Status of Cura software for Linux

[asb 7]

Hi,

I've been searching the forum for a couple of hours to figure out the status of the Cura software for Linux. If I'm right, there doesn't seem to exist a working combination of Ubuntu release and Cura version before Ubuntu 15.10 and Cura 15.04.4. Older cura packages have unresolveable dependencies and require mixing of Ubuntu releases or other hacks. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Tested with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and 12.10 against cura 15.04.4, 15.04.03, 15.04.2, 15.02.1. Result: Starting cura through the menu produces a splash screen. Clicking on the splach screen terminates the program. Running from the command line, the infamous "ImportError: No module named agw" error is shown. No idea how to fix this. If those were proper Debian packages, they should not even install when they have unresolved dependencies. Does the cura package even check the version of the operating system or try to resolve dependencies?

Tested with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS against cura 15.04.4. Result: Starting cura through the menu doesn't do anything. Running from the command line, this sequence of errors is shown:

 

$ curaRequires wxTry sudo easy_install wxNo module named wx

 

Trying out the suggestion results in this error:

 

$ sudo easy_install wxSearching for wxReading https://pypi.python.org/simple/wx/Couldn't find index page for 'wx' (maybe misspelled?)Scanning index of all packages (this may take a while)Reading https://pypi.python.org/simple/No local packages or download links found for wxerror: Could not find suitable distribution for Requirement.parse('wx')

 

I have no idea how to fix this.

However, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS already comes with a package called cura-engine which, according to the man page, is a command line "STL to GCODE converter".

Tested with Ubuntu 15.10 against cura 15.04.4. Result: Starting cura through the menu gets the software running. Trying to update the firmware or accessing the USB port crashes cura reproducable, so no luck, either.

I'm no expert in building Debian packages, but I believe that at least some of the issues under Ubuntu and other Debian derivates are caused because the releases are handled like a Windows software. Normally, Debian packages are stored in online repopsitories, and a package management automatically resolves dependencies. This is one of the strenghts of Debian-based operating systems as it makes missing libraries impossible (unless the Debian/Ubuntu package is broken). The repositories are specific to a release of the operating system, so that would resolve guessing which version might be supported as well.

So I started looking for a repository or PPA for cura. About a year, such an approach has been started on Launchpad: https://ultimaker.com/en/community/5307-cura-1401-ubuntu-packages. However, it is no longer maintained.

Cura is also used by another printer manufacturer, Lulzbot. Those guys provide a proper repository: https://www.lulzbot.com/learn/tutorials/cura-lulzbot-edition-installation-debian

Thought I have not checked if they fixed the cura package itself, but it might be worth a look for the developers. It's totally beyond me that parts of cura already are in Ubuntu (but seem not to be used), and that there is a repository for cura (that can not be used for Ultimaker).

In a nutshell: I have spent almost three weeks trying to get cura running. I tried four releases of Ubuntu, and I tried all four packaged releases of cura. None of these combinations were fully useable. Could anyone explain what I have to do to get cura running on, let's say, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (the current LTS release)?

Thanks!

Edited January 22, 2016 by Guest

[nallath 1,124]

Older cura packages have unresolveable dependencies and require mixing of Ubuntu releases or other hacks.

 

Yup

 

Does the cura package even check the version of the operating system or try to resolve dependencies?

 

Nope, as this is almost impossible to get right (due to the weird dependencies that the old cura has, and Ubuntu being very very bad in packaging)

 

However, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS already comes with a package called cura-engine which, according to the man page, is a command line "STL to GCODE converter".

 

Someone made that once. I have no idea why. It's pretty much our slicer, but then without an interface.

 

The repositories are specific to a release of the operating system, so that would resolve guessing which version might be supported as well.

 

If only. This makes the assumption that certain dependencies can be met at all / that there is a 1 on 1 conversion from one version to another. This is quite often not the case. We depended on a number of pooly packed / handled dependencies, making it impossible to let the OS handle it.

 

In a nutshell: I have spent almost three weeks trying to get cura running. I tried four releases of Ubuntu, and I tried all four packaged releases of cura. None of these combinations were fully useable. Could anyone explain what I have to do to get cura running on, let's say, Ubuntu 15.04 LTS?

 

Yea, download the 15.04.4 version from the site. That worked for me (both Ubuntu 15.04 and 15.10)

[asb 7]

We can not upgrade from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS to a non-LTS version, so we have to wait for 16.04 (which is the next LTS release after 14.04; there is no Ubuntu 15.04 LTS, this was a typo).

If you want to jump from a LTS release to a non-LTS release, you need to do that during the nine-month support period of this release (nine months following April 2014).

On Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, I can not start cura 15.04.4 (error message as given above). So the suggestion would be to wait 4-5 months until Ubuntu 16.04 LTS has been released and then try again?

Edited January 23, 2016 by Guest

[berndjm 16]

For me work all the cura 15.04.x versions fine on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (same situation here, have to jump from LTS to LTS) - even before I did this dirty hack to get the newer version running.

No idea why you have this problems.

This "missing wx" thingie points to an too old version of python-wxgtk (as far as I remember) - just gave a look if python-wxgtk is installed and if so, which version.

[asb 7]

This "missing wx" thingie points to an too old version of python-wxgtk (as far as I remember) - just gave a look if python-wxgtk is installed and if so, which version.

 

I did some more searching as I would like to avoid apt-pinning. According to http://packages.ubuntu.com/cgi-bin/search_packages.pl?keywords=python-wxgtk, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS ('trusty') comes with the package 'python-wxgtk2.8'. Starting with 15.04 ('vivid'), python-wxgtk3.0 becomes available, but there is no official backport for 'trusty'.

This issue is being confirmed here https://forum.lulzbot.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2959&start=10#p19519 and https://code.alephobjects.com/T353. Aleph Objects suggests to use this PPA: https://launchpad.net/~adamwolf/+archive/ubuntu/kicad-trusty-backports. These are inofficial backports for 'trusty' which include the packages 'wxpython3.0' and 'wxwidgets3.0'.

This adds the PPA:

 

$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:adamwolf/kicad-trusty-backports

 

…and this goes into your sources-list:

 

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/adamwolf/kicad-trusty-backports/ubuntu'>http://ppa.launchpad.net/adamwolf/kicad-trusty-backports/ubuntu trusty main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/adamwolf/kicad-trusty-backports/ubuntu trusty main

 

Update package list with apt-get or aptitude and run and upgrade.

And voilá, cura 15.04.4 starts!

Many thanks to berndjm, Adam Wolf, and Aleph Objects!

Edited January 23, 2016 by Guest

[berndjm 16]

Strange, on my system it works with python-wxgtk2.8