Pixinsight does not start on Linux Mint 19 (Tara)

[starhopper]

Hello,
I got a new PC with Linux Mint 19. I have installed Pixinsight with the installer without any error, but it does not. This is not the case with my old Linux Mint (16) PC.
The start icons are installed right in the menu, but it does not start.

Install Process:

Code: [Select]

starhopper@shark:~$ cd pi-install
starhopper@shark:~/pi-install$ tar -xzf PI-linux-x64-01.08.05.1352-20170802-c.tar.gz
starhopper@shark:~/pi-install$ sudo ./installer

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PixInsight X11 UNIX/Linux installer version 01.08.05.1352 Ripley
Copyright (C) 2003-2017 Pleiades Astrophoto. All Rights Reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PixInsight will be installed with the following parameters:

Source installation directory ... /home/starhopper/pi-install/PixInsight
PixInsight core application ..... /opt/PixInsight
Application desktop entry ....... /usr/share/applications/PixInsight.desktop
Application icons directory ..... /usr/share/icons/hicolor
MIME type description file ...... /usr/share/mime/packages/PixInsight.xml
Create /bin launcher script ..... yes
Remove previous installation .... yes

==> Are you sure [yes|no] ? yes

Please wait while PixInsight is being installed...

* PixInsight installation completed.

starhopper@shark:~/pi-install$
A click at the blue Pixinsight Icon does nothing

I tried to start it per console:

starhopper@shark:/opt/PixInsight/bin$ PixInsight
/opt/PixInsight/bin/PixInsight: /opt/PixInsight/bin/lib/libz.so.1: version `ZLIB_1.2.9' not found (required by /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16)
starhopper@shark:/opt/PixInsight/bin$

My system:

Code: [Select]

System:    Host: shark Kernel: 4.15.0-29-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.8 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1) dm: lightdm Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: desktop Mobo: ASRock model: Z370 Pro4 serial: N/A
           UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: P2.00 date: 03/21/2018
CPU:       6 core Intel Core i7-8700 (-MT-MCP-) arch: Skylake rev.10 cache: 12288 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 38304
           clock speeds: min/max: 800/4600 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 800 MHz 3: 800 MHz 4: 800 MHz 5: 800 MHz
           6: 800 MHz 7: 800 MHz 8: 800 MHz 9: 800 MHz 10: 800 MHz 11: 800 MHz 12: 800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Device 3e92 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:3e92
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 ) drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (Coffeelake 3x8 GT2)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 18.0.5 (compat-v: 3.0) Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a2f0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-29-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V
           driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15b8
           IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8192EE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: rtl8192ee port: e000 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:818b
           IF: wlp6s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 6501.3GB (54.6% used)
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 model: Samsung_SSD_970_EVO_500GB size: 500.1GB
           serial: <filter> firmware: 1B2QEXE7
           ID-2: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_HDWE160 size: 6001.2GB serial: <filter>
Partition: ID-1: / size: 458G used: 14G (4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
RAID:      System: supported: N/A
           No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
           Unused Devices: none
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Repos:     Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
           deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com tara main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Info:      Processes: 274 Uptime: 31 min Memory: 1647.5/15715.2MB
           Init: systemd v: 237 runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0 Client: Unknown python3.6 client inxi: 2.3.56

What should I do?

Thomas

[Conor]

What's the output of ldd PixInsight?

PixInsight should be run via the script it ships with (at least on FreeBSD, I'm assuming this is the case on Linux as well): ./PixInsight.sh

This script sets up a few environment variables, most notably, in this instance, are the paths for your system's loader to find the shared libraries for the binary you're trying to run e.g. LD_LIBRARY_PATH and friends. The script sets up these paths to PixInsight's local libraries.

YMMV: PixInsight doesn't work on recent FreeBSD, for example, because it's not binary compatible with system libc, and it raises a sigabort and dumps core.

[Albert van Duin]

Hi,

Got the same problem here, moved from Linux Mint 17 to 19, PixInsight installs and there is an icon in the menu, but it does not start. Has always worked like a charm on Mint 17.

Is there anyone who has a clue?

Thanks.
Albert

[macoram]

It's an issue due to the libz library (new version in Mint 19).

Launch a terminal session with root permissions  (or add SUDO before each command) and type:

cd /opt/PixInsight/bin/lib/
mv libz.so.1 libz.so.1.old
ln -s /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1

Reboot the system and PixInsight will execute normally afterwards.
Clear skies!

[Albert van Duin]

Thank you very much macroram!

In the mean time I tried to install PixInsight on both Ubuntu18 and Fedora Workstation 28 but got the same result.

When I applied your process to the Fedora installation, it worked!
So I will try it on my other machine with Linux Mint 19 now. I just like the Mint desktop more than the Gnome desktop...

Thanks again!
Albert

[Albert van Duin]

Works on Linux Mint 19 too!
Thanks again!

Albert