# Rvm - gstreamer gem install error

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985>\
**Category:** Ruby-Gnome 2\
**Created:** [March 2, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985 "2011-03-02T22:40:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![luislavena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@luislavena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/luislavena)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/1 "2011-03-02T22:40:42Z")

</div>

hello all,  
i’m having a problem installing the gstreamer gem under rvm - both  
with 1.8.7 and 1.9.2.  
i’ve got all dependencies installed (i believe, gtk2 and libxml2) but  
i get this error running “gem install gstreamer” :

ERROR: Error installing gstreamer:  
ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

a look at “gstreamer/gem\_make.out” shows me this:

/home/…/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/bin/ruby extconf.rb  
checking for GCC… yes  
checking for rb\_define\_alloc\_func() in ruby.h… yes  
checking for rb\_block\_proc() in ruby.h… yes  
checking for new allocation framework… yes  
checking for attribute assignment… no  
checking for Win32 OS… no  
checking for gstreamer-0.10… yes  
checking for gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10… no

is the problem that the plugins-base-0.10 is missing? i somehow doubt  
that, i imagine that the plugins come bundled in the gem? i’ve googled  
this problem, and looked here on the forum - and i find similar problems  
with other gems that offer specific (too specific) solutions for each  
failing gem. any ideas about gstreamer?

thanks in advance -

jk

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/2 "2011-03-03T00:04:46Z")

</div>

2011/3/2 J. K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid):

> is the problem that the plugins-base-0.10 is missing? i somehow doubt  
> Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/).  
> [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ruby-gnome2-devel-en](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ruby-gnome2-devel-en)

Hi.

You should install gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10 (nothing to do with  
ruby). If you are using a debain-like distro install  
gstreamer0.10-plugins-base package.

> **[GStreamer: open source multimedia framework](https://origin.gstreamer.freedesktop.org/)**

–  
Vincent C.

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**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/3 "2011-03-03T00:07:55Z")

</div>

> Hi.
> 
> You should install gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10 (nothing to do with  
> ruby). If you are using a debain-like distro install  
> gstreamer0.10-plugins-base package.  
> You may need also the developpement package :  
> libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev .
> 
> [http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/](http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/)
> 
> –  
> Vincent C.

–  
Vincent C.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/4 "2011-03-03T01:41:33Z")

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2011/3/3 J. K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid):

> not a gstreamer problem - maybe this isn’t the best place for this post,  
> but this seems to be the place where all the gstreamer talk goes on…  
> are you familiar with rvm? do you know if there’s any way to install  
> non-gem libraries into rvm, so i could just install gstreamer like i’ve  
> got it systemwide? or a fix to this rvm gem install problem?
> 
> thanks again -
> 
> jk

I am not familiar with rvm since I am using ruby (1.8 and 1.9)  
packages published by my distro.

2011/3/2 J. K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid):

> /home/…/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/bin/ruby extconf.rb  
> checking for GCC… yes  
> checking for rb\_define\_alloc\_func() in ruby.h… yes  
> checking for rb\_block\_proc() in ruby.h… yes  
> checking for new allocation framework… yes  
> checking for attribute assignment… no  
> checking for Win32 OS… no  
> checking for gstreamer-0.10… yes  
> checking for gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10… no

> From this error message I guess you are missing  
> gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10 or at least the developpement files of  
> gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10. I am not sure if these files are  
> manditories but try to install them! Otherwise can you copy the full  
> error message.

