Python 2.4 on Windows XP

[DavidHolt]

I have a problem that I see on two different machines, one running XP
SP1 and one XP SP 2.

On both I installed Python 2.4.

I can't seem to start IDLE. When I try to start it, I get an hourglass
cursor for a short time then nothing more happens. This happens whether
I click the IDLE shortcut or click the pythonw.exe directly, or attempt
to launch pythonw from a command line.

I don't have any trouble running the python command line version.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
David Holt
Software Developer
HighJump Software, a 3M Company

 

[It's me]

I am running 2.3 and it's doing the same thing on my computer - except that
I can't even get it to start from the command prompt.

It used to work but after I switched back and forth between 2.3, and 2.4 and
somewhere in between, it stopped working.

I hope somebody on the list would have a clue how to fix this.

 

[Peter Hansen]

I have a problem that I see on two different machines, one running XP
SP1 and one XP SP 2.

Works fine here. (First time I've run it though... don't use it.)

On both I installed Python 2.4.

I can't seem to start IDLE. When I try to start it, I get an hourglass
cursor for a short time then nothing more happens. This happens whether
I click the IDLE shortcut or click the pythonw.exe directly, or attempt
to launch pythonw from a command line.

Try python.exe instead of pythonw.exe, also from the command line.
That should give you *some* kind of additional detail.

I don't have any trouble running the python command line version.

Do you mean "python.exe" here? Are you saying that you
can run IDLE using python.exe, but not using pythonw.exe?
Or something else? It's not clear.

-Peter

 

[Jeff Shannon]

I have a problem that I see on two different machines, one running XP
SP1 and one XP SP 2.

On both I installed Python 2.4.

I can't seem to start IDLE. When I try to start it, I get an hourglass
cursor for a short time then nothing more happens. This happens whether
I click the IDLE shortcut or click the pythonw.exe directly, or attempt
to launch pythonw from a command line.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting you, here, but pythonw.exe is *not* IDLE.
It is, instead, a console-less version of the Python interpreter,
which can run the Python scripts for IDLE (among other things).

My version of Python is older, but in %pythondir%/Tools/idle, there is
an idle.pyw file. Try running that. If it doesn't work, then copy &
paste any error messages (you'll probably need to run it from a
command line for this) to your next post here so that we can try to
troubleshoot a bit more effectively.

Jeff Shannon
Technician/Programmer
Credit International

 

[It's me]

In my case, there is *no* error message of any kind. When I run pythonw.exe
from the python23 directory, the screen blinked slightly and goes back to
the command prompt.

 

[Scott David Daniels]

Maybe I'm misinterpreting you, here, but pythonw.exe is *not* IDLE. It
is, instead, a console-less version of the Python interpreter, which can
run the Python scripts for IDLE (among other things).

My version of Python is older, but in %pythondir%/Tools/idle, there is
an idle.pyw file. Try running that.

On 2.4, the directory is:

%pythondir%/Lib/idlelib

Remember that for Windows, \ is the separator. SO, change an idle
shortcut to, for example:

C:\Python24\Python.exe C:\Python24\Lib\idlelib\idle.pyw

I suspect your real problem is the internal firewall in XP,
in which case you'll need to allow building sockets to LOCALHOST
(127.0.0.1) on port 8833, or, alternatively, start idle with the
"-n" flag.

--Scott David Daniels
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Jeff Shannon]

In my case, there is *no* error message of any kind. When I run pythonw.exe
from the python23 directory, the screen blinked slightly and goes back to
the command prompt.

Right -- pythonw.exe is a console-less interpreter. Having no
console, it doesn't have an interactive mode, and since you didn't
give it a script to run, it simply started, found nothing to do, and
then terminated itself.

You need to run idle.pyw, *not* pythonw.exe. The idle.pyw script runs
inside the pythonw.exe interpreter, but the latter can't do anything
without instructions.

Jeff Shannon
Technician/Programmer
Credit International

 

[DavidHolt]

Thanks--you were all a big help. I'm running now.

 

[It's me]

Thanks, Jeff.

That works.

Right -- pythonw.exe is a console-less interpreter. Having no
console, it doesn't have an interactive mode, and since you didn't
give it a script to run, it simply started, found nothing to do, and
then terminated itself.

You need to run idle.pyw, *not* pythonw.exe. The idle.pyw script runs
inside the pythonw.exe interpreter, but the latter can't do anything
without instructions.

Jeff Shannon
Technician/Programmer
Credit International