Guake suddenly not starting any more due to ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'importlib_metadata'

[stefanofornari]

Guake stopped to start. Launching it from the command line, it provides the following output, complaining it can not find the module import_metadata:

[ste ~] o(= guake
Guake not running, starting it
Loading Gnome schema from: /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/data
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 175, in activate_name_owner
    return self.get_name_owner(bus_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 361, in get_name_owner
    's', (bus_name,), **keywords)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py", line 651, in call_blocking
    message, timeout)
dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not get owner of name 'org.guake3.RemoteControl': no such name

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/main.py", line 451, in main
    remote_object = bus.get_object(DBUS_NAME, DBUS_PATH)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 241, in get_object
    follow_name_owner_changes=follow_name_owner_changes)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/proxies.py", line 248, in __init__
    self._named_service = conn.activate_name_owner(bus_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 180, in activate_name_owner
    self.start_service_by_name(bus_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 278, in start_service_by_name
    'su', (bus_name, flags)))
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py", line 651, in call_blocking
    message, timeout)
dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.guake3.RemoteControl was not provided by any .service files

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/__init__.py", line 28, in guake_version
    import importlib.metadata as importlib_metadata
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'importlib.metadata'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/guake", line 10, in <module>
    sys.exit(exec_main())
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/main.py", line 616, in exec_main
    if not main():
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/main.py", line 467, in main
    instance = Guake()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/guake_app.py", line 123, in __init__
    or self.settings.general.get_string("schema-version") != guake_version()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/__init__.py", line 30, in guake_version
    import importlib_metadata
ModuleNotFoundError: No module namModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'importlib_metadata'ed 'importlib_metadata'

I tried to reinstall but no luck...

• Guake Version: see in about box.
  3.8.1-1ppabionic0

• Please describe your system (Linux distribution and GNOME version).

  uname -a
Linux minidesktop 5.4.0-89-generic #100~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Wed Sep 29 10:59:42 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[xFEARx]

The same for me

[Davidy22]

What version of python is default/does Guake run on on your system? Does pip install importlib_metadata resolve the issue for you?

It looks like you're using the PPA. Did this issue begin when you upgraded from a a PPA version, or from the repo version to the PPA?

[stefanofornari]

hello, I have multiple versions of python, but assuming guake uses python3 (as per /usr/bin/guake), here is the version: [ste ~] =)o python3

Python 3.6.9 (default, Jan 26 2021, 15:33:00) [GCC 8.4.0] on linux Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

I do not have pip installed as it was not required to install guake and I'd like to keep away from manual fixes and stick to the distribution. Ste

…

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 6:37 AM David Yang ***@***.***> wrote: What version of python is default on your system? Does pip install importlib_metadata resolve the issue for you? — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1962 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAKRAR5MBPTCJ3BAPDDSW3UJYRSZANCNFSM5HA5JB6A> . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>.

[Davidy22]

importlib_metadata is a pip package to provide the functionality of importlib.metadata to python versions below 3.8. For now, solutions would be to either have Guake use python 3.8 or higher, or to get importlib_metadata. Can add a fallback as well for cases where neither can be done, for next release.

[stefanofornari]

Hello,
thanks for supporting. I have installed python3.8 and fixed guake as below:

[ste ~] o(= cat /usr/bin/guake
#!/usr/bin/python3.8
# PBR Generated from 'console_scripts'

import sys

from guake.main import exec_main

if __name__ == "__main__":
    sys.exit(exec_main())

When I run it I get:

[ste ~] =)o guake
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/guake", line 6, in <module>
    from guake.main import exec_main
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/main.py", line 49, in <module>
    from guake.support import print_support
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/support.py", line 5, in <module>
    import gi
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/__init__.py", line 42, in <module>
    from . import _gi
ImportError: cannot import name '_gi' from partially initialized module 'gi' (most likely due to a circular import) (/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/__init__.py)

let me know if I can be of further help.

[Davidy22]

Regarding this line:

File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/guake/main.py", line 49, in <module>

Has Guake been installed via pypi before on this machine? Potential colliding installations

[stefanofornari]

Has Guake been installed via pypi before on this machine?

No I would say never, for sure not after it stopped to work. I have purged and reinstalled it once, just to see if improved, and installed python3.8 through normal apt install python-3.8

[Davidy22]

I suspect something hasn't been linked properly to python 3.8, and it can't find the files provided by python-gi. The solution would be to install pygobject via pip, but if we can't use pip then the patch adding a fallback for the original issue should make Guake runnable on your system's default python version, and should be part of Guake 3.8.2

[marcelkottmann]

Downgrade in ubuntu for reference:

# get previous available versions from cache
apt-cache showpkg guake  

# install previous version (mine was 3.0.5-1)
sudo apt install guake=3.0.5-1

# turn off automatic updates for guake for now
sudo apt-mark hold guake

[stefanofornari]

Thanks! I will wait for the upgrade.

…

On Tue, Nov 2, 2021 at 5:01 AM David Yang ***@***.***> wrote: I suspect something hasn't been linked properly to python 3.8, and it can't find the files provided by python-gi. The solution would be to install pygobject via pip, but if we can't use pip then the patch adding a fallback for the original issue should make Guake runnable on your system's default python version, and should be part of Guake 3.8.2 — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1962 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAKRATN55FZK3VGR4SLUODUJ5PCVANCNFSM5HA5JB6A> . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>.

[logix2]

For those using the Guake Linux Uprising PPA: on Ubuntu, Guake now needs to depend on python3-importlib-metadata, so I have updated the Guake package for Ubuntu 20.04 and newer with this change. For Ubuntu 18.04, which doesn't have this package in its repositories, I have added this pull request #1964 as a patch so the latest Guake 3.8.1 should now work on Ubuntu 18.04.

[stefanofornari]

Great! I confirm it works now on Ubuntu 18.04.

[Davidy22]

Oh, should we be adding python3-importlib-metadata to our own debian bootstrap script?