(It seems to me that rvm try to compile the extension and failed when  
needed files presence is checked. I do not see the Makefile creation  
in the log)

When I run extconf.rb (from sources not gem) here is what I get:  
$ ruby extconf.rb  
Failed to open ‘/usr/lib/pkgconfig/gst-python-0.10.pc’: No such file  
or directory  
checking for GCC… yes  
checking for rb\_define\_alloc\_func() in ruby.h… yes  
checking for rb\_block\_proc() in ruby.h… yes  
checking for new allocation framework… yes  
checking for attribute assignment… yes  
checking for Win32 OS… no  
checking for gstreamer-0.10… yes  
checking for gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10… yes  
checking for unistd.h… yes  
checking for io.h… no  
checking for main() in -lgstinterfaces-0.10… yes  
checking for gst/interfaces/xoverlay.h… yes  
checking for gstreamer-pbutils-0.10… yes  
creating ruby-gstreamer.pc  
creating Makefile  
creating Makefile

–  
Vincent C.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/5 "2011-03-03T02:33:32Z")

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hi vincent -

thanks for getting back. i’m not that crazy about gems myself, though  
they are easier to install and maintain, they’ve given me a lot of  
headaches recently.  
i wanted to ask about running 1.8x and 1.9x together systemwide  
(without rvm.) from your last post it sounds like that’s what you do…  
is this no problem? can i just install the 1.9 that comes with my  
distro (ubuntu 10.4) along with the 1.8 that i’ve got installed already  
and let them live happily side by side? how do you switch between the  
two?  
that would certainly be easier - and would mean i don’t have to  
reinstall gstreamer…

jk

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/6 "2011-03-03T00:59:25Z")

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Vincent C. wrote in post #985070:

> > Hi.
> > 
> > You should install gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10 (nothing to do with  
> > ruby). If you are using a debain-like distro install  
> > gstreamer0.10-plugins-base package.  
> > You may need also the developpement package :  
> > libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev .
> > 
> > [http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/](http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/)

hi vincent,  
thanks for getting back to me - sorry, i think i didn’t make it clear  
that this is an rvm ruby version. i’ve got gstreamer nicely installed  
on my systemwide ruby 1.8.7…  
what i want to do is install the gstreamer gem for the ruby 1.9.2 that  
i’ve got through rvm, so i can safely play around without hosing  
everything like i did last time i tried to update everything! rvm seems  
like a decent option, but it seems pretty finicky - i’ve got 1.9.2  
installed with the gnome2 0.90.7 gem, and i’m anxious to try it out with  
gstreamer, but so far no luck. pretty sure this is an rvm problem, and  
not a gstreamer problem - maybe this isn’t the best place for this post,  
but this seems to be the place where all the gstreamer talk goes on…  
are you familiar with rvm? do you know if there’s any way to install  
non-gem libraries into rvm, so i could just install gstreamer like i’ve  
got it systemwide? or a fix to this rvm gem install problem?

thanks again -

jk

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/7 "2011-03-03T03:10:17Z")

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2011/3/3 J. K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid):

> hi vincent -
> 
> thanks for getting back. i’m not that crazy about gems myself, though  
> they are easier to install and maintain, they’ve given me a lot of  
> headaches recently.

I am pretty sure that installing libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev  
will deal with this particular problems.

> i wanted to ask about running 1.8x and 1.9x together systemwide  
> (without rvm.) from your last post it sounds like that’s what you do…  
> is this no problem? can i just install the 1.9 that comes with my  
> distro (ubuntu 10.4) along with the 1.8 that i’ve got installed already  
> and let them live happily side by side? how do you switch between the  
> two?

Just install ruby or ruby1.8 and ruby1.9.1 packages. You can then test  
$ ruby my-app.rb  
$ ruby1.8 my-app.rb  
$ ruby1.9.1 my-app.rb

/usr/bin/ruby is a link to ruby1.8. If you want to use ruby 1.9 by  
default (by calling “ruby”) I would advice to create a link in  
/usr/local/bin as ruby does not seems to be handlde by  
update-alternative. Then you just need to delete that link  
(/usr/local/bin/ruby → /usr/bin/ruby1.9.1) to switch back to ruby 1.8  
by default.

> that would certainly be easier - and would mean i don’t have to  
> reinstall gstreamer…

I afraid you do. You will have to install gstreamer binding for ruby  
1.8 and ruby 1.9.

I guess rvm comes in handy but I do not use it nor gems.

> jk

–  
Vincent C.

