Error messages and their solutions

This is a collection of known error messages and their solution. Mostly these error messages result from missing dependencies.

a52

Symptom, in this case from building vlc:

configure: error: Could not find liba52 on your system: you may get it from http://liba52.sf.net/. Alternatively you can use --disable-a52 to disable the a52 plugin.

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux:

yast -i liba52-devel

access forbidden

Symptom: When surfing to a web site from your apache web server your browser tells you

Access forbidden!

You don't have permission to access the requested directory. There is either no index document or the directory is read-protected.

If you think this is a server error, please contact the webmaster.
Error 403

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux: In /etc/apache2 search for AllowOverride:

grep -ir "allowoverride" *

Make sure all AllowOverride are set to None, then restart your apache:

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

atk

Symptom, in this case from gqcam:

/usr/include/gtk/gtkwidget.h:40:21: fatal error: atk/atk.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
make: *** [gqcam.o] Error 1

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 11.3:

cp -r /usr/include/atk-1.0/atk/ /usr/include/

C compiler

~/freeciv-2.1.9 # ./configure 
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... no
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no
checking for style of include used by make... none
checking for gcc... no
checking for cc... no
checking for cc... no
checking for cl... no
configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH
See `config.log' for more details.
linux-zcx2:~/freeciv-2.1.9 # gcc
If 'gcc' is not a typo you can use command-not-found to lookup the package that contains it, like this:
    cnf gcc
linux-zcx2:~/freeciv-2.1.9 # yast -i gcc-c++

C++ compiler

Problem e.g.:

CMake Error: your CXX compiler: "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER-NOTFOUND" was not found.   Please set CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER to a valid compiler path or name.

Solution, e.g. under Debian:

aptitude install build-essential

C header files

Symptom: When starting vmware player you get an error message:

C header files matching your running kernel were not found.  Refer to your distribution's documentation for installation instructions.

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 12.1 is to enable compiling with the kernel sources:

yast -i kernel-source gcc-c++

can't open display

Symptom: When you call yast2 on a remote computer you get the error message

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'YUIException'
  what():  Can't open display 
YaST got signal 6 at YCP file Wizard.ycp:699

Solution: Log out and log in again using ssh -Y instead of ssh -X

capabilities.h

Symptom, in this case from building vdr

vdr.c:35:28: fatal error: sys/capability.h: No such file or directory 

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3

yast -i libcap-devel

cairo

Symptom, in this case from building gqcam:

/usr/include/gdk/gdkscreen.h:31:19: fatal error: cairo.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

cp /usr/include/cairo/* /usr/include/

certificate.pem

Symptom: A program, e.g. sHellinaBox outputs the error message:

Cannot read valid certificate from "certificate.pem". Check file permissions and file format.

Reason, in this case for sHellInaBox: The program cannot create certificate.pem in the current folder

Solution, in this case for shellInABox: start the program in /tmp

clock_gettime

Symptom, in this case from building http://svn.icmb.utexas.edu/svn/repository/trunk/zpub/sdkpub/usbkey_dlpd/macosx/d2xx/Samples/EEPROM/write/main.c:

linux_usbfs.c:(.text+0x182): undefined reference to `clock_gettime'

Reason: You are missing the realtime library

Solution: Include the realtime library into your compile options, add the paramter

-lrt

confuse.h

Symptom: When building a software you get an error message like

callbacks.c:10:21: fatal error: confuse.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux:

yast -i libconfuse-devel

curl

Symptom

When building a software you get an error message like

configure: error: libcurl development files required

Solution

Install the development package for libcurl, e.g. for SUSE:

yast -i libcurl-devel

or for Ubuntu 19.10:

sudo apt-get install libcurl4-nss-dev

DBUS

Symptom, in this case from building vlc:

configure: error: Couldn't find DBus >= 1.0.0, install libdbus-dev ?

