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Re: Octave Problem with Mac OS X


From: Ben Abbott
Subject: Re: Octave Problem with Mac OS X
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:16:12 -0500

On Jan 16, 2012, at 2:15 PM, Ben Abbott wrote:

> On Jan 16, 2012, at 12:40 PM, Stuart Edwards wrote:
> 
>> On Jan 16, 2012, at 9:06 AM, Fitzgerald Barry wrote:
>> 
>>> I apologize for the fact that I still need your help. I am not sure where I 
>>> went wrong, however, below is the message received in a terminal window.
>>> My daughter is actually the one who is required to use Octave for a college 
>>> assignment and the Mac Book Pro is hers. Unfortunately, I do very well with 
>>> my Windows PC but I find it difficult to maneuver the same on an Apple. I 
>>> hope there is a quick fix to this so that she can get to work on her 
>>> assignment.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Last login: Sun Jan 15 16:33:59 on ttys002 
>>> Mackenzie-Fitzgeralds-MacBook-Pro:~ mackenziefitzgerald$ exec 
>>> '/Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/bin/octave'
>>> GNU Octave, version 3.4.0
>>> Copyright (C) 2011 John W. Eaton and others.
>>> This is free software; see the source code for copying conditions.
>>> There is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS 
>>> FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  For details, type `warranty'.
>>> 
>>> Octave was configured for "x86_64-apple-darwin10.7.3".
>>> 
>>> Additional information about Octave is available at http://www.octave.org.
>>> 
>>> Please contribute if you find this software useful.
>>> For more information, visit http://www.octave.org/help-wanted.html
>>> 
>>> Read http://www.octave.org/bugs.html to learn how to submit bug reports.
>>> 
>>> For information about changes from previous versions, type `news'.
>>> 
>>> octave-3.4.0:1> sombrero(24)
>>> error: popen2: popen2 (child): unable to start process -- No such file or 
>>> directory
>>> error: called from:
>>> error:   
>>> /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/3.4.0/m/plot/__gnuplot_open_stream__.m
>>>  at line 30, column 44
>>> error:   
>>> /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/3.4.0/m/plot/__gnuplot_drawnow__.m
>>>  at line 72, column 19
>>> sh: gnuplot: command not found
>>> error: `unset' undefined near line 2 column 1
>>> warning: broken pipe -- some output may be lost
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Jan 13, 2012, at 8:43 AM, Fitzgerald Barry wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Thank you so much for your response. Quick question. Prior to downloading 
>>> and installing octave-3.4.0-i386.dmg that you have suggested, should I 
>>> completely eliminate the previous version 2011-04-21 binary of Octave 3.4.0 
>>> from her Mac? (that was previously installed and did not function properly)
>>> 
>>> It actually looks to be the same binary.  But yes, I would reinstall it 
>>> making sure to install gnuplot first.  So put the octave.app in the trash, 
>>> re-mount the disc image and follow the steps outlined below.  Note that if 
>>> you want to start octave from the command line (open 
>>> /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) you will have to add the path to the 
>>> octave binary as outlined below.  
>>> 
>>> Stu
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From: Stuart Edwards [mailto:address@hidden 
>>> Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 8:31 AM
>>> To: Fitzgerald Barry
>>> Cc: address@hidden; address@hidden
>>> Subject: Re: Octave Problem with Mac OS X
>>> Importance: High
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Jan 12, 2012, at 11:42 PM, Fitzgerald Barry wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Hello,
>>> 
>>> My daughter installed Octave on her Mac Book Pro and it does not seem to 
>>> work. Each time she enters anything, it returns "syntax error". I then 
>>> installed Octave on my Windows PC and she was able to enter same data and 
>>> was able to plot it with no problem. Are there known issues associated with 
>>> Mac OS X? Downloaded versions and URL from which they were downloaded are 
>>> shown below.
>>> 
>>> The version my daughter installed on her Mac Book Pro appeared on the 
>>> website 
>>> http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave%20MacOSX%20Binary/ and 
>>> was the first link at the top of the webpage named 2011-04-21 binary of 
>>> Octave 3.4.0 and does not seem to work.
>>> 
>>> The version I installed on my Windows PC appeared on the website 
>>> http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave_Windows%20-%20MinGW/Octave%203.4.3%20for%20Windows%20MinGW%20Installer/
>>>  and was the first link at the top of the webpage named 
>>> Octave3.4.3_gcc4.5.2-install.exe
>>> 
>>> Please HELP.
>>> 
>>> Thank you. 
>>> 
>>> This seems to be a common problem and has been discussed here on several 
>>> occasions in the past few months.  I was preparing the following for the 
>>> 'wiki' but hadn't quite finished it.  It should help you anyway.
>>> 
>>> The following is current as of 20120105.  The installation process has been 
>>> confirmed on an iMac running OS X 10.6.8 that has never previously had 
>>> octave or gnuplot installed.  
>>> 
>>> Download this binary  (octave-3.4.0-i386.dmg) at: 
>>> 
>>> http://sourceforge.net/projects/octave/files/Octave%20MacOSX%20Binary/2011-04-21%20binary%20of%20Octave%203.4.0/
>>>  
>>> 
>>> It's the latest version of octave for which an OS X binary is available.
>>> 
>>> Mount (double click) the dmg.
>>> 
