[BUG] ERROR: LoadError: InitError when precompiling

[songhanzhang]

Details

Today I have updated the Plots package from:

using Pkg
Pkg.update("Plots")

After that, I cannot use Plots, as it comes out:

using Plots
[ Info: Precompiling Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80]
ERROR: LoadError: InitError: could not load library "C:\Users\Songhan.julia\artifacts\7350a6401f1c0d38cc3518193083bc4f83adfe99\bin/avcodec-58.dll"
The specified module could not be found.
Stacktrace:
[1] dlopen(::String, ::UInt32; throw_error::Bool) at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.4\Libdl\src\Libdl.jl:109
[2] dlopen(::String, ::UInt32) at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.4\Libdl\src\Libdl.jl:109
[3] macro expansion at C:\Users\Songhan.julia\packages\JLLWrappers\m1BKg\src\products\library_generators.jl:61 [inlined]
[4] init() at C:\Users\Songhan.julia\packages\FFMPEG_jll\7oXwC\src\wrappers\x86_64-w64-mingw32.jl:41
[5] _include_from_serialized(::String, ::Array{Any,1}) at .\loading.jl:697
[6] _require_search_from_serialized(::Base.PkgId, ::String) at .\loading.jl:781
[7] _require(::Base.PkgId) at .\loading.jl:1006
[8] require(::Base.PkgId) at .\loading.jl:927
[9] require(::Module, ::Symbol) at .\loading.jl:922
[10] include(::Module, ::String) at .\Base.jl:377
[11] top-level scope at none:2
[12] eval at .\boot.jl:331 [inlined]
[13] eval(::Expr) at .\client.jl:449
[14] top-level scope at .\none:3
during initialization of module FFMPEG_jll
in expression starting at C:\Users\Songhan.julia\packages\FFMPEG\aazvf\src\FFMPEG.jl:3
ERROR: LoadError: Failed to precompile FFMPEG [c87230d0-a227-11e9-1b43-d7ebe4e7570a] to C:\Users\Songhan.julia\compiled\v1.4\FFMPEG\TGvga_RbTAC.ji.
Stacktrace:
[1] error(::String) at .\error.jl:33
[2] compilecache(::Base.PkgId, ::String) at .\loading.jl:1272
[4] require(::Base.PkgId) at .\loading.jl:927
[5] require(::Module, ::Symbol) at .\loading.jl:922
[6] include(::Module, ::String) at .\Base.jl:377
[7] top-level scope at none:2
[8] eval at .\boot.jl:331 [inlined]
[9] eval(::Expr) at .\client.jl:449
[10] top-level scope at .\none:3
in expression starting at C:\Users\Songhan.julia\packages\Plots\D7Ica\src\Plots.jl:15
ERROR: Failed to precompile Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80] to C:\Users\Songhan.julia\compiled\v1.4\Plots\ld3vC_3hJe9.ji.
Stacktrace:
[1] error(::String) at .\error.jl:33
[2] compilecache(::Base.PkgId, ::String) at .\loading.jl:1272
[3] _require(::Base.PkgId) at .\loading.jl:1029
[4] require(::Base.PkgId) at .\loading.jl:927
[5] require(::Module, ::Symbol) at .\loading.jl:922

I have tried to fix it by:

using Pkg
Pkg.rm("Plots")
Pkg.gc()
Pkg.add("Plots")

But the issue remains unsolved. Can anyone please tell me how to fix it? Thank you!

Backends

This bug occurs on ( insert x below )

Backend	yes	no	untested
gr (default)	x
pyplot	x
plotly	x
plotlyjs	x
pgfplotsx	x
inspectdr	x

Versions

Julia Version 1.4.2
Commit 44fa15b150* (2020-05-23 18:35 UTC)
Platform Info:
OS: Windows (x86_64-w64-mingw32)
CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) E-2236 CPU @ 3.40GHz
WORD_SIZE: 64
LIBM: libopenlibm
LLVM: libLLVM-8.0.1 (ORCJIT, skylake)
Environment:
JULIA_NUM_THREADS = 6

