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Kivy, ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_ctypes' when building an android app

I'm trying to build my first android app. I installed Kivy, buildozer and coded "hello world" as here. Then, I input "buildozer android debug" and it threw an error, "bla bla bla sdk directory is not specified" in this command:

/usr/bin/python3 -m pythonforandroid.toolchain create --dist_name=test2 --bootstrap=sdl2 --requirements=python3,kivy --arch armeabi-v7a --copy-libs --color=always --storage-dir="/home/whiteblackgoose/PycharmProjects/mobileapp/test2/.buildozer/android/platform/build" --ndk-api=21

So I added some arguments to the command and made it work:

/usr/bin/python3 -m pythonforandroid.toolchain create --dist_name=test2 --bootstrap=sdl2 --requirements=python3,kivy --arch armeabi-v7a --copy-libs --color=always --storage-dir="/home/whiteblackgoose/PycharmProjects/mobileapp/test2/.buildozer/android/platform/build" --ndk-api=21 --sdk-dir=/home/whiteblackgoose/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk --ndk-dir=/home/whiteblackgoose/.buildozer/android/platform/android-ndk-r17c

So when I'm trying to run it, it threw a new error:

File "/home/whiteblackgoose/PycharmProjects/mobileapp/test2/.buildozer/android/platform/build/build/other_builds/hostpython3/desktop/hostpython3/Lib/ctypes/__init__.py", line 7, in <module>
    from _ctypes import Union, Structure, Array
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_ctypes'


  STDERR:

I reinstalled cython and tried to import ctypes and _ctypes:

whiteblackgoose@whiteblackgoose-VirtualBox:~/PycharmProjects/mobileapp/test2$ python3
Python 3.6.8 (default, Jan 14 2019, 11:02:34) 
[GCC 8.0.1 20180414 (experimental) [trunk revision 259383]] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import ctypes
>>> import _ctypes
>>>

As you can see, when I import them there's no problem. But if I run the command above, it says, "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_ctypes'".

How do I make visible this module for buildozer? Or mb the problem is caused by an installed package or incorrect version of something...

Solution

  • You need to install the libffi headers. These come from the libffi-dev package on Ubuntu, and usually something similar in other distros.

    After that, clean the build by deleting the .buildozer directory in your app dir and building again.