sep 07 '19 at 12:39

Joseph Auman

31
1

This works for me as well, on Windows 10 with Python 3.7.1. Thank you!! – Harry Jan 20 '20 at 16:12

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 19 '17 at 08:34

1

I've also found a way to import the packages, using 'import matplotlib as mpl':

       import matplotlib as mpl
       mpl.use("TkAgg")
       from matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg import FigureCanvasTkAgg, NavigationToolbar2TkAgg

This works fine for me, hopefully it works for others too (:

answered Jun 19 '17 at 08:34

Dorothée

39
6

No. This doesn't work for me. Same error on Windows 10 with Python 3.7.4 – Harry Jan 20 '20 at 16:11

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 04 '16 at 21:00

0

This is your problem:

ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

You could try opening _tkagg.pyd in a software like Dependency Walker and look for errors.

It's also possible that _tkagg.pyd was built with an incompatible version of the Python you are using

answered Mar 04 '16 at 21:00

Dimitri Merejkowsky

1,001
10
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Okay, I've downloaded and installed Dependency Walker. Where do I find _tkagg.pyd? – Dr Xorile Mar 04 '16 at 21:05
Somewhere in this directory :C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python35-32\lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backends\ Also are you sure you are using a 32bits version of Python3.5? – Dimitri Merejkowsky Mar 04 '16 at 21:11
Okay, so in that directory there's no _tkagg.pyd file. There's a file called _tkadd.cp35-win32.pyd. I ran the Dependency Walker on that, and it did throw a dependency error – Dr Xorile Mar 04 '16 at 22:31
API-MS-WIN-... . DLL was missing in a lot of them. – Dr Xorile Mar 04 '16 at 22:32
Can you please post a full screenshot ? – Dimitri Merejkowsky Mar 05 '16 at 12:27

Python3.5 backend_tkagg no longer available?

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