Anki "crashes" on launch and leaves "mpv" task

Anki Help
1

I just launch Anki and it just crashes on launch and when checking task manager it leaves mpv there using 1.1 mb. Running Anki in cmd shows that it got into a somewhat of an infinite loop and must be terminated manually. Here is what it printed:

C:\Users\me\Desktop>Anki starting...
Initial setup...
Starting Anki 25.02...
2025-04-15 18:52:36,610:INFO:aqt.mediasrv: Serving on http://127.0.0.1:596 (cut off)
Starting main loop...

(yes, there is a newline there)
Running Anki on a desktop works fine, though.
Laptop specs:

  • Model: HP ENVY Notebook
  • OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 19045) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
  • CPU: Intel(R) Core™ i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.9GHz
  • GPU: Intel(R) HD Graphics 620
  • Memory space: 12GB RAM (~11.89GB available)
    I don’t remember correctly the desktop specs but I know the chip is an i7 chip with GeForce GT 730 GPU.
2

Start with the Troubleshooting Checklist – Troubleshooting - Anki Manual .

3

I did it before even posting it, still didn’t work.

4

Which things did you try and what did you find when trying them?

5

Nothing really happened when I tried all the solutions. Just still sitting there.

6

This “cut off” message is a bit weird. Is that normal on windows? If not, maybe check your hosts file, network settings and apps that affect those things (like e.g. firewalls and antiviruses).

In case you’re talking about the Starting main loop… part: that’s normal. It just means ankis main program started (apps actually have a main loop, otherwise they don’t stay open and immediately close after the code ran).

What do you see when anki is running after that message? Is there no anki window? Or at least an anki icon in the taskbar?

7

The (cut off) part is me manually cutting it off because I was concerned about my system’s security (might be a little too paranoid lol), even though it’s just the localhost.

I did see an Anki window, it shows the working in background cursor and just disappears.

8

Are you doing something to interfere with the host connection?

9

Nope, just open the program and it’s just that. The (cut off) is just me cutting the text off when posting here.

1 Like
10

Have you tried the following?

  1. Startup Issues - Anki Manual
  2. Running from Python - Anki FAQs
1 Like
11

Please see Fails to start on Windows · Issue #2973 · ankitects/anki · GitHub