Fix: Pandas Install Failure On Raspberry Pi For OctoPrint

by Kenji Nakamura 58 views

Hey everyone! It seems like some of us running OctoPrint on our Raspberry Pi 4s are running into a bit of a snag with the latest pandas library. Specifically, there isn't a pre-built wheel available for Raspberry Pi at the moment, and trying to build it from the source can lead to some frustrating failures. Let's dive into this issue, understand what's happening, and explore a solution to get our OctoPrint setups back on track. If you're encountering build failures when installing pandas on your Raspberry Pi 4 while setting up OctoPrint, this guide is for you. We'll break down the problem and provide a fix to ensure your installation goes smoothly.

Understanding the Issue: Pandas and Raspberry Pi Compatibility

When installing plugins for OctoPrint, sometimes the dependencies can cause hiccups. In this case, the pandas library, a powerful tool for data analysis and manipulation in Python, is causing problems. The core issue is that the latest version of pandas (2.3.1, as seen in the error log) doesn't have a pre-built wheel for the ARM architecture used by the Raspberry Pi. A wheel is essentially a pre-packaged distribution format that makes installation quick and easy. Without a wheel, pip (the Python package installer) tries to build pandas from the source code, which can be resource-intensive and prone to errors on the Raspberry Pi's hardware.

Decoding the Error Log

Let's take a closer look at the error log provided to understand exactly what's going wrong:

Installing plugin from https://github.com/navaismo/Octoprint-Pinput_Shaping/releases/download/v0.0.4.7RC5/main.zip...
/home/nasron/oprint/bin/python -m pip --disable-pip-version-check install file:///tmp/tmpyfhpndjo/main.zip --no-cache-dir
Looking in indexes: https://pypi.org/simple, https://www.piwheels.org/simple
Processing /tmp/tmpyfhpndjo/main.zip
Preparing metadata (setup.py): started
Preparing metadata (setup.py): finished with status 'done'
Requirement already satisfied: OctoPrint in /home/nasron/oprint/lib/python3.9/site-packages (from OctoPrint-Pinput-Shaping==0.0.4.7) (1.11.2)
Collecting matplotlib
Downloading https://www.piwheels.org/simple/matplotlib/matplotlib-3.9.4-cp39-cp39-linux_armv7l.whl (7.9 MB)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 7.9/7.9 MB 7.7 MB/s eta 0:00:00
Collecting numpy
Downloading https://www.piwheels.org/simple/numpy/numpy-2.0.2-cp39-cp39-linux_armv7l.whl (5.8 MB)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 5.8/5.8 MB 6.2 MB/s eta 0:00:00
Collecting pandas
Downloading pandas-2.3.1.tar.gz (4.5 MB)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 4.5/4.5 MB 18.6 MB/s eta 0:00:00
Installing build dependencies: started
Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'done'
Getting requirements to build wheel: started
Getting requirements to build wheel: finished with status 'done'
Installing backend dependencies: started
Installing backend dependencies: finished with status 'done'
Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): started
Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): still running...
Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): still running...
Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): still running...
Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): still running...
Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'error'
error: subprocess-exited-with-error

× Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml) did not run successfully.
│ exit code: 137
╰─> [111 lines of output]
+ meson setup /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209 /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/.mesonpy-tlr7i2sx -Dbuildtype=release -Db_ndebug=if-release -Db_vscrt=md --vsenv --native-file=/tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/.mesonpy-tlr7i2sx/meson-python-native-file.ini
The Meson build system
Version: 1.8.3
Source dir: /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209
Build dir: /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/.mesonpy-tlr7i2sx
Build type: native build
Project name: pandas
Project version: 2.3.1
C compiler for the host machine: cc (gcc 10.2.1 "cc (Raspbian 10.2.1-6+rpi1) 10.2.1 20210110")
C linker for the host machine: cc ld.bfd 2.35.2
C++ compiler for the host machine: c++ (gcc 10.2.1 "c++ (Raspbian 10.2.1-6+rpi1) 10.2.1 20210110")
C++ linker for the host machine: c++ ld.bfd 2.35.2
Cython compiler for the host machine: cython (cython 3.1.3)
Host machine cpu family: arm
Host machine cpu: armv7l
Program python found: YES (/home/nasron/oprint/bin/python)
Found pkg-config: YES (/usr/bin/pkg-config) 0.29.2
Run-time dependency python found: YES 3.9
Build targets in project: 53