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i dbus-1-devel

dlopen

Symptom, in this case from building http://svn.icmb.utexas.edu/svn/repository/trunk/zpub/sdkpub/usbkey_dlpd/macosx/d2xx/Samples/EEPROM/write/main.c

ftd2xx.c:(.text+0x2cb): undefined reference to `dlopen'

Solution, in this case for SUSE 12.1: Add

-ldl

to your compile parameters.

firefox

Symptom: When trying to start firefox you get a message:

Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 12.1: open a console and enter the command

killall firefox-bin

fribidi

Symptom, in this case from building vlc:

configure: error: Package requirements (fribidi) were not met: 

No package 'fribidi' found

Consider adjusting the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable if you
installed software in a non-standard prefix.

Alternatively, you may set the environment variables FRIBIDI_CFLAGS
and FRIBIDI_LIBS to avoid the need to call pkg-config.
See the pkg-config man page for more details.

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i fribidi-devel

ftp: local: whatever.log: Operation not permitted

Symptom: you want to download a file using e.g.

ftp -p ftp://user:password@server/tmp/whatever.log

and get an error message

ftp: local: whatever.log: Operation not permitted

There is already a file whatever.log in your current working directory. You do not have write access to this file.

Reason: The command tries to overwrite your local whatever.log and fails because of missing privileges.

Solution: Delete the local file whatever.log as root:

rm whatever.log

gcrypt

Symptom, in this case from building vlc:

configure: error: libgcrypt version 1.1.94 or higher not found. Install libgcrypt or use --disable-libgcrypt. Have a nice day.

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i libgcrypt-devel

gdk

Symptom, in this case from building gqcam:

/usr/include/gtk/gtk.h:32:21: fatal error: gdk/gdk.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 11.3:

cp -pr /usr/include/gtk-2.0/gdk /usr/include/

gdkconfig

Symptom:

/usr/include/gdk/gdktypes.h:55:23: fatal error: gdkconfig.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
make: *** [gqcam.o] Error 1

Solution:

linux-noqb:~/gqcam-0.8 # cd /usr/include/
linux-noqb:/usr/include # find -iname "gdkconfig*"
linux-noqb:/usr/include # cd /usr/lib64/
linux-noqb:/usr/lib64 # find -iname "gdkconfig*"
./gtk-2.0/include/gdkconfig.h
linux-noqb:/usr/lib64 # cp /usr/lib64/gtk-2.0/include/gdkconfig.h /usr/include/

gdk-pixbuf

Symptom:

/usr/include/gdk/gdkpixbuf.h:37:35: fatal error: gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
make: *** [gqcam.o] Error 1

Solution:

linux-noqb:~/gqcam-0.8 # cd /usr/include/
linux-noqb:/usr/include # find -iname "gdk-pixbuf*"
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-enum-types.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-animation.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-features.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-core.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-transform.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-io.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-marshal.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-loader.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf-simple-anim.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf-xlib
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf-xlib/gdk-pixbuf-xlib.h
./gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf-xlib/gdk-pixbuf-xlibrgb.h
linux-noqb:/usr/include # cp -r /usr/include/gtk-2.0/gdk-pixbuf /usr/include/

gettext

Symptom, in this example from building pidgin:

configure: error: GNU gettext tools not found; required for intltool

Solution, in this case for SLES 11:

# yast -i gettext-tools

gio

Symptom, in this case building from gqcam:

/usr/include/gdk/gdkapplaunchcontext.h:30:21: fatal error: gio/gio.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 11.3:

cp -r /usr/include/glib-2.0/gio/ /usr/include/

glib

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

error: glib.h: No such file or directory

Solution (in this case for SUSE 11.3):

yast -i glib2-devel
cp /usr/include/glib-2.0/glib.h /usr/include/
cp -pr /usr/include/glib-2.0/glib /usr/include/

glibconfig

Symptom, in this case from building gqcam:

/usr/include/glib/gtypes.h:34:24: fatal error: glibconfig.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

cp /usr/lib64/glib-2.0/include/glibconfig.h /usr/include/

gmodule

Symptom, in this case from building gqcam:

/usr/include/gio/giomodule.h:31:21: fatal error: gmodule.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

cp /usr/include/glib-2.0/gmodule.h /usr/include/

gtk

Symptom, in this case from building kino:

checking for GTK2... configure: error: Package requirements (gthread-2.0 libglade-2.0 >= 2.5.0 gtk+-2.0 >= 2.6) were not met: 

