fix: Improve bootstrap error handling for missing pip #69
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Fixed the launcher to gracefully handle fresh Ubuntu 24.04 installations
where pip is not installed by default.
Changes to lablink.py:
- Added check_and_install_pip() bootstrap function
- Checks for pip availability before trying to install PyQt6
- Provides clear, formatted error messages with instructions
- Handles pip installation failures gracefully
- Suggests virtual environment as alternative approach
- Better error formatting with visual separators
Changes to docs/UBUNTU_24.04_SETUP.md:
- Added step-by-step explanation of first-run experience
- Clarified what happens on each run (pip check → PyQt6 install → GUI)
- Added TL;DR section for quick reference
- Updated troubleshooting section with "pip is not installed" as first item
- Added actual error message example for easy identification
User Experience Improvements:
- Clear error messages instead of Python tracebacks
- Specific instructions for Ubuntu 24.04 users
- Alternative solutions (venv, manual install)
- Visual formatting makes errors easy to understand
This fixes the issue where users on fresh Ubuntu 24.04 would see:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyQt6'
CalledProcessError: Command returned non-zero exit status 1
Now they see:
ERROR: pip is not installed
On Ubuntu 24.04, install pip with:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-venv
Much clearer and actionable!
X9X0
pushed a commit
that referenced
this pull request
Nov 16, 2025
This commit fixes several critical issues in the launcher's apply_fixes method: 1. **Fix order of operations**: Sorts fixes by priority to ensure: - apt_install (system packages) runs first - ensurepip runs second (if needed) - create_venv runs third (after python3-venv is installed) - pip_install runs last (after venv exists) 2. **Add broken venv detection and recovery**: Before creating venv, checks if an existing venv is missing pip (broken). If so, removes and recreates it. 3. **Use venv pip for package installation**: When installing pip packages, uses venv/bin/pip if it exists, falls back to system pip otherwise. 4. **Add venv validation**: After creating venv, verifies that venv/bin/pip exists and provides helpful error message if not. These changes fix the issues seen in the debug log where: - Venv creation failed because python3-venv wasn't installed yet - After apt install succeeded, venv/bin/pip didn't exist - The launcher couldn't install server/client dependencies Fixes #69
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Fixed the launcher to gracefully handle fresh Ubuntu 24.04 installations where pip is not installed by default.
Changes to lablink.py:
Changes to docs/UBUNTU_24.04_SETUP.md:
User Experience Improvements:
This fixes the issue where users on fresh Ubuntu 24.04 would see:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyQt6'
CalledProcessError: Command returned non-zero exit status 1
Now they see:
ERROR: pip is not installed
On Ubuntu 24.04, install pip with:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-venv
Much clearer and actionable!