pandas 2.3.1

User defined options
Native files: /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/.mesonpy-tlr7i2sx/meson-python-native-file.ini
b_ndebug    : if-release
b_vscrt     : md
buildtype   : release
vsenv       : true

Found ninja-1.13.0.git.kitware.jobserver-pipe-1 at /tmp/pip-build-env-wxesubsf/normal/bin/ninja

Visual Studio environment is needed to run Ninja. It is recommended to use Meson wrapper:
/tmp/pip-build-env-wxesubsf/overlay/bin/meson compile -C .
+ /tmp/pip-build-env-wxesubsf/normal/bin/ninja
[1/151] Generating pandas/_libs/algos_common_helper_pxi with a custom command
[2/151] Generating pandas/_libs/hashtable_func_helper_pxi with a custom command
[3/151] Generating pandas/_libs/index_class_helper_pxi with a custom command
[4/151] Generating pandas/_libs/khash_primitive_helper_pxi with a custom command
[5/151] Generating pandas/_libs/algos_take_helper_pxi with a custom command
[6/151] Generating pandas/_libs/hashtable_class_helper_pxi with a custom command
[7/151] Generating pandas/_libs/intervaltree_helper_pxi with a custom command
[8/151] Generating pandas/_libs/sparse_op_helper_pxi with a custom command
[9/151] Compiling Cython source /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/pandas/_libs/tslibs/base.pyx
[10/151] Compiling Cython source /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/pandas/_libs/tslibs/ccalendar.pyx
[11/151] Compiling Cython source /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/pandas/_libs/tslibs/dtypes.pyx
[12/151] Compiling Cython source /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/pandas/_libs/tslibs/nattype.pyx
warnings...
[30/151] Compiling Cython source /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/pandas/_libs/groupby.pyx
FAILED: [code=137] pandas/_libs/groupby.cpython-39-arm-linux-gnueabihf.so.p/pandas/_libs/groupby.pyx.c
cython -M --fast-fail -3 --include-dir /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/.mesonpy-tlr7i2sx/pandas/_libs '-X always_allow_keywords=true' /tmp/pip-install-4475e2qa/pandas_381c3d4d36974236ab2cbe110bec9209/pandas/_libs/groupby.pyx -o pandas/_libs/groupby.cpython-39-arm-linux-gnueabihf.so.p/pandas/_libs/groupby.pyx.c
warnings...
Killed
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.
[end of output]

note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: metadata-generation-failed

× Encountered error while generating package metadata.
╰─> See above for output.

The key part of the error is exit code: 137 and Killed. This typically indicates that the build process was terminated due to running out of memory. Raspberry Pis, especially the 1GB models, can struggle with memory-intensive tasks like compiling pandas.

Why This Matters for OctoPrint Users

For those of us using OctoPrint, this pandas issue can be a real headache. Many plugins rely on pandas for data processing and analysis. If pandas fails to install, these plugins won't work, and you might miss out on valuable features like input shaping analysis or advanced data visualization. So, getting this sorted is pretty crucial for a smooth OctoPrint experience.

The Solution: Pinning Pandas to an Older Version

Okay, so how do we fix this? The most straightforward solution is to pin pandas to a version that has pre-built wheels available for Raspberry Pi. Pinning a package means specifying a particular version (or a version range) in your project's requirements. This ensures that pip installs a compatible version instead of trying to grab the latest one and potentially failing.