Plots.jl version:
Pkg.add("Plots")
Updating registry at C:\Users\Songhan\.julia\registries\General
Updating git-repo https://github.com/JuliaRegistries/General.git
Resolving package versions...
Updating C:\Users\Songhan\.julia\environments\v1.4\Project.toml
[91a5bcdd] + Plots v1.6.10
Updating C:\Users\Songhan\.julia\environments\v1.4\Manifest.toml
[28b8d3ca] + GR v0.52.0
[4d00f742] + GeometryTypes v0.8.3
[23fbe1c1] + Latexify v0.14.0
[ccf2f8ad] + PlotThemes v2.0.0
[91a5bcdd] + Plots v1.6.10
[01d81517] + RecipesPipeline v0.1.13

[songhanzhang]

I have solved this issue by:

x264_jll@v2019.5.25

(@v1.4) pkg> add x264_jll@v2019.5.25
Updating registry at C:\Users\Songhan\.julia\registries\General
Updating git-repo https://github.com/JuliaRegistries/General.git
Resolving package versions...
Updating C:\Users\Songhan\.julia\environments\v1.4\Project.toml
[1270edf5] + x264_jll v2019.5.25+2
Updating C:\Users\Songhan\.julia\environments\v1.4\Manifest.toml
[c87230d0] ↓ FFMPEG v0.4.0 ⇒ v0.3.0
[b22a6f82] ↓ FFMPEG_jll v4.3.1+3 ⇒ v4.1.0+3
[1270edf5] ↓ x264_jll v2020.7.14+2 ⇒ v2019.5.25+2

julia> using Plots
[ Info: Precompiling Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80]

Now it works indeed. I will get back if any other issue comes out.

[giordano]

Update the registry and he issue will go away, without pinning any package.

[songhanzhang]

Update the registry and he issue will go away, without pinning any package.

Thank you! But how to update the registry? (Sorry I am a freshman)

[giordano]

In the package manager mode in the REPL, which you can enter with the ] key, run the command update. Otherwise you can do

import Pkg
Pkg.update()

[lungben]

I get the same error again with Julia 1.7-rc2:

(@v1.7) pkg> activate --temp
  Activating new project at `C:\Users\d90394\AppData\Local\Temp\jl_xPGUYT`

(jl_xPGUYT) pkg> add Plots
...
Precompiling project...
  ✗ Plots
  123 dependencies successfully precompiled in 73 seconds
  1 dependency errored. To see a full report either run `import Pkg; Pkg.precompile()` or load the package

julia> using Plots
[ Info: Precompiling Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80]
Your GR installation is incomplete. Rerunning build step for GR package.
ERROR: LoadError: InitError: Evaluation into the closed module `GR` breaks incremental compilation because the side effects will not be permanent. This is likely due to some other module mutating `GR` with `eval` during precompilation - don't do this.
Stacktrace:
  [1] eval
    @ .\boot.jl:373 [inlined]
  [2] __init__()
    @ GR C:\Users\xxx\.julia\packages\GR\SOvTP\src\GR.jl:357
  [3] _include_from_serialized(path::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
    @ Base .\loading.jl:768
  [4] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:854
  [5] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1097
  [6] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1013
  [7] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:997
  [8] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base .\Base.jl:420
  [9] include(x::String)
    @ Plots C:\Users\xxx\.julia\packages\Plots\1RWWg\src\Plots.jl:1
 [10] top-level scope
    @ C:\Users\xxx\.julia\packages\Plots\1RWWg\src\Plots.jl:232
 [11] include
    @ .\Base.jl:420 [inlined]
 [12] include_package_for_output(pkg::Base.PkgId, input::String, depot_path::Vector{String}, dl_load_path::Vector{String}, load_path::Vector{String}, concrete_deps::Vector{Pair{Base.PkgId, UInt64}}, source::Nothing)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1318
 [13] top-level scope
    @ none:1
 [14] eval
    @ .\boot.jl:373 [inlined]
 [15] eval(x::Expr)
    @ Base.MainInclude .\client.jl:453
 [16] top-level scope
    @ none:1
during initialization of module GR
in expression starting at C:\Users\xxx\.julia\packages\Plots\1RWWg\src\backends\gr.jl:6
in expression starting at C:\Users\xxx\.julia\packages\Plots\1RWWg\src\Plots.jl:1
ERROR: Failed to precompile Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80] to C:\Users\xxx\.julia\compiled\v1.7\Plots\jl_726E.tmp.
Stacktrace:
 [1] error(s::String)
   @ Base .\error.jl:33
 [2] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, internal_stderr::IO, internal_stdout::IO, ignore_loaded_modules::Bool)
   @ Base .\loading.jl:1466
 [3] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
   @ Base .\loading.jl:1410
 [4] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base .\loading.jl:1120
 [5] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base .\loading.jl:1013
 [6] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
   @ Base .\loading.jl:997

