# In \`activate': can't activate aionpack (= 1.13.6, runtime)

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [September 22, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160 "2008-09-22T02:22:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/1 "2008-09-22T02:22:23Z")

</div>

Hi,

I am trying to run my test cases and everytime I will get the following  
errors:

c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:142:in `activate’: can’t  
activate a  
ionpack (= 1.13.6, runtime), already activated actionpack-2.0.2  
(Gem::Exceptio

```
    from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:158:in

```

`activate' from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:157:in`each’  
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:157:in  
`activate' from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:31:in`  
quire’  
from  
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active\_sup  
rt/dependencies.rb:496:in `require' from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_sup rt/dependencies.rb:342:in`new\_constants\_in’  
from  
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active\_sup  
rt/dependencies.rb:496:in `require' from ./test/functional/../test_helper.rb:4 from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in`  
m\_original\_require’  
from  
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:27:in `  
quire’  
from test/functional/comments\_controller\_test.rb:1

I tried to install/uninstall actionpack 1.13.6, gem update(system and  
source), reinstall rails, gem cleanup, and almost anything I can think  
of but will always encounter this problem. Please help.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/2 "2008-09-22T02:44:41Z")

</div>

On Sep 21, 2008, at 8:22 PM, Jason Kok wrote:

> ```
> from ./test/functional/../test_helper.rb:4
> 
> ```

What’s on that line? Perhaps a “gem ‘activesupport’, ‘=1.13.6’”, hmm?

-Rob

Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com)  
removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/3 "2008-09-22T03:28:24Z")

</div>

Rob B. wrote:

> On Sep 21, 2008, at 8:22 PM, Jason Kok wrote:
> 
> > ```
> > from ./test/functional/../test_helper.rb:4
> > 
> > ```
> 
> What’s on that line? Perhaps a “gem ‘activesupport’, ‘=1.13.6’”, hmm?
> 
> -Rob
> 
> Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com)  
> removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid

Oops didn’t realize the cut-paste didn’t turn out well.

This is what I got:  
ruby test/unit/notifier\_test.rb  
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:142:in `activate’: can’t  
activate act  
ionpack (= 1.13.6, runtime), already activated actionpack-2.0.2  
(Gem::Exception)

```
    from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:158:in 

```

`activate' from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:157:in `each’  
from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:157:in  
`activate' from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:31:in `re  
quire’  
from  
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active\_suppo  
rt/dependencies.rb:496:in `require' from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_suppo rt/dependencies.rb:342:in `new\_constants\_in’  
from  
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active\_suppo  
rt/dependencies.rb:496:in `require' from ./test/unit/../test_helper.rb:4 from c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom_require.rb:27:in `ge  
m\_original\_require’  
from  
c:/ruby/lib/ruby/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/custom\_require.rb:27:in `re  
quire’  
from test/unit/notifier\_test.rb:1

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/4 "2008-09-22T05:09:45Z")

</div>

The backtrace was fine. What are the first 5 lines in test/  
test\_helper.rb?  
This is the first file in the backtrace that’s “local” to your project.

Line 4 is the first blank line in my copy. Is this an older project?

-Rob

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/5 "2008-09-22T05:49:40Z")

</div>

Rob B. wrote:

> The backtrace was fine. What are the first 5 lines in test/  
> test\_helper.rb?  
> This is the first file in the backtrace that’s “local” to your project.
> 
> Line 4 is the first blank line in my copy. Is this an older project?
> 
> -Rob

Hi these are the first few lines of test\_helper.rb:

ENV[“RAILS\_ENV”] = “test”  
require File.expand\_path(File.dirname( **FILE** ) +  
“/…/config/environment”)  
require ‘test\_help’  
require ‘action\_web\_service/test\_invoke’

When I comment out “require ‘action\_web\_service/test\_invoke’” the  
problem is gone. But I got no idea how it got there in the first place.

