Can't import obj in Python on OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard - libiconv.2.dylib?

Question

on OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard

% python
Python 2.6.1 (r261:67515, Feb 11 2010, 00:51:29) 
[GCC 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5646)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import objc
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "", line 1, in 
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/pyobjc_core-2.2-py2.6-macosx-10.6-universal.egg/objc/__init__.py", line 22, in 
    _update()
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/pyobjc_core-2.2-py2.6-macosx-10.6-universal.egg/objc/__init__.py", line 19, in _update
    import _objc
ImportError: dlopen(/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/pyobjc_core-2.2-py2.6-macosx-10.6-universal.egg/objc/_objc.so, 2): Library not loaded: /opt/local/lib/libiconv.2.dylib
  Referenced from: /Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/pyobjc_core-2.2-py2.6-macosx-10.6-universal.egg/objc/_objc.so
  Reason: Incompatible library version: _objc.so requires version 8.0.0 or later, but libiconv.2.dylib provides version 7.0.0
>>> 

-- what do I need to do?

Answer 1

First I'd try to temporary move /Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/pyobjc_core-2.2-py2.6-macosx-10.6-universal.egg/ to somewhere else and try the import statement again. This will enable the OS to import the version of objc that came with the OS by default (this is in /System/Library). By using the version in /System/Library, it works for me:

>>> import objc
>>> print objc.__file__ 
/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/Extras/lib/python/PyObjC/objc/__init__.pyc

You might also consider moving /opt/local/lib/libiconv.2.dylib to somewhere else. It looks outdated and OS X Snow Leopard has its own copy of libiconv.2.dylib in /usr/lib IIRC.

Answer 2

You more than likely screwed with the OS's Python installation, so you'll more than likely need to reinstall your OS.