# Anki won’t start at all (qt5) **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [March 5, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181 "2023-03-05T12:56:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DanyDanman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danydanman/32/13513_2.png) [@DanyDanman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DanyDanman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/1 "2023-03-05T12:56:14Z")
Hello all, I recently heard about this software and decided to try it out so I downloaded the program and try to run it but the program won’t start at all. Here is the info from the console ```auto [11984] PyInstaller Bootloader 3.x [11984] LOADER: executable is C:\Program Files\Anki\anki-console.exe [11984] LOADER: homepath is C:\Program Files\Anki [11984] LOADER: _MEIPASS2 is NULL [11984] LOADER: archivename is C:\Program Files\Anki\anki-console.exe [11984] LOADER: C:\Program Files\Anki\anki-console.exe contains a digital signature [11984] LOADER: No need to extract files to run; setting extractionpath to homepath [11984] LOADER: SetDllDirectory(C:\Program Files\Anki) [11984] LOADER: Already in the child - running user's code. [11984] LOADER: Python library: C:\Program Files\Anki\python38.dll [11984] LOADER: Loaded functions from Python library. [11984] LOADER: Manipulating environment (sys.path, sys.prefix) [11984] LOADER: sys.prefix is C:\Program Files\Anki [11984] LOADER: Pre-init sys.path is C:\Program Files\Anki\base_library.zip;C:\Program Files\Anki [11984] LOADER: Setting runtime options [11984] LOADER: Initializing python [11984] LOADER: Overriding Python's sys.path [11984] LOADER: Post-init sys.path is C:\Program Files\Anki\base_library.zip;C:\Program Files\Anki [11984] LOADER: Setting sys.argv [11984] LOADER: setting sys._MEIPASS [11984] LOADER: importing modules from CArchive [11984] LOADER: extracted struct [11984] LOADER: callfunction returned... [11984] LOADER: extracted pyimod01_os_path [11984] LOADER: callfunction returned... [11984] LOADER: extracted pyimod02_archive [11984] LOADER: callfunction returned... [11984] LOADER: extracted pyimod03_importers [11984] LOADER: callfunction returned... [11984] LOADER: Installing PYZ archive with Python modules. [11984] LOADER: PYZ archive: PYZ-00.pyz [11984] LOADER: Running pyiboot01_bootstrap.py [11984] LOADER: Running pyi_rth_win32comgenpy.py [11984] LOADER: Running pyi_rth_multiprocessing.py [11984] LOADER: Running pyi_rth_certifi.py [11984] LOADER: Running pyi_rth_pyqt5.py [11984] LOADER: Running pyi_rth_pkgres.py [11984] LOADER: Running pyi_rth_pyqt5webengine.py [11984] LOADER: Running runanki.py ``` I have tried everything, qt6 works and qt5 does not and I need qt5. I have tried even the Python there I do get this error: ```auto Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\python\lib\runpy.py", line 194, in _run_module_as_main return _run_code(code, main_globals, None, File "C:\python\lib\runpy.py", line 87, in _run_code exec(code, run_globals) File "C:\anki-venv\scripts\anki.exe\ __main__.py", line 4, in File "c:\anki-venv\lib\site-packages\aqt\ __init__.py", line 15, in import anki.lang File "c:\anki-venv\lib\site-packages\anki\lang.py", line 12, in import anki._backend File "c:\anki-venv\lib\site-packages\anki\_backend\ __init__.py", line 15, in from anki import backend_pb2, i18n_pb2 File "c:\anki-venv\lib\site-packages\anki\backend_pb2.py", line 33, in _descriptor.EnumValueDescriptor( File "c:\anki-venv\lib\site-packages\google\protobuf\descriptor.py", line 796, in __new__ _message.Message._CheckCalledFromGeneratedFile() TypeError: Descriptors cannot not be created directly. If this call came from a _pb2.py file, your generated code is out of date and must be regenerated with protoc >= 3.19.0. If you cannot immediately regenerate your protos, some other possible workarounds are: 1. Downgrade the protobuf package to 3.20.x or lower. 2. Set PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION=python (but this will use pure-Python parsing and will be much slower). More information: https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/news/2022-05-06#python-updates ``` ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:44am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/2 "2023-03-07T06:44:57Z")
[https://faqs.ankiweb.net/when-problems-occur.html](https://faqs.ankiweb.net/when-problems-occur.html) ---
**Author:** ![DanyDanman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danydanman/32/13513_2.png) [@DanyDanman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DanyDanman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 7:01am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/3 "2023-03-07T07:01:10Z")
I have tried everything from that article, sadly it did not solve my problem. ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 7:45am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/4 "2023-03-07T07:45:03Z")
Please paste the console output when you tried running with the latest Anki version. ---
**Author:** ![DanyDanman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danydanman/32/13513_2.png) [@DanyDanman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DanyDanman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 8:22am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/5 "2023-03-07T08:22:21Z")
The latest version qt6 works. But latest qt5 does not work, that screenshot is form that version. ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/6 "2023-03-08T11:33:13Z")
The text you posted above indicates you’re using a sub-2.1.50 version of Anki. Please paste the error you get with the latest version. ---
**Author:** ![DanyDanman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danydanman/32/13513_2.png) [@DanyDanman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DanyDanman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/7 "2023-03-11T14:56:21Z")
```auto Anki starting... Initial setup... Running with temporary Qt5 compatibility shims. Run with DISABLE_QT5_COMPAT=1 to confirm compatibility with Qt6. Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in File "aqt", line 46, in File "aqt.gui_hooks", line 11, in File "_aqt.hooks", line 18, in File "aqt.qt", line 20, in File "aqt.qt.qt5_compat", line 15, in ImportError: DLL load failed while importing QtCore: The specified module could not be found. Press any key to continue . . . ``` ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 10:43am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/8 "2023-03-13T10:43:29Z")
That seems to imply a .dll file is missing; maybe a system one that Qt depends on. You may be able to glean more info with a tool like dependency walker, but I’m afraid it’s not something I can help you with. If it turns out to be a Qt bug, it’s not going to get fixed, as Qt 5 is no longer being developed. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/1X/8f1279ababc5879d54e4838989f606cfe55af8c7.jpeg) [@system](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 10:43am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-won-t-start-at-all-qt5/28181/9 "2023-04-12T10:43:54Z")
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