Error on importing from pylab (font_manager.py)

Hi, I am trying to use matplotlib 0.84 with Python

    > 2.4.2 on Wondows XP with idle -n. I did this in the
    > past with the 2.3.5 and some older version of
    > matplotlib without any problems.

    > Now I have some problems. I started with a really fresh
    > installation of Python and added first the Numeric 23.8
    > module. After that I installed matplotlib 0.84 and
    > changed the matplotlibrc (tk.pythoninspect : True).

On or around line 451 in font_manager.py, try replacing the part of
the code that loads the fonts with the following block

            try:
                font = ft2font.FT2Font(str(fpath))
            except RuntimeError:
                warnings.warn("Could not open font file %s"%fpath)
                continue
            except UnicodeError:
                warnings.warn("Cannot handle unicode filenames %s"%fpath)
                continue

Here we explictly catch the unicode error and move on.

Before rerunning your code, remove your ttffont.cache

If you don't know where your font cache is, use the windows search
tool to find it.

JDH