Tips from Calude.ai

Looking at your Python script, I can see it’s a YouTube downloader GUI that depends on tkinter and calls external binaries. Relocation errors with tkinter applications are quite common with PyInstaller on Linux.

Here are the most likely solutions for your specific case:

Try these fixes in order:

1. Use the –windowed flag (essential for tkinter apps):

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed youtube-downloader.py

2. Exclude problematic tkinter modules that often cause relocation issues:

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --exclude-module _tkinter --exclude-module tkinter.dnd2 youtube-downloader.py

3. Add explicit tkinter inclusion (if the above excludes too much):

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --hidden-import tkinter --hidden-import tkinter.filedialog youtube-downloader.py

4. Try without threading optimization:

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --noupx youtube-downloader.py

5. If you’re still getting relocation errors, try this comprehensive command:

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --strip --exclude-module numpy --exclude-module matplotlib --exclude-module PIL youtube-downloader.py

Additional considerations for your specific script:

• Your script references /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp_linux – make sure this binary exists and is executable
• The icon path /usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/ytdlp.png should also exist

Can you share the exact relocation error message you’re seeing? The specific error will help me give you a more targeted solution. Also, what command are you currently using with PyInstaller?

The error message usually looks something like:

./youtube-downloader: relocation error: [library name]: symbol [symbol name] version [version] not defined in file [file]

That’s a classic glibc symbol versioning issue! The __snprintf_chk symbol error indicates that PyInstaller bundled a version of libz.so.1 (zlib library) that expects a different glibc version than what’s available on your system.

Here are the solutions to try:

1. Exclude the problematic library (most likely to work):

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --exclude-module zlib youtube-downloader.py

2. Force PyInstaller to use system libraries instead of bundling:

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --exclude-module zlib --exclude-module _compression youtube-downloader.py

3. If that doesn’t work, try building without UPX compression:

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --noupx --exclude-module zlib youtube-downloader.py

4. More aggressive library exclusion:

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --exclude-module zlib --exclude-module _compression --exclude-module lzma --exclude-module bz2 youtube-downloader.py

5. If you’re still having issues, try this comprehensive approach:

Create a .spec file for more control:

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed youtube-downloader.py

Then edit the generated youtube-downloader.spec file and add this to the Analysis section:

excludes=['zlib', '_compression']

6. Alternative: Build in a clean environment:

python -m venv clean_build
source clean_build/bin/activate
pip install pyinstaller
pip install --no-deps [any other dependencies you need]
pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --exclude-module zlib youtube-downloader.py

The --exclude-module zlib approach usually fixes this specific error because it forces the executable to use the system’s zlib instead of the bundled one.

Try option #1 first – it’s the most straightforward fix for this specific error. Let me know if you still get relocation errors after that!

Yes, now that you’ve edited the .spec file, you should build using the .spec file directly (not the .py file). Here’s the process:

If you want to use a clean environment (recommended):

1. Create and activate clean environment:

python -m venv clean_build
source clean_build/bin/activate

2. Install only what you need:

pip install pyinstaller
# Don't install other dependencies unless your script imports them beyond tkinter

3. Build using the .spec file:

pyinstaller youtube-downloader.spec

Or if you want to use your current environment:

Just run:

pyinstaller youtube-downloader.spec

Key points:

• Use the .spec filename, not the .py filename
• PyInstaller will read all the settings from your edited .spec file
• The clean environment helps avoid bundling unnecessary libraries that might cause conflicts

The executable will be created in the dist/ folder as usual.

Try this and let me know if you still get the relocation error! If you do, we can add more exclusions to the .spec file.