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**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/8 "2011-03-04T04:10:05Z")

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hi vincent -  
thanks for all the tips. i’ve got ruby 1.9.1 installed systemwide  
alongside 1.8.7, both through the package manager. i found that  
update-alternatives does work nicely for switching between them -  
[http://michalf.me/blog:make-ruby-1-9-default-on-ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala](http://michalf.me/blog:make-ruby-1-9-default-on-ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala)  
the advice given here is for ubuntu 9.10 karmic, but works just fine  
on 10.4 lucid as well.  
anyway, you mentioned that

> … You will have to install gstreamer binding for ruby  
> 1.8 and ruby 1.9.

my package manager shows no gst bindings for 1.9.1, nor have i found  
any source files googling. is there a specific set of bindings for  
1.9.1? - or can i just install the default bindings from here, for  
example, [I Challenge Thee](http://packages.debian.org/lenny/libgstreamer0.10-ruby)

thanks again, you’ve been a big help

-jk

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**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/9 "2011-03-04T16:52:17Z")

</div>

hi vincent -

sorry to keep bugging you with this, but i’m having trouble finding  
sources for the ruby gstreamer bindings.

the gstreamer page [GStreamer: Bindings](http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/bindings/) sends me  
to the gnome2 page  
[The source of https://ruby-gnome.github.io/ | ruby-gnome.github.io](http://ruby-gnome2.sourceforge.jp/?News_20110304_1#Ruby%2FGtkMozEmbed)

should i install the ruby-gnome2-all-0.90.8.tar.gz in order to get the  
gstreamer, or is there somewhere to get just the gstreamer library?

thanks again -

jk

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/10 "2011-03-04T17:13:07Z")

</div>

2011/3/4 J. K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid):

> gstreamer, or is there somewhere to get just the gstreamer library?  
> You can install the module you used (gtk2 and gstreamer I guess) from  
> ruby-gnome2-all-0.90.8.tar.gz.  
> This paper provides an overview of data connectivity, details  
> its effect on application quality, and explores various alternative  
> solutions. [http://p.sf.net/sfu/progress-d2d](http://p.sf.net/sfu/progress-d2d)
> 
> * * *
> 
> ruby-gnome2-devel-en mailing list  
> [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)  
> [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ruby-gnome2-devel-en](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ruby-gnome2-devel-en)

–  
Vincent C.

---

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**Author:** ![j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@j\_k](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/j_k)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rvm-gstreamer-gem-install-error/203985/11 "2011-03-04T06:39:40Z")

</div>

2011/3/4 J. K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid):

> hi vincent -  
> thanks for all the tips. i’ve got ruby 1.9.1 installed systemwide  
> alongside 1.8.7, both through the package manager. i found that  
> update-alternatives does work nicely for switching between them -  
> [http://michalf.me/blog:make-ruby-1-9-default-on-ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala](http://michalf.me/blog:make-ruby-1-9-default-on-ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala)  
> the advice given here is for ubuntu 9.10 karmic, but works just fine  
> on 10.4 lucid as well.

Thanks for the link.

> anyway, you mentioned that
> 
> > … You will have to install gstreamer binding for ruby  
> > 1.8 and ruby 1.9.
> 
> my package manager shows no gst bindings for 1.9.1, nor have i found  
> any source files googling. is there a specific set of bindings for  
> 1.9.1? - or can i just install the default bindings from here, for  
> example, [I Challenge Thee](http://packages.debian.org/lenny/libgstreamer0.10-ruby)

I am not sure that you can find a debian package of gstreamer bindings  
for ruby 1.9.  
I do not know if gems can be used in that case. I am guessing they can.  
But you can always install from the sources.

> This paper provides an overview of data connectivity, details  
> its effect on application quality, and explores various alternative  
> solutions. [http://p.sf.net/sfu/progress-d2d](http://p.sf.net/sfu/progress-d2d)
> 
> * * *
> 
> ruby-gnome2-devel-en mailing list  
> [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)  
> [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ruby-gnome2-devel-en](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ruby-gnome2-devel-en)

–  
Vincent C.