julia> versioninfo()
Julia Version 1.7.0-rc2
Commit f23fc0d27a (2021-10-20 12:45 UTC)
Platform Info:
  OS: Windows (x86_64-w64-mingw32)
  CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz
  WORD_SIZE: 64
  LIBM: libopenlibm
  LLVM: libLLVM-12.0.1 (ORCJIT, skylake)
Environment:
  JULIA_NUM_THREADS = 4

[hotung1027]

My problem were come from using updated precompiled Glib_jll binary package served by https://github.com/JuliaBinaryWrappers/Glib_jll.jl; However the served lib.so cannot be recognised by julia envrionment, and thus cannot compile correctly.

I just pin the version equal to my system Glib library, Glib_jll@2.59

Error Message:

     From worker 5:    ERROR: LoadError: InitError: could not load library "/home/randyt/.julia/artifacts/b069ad81d556658ea64a
43367e128e535fab269/lib/libgobject-2.0.so"                                                                                    
     From worker 5:    /home/randyt/.julia/artifacts/b069ad81d556658ea64a543367e128e535fab269/lib/libgobject-2.0.so: undefined
symbol: g_uri_ref                                                                                                             
     From worker 5:    Stacktrace:                                                                                            
     From worker 5:      [1] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32; throw_error::Bool)                                              
     From worker 5:        @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:117                                                                   
     From worker 5:      [2] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32)                                                                 
     From worker 5:        @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:117                                                                   
     From worker 5:      [3] macro expansion                                                                                  
     From worker 5:        @ ~/.julia/packages/JLLWrappers/bkwIo/src/products/library_generators.jl:54 [inlined]              
     From worker 5:      [4] __init__()                                                                                       
     From worker 5:        @ Glib_jll ~/.julia/packages/Glib_jll/JW25r/src/wrappers/x86_64-linux-gnu.jl:36                    
     From worker 5:      [5] _include_from_serialized(path::String, depmods::Vector{Any})                                     
     From worker 5:        @ Base ./loading.jl:768                                                                            
     From worker 5:      [6] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String)                             
     From worker 5:        @ Base ./loading.jl:854                                                                            
     From worker 5:      [7] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)                                                                        
     From worker 5:        @ Base ./loading.jl:1097                                                                           
     From worker 5:      [8] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)                                                                     
     From worker 5:        @ Base ./loading.jl:1013                                                                           
     From worker 5:      [9] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)                                                               
     From worker 5:        @ Base ./loading.jl:997     

[giordano]

@hotung1027 this means that probably you're somehow pulling system libraries, that shouldn't happen. Most common cases are that either you have set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable, or you're loading Python packages which are pulling in their own libraries. You can check what libraries have been loaded with

using Libdl
dllist()

And this has nothing to do with Plots.jl.

[paulflang]

I am also running into this issue. What exactly am I looking for in

julia> print(dllist())
["C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\julia.exe", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\ntdll.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\KERNEL32.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\KERNELBASE.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\apphelp.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libjulia.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libgcc_s_seh-1.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\msvcrt.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libwinpthread-1.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libopenlibm.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libjulia-internal.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\ADVAPI32.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libssp-0.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libstdc++-6.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\sechost.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libLLVM.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\ole32.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\RPCRT4.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\msvcp_win.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\PSAPI.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\ucrtbase.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\USER32.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\win32u.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\GDI32.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\dbghelp.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\WS2_32.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\gdi32full.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\IPHLPAPI.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\Secur32.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\combase.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\USERENV.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\SHELL32.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\WINMM.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libz.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CRYPTBASE.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\SSPICLI.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\IMM32.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\CRYPTSP.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\rsaenh.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\bcryptPrimitives.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\powrprof.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\UMPDC.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\uxtheme.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\mswsock.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\lib\\julia\\sys.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libatomic-1.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libpcre2-8.DLL", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libgmp.DLL", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libmpfr.DLL", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libgmp-10.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libopenblas64_.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libgfortran-5.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libquadmath-0.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libblastrampoline.DLL", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libcholmod.DLL", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libsuitesparseconfig.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libcamd.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libccolamd.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libcolamd.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libamd.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libnghttp2-14.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libcurl-4.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\CRYPT32.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libssh2.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libmbedcrypto.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\DNSAPI.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\NSI.dll", "C:\\Windows\\System32\\rasadhlp.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\fwpuclnt.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\schannel.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\mskeyprotect.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\NTASN1.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\ncrypt.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\bcrypt.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\ncryptsslp.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\ntmarta.dll", "C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin\\libgit2.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\WINHTTP.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\webio.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\WINNSI.DLL", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\MSASN1.dll", "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\DPAPI.DLL"]

