py2app crashes with PIL errors on earlier versions of OS X

Question

A similar question was asked before by someone else: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23600028/py2app-app-crashes-on-earlier-mac-os-x-versions

I have an app that runs fine on my machine (OSX 10.9.4), but when I move it to another machine running 10.7.5, the app crashes on start up. I get the following messages in console:

Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/PATH_TO_APP/APP.app/Contents/Resources/__boot__.py", line 3
        _recipes_pil_prescript(['Hdf5SubImagePlugin', 'FitsStubImagePlugin', 'SunImagePlugin', 'GbrImagePlugin', 'Jpeg2KImagePlugin', 'MicImagePlugin', 'FpxImagePlugin', ImImagePlugin', ...
    File "/PATH_TO_APP/APP.app/Contents/Resources/__boot__.py, line 3
        from PIL import Image
    File "PIL/Image.pyc", line 62, in <module>
    File "PIL/_imaging.pyc", line 14, in <module>
    File "PIL/_imaging.pyc", line 10, in __load
ImportError: dlopen(/PATH_TO_APP/APP.app/Contents/Resources/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload/PIL/_imaging.so, 2): Symbol not found: ___sincos_stret
    Referenced from /PATH_TO_APP/APP.app/Contents/Resources/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload/PIL/_imaging.so
    Expected in: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
    in /PATH_TO_APP/APP.app/Contents/Resources/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload/PIL/_imaging.so

Earlier, to get around this error, I just uninstalled pillow. I'm not sure why pillow libraries were being added to the app to begin with, since I didn't think I was using it. But now, when attempting this workaround, I get another error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/PATH_TO_APP.app/APP.app/Contents/Resources/__boot__.py", line 384, in <module> _recipes_pil_prescript([])
    File "/PATH_TO_APP.app/APP.app/Contents/Resources/__boot__.py", line 344, in _recipes_pil_prescript from PIL import Image
    File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/PIL/Image.py", line 62, in <module>
ImportError cannot import name _imaging

Apparently I'm using PIL now somehow. My script imports the following:

from __future__ import division
import easygui as eg
import os, zlib, re, datetime, getpass, tkMessageBox, sys
import zipfile as z
import Tkinter as tk
from tkFileDialog import askdirectory
from optparse import OptionParser

Here's my setup.py:

from setuptools import setup

APP = ['zipperscript.py']
DATA_FILES = []
OPTIONS = {'argv_emulation': True, 'excludes': ['']}

setup(
    app=APP,
    name="Zipperscript_HI_50",
    data_files=DATA_FILES,
    options={'py2app': OPTIONS},
    setup_requires=['py2app'],
    version="Hawaii branch 4.0.50"
)

I'm not sure that the OS version is causing the problem, but that's my theory right now. I'm not sure how to proceed. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Dominoes

Problem solved.. sort of. I added PIL to the exclude list in setup.py. Unfortunately, there's a good chance I'll be asked to manipulate images down the road... So this is just a temporary solution, unless there's a PIL alternative that doesn't use PIL. – Dominoes

I need to manipulate images now. If anyone has any insight at all, I'd really appreciate it. – Dominoes

Follow up in the off chance someone else has the same problem. I installed an older version of OS X on a removable HDD that I boot off of when I need to build. It's annoying but it works. – Dominoes

I am experiencing the same problem. Ill post here if I find anything – Angers

Answer 1

I encountered a similar problem while using buildout on Mac OS 10.8.5. It seems that the pre-compiled packages available on Pypi have been compiled on newer versions of OS X and unfortunately insufficiently tested on older versions.

The solution is to install pillow from source instead. Download the source, and run pip install your_downloaded_file. You may need to install dependencies such as libjpeg and zlib beforehand.

After doing this I do not encounter the errors anymore and have pillow version 5.4.0 installed.

Wheelock