Issue on Windows with latest Tensorflow

[t-kalinowski]

Attempting to use the latest TensorFlow on Windows produces this error:

Python exception encountered:
 Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\6twal\OneDrive\DOCUME~1\VIRTUA~1\R-RETI~1\Lib\site-packages\tensorflow\python\pywrap_tensorflow.py", line 73, in <module>
    from tensorflow.python._pywrap_tensorflow_internal import *
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 122, in _find_and_load_hook
    return _run_hook(name, _hook)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 96, in _run_hook
    module = hook()
             ^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 120, in _hook
    return _find_and_load(name, import_)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _pywrap_tensorflow_internal: A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 122, in _find_and_load_hook
    return _run_hook(name, _hook)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 96, in _run_hook
    module = hook()
             ^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 120, in _hook
    return _find_and_load(name, import_)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\OneDrive\DOCUME~1\VIRTUA~1\R-RETI~1\Lib\site-packages\tensorflow\__init__.py", line 40, in <module>
    from tensorflow.python import pywrap_tensorflow as _pywrap_tensorflow  # pylint: disable=unused-import
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 122, in _find_and_load_hook
    return _run_hook(name, _hook)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 96, in _run_hook
    module = hook()
             ^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 120, in _hook
    return _find_and_load(name, import_)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\OneDrive\DOCUME~1\VIRTUA~1\R-RETI~1\Lib\site-packages\tensorflow\python\pywrap_tensorflow.py", line 88, in <module>
    raise ImportError(
ImportError: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\6twal\OneDrive\DOCUME~1\VIRTUA~1\R-RETI~1\Lib\site-packages\tensorflow\python\pywrap_tensorflow.py", line 73, in <module>
    from tensorflow.python._pywrap_tensorflow_internal import *
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 122, in _find_and_load_hook
    return _run_hook(name, _hook)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 96, in _run_hook
    module = hook()
             ^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\6twal\AppData\Local\R\win-library\4.4\reticulate\python\rpytools\loader.py", line 120, in _hook
    return _find_and_load(name, import_)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _pywrap_tensorflow_internal: A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.


Failed to load the native TensorFlow runtime.
See https://www.tensorflow.org/install/errors for some common causes and solutions.
If you need help, create an issue at https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/issues and include the entire stack trace above this error message.

The temporary workaround until this is fixed is to require tensorflow==2.18.0, or explicitly install tensorflow-intel

library(keras3)
reticulate::py_require("tensorflow==2.18.0")
op_convert_to_tensor("hello")

First reported in #1501

[Voronov-Andrey]

Hello, could you please provide a complete guide for installing keras3 on Windows, taking into account this error? I don't quite understand how to downgrade tensorflow after installing via keras3::install_keras().

[t-kalinowski]

First, the issue seems confined to the RStudio IDE, and it does not always reproduce. I suggest upgrading RStudio if possible.

Until this is resolved, please pin the TensorFlow version on Windows:

Sys.setenv(RETICULATE_PYTHON = "managed")
library(tensorflow)
library(keras3)
library(reticulate)

py_require("tensorflow==2.18.0")

tf$constant("hello")
tf_config()