# Trouble installing ports that require Qt



## jamaroney (Feb 11, 2021)

Running FreeBSD 12.2.  I seem to have a problem with Qt when installing ports.  I installed the latest pkg of jamulus (3.6.2) along with 57 dependencies:

```
New packages to be INSTALLED:
        celt: 0.11.3_3
        db5: 5.3.28_7
        dejavu: 2.37_1
        double-conversion: 3.1.5.19
        encodings: 1.0.5,1
        etc_os-release: 0.1_3
        evdev-proto: 5.8
        flac: 1.3.3
        font-bh-ttf: 1.0.3_4
        font-misc-ethiopic: 1.0.4
        font-misc-meltho: 1.0.3_4
        hicolor-icon-theme: 0.17
        icu: 68.2,1
        jackit: 0.125.0_12
        jamulus: 3.6.2
        libXdamage: 1.1.5
        libXi: 1.7.10,1
        libXmu: 1.1.3,1
        libXrandr: 1.5.2
        libXrender: 0.9.10_2
        libXt: 1.2.0,1
        libXxf86vm: 1.1.4_3
        libevdev: 1.9.1.20200928
        libfontenc: 1.1.4
        libgudev: 234
        libinput: 1.16.4
        libmtdev: 1.1.6
        libsamplerate: 0.1.9_1
        libsndfile: 1.0.30
        libunwind: 20201110
        libwacom: 1.5
        libxkbcommon: 1.0.3
        libxshmfence: 1.3
        mesa-libs: 20.2.3
        mkfontscale: 1.2.1
        pcre2: 10.36
        py37-evdev: 1.3.0
        py37-pyudev: 0.22.0
        qt5-concurrent: 5.15.2_1
        qt5-core: 5.15.2
        qt5-dbus: 5.15.2_1
        qt5-gui: 5.15.2_2
        qt5-network: 5.15.2_1
        qt5-widgets: 5.15.2_1
        qt5-xml: 5.15.2_1
        qtchooser: 66_4
        vulkan-headers: 1.2.166
        xcb-util: 0.4.0_2,1
        xcb-util-image: 0.4.0_1
        xcb-util-keysyms: 0.4.0_1
        xcb-util-renderutil: 0.3.9_1
        xcb-util-wm: 0.4.1_3
        xdg-utils: 1.1.3_1
        xkeyboard-config: 2.31
        xorg-fonts-truetype: 7.7_1
        xprop: 1.2.5
        xset: 1.2.4_3
        zstd: 1.4.8
```
When I attempt to start the program, I get the following message:

```
qt.qpa.xcb: could not connect to display
qt.qpa.plugin: Could not load the Qt platform plugin "xcb" in "" even though it was found.
This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Available platform plugins are: bsdfb, minimal, offscreen, vnc, xcb.

Abort
```
I had the exact same problem with another port (avidemux) I tried to install a few months back, which I wasn't able to resolve.


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## SirDice (Feb 11, 2021)

jamaroney said:


> I seem to have a problem with Qt when installing ports.


You have a problem with packages, not ports. Installing ports means going into a /usr/ports/ directory and running `make install`. There is a difference and the difference is important. 



jamaroney said:


> ```
> qt.qpa.xcb: could not connect to display
> ```


Are you actually running the application in an X session? Looking at some of the dependencies it installed it looks like you haven't installed and configured Xorg yet.

Chapter 5. The X Window System


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## jamaroney (Feb 11, 2021)

Sorry about the incorrect terminology - I knew pkg's and ports were different, but I thought they yielded the same end result in terms of what was ultimately installed.

So, if I understand correctly, running jamulus in FreeBSD requires a GUI?

I assumed because I installed a pkg that all needed dependencies would have been included.  Was this assumption incorrect?


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## zirias@ (Feb 11, 2021)

It DID install all dependencies. X doesn't even have to run on the same machine!

Of course, if it's a GUI program, you can only start it from within an X session.

But in a nutshell, you could compare this situation with installing a web application and complaining there was no browser pulled as a dependency


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## jamaroney (Feb 12, 2021)

Where I'm confused is that both jamulus (and the previously mentioned avidemux) have a robust CLI.  In fact, aided by very specific instructions, I was able to install jamulus on a Debian VM via Google Cloud, and, as expected, it's run entirely by CLI.

That's what I want with my FreeBSD install. But those error messages keep popping up and I don't know what they mean or how to fix them.  I assumed the pkg install would provide me with everything needed to run a CLI program via SSH.

I'm curious about the last line:
	
	



```
Available platform plugins are: bsdfb, minimal, offscreen, vnc, xcb.
```
 What does it mean?


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## zirias@ (Feb 12, 2021)

This means the plugins available to Qt, it doesn't matter much if your Qt program explicitly WANTS xcb, which is the one used for X based GUI.

If this software can run without GUI, did you actually try to give this option? The documentation here suggests it's the `-n` or `--nogui` flag: https://jamulus.io/wiki/Command-Line-Options


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## jamaroney (Feb 12, 2021)

Now I feel like an idiot. That's one of the commands I used on my Google Cloud VM! And naturally it worked here as well. Thanks for reminding me of what should have been obvious!


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