spyder: IPython console stuck restarting kernel when using different interpreter

Issue Report Checklist

• Searched the issues page for similar reports
• Read the relevant sections of the Spyder Troubleshooting Guide and followed its advice
• Reproduced the issue after updating with conda update spyder (or pip, if not using Anaconda)
• Could not reproduce inside jupyter qtconsole (if console-related)
• Tried basic troubleshooting (if a bug/error)
  • Restarted Spyder
  • Reset preferences with spyder --reset
  • Reinstalled the latest version of Anaconda
  • Tried the other applicable steps from the Troubleshooting Guide
• Completed the Problem Description, Steps to Reproduce and Version sections below

Problem Description

IPython console is stuck ‘Restarting kernel’ when using interpreter of python environment separate to Spyder default installation.

What steps reproduce the problem?

1. Install Spyder from standalone Windows executable
2. Create new conda environment spydertest and install latest spyder-kernels in this environment
3. In Spyder, select ‘Preferences -> Use following Python interpreter’ and then point to this dummy environment, i.e. ...Miniconda3/envs/spydertest/python.exe

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

Using default interpreter, the IPython Console starts up and can execute code as normal.

Using the alternative python interpreter, in a separate conda environment, console doesn’t initialize and is stuck at Restarting kernel …

Versions

• Spyder version: 5.4.2
• Python version: (default in Spyder install = 3.8.10, in development env = 3.10.9)
• Qt version: 5.15.2
• PyQt version: 5.15.7
• Operating System name/version: Windows 10, 22H2

Dependencies

# Mandatory:
atomicwrites >=1.2.0                 :  1.4.1 (OK)
chardet >=2.0.0                      :  5.1.0 (OK)
cloudpickle >=0.5.0                  :  2.2.0 (OK)
cookiecutter >=1.6.0                 :  2.1.1 (OK)
diff_match_patch >=20181111          :  20200713 (OK)
intervaltree                         :  None (OK)
IPython >=7.31.1;<9.0.0              :  8.8.0 (OK)
jedi >=0.17.2;<0.19.0                :  0.18.2 (OK)
jellyfish >=0.7                      :  0.9.0 (OK)
jsonschema >=3.2.0                   :  4.17.3 (OK)
keyring >=17.0.0                     :  23.13.1 (OK)
nbconvert >=4.0                      :  7.2.8 (OK)
numpydoc >=0.6.0                     :  1.5.0 (OK)
paramiko >=2.4.0                     :  2.12.0 (OK)
parso >=0.7.0;<0.9.0                 :  0.8.3 (OK)
pexpect >=4.4.0                      :  4.8.0 (OK)
pickleshare >=0.4                    :  0.7.5 (OK)
psutil >=5.3                         :  5.9.4 (OK)
pygments >=2.0                       :  2.14.0 (OK)
pylint >=2.5.0;<3.0                  :  2.15.10 (OK)
pylint_venv >=2.1.1                  :  2.3.0 (OK)
pyls_spyder >=0.4.0                  :  0.4.0 (OK)
pylsp >=1.7.1;<1.8.0                 :  1.7.1 (OK)
pylsp_black >=1.2.0                  :  1.2.1 (OK)
qdarkstyle >=3.0.2;<3.1.0            :  3.0.3 (OK)
qstylizer >=0.2.2                    :  0.2.2 (OK)
qtawesome >=1.2.1                    :  1.2.2 (OK)
qtconsole >=5.4.0;<5.5.0             :  5.4.0 (OK)
qtpy >=2.1.0                         :  2.3.0 (OK)
rtree >=0.9.7                        :  1.0.1 (OK)
setuptools >=49.6.0                  :  66.0.0 (OK)
sphinx >=0.6.6                       :  6.1.3 (OK)
spyder_kernels >=2.4.2;<2.5.0        :  2.4.2 (OK)
textdistance >=4.2.0                 :  4.5.0 (OK)
three_merge >=0.1.1                  :  0.1.1 (OK)
watchdog                             :  2.2.1 (OK)
zmq >=22.1.0                         :  24.0.1 (OK)

# Optional:
cython >=0.21                        :  0.29.33 (OK)
matplotlib >=3.0.0                   :  3.6.3 (OK)
numpy >=1.7                          :  1.24.1 (OK)
pandas >=1.1.1                       :  1.5.2 (OK)
scipy >=0.17.0                       :  1.10.0 (OK)
sympy >=0.7.3                        :  1.11.1 (OK)

# Spyder plugins:
spyder_terminal.terminalplugin 1.2.2 :  1.2.2 (OK)