Thanks,  
Jason

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/6 "2008-09-22T15:18:50Z")

</div>

On Sep 21, 2008, at 11:49 PM, Jason Kok wrote:

> Hi these are the first few lines of test\_helper.rb:
> 
> Thanks,  
> Jason

Well, I’m guessing that means it wasn’t put there by you. If all the  
tests pass, perhaps leaving it out is the right thing. However, if  
you use ActionWebService, you might need to install it separately as a  
plugin – it used to be included with Rails, but later(current)  
versions may have cut it loose.

If you really want to understand the root cause, start following the  
chain by determining where ‘action\_web\_service/test\_invoke’ is loaded  
and see what’s inside.

-Rob

Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com)  
removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/7 "2008-09-22T18:34:34Z")

</div>

On 22 Sep 2008, at 17:08, Jason Kok wrote:

> > tests pass, perhaps leaving it out is the right thing. However, if
> > 
> > Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com)  
> > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid
> 
> I tried to install the ActionWebService and they require me to install  
> actionpack 1.13.6 first. But even if I installed actionpack 1.13.6 I  
> still can’t activate that particular version.

the problem is that ActionWebService is requiring a particular version  
of ActiveSupport (the rails gems typically do this), ie the one that  
was current when ActionWebService was last released but a different  
version of ActiveSupport has already been loaded.  
There are a number of ways of using ActionWebService today, personally  
I’ve got the old code frozen into my vendor/rails (rest of rails is  
frozen anyway), and with a few tweaks it works fine  
([钛刻专家——官网](http://www.texperts.com/2007/12/21/using-action-web-service-with-rails-20/)  
) There have also been forks of the original code that have been  
updated (have a search on github). It isn’t however as simple as  
installing the old gem.

Fred

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/8 "2008-09-22T19:28:15Z")

</div>

Frederick C. wrote:

> On 22 Sep 2008, at 17:08, Jason Kok wrote:
> 
> > > tests pass, perhaps leaving it out is the right thing. However, if
> > > 
> > > Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com)  
> > > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid
> > 
> > I tried to install the ActionWebService and they require me to install  
> > actionpack 1.13.6 first. But even if I installed actionpack 1.13.6 I  
> > still can’t activate that particular version.
> 
> the problem is that ActionWebService is requiring a particular version  
> of ActiveSupport (the rails gems typically do this), ie the one that  
> was current when ActionWebService was last released but a different  
> version of ActiveSupport has already been loaded.  
> There are a number of ways of using ActionWebService today, personally  
> I’ve got the old code frozen into my vendor/rails (rest of rails is  
> frozen anyway), and with a few tweaks it works fine  
> ([钛刻专家——官网](http://www.texperts.com/2007/12/21/using-action-web-service-with-rails-20/)  
> ) There have also been forks of the original code that have been  
> updated (have a search on github). It isn’t however as simple as  
> installing the old gem.
> 
> Fred

Now I remember why I included that particular code in  
test\_helper.rb…this is because I want to re-enable actionwebservice.  
But how do I freeze my code so that I can use ActionWebService?  
Currently my application is using rails 2.0.2 and ActionWebService  
requires me to activate ActionPack 1.13.6. Can I just freeze a  
particular part of the application?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d9b06d/32.png) [@jkadarusman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jkadarusman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/in-activate-cant-activate-aionpack-1-13-6-runtime/149160/9 "2008-09-22T18:08:03Z")

</div>

Rob B. wrote:

> On Sep 21, 2008, at 11:49 PM, Jason Kok wrote:
> 
> > Hi these are the first few lines of test\_helper.rb:
> > 
> > Thanks,  
> > Jason
> 
> Well, I’m guessing that means it wasn’t put there by you. If all the  
> tests pass, perhaps leaving it out is the right thing. However, if  
> you use ActionWebService, you might need to install it separately as a  
> plugin – it used to be included with Rails, but later(current)  
> versions may have cut it loose.
> 
> If you really want to understand the root cause, start following the  
> chain by determining where ‘action\_web\_service/test\_invoke’ is loaded  
> and see what’s inside.
> 
> -Rob
> 
> Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com)  
> removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid

I tried to install the ActionWebService and they require me to install  
actionpack 1.13.6 first. But even if I installed actionpack 1.13.6 I  
still can’t activate that particular version.

Thanks,  
Jason