I do not have the LD_LIBRARY_PATH set

julia> haskey(ENV, "LD_LIBRARY_PATH")
false

[giordano]

What exactly am I looking for in

I don't see anything wrong your dllist(), but that looks too clean, my guess is that you did that in a fresh session. I also don't know what's your issue to start with, so I wouldn't even know what to suggest to do.

I do not have the LD_LIBRARY_PATH set

That's because LD_LIBRARY_PATH is a Linux environment variable. On Windows that'd be PATH.

[paulflang]

Thanks. My problem is

julia> using Plots
[ Info: Precompiling Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80]
Your GR installation is incomplete. Rerunning build step for GR package.
┌ Warning: GR attempted to rebuild but failed due to ErrorException("Evaluation into the closed module `GR` breaks incremental compilation because the side effects will not be permanent. This is likely due to some other module mutating `GR` with `eval` during precompilation - don't do this."). Setting ENV["JULIA_GR_REBUILD"] = false.
└ @ GR C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\packages\GR\xhzFJ\src\GR.jl:378
ERROR: LoadError: InitError: GR was not built correctly and could not be automatically rebuilt.
get(ENV, "JULIA_GR_REBUILD", "true") == false
C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\packages\GR\xhzFJ\src\..\deps\gr is not a directory.
GR_jll could not be loaded.

Run the following commands:

ENV["GRDIR"] = ""
using Pkg; Pkg.build("GR")

Stacktrace:
  [1] error(s::String)
    @ Base .\error.jl:33
  [2] __init__()
    @ GR C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\packages\GR\xhzFJ\src\GR.jl:383
  [3] _include_from_serialized(path::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
    @ Base .\loading.jl:768
  [4] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:854
  [5] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1097
  [6] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1013
  [7] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:997
  [8] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base .\Base.jl:418
  [9] include(x::String)
    @ Plots C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\packages\Plots\mnkn4\src\Plots.jl:1
 [10] top-level scope
    @ C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\packages\Plots\mnkn4\src\Plots.jl:246
 [11] include
    @ .\Base.jl:418 [inlined]
 [12] include_package_for_output(pkg::Base.PkgId, input::String, depot_path::Vector{String}, dl_load_path::Vector{String}, load_path::Vector{String}, concrete_deps::Vector{Pair{Base.PkgId, UInt64}}, source::Nothing)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1318
 [13] top-level scope
    @ none:1
 [14] eval
    @ .\boot.jl:373 [inlined]
 [15] eval(x::Expr)
    @ Base.MainInclude .\client.jl:453
 [16] top-level scope
    @ none:1
during initialization of module GR
in expression starting at C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\packages\Plots\mnkn4\src\backends\gr.jl:6
in expression starting at C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\packages\Plots\mnkn4\src\Plots.jl:1
ERROR: Failed to precompile Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80] to C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\compiled\v1.7\Plots\jl_8318.tmp.
Stacktrace:
  [1] error(s::String)
    @ Base .\error.jl:33
  [2] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, internal_stderr::IO, internal_stdout::IO, ignore_loaded_modules::Bool)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1466
  [3] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1410
  [4] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1120
  [5] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:1013
  [6] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base .\loading.jl:997
  [7] eval
    @ .\boot.jl:373 [inlined]
  [8] eval
    @ .\Base.jl:68 [inlined]
  [9] repleval(m::Module, code::Expr, #unused#::String)
    @ VSCodeServer c:\Users\wolf5212\.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.6.17\scripts\packages\VSCodeServer\src\repl.jl:157
 [10] (::VSCodeServer.var"#78#80"{Module, Expr, REPL.LineEditREPL, REPL.LineEdit.Prompt})()
    @ VSCodeServer c:\Users\wolf5212\.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.6.17\scripts\packages\VSCodeServer\src\repl.jl:123
 [11] with_logstate(f::Function, logstate::Any)
    @ Base.CoreLogging .\logging.jl:511
 [12] with_logger
    @ .\logging.jl:623 [inlined]
 [13] (::VSCodeServer.var"#77#79"{Module, Expr, REPL.LineEditREPL, REPL.LineEdit.Prompt})()
    @ VSCodeServer c:\Users\wolf5212\.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.6.17\scripts\packages\VSCodeServer\src\repl.jl:124
 [14] #invokelatest#2
    @ .\essentials.jl:716 [inlined]
 [15] invokelatest(::Any)
    @ Base .\essentials.jl:714
 [16] macro expansion
    @ c:\Users\wolf5212\.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.6.17\scripts\packages\VSCodeServer\src\eval.jl:34 [inlined]
 [17] (::VSCodeServer.var"#60#61")()
    @ VSCodeServer .\task.jl:423

