[PYI-3780:ERROR] Could not load PyInstaller's embedded PKG archive from the executable

[czh-Judy]

I try to convert my python to exe and this is what I get when trying to run the exe: [PYI-3780:ERROR] Could not load PyInstaller's embedded PKG archive from the executable

• Python 3.13.5
• pyinstaller 6.14.1
• pandas, openpyxl, selenium, webdriver-manager
  All of these are most recent versions, anyone has a clue how this can happen. Building local or use github workflow action to build are getting the same result on the generated exe. There is no previous build absolutely.

---

[rokm]

My first guess would be that the executable ends up being corrupted during transfer, for whatever reason, and so executable-embedded archive cannot be found or loaded.

Does this happen if you launch the executable immediately after it is built (i.e., on the build machine, without trying to move it), or after you transfer it (e.g. from github actions workflow to your machine)? If there is a transfer involved in between, are you sure the executable is fully transferred (e.g., if you compute a hash over it immediately after the build, and after transferring it, do they match)?

You can also try building with --debug bootloader option, which should display more details about what's going on before the error. Although pretty much all other errors except not being able to find archive's signature would result in additional error message...

[judy-czh]

The same error happens when launching the executable immediately after it's built AND after I transferred it from github actions workflow to my machine. There is no transferring at all in the first case. I will try building with debug tomorrow and see if there is more detail. Thanks.

[rokm]

Is the github workflow public, so I can take a look at the executable? Or can you share it in some other way?

[czh-Judy]

I'm new to github, not sure how to do that. However, I did some experimenting today on my computer using --debug bootloader on a small test extract_tags.py. It does seem like copy exe will cause issue. But how can I fix it? Below is the details. Thanks!

1. .\src> pyinstaller --debug bootloader --onefile extract_tags.py, here is some interesting information I noticed:
   13954 INFO: Graph cross-reference written to C:\MyPythonScripts\src\build\extract_tags\xref-extract_tags.html
   14025 INFO: checking PYZ
   14026 INFO: Building PYZ because PYZ-00.toc is non existent
   14026 INFO: Building PYZ (ZlibArchive) C:\MyPythonScripts\src\build\extract_tags\PYZ-00.pyz
   14809 INFO: Building PYZ (ZlibArchive) C:\MyPythonScripts\src\build\extract_tags\PYZ-00.pyz completed successfully.
   14844 INFO: checking PKG
   14845 INFO: Building PKG because PKG-00.toc is non existent
   14846 INFO: Building PKG (CArchive) extract_tags.pkg
   20567 INFO: Building PKG (CArchive) extract_tags.pkg completed successfully.
   20572 INFO: Bootloader C:\Users\judy_c4\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Lib\site-packages\PyInstaller\bootloader\Windows-64bit-intel\run_d.exe
   20572 INFO: checking EXE
   20573 INFO: Building EXE because EXE-00.toc is non existent
   20573 INFO: Building EXE from EXE-00.toc
   20574 INFO: Copying bootloader EXE to C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist\extract_tags.exe
   20608 INFO: Copying icon to EXE
   21833 INFO: Copying 0 resources to EXE
   21833 INFO: Embedding manifest in EXE
   22148 INFO: Appending PKG archive to EXE
   22216 INFO: Fixing EXE headers
   25333 INFO: Building EXE from EXE-00.toc completed successfully.
   25339 INFO: Build complete! The results are available in: C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist

2. run \src\dist> extract_tag.exe => It runs without the EPYI-3780: ERROR]. I noticed something in the console:
   [PYI-21968:DEBUG] LOADER: archive file: C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist\extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-21968:DEBUG] LOADER: application has onefile semantics...
   [PYI-21968:DEBUG] LOADER: _PYI_ARCHIVE_FILE not defined...

3. copy extract_tag.exe one level up to \src because that's how I set up the relative testdata folder for the script. run extract_tag.exe here and get the error:
   C:\MyPythonScripts\src>extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] PyInstaller Bootloader 6.x
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] LOADER: argv[0]: extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] LOADER: executable file: C:\MyPythonScripts\src\extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] LOADER: trying to load executable-embedded archive...
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] LOADER: attempting to open archive C:\MyPythonScripts\src\extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] LOADER: cannot open archive: C:\MyPythonScripts\src\extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] LOADER: failed to open executable-embedded archive!
   [PYI-12812:DEBUG] LOADER: side-load is disabled (code -1)!
   [PYI-12812:ERROR] Could not load PyInstaller's embedded PKG archive from the executable (C:\MyPythonScripts\src\extract_tags.exe)

4. go back dist\ and run the exe, got exact the same error.
   C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist>extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] PyInstaller Bootloader 6.x
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: argv[0]: extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: executable file: C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist\extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: trying to load executable-embedded archive...
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: attempting to open archive C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist\extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: cannot open archive: C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist\extract_tags.exe
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: failed to open executable-embedded archive!
   [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: side-load is disabled (code -1)!
   [PYI-21180:ERROR] Could not load PyInstaller's embedded PKG archive from the executable (C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist\extract_tags.exe)

[rokm]

Hmm, this looks like fopen() / _wfopen() call on the executable file fails for some reason: [PYI-21180:DEBUG] LOADER: cannot open archive: C:\MyPythonScripts\src\dist\extract_tags.exe.

Could be an anti-virus program interfering with the program and blocking access; it's a bit weird that this would happen after copying the file, but you never know... Do you have an anti-virus program running? Can you try to disable it temporarily, or exempt the executable from it?

[czh-Judy]

It should be related to anti-virus program. I found a solution and now it's ok. Thanks!