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alexander0803

Member

Registered: 2020-06-07

Posts: 37

How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

Trying to install some python libraries I made an upgrade of libffi.

I upgraded my system several times since then trying to solve another problem which is solved now. However when I try to install a library in Pycharm I get the following error:
ImportError: libffi.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

/var/cache/pacman/pkg contains almost nothing so I cant downgrade the package.

What should I do?

eschwartz

Fellow

Registered: 2014-08-08

Posts: 4,097

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

You fix a partial upgrade by doing a full pacman -Syu.

What's the partial upgrade, though? What is using libffi.so.6, a library that hasn't existed for a long time? Is it some python module you installed with pip? If so you need to rebuild it...

What is the output of pacman -Q python?

Last edited by eschwartz (2020-06-11 12:22:08)

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Managing AUR repos The Right Way -- aurpublish (now a standalone tool)

alexander0803

Member

Registered: 2020-06-07

Posts: 37

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

You fix a partial upgrade by doing a full pacman -Syu.

What's the partial upgrade, though? What is using libffi.so.6, a library that hasn't existed for a long time? Is it some python module you installed with pip? If so you need to rebuild it...

What is the output of pacman -Q python?

I tried pacman -Syu and it didn't help.
I don't know what libffi.so.6 is. I just know that it is connected to python in some way.
I've tried everything from here but it didn't help. Some person there said that it might be needed to rebuild python but I don't know what it means and how to do it. It also was said there that using pacman -Sy libffi is a partial upgrade and this is exactly what I've done.

pacman -Q python returns python 3.8.3-1
My current python project is on python 3.6.8. I have to stay on this version because I am not alone who works on the project.

Last edited by alexander0803 (2020-06-11 12:53:03)

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,518

Website

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

I tried pacman -Syu and it didn't help.

Was there an error from pacman, or did your symptoms just not change?

It sounds like you've zoomed in on one thing you think is causing your problem (partial upgrade) but it is not actually the problem.  You need to tell us about the actual problem, not what you think it is.  You've given an excerpt of an error message, but not what command it came from.

Post the complete command and output that you are having trouble with.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,062

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

My current python project is on python 3.6.8. I have to stay on this version because I am not alone who works on the project.

How is the project using python 3.6.8?

alexander0803

Member

Registered: 2020-06-07

Posts: 37

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

My current python project is on python 3.6.8. I have to stay on this version because I am not alone who works on the project.

How is the project using python 3.6.8?

I think it's because python3.6.8 was installed using git clone and makepkg and the Pycharm project uses it now.
I removed my python package and my project is still able to run.

The problem is everything broke after I upgraded libffi. Before that lib installation was fine.

Last edited by alexander0803 (2020-06-11 13:36:47)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,729

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

Give the FULL output.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,518

Website

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

*headdesk*

Ok, so you are using a python package from the AUR (python36 I'd guess) and you updated libs that it depends on.  You need to rebuild your AUR package(s).

Please read the AUR page on the wiki which includes the following prominent note just under the heading for installing packages from the aur:

Note: The AUR is unsupported, so any packages you install are your responsibility to update, not pacman's. If packages in the official repositories are updated, you will need to rebuild any AUR packages that depend on those libraries.

Last edited by Trilby (2020-06-11 13:40:55)

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

eschwartz

Fellow

Registered: 2014-08-08

Posts: 4,097

Re: How to fix a partial upgrade - libffi

I don't know what libffi.so.6 is. I just know that it is connected to python in some way.

"Everything" is connected to "everything", in "some way". But unless you expect us to blame your problems on cosmic rays flipping bits on your hard drive, wild theorizing doesn't much help.

I've tried everything from here but it didn't help. Some person there said that it might be needed to rebuild python but I don't know what it means and how to do it. It also was said there that using pacman -Sy libffi is a partial upgrade and this is exactly what I've done.

So, you
- listened to manjaro people
- don't have any idea how the software works under the hood
- did a partial update

And okay, so you *actually* went ahead and ran pacman -Sy libffi. This is exceedingly bad, don't do it, fix it by doing pacman -Syu.

"It didn't help", you say. This is a help forum, not a general griping forum where you come to have people commiserate with you. "It didn't help" doesn't help us help you. What is still broken? Did pacman -Syu error out? Did it succeed? Which commands still fail, and with what error messages?

pacman -Q python returns python 3.8.3-1
My current python project is on python 3.6.8. I have to stay on this version because I am not alone who works on the project.

So, now we get to the root of the problem. You're not even using python. You're using python36 which isn't official software.

I think it's because python3.6.8 was installed using git clone and makepkg and the Pycharm project uses it now.
I removed my python package and my project is still able to run.

The problem is everything broke after I upgraded libffi. Before that lib installation was fine.

When you use your own custom software, you are now responsible for the full supply chain, and you need to understand how distros work and how the supply chain of the distro works, because you're depending on the private implementation details of the distro.

In other words, it is the user's responsibility to rebuild their own AUR packages.

Last edited by eschwartz (2020-06-11 13:50:09)

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Managing AUR repos The Right Way -- aurpublish (now a standalone tool)