No package 'libglade-2.0' found

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i libglade2-devel

gtk-config

Symptom, in this case from building gqcam:

/bin/sh: gtk-config: command not found
gqcam.c:32:21: fatal error: gtk/gtk.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

• install gtk 2.20
• copy the header files

cp -pr /usr/include/gtk-2.0/gtk/ /usr/include

gtk-window-dialog

frontend.c:411:44: error: ‘GTK_WINDOW_DIALOG’ undeclared (first use in this function)
frontend.c:411:44: note: each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each function it appears in
make: *** [frontend.o] Error 1
linux-noqb:~/gqcam-0.8 # cd
[1]+  Exit 16                 yast2 sw_single  (wd: ~/gqcam-0.8)
(wd now: ~)
linux-noqb:~ # cd gtk+-2.20.1/
linux-noqb:~/gtk+-2.20.1 # grep -ri "gtk_window_dialog" *
ChangeLog.pre-1-0:      GTK_WINDOW_DIALOG as a destination for reparenting the child of
ChangeLog.pre-2-0:      * gtk/testgtk.c (dnd_drop): remove use of GTK_WINDOW_DIALOG
ChangeLog.pre-2-0:      * gtk/gtkcompat.h (GTK_WINDOW_DIALOG): compat #define
ChangeLog.pre-2-0:      GTK_WINDOW_DIALOG GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL
ChangeLog.pre-2-0:      * gtk/gtkenums.h (enum GtkWindowType): remove GTK_WINDOW_DIALOG

intltool

Symptom, in this case from building pidgin:

configure: error: The intltool scripts were not found. Please install intltool.

Solution, in this case with SLES 11:

# wget http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/intltool/0.35/intltool-0.35.5.tar.bz2
# bunzip2 intltool-0.35.5.tar.bz2
# tar xvf intltool-0.35.5.tar
# cd intltool-0.35.5/
# ./configure && make -j8 && make install

jni

Symptom, in this case from compiling soprano:

-- Could NOT find JNI (missing:  JAVA_INCLUDE_PATH2 JAVA_AWT_INCLUDE_PATH) 
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:84 (file):
  file Internal CMake error when trying to open file:
  /usr/lib64/jvm/java-1.7.0-openjdk/jni.h for reading.

Solution: Install the development toolkit for java, in this case for SUSE 12.2:

java-1_7_0-openjdk-devel

jpeg

Symptom, in this case from xawtv:

Oops:   jpeg library not found.  You need this one, please install.

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i libjpeg-devel

KDE

Symptom:

  ERROR: Could not find KDE4 kde4-config

Solution, e.g. under Debian:

apt-get install kdelibs5-dev

libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so

Symptom, in this case form installing skype:

libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so is needed by skype-4.3.0.37-suse121.i586

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 13.1x64:

yast -i alsa-plugins-pulse-32bit

libavcodec

Symptom, in this case from building vlc:

configure: error: No package 'libavcodec' found

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11:

yast -i libffmpeg-devel

liblavdisplay

Symptom, e.g. when compiling mjpegtools:

./.libs/liblavplay.so: undefined reference to `XOpenDisplay'

Solution, e.g. under SUSE:

yast -i libSDL-devel

libQtDBus

Symptom, in this case from running skype:

skype: error while loading shared libraries: libQtDBus.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Reason: You do not have the 32bit libraries for Qt.

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i libqt4-32bit

libfontconfig

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lfontconfig

Solution, in this case for Ubuntu 11.10:

apt-get install libfontconfig1-dev

libgdk

Symptom, in this case from running realplay:

/opt/real/RealPlayer/realplay.bin: error while loading shared libraries: libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Reason: For SUSE Linux, libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 is provided by the package libgtk. /usr/lib64/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 is provided by the package libgtk-2_0-0-2.24.7-2.5.1.x86_64:

# rpm -qf /usr/lib64/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0
libgtk-2_0-0-2.24.7-2.5.1.x86_64

/usr/lib/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 is provided by the package libgtk-2_0-0-32bit:

rpm -qf /usr/lib/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0
libgtk-2_0-0-32bit-2.24.7-2.5.1.x86_64

Solution, in this case for SUSE 12.1:

yast -i libgtk-2_0-0-32bit

libQt

Problem, in this case from running umtsmon:

./umtsmon: error while loading shared libraries: libqt-mt.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i qt3-32bit

libQtGui

Problem, in this case from running skype:

skype: error while loading shared libraries: libQtGui.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Reason: You do not have the 32bit libraries for Qt.

