MATLAB: “syms”, “sym”, and “mupad” functions cause MATLAB to freeze

Question

Why does MATLAB hang when I try to use the "syms", "sym", or "mupad" functions?

It causes MATLAB to run indefinitely, the system freezes and memory usage increases.

Sometimes errors also appear:

Error using mupadmex

Internal error with symbolic engine. Quit and restart MATLAB.

Error in symengine

Error in sym (line 185)

symengine;

Answer 1

This is a known bug that exists in certain Windows 10 builds. It has been fixed as of MATLAB R2018a Update 1 and MATLAB R2017b Update 7.

Here is the bug report below for more information:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/bugreports/1755918

As far as we know, only MATLAB R2017b and R2018a are affected. Older releases are not affected by the Windows 10 Spring 2018 update.