The user who reported this issue found that pinning pandas to a version less than 2.3.0 worked perfectly. This is because older versions have readily available wheels for the Raspberry Pi's ARM architecture. So, let's implement this solution.

Implementing the Fix: Modifying setup.py

The suggested fix involves modifying the setup.py file of the OctoPrint plugin that's causing the issue. In this case, it's the OctoPrint-Pinput_Shaping plugin. Here's the code snippet that needs to be changed:

diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1d72d2c..4e5d059 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ plugin_url = "https://github.com/navaismo/OctoPrint-Pinput_Shaping"
 plugin_license = "AGPLv3"
 
 # Any additional requirements besides OctoPrint should be listed here
-plugin_requires = ["numpy", "scipy", "matplotlib", "pandas","pexpect"]
+plugin_requires = ["numpy", "scipy", "matplotlib", "pandas<2.3.0","pexpect"]
 
 ### --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ### More advanced options that you usually shouldn't have to touch follow after this point

Let's break down what this change does:

  1. Locate setup.py: First, you'll need to find the setup.py file within the plugin's directory. If you installed the plugin through OctoPrint's plugin manager, it's usually located in the ~/.octoprint/plugins directory.

  2. Edit the File: Open setup.py in a text editor. You'll need to have sufficient permissions to edit the file, so you might need to use sudo. For example:

    sudo nano ~/.octoprint/plugins/OctoPrint-Pinput_Shaping/setup.py

  3. Modify plugin_requires: Look for the line that defines plugin_requires. It should look something like this:

    plugin_requires = ["numpy", "scipy", "matplotlib", "pandas","pexpect"]

    Change it to this:

    plugin_requires = ["numpy", "scipy", "matplotlib", "pandas<2.3.0","pexpect"]

    The pandas<2.3.0 part is the key. It tells pip to install a version of pandas that is less than 2.3.0.

  4. Save the File: Save the changes you made to setup.py. If you're using nano, you can press Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

  5. Reinstall the Plugin: Now, you'll need to reinstall the plugin for the changes to take effect. You can do this through OctoPrint's plugin manager by first uninstalling the plugin and then reinstalling it.

Why This Works

By pinning pandas to an older version, we're forcing pip to use a pre-built wheel, which avoids the resource-intensive build-from-source process. This significantly reduces the chances of running into memory issues and ensures a smoother installation on the Raspberry Pi.

Alternative Solutions and Considerations

While pinning pandas is the most immediate solution, there are a few other things to keep in mind:

  • Piwheels: The user who reported the issue mentioned that this might be a temporary problem and that piwheels (a repository of pre-built Python packages for Raspberry Pi) will likely build the latest pandas version soon. So, keep an eye on piwheels; the issue might resolve itself in the future.
  • Memory Management: If you're consistently running into memory issues on your Raspberry Pi, consider optimizing your setup. Closing unnecessary processes, increasing swap space, or even upgrading to a Raspberry Pi with more RAM (like a 4GB or 8GB model) can help.
  • Virtual Environments: Using virtual environments for your Python projects (including OctoPrint) is generally a good practice. It helps isolate dependencies and avoid conflicts. If you're not already using virtual environments, now might be a good time to start.

Wrapping Up: Getting Pandas Working on Your Raspberry Pi

So, there you have it! If you're struggling to install the latest pandas version on your Raspberry Pi for OctoPrint, don't worry, you're not alone. By pinning pandas to a version less than 2.3.0, you can bypass the build-from-source issue and get your plugins up and running. Remember to modify the setup.py file, reinstall the plugin, and keep an eye on piwheels for future updates. With a little bit of troubleshooting, you'll be back to printing in no time. Happy printing, everyone! If you've encountered similar issues or have other solutions, feel free to share them in the comments below. Let's help each other out in the OctoPrint community!

Additional Resources

For more information on the topics discussed in this article, check out these resources:

By using these resources, you can further enhance your understanding of pandas, OctoPrint plugins, and Python package management on the Raspberry Pi. Happy learning and printing!