thonny: Can't install package

Hi, I’m trying to install a package to a raspberry pi pico. I get the following error (seems independent of the package):

install --progress-bar off micropython-ssd1306
PROBLEM IN THONNY'S BACK-END: Exception while handling 'install_distributions' (AssertionError).
See Thonny's backend.log for more info.
You may need to press "Stop/Restart" or hard-reset your MicroPython device and try again.


Process ended with exit code 1.

Followed by:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Applications/Thonny.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/tkinter/__init__.py", line 1921, in __call__
    return self.func(*args)
  File "/Applications/Thonny.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/thonny/plugins/pip_gui.py", line 355, in _on_install_click
    self._perform_pip_action("install")
  File "/Applications/Thonny.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/thonny/plugins/pip_gui.py", line 818, in _perform_pip_action
    if self._has_remote_target():
  File "/Applications/Thonny.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/thonny/plugins/pip_gui.py", line 1059, in _has_remote_target
    return proxy.supports_remote_files()
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'supports_remote_files'

Backend log has:

[MainThread] ERROR   thonny.backend: Exception while handling 'install_distributions'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Applications/Thonny.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/thonny/backend.py", line 285, in _handle_normal_command
    response = handler(cmd)
  File "/Applications/Thonny.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/thonny/plugins/micropython/mp_back.py", line 960, in _cmd_install_distributions
    assert not any([arg.startswith("-") for arg in args])
AssertionError

And then the board disconnects. Any suggestions? I can write files to the board, the REPL works etc.

About this issue

Original URL
State: closed
Created 9 months ago
Reactions: 1
Comments: 20 (2 by maintainers)

Most upvoted comments

I got the same issue here on all my students’ PCs and Macs when trying to install picozero using the package manager. Older version 4.0.2 works fine. Bumping up for dev’s attention. If you’re just trying to install picozero like me though, you can go to picozero’s webpage, copy the code from picozero.py and save it into the raspberry pi pico controller as a workaround.

Sonic557 on Oct 19, 2023

I’m now using vscode (following this guide) & got libraries installed with pipkin as follows:

made a virtualenv python3.10 -m venv venv
activated it source venv/bin/activate
installed pipkin (on laptop, in the venv) pip install pipkin
installed the package I wanted to the board pipkin install micropython-ssd1306

HTH!

drsm79 on Oct 7, 2023

Same here on MacOS Monterey. Older versions 4.0.1 and 3.3.13 work fine.

pleumann on Oct 8, 2023

Do you install pipkin with pip (or mip) to thonny or to any other python installation? I mean does it communicate with pico by itself, or does it need thonny? Sorry if asking a question, i tried looking at the docs.

Yeah, I was similarly confused, but basically: pip install pipkin pipkin install <package>

“Just works” with the board plugged in!

Or above, if you want venvs, that works too.

gumbald on Oct 7, 2023

Don’t people test their software before releasing it? But thanks for the workaround 👍

springjools on Oct 27, 2023