When I try the suggested fix, I get

julia> ENV["GRDIR"] = ""
""

julia> using Pkg; Pkg.build("GR")
    Building GR → `C:\Users\wolf5212\.julia\scratchspaces\44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f\c98aea696662d09e215ef7cda5296024a9646c75\build.log`
Precompiling project...
  ✗ Plots
  1 dependency successfully precompiled in 26 seconds (252 already precompiled)
  1 dependency errored. To see a full report either run `import Pkg; Pkg.precompile()` or load the package

ENV["PATH"] is

"C:\\Program Files\\Artelys\\Knitro 12.1.0\\knitroampl;C:\\Program Files\\Artelys\\Knitro 12.1.0\\lib;C:\\Program Files\\copasi.org\\COPASI 4.27.217\\bin;C:\\WINDOWS\\system32;C:\\WINDOWS;C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\Wbem;C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\;C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Intel\\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\\DAL;C:\\Program Files\\Intel\\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\\DAL;C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\OpenSSH\\;C:\\Program Files\\mingw-w64\\x86_64-8.1.0-posix-sjlj-rt_v6-rev0\\mingw64\\bin;C:\\swigwin-4.0.2;C:\\Program Files\\MATLAB\\R2020b\\runtime\\win64;C:\\Program Files\\MATLAB\\R2020b\\bin;C:\\Program Files\\MATLAB\\R2019a\\runtime\\win64;C:\\Program Files\\MATLAB\\R2019a\\bin;C:\\Strawberry\\c\\bin;C:\\Strawberry\\per" ⋯ 1512 bytes ⋯ "s (x86)\\Windows Kits\\10\\Redist\\ucrt\\DLLs\\x64;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Python\\Python310;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\OneDrive - Nexus365\\DPhil Project\\Programmes\\Windows;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\WindowsApps;C:\\Program Files (x86)\\FAHClient;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Microsoft VS Code\\bin;C:\\Exercism;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\OneDrive - Nexus365\\DPhil Project\\Programmes\\MiKTeX\\miktex\\bin\\x64\\;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\OneDrive - Nexus365\\DPhil Project\\Programmes\\Windows\\Scripts;C:\\mingw-w64\\x86_64-8.1.0-posix-sjlj-rt_v6-rev0\\mingw64\\bin;;C:\\Python27\\Scripts\\;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\WindowsApps;C:\\Users\\wolf5212\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Julia-1.7.2\\bin"

Shall I remove this?

[giordano]

Sounds like a problem with GR.jl? I don't see how this is related to Plots.jl (apart from the fact plots.jl requires GR.jl) and in particular to the issue reported above.

[giordano]

Original issue which had long been solved (it was a problem in FFMPEG), I don't know why this issue is still open

[paulflang]

Ah, yeah, correct. Googled the error, ended up here...

[BeastyBlacksmith]

I don't know why this issue is still open

So I will close this.