>>> Look in the 'Extras' folder and find a gnuplot-4.4.3-aqua-i386.dmg disc 
>>> image.
>>> 
>>> This is a nice OS X binary of an up to date version of gnuplot and, 
>>> ironically, may be the only place such a gnuplot binary exists for OS X.  
>>> As an added bonus this gnuplot package includes and relies on Aquaterm a 
>>> windowing system that many Mac users feel produces more elegant plots than 
>>> X11. 
>>> 
>>> Open (double click) this dmg.
>>> 
>>> Move the 'Gnuplot' icon to your Applications folder. For purpose of this 
>>> discussion - this is assumed to be /Applications.  If you are using a local 
>>> Applications folder (/~/Applications) appropriate modification of the paths 
>>> specified below will be necessary.
>>> 
>>> At this point, Aquaterm is now also installed. It is located at 
>>> /Applications/Gnuplot.app/Contents/Resources/lib/Aquaterm.app   If you need 
>>> it for some other application, this is the path that will find it.  But 
>>> don't move it to the upper level of the Applications folder - gnuplot will 
>>> be looking for it where it self-installs.  (To inspect the contents of an 
>>> .app right click or control-click on it and select 'show package contents')
>>> 
>>> Move the 'Octave' icon from the first .dmg to the same folder 
>>> (/Applications).  It is strongly suggested that gnuplot be installed before 
>>> octave.
>>> 
>>> Now you have everything you need to run octave/gnuplot/aquaterm.  You can 
>>> put the octave and gnuplot icons in the dock and either will open in a 
>>> terminal window with a simple 'click'.  To test octave, click its icon, and 
>>> the octave prompt should appear in a new terminal window along with some 
>>> splash screen information.  Then type 'sombrero(24)' at the octave prompt 
>>> and after a while aquaterm will open and the multicolor sombrero plot 
>>> should appear.  
>>> 
>>> Starting octave from the command line requires one further step to inform 
>>> bash (your shell) where the octave binary is located.  This is accomplished 
>>> through the bash initialization file /.bashrc (. means it's normally 
>>> invisible in the finder).  The simplest way is to add the PATH to the 
>>> octave binary to your $PATH.
>>> 
>>> Open a new terminal window.  Type (without the # comments):
>>> touch /.bashrc    # this creates a .bashrc file if one does not exist
>>> open /.bashrc  # this opens .bashrc as a text document (probably in 
>>> TextEdit unless you have it set up for some other editor)
>>> 
>>> In the document type:
>>> 
>>> export PATH=$PATH:/Applications/Octave/Contents/Resources/bin    # this 
>>> appends the octave binary path to your existing path
>>> 
>>> save and close .bashrc
>>> 
>>> Either open a new terminal window, or type 'source /.bashrc' in the 
>>> existing one (to re-initialize it) and then simply type 'octave' at the 
>>> command line.  Octave should start as described above and you can repeat 
>>> the 'sombrero' test to make sure everything is working properly.
>>> 
>>> Good luck
>>> 
>>> Stu
>>> 
>> 
>> No problem, most likely you didn't go wrong - Looks like you made some 
>> progress anyway.  It appears that octave is not able to find gnuplot.  I 
>> think we can fix that.  I also noticed an error in my instructions that we 
>> should fix at the same time.  The error is in setting the .bashrc file up at 
>> the system level and not the user level. i.e. /.bashrc  instead of 
>> ~/.bashrc.  I doubt it's caused any problem - but we'll fix it anyway.
>> 
>> In a new terminal window do  (ignoring the # comments)  :
>> 
>> sudo touch /usr/bin/gnuplot               # creates an empty 'dummy' gnuplot 
>> file in /usr/bin which is included in most  PATHs. sudo invokes the 
>> 'superuser' or administrator and will ask for a password ....  then:
>> 
>> ln -s  /Applications/Gnuplot.app/Contents/Resources/bin/gnuplot   
>> /usr/bin/gnuplot      #creates a link between the binary in the app and the 
>> new dummy gnuplot file.
>> 
>> touch /usr/bin/octave     # while we're at it, may as well do the same thing 
>> for octave
>> 
>> ln -s /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/octave   /usr/bin/octave   
>>   # this is a cleaner way of inserting octave in your PATH so it can be 
>> started from the command line
>> 
>> #  Now to make sure that /usr/bin is in your path do:
>> 
>> env
>> 
>> # there should be several lines of text in response including something like 
>> :  
>> PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.3.4/bin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/texbin:/usr/local/bin
>>    -- check to see that /usr/bin: is included
>> 
>> If it is, octave and gnuplot should work fine now.  If not, we need to go 
>> back to the .bashrc file
>> 
>> sudo rm /.bashrc            # deletes the incorrect file - do this anyway - 
>> it serves no purpose. 
>> touch .bashrc                  # creates local .bashrc file
>> open .bashrc                   # opens it in the editor
>> 
>> #  type this in the editor:
>> 
>> PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin
>> Export PATH
>> 
>> # save and close
>> 
>> Things should work now .......  let me know if there are still any problems.
>> 
>> Stu
> 
> Stuart,
> 
> Can I invite / encourage you to document these instructions in the new wiki ?
> 
>       http://www.octave.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
> 
> Ben

Stuart,

I've created a page on the wiki.

        
http://www.octave.org/wiki/index.php?title=Installing_MacOS_X_Bundle&action=edit&redlink=1

Ben



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