Solution:

yast -i libqt4-x11-32bit

libXaw

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lXaw

Solution, in this case for Ubuntu 11.10:

apt-get install libxaw7-dev

libXext

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lXext

Solution, in this case for Ubuntu 11.10:

apt-get install libxext-dev

libXm

Symptom: When installing an rpm (in this case ICAClient) you get an error like

error: Failed dependencies:
        libXm.so.4 is needed by ICAClient-11.0-1.i386

Solution: Install openmotif-libs, best for 32bit and 64bit.

You can find out what package a file belongs to after installing the rpm like this:

rpm -qf /usr/lib64/libXm.so.4
openmotif-libs-2.3.1-3.13

libXv

Symptom, in this case from installing realplayer:

# rpm -ivh Downloads/RealPlayer11GOLD.rpm 
error: Failed dependencies:
        libXv.so.1 is needed by realplay-11.0.2.1744-1.i386

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux:

# yast -i xorg-x11-libXv-32bit

libxml

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

libxml/parser.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i libxml-devel

libxml 2

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

Package libxml-2.0 was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `libxml-2.0.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
No package 'libxml-2.0' found

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i libxml2-devel

libXp

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lXp

Solution, in this case for Ubuntu 11.10:

apt-get install libxp-dev

libXss

Symptom, in this case from running skype

tweedleburg:~/Downloads/skype-4.3.0.37 # ./skype
./skype: error while loading shared libraries: libXss.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux

yast -i libXss1-32bit

libpng

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

/usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/4.5/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux/bin/ld: cannot find -lpng
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [console/scantv] Error 1

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

linux-fhbd:~/xawtv # yast -i libpng14-devel

lua

Symptom, in this case from building vlc:

configure: error: Could not find lua. Lua is needed for some interfaces (rc, telnet, http) as well as many other custom scripts. Use --disable-lua to ignore this error.

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i lua-devel

lzma

Symptom: When installing an rpm package delivers an unsatisfied dependency:

lzma  is needed

Solution, in this case for RHEL 6.6:

rpm -ivh xz-lzma-compat-*.x86_64.rpm

mad

Symptom, in this case from building vlc:

configure: error: Could not find libmad on your system: you may get it from http://www.underbit.com/products/mad/. Alternatively you can use --disable-mad to disable the mad plugin.

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11:

yast -i libmad-devel

ncurses

Symptom, in this case from building xawtv:

Oops: (n)curses library not found.  You need this one, please install.

Solution, in this case for SUSE 11.3:

yast -i ncurses-devel

Net/DAV/Server.pm

Symptom: Trying to run a perl program you get the message:

Can't locate Net/DAV/Server.pm in @INC (@INC contains

Reason: Perl has a library of functions, and the module Net/DAV/Server.pm is missing there.

Solution: Install Net/DAV/Server.pm as described under cpan.

OSSP-UUID

Symptom: During build you get the error message

configure: error: "The OSSP UUID library is required"

Solution

install OSSP UUID lib, e.g. under Ubuntu:

apt-get install libossp-uuid-dev

pango

Symptom:

/usr/include/gdk/gdktypes.h:37:25: fatal error: pango/pango.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
make: *** [gqcam.o] Error 1
linux-noqb:~/gqcam-0.8 # cd /usr/include/
linux-noqb:/usr/include # find -iname "pango*"
./pango-1.0
./pango-1.0/pango
./pango-1.0/pango/pango-break.h
./pango-1.0/pango/pangoft2.h
./pango-1.0/pango/pango.h
[...]

