IDLE crash when opening on Mac OS X

Question

I recently attempted to install python 3.2 along with IDLE 3 on my macbook pro. I successfully installed python 3.2 (as in, I can run it from the terminal), but when I attempted to install IDLE 3.2 I must have done something wrong because now both IDLE 2.7 and IDLE 3.2 crash immediately upon opening with the message "Python quit unexpectedly", no matter whether I open it through the terminal or through finder. Does anyone know how to fix this? I have installed the correct ActiveTCL package (and reinstalled) and still nothing. I have attempted to reinstall python 3.2 and IDLE 3 but I am not sure whether I did it correctly. Through a good amount of googling I found some people say that it was most likely a path issue but all of the solutions I found were using Windows so I am not sure how to apply that to my mac.

Answer 1

I had the same issue. I run OSX 10.8.5, Python 3.3.3 and IDLE 3.3.3 and reinstalling Python haven't been a solution. I solved any problem removing the ~/.idlerc directory. My problem showed for the first time when I tried to change some Preferences (IDLE->Preferences->General->Startup Preferences->At Startup Open Edit Window), so I suppose that's why resetting my Preferences deleting ~/.idlerc folder have been the solution.

Answer 2

[Solved] I had the same problem here using: Yosemite 10.10.2 python 3.4.2

The issue was solved downloading and installing the ActiveTcl 8.5.17.0 version from http://www.activestate.com/activetcl/downloads

Best Regards,

Tchê

Answer 3

I had the same problem where IDLE would crash after I opened it on my MAC I ended up updating my computer to OS Yosemite. and the most updated version of python but it still would shut the reason it started was because I tried to change the preferences for certain keys. Resetting the preferences fixed it! I typed mc ~/.idlerc idlerc2 :)

Answer 4

Try renaming or removing the directory ~/.idlerc which is about the only thing used by Python that would in common to IDLE for 2.7 and 3.2. If that doesn't help, state exactly which Python 3 you installed, what version of OS X, and show the stack traces from the termination report.

UPDATE: Based on the crash report you've supplied, it appears that Tk is crashing during its initialization of menu items:

...
4   Tcl                             0x00000001013dfa61 Tcl_Panic + 162
5   Tk                              0x000000010151c523 TkpGetColor + 383
6   Tk                              0x0000000101529a25 TkpMenuInit + 156
7   Tk                              0x00000001014ac254 TkMenuInit + 88
8   Tk                              0x000000010152c687 -[TKApplication(TKMenus) _setupMenus] + 53
...

I have not seen any reports of a similar problems when IDLE is used with A/S Tcl/Tk 8.5 on 10.7.3 and I haven't been able to reproduce it myself on 10.7.3. However, the Cocoa Tcl/Tk 8.5 is not the most robust framework out there and it may be susceptible to problems when using languages or input methods other than US or US Extended. Another possibility (more likely) is if you are using some third-party menu enhancement application or preference panel (to add colors to menus perhaps). If those suggestions don't help you to isolate the problem, I suggest you ask on the Tcl Mac mailing list ([e-mail], archived at http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.tcl.mac).

Answer 5

If you are running Mac OS X Lion, it sounds like you are being bitten by the saved-state crash. You need to delete the saved state to make the crash go away:

http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/17/delete-specific-application-saved-states-from-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-resume/

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20083707-263/managing-mac-os-x-lions-application-resume-feature/