"python manage.py runserver" = cannot execute binary file error (django)

Question

new one to me commend I'm running ubuntu 10.04 relatively fresh install on my laptop manually installed django 1.2.1

when I try to run inside of a virtualenv

python manage.py **any command**

I get the error "bash: /home/alvin/workspace/storm-guard/virtual_damage_restoration/bin/python: cannot execute binary file "

I have done the following so far:

• removed and re-installed django
• removed and re-installed project directory
• removed first line from manage.py that defines the python shell to use
• verified file has permission to execute
• re-installed virtualenv

at this point I'm scratching my head

any advice is greatly apreciated

Answer 1

the virtualenv I was attempting to use was copied from another computer

for whatever reason when I created a new virtualenv and copied the bin directory over the existing everything started working