What is the under lying issue for "python setup.py egg_info" and is there a universal fix?

Question

I'm getting the following error when trying to install certain Python package on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. I've googled fixes but none so far have worked and all seem to be very specific to a particular package. Is there a universal fix, can some explain to me what the underlying problem is?

Command "python setup.py egg_info" failed with error code 1 in /tmp/pip-build-9w8mswlw/tsne/

The most recent occurrence is when I run pip3 install tsne

The output is as follows

Collecting tsne
  Using cached tsne-0.1.7.tar.gz
    Complete output from command python setup.py egg_info:
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
      File "/tmp/pip-build-9w8mswlw/tsne/setup.py", line 18, in <module>
        from Cython.Distutils import build_ext
    ImportError: No module named 'Cython'

    ----------------------------------------
Command "python setup.py egg_info" failed with error code 1 in /tmp/pip-build-9w8mswlw/tsne/

You do have a traceback given to you: `ImportError: No module named 'Cython'`. — Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard, Jun 16 '17 at 17:18
The universal fix is to read the traceback before the "Command failed" message and fix whatever's causing that. — jwodder, Jun 16 '17 at 17:24
@jwodder: that requires you to know what Cython is however. The project *should* have made Cython a setup_requirements dependency, following the [advice in this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/38057196/100297). — Martijn Pieters, Jun 16 '17 at 17:26
Thanks all! Installing Cython worked for removing the "python setup.py egg_info", got another error now but not related. Will pay closer attention to the errors next time. Thanks again — Nick Duddy, Jun 16 '17 at 17:28

Martijn Pieters · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-16T17:36:17.380

You need to install the Cython language compiler. This is listed on the project page:

A python (cython) wrapper for Barnes-Hut-SNE aka fast-tsne.

and

Requirements

numpy > =1.7.1

scipy >= 0.12.0

cython >= 0.19.1

cblas or openblas. Tested version is v0.2.5 and v0.2.6 (not necessary for OSX).

You can install Cython with

pip install Cython

While the tsne project does list Cython as a setuptools requirement, they unfortunately did not list it as an setup requirement, and assume it is already installed up front.

I filed a bug report with that project; in future point projects to setup_requires with Cython? so that pip install project_depending_on_cython pulls in Cython automatically when installing.

What is the under lying issue for "python setup.py egg_info" and is there a universal fix?

1 Answers1