Solution:

linux-noqb:/usr/include # cp -r /usr/include/pango-1.0/pango/ /usr/include/

popt

Symptom, in this case from building gphoto2:

* Cannot autodetect popt.h

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux:

yast -i popt-devel

pthread_create

Symptom, in this case from building http://svn.icmb.utexas.edu/svn/repository/trunk/zpub/sdkpub/usbkey_dlpd/macosx/d2xx/Samples/EEPROM/write/main.c

undefined reference to `pthread_create'

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 12.1: Add

-lpthread

to your compile parameters

python.h

Symptom, in this case from setting up uniconvertor:

src/modules/filter/streamfilter.c:24:20: fatal error: Python.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 12.1:

yast -i python-devel

qt

Symptom, in this case from building quassel:

CMake Error at cmake/modules/FindQt4.cmake:1257 (MESSAGE):
  Qt qmake not found!

Reason: You are missing the qt build environment

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 11.4:

yast -i libqt4-devel

serial

Symptom: when calling a python program you get an error message like this:

ImportError: No module named serial

Solution: Install python's serial module, e.g. for SUSE Linux:

yast -i python-pyserial

smtp error 450

Symptom

after setting up a mail server and sending mail via roundCube you get the following error message:

SMTP Error (450): Failed to add recipient "whoever@domain.de" (4.1.8 <whoever@localhost>: Sender address rejected: Domain not found).

Solution

in roundcube set Settings -> Identities -> user -> Email to contain a correct domain as listed in /etc/postfix/main.cf

ssh does not work

Symptom: when calling a GUI program within an ssh -X session, you get an error message like this:

X Error of failed request:  BadAtom (invalid Atom parameter)
  Major opcode of failed request:  20 (X_GetProperty)
  Atom id in failed request:  0x17
  Serial number of failed request:  4
  Current serial number in output stream:  4

Solution: Exit the session, reconnect with ssh -Y

System administrator is not allowed to remote login

Symptom: When trying to log in as root via vnc you get the error message

System administrator is not allowed to remote login.

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux: yast2 -> System -> /etc/sysconfig editor -> Desktop -> Display Manager -> DISPLAYMANAGER_ROOT_LOGIN_REMOTE -> yes

unknown filesystem smbfs

Symptom: When trying to mount a sambA share that is entered in fstab using the commAnd

mount -a 

you get the error messages

unknown filesystem smbfs

Solution: replace "smbfs" in /etc/fstab by "cifs"

unary operator expected

Symptom when running a program you get an error message like

test.sh: line 4: [: =: unary operator expected

Reason See what does "unary operator expected" mean.

USB

Symptom when building a program you get an error message like

main_jlibnxt.c:28:17: fatal error: usb.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux: Install libusb-compat-devel like this:

yast -i libusb-compat-devel

X11 forwarding request failed on channel 0

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux.

yast -i xorg-x11

xclock not found

Symptom: You cannot call xclock. When you open a console and do it you get the message

xclock: command not found

Solution: Install xclock's package, in this case with SUSE Linux 12.1:

yast -i xorg-x11

Xlib

Symptom, in this case from building fsl:

error: X11/Xlib.h: No such file or directory

Solution, in this case for CentOs 6:

yum install libX11-devel

yasm

Symptom, in this case from building mplayer:

Error: yasm not found, use --yasm= if you really want to compile without  

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux 11.3:

yast -i yasm

YaST2 Control Center is not running as root

Symptom: you get a message in yast or yast2 saying

YaST2 Control Center is not running as root.
You can only see modules that do not require root privileges.

Reason: YaST2_Control_Center_is_not_running_as_root

Solution: Check you are root with the command

who am i

Check your memory. Missing memory can be the root cause for this error message.

zlib

Symptom, in this case from building freeciv:

checking for gzgets in -lz... no
configure: error: Could not find zlib library.

Reason: Your zipping library zlib is not installed in a way that you can build software with dependencies on it. You need the development package of zlib.

Solution, in this case for SUSE Linux:

yast -i zlib-devel

See also

• dependencies
• troubleshooting