Tips for building kdenlive on Mac OS X

I know there's already a 3-page thread for *feedback* about kdenlive on Mac OS X, but it is quite long and diverse in topics covered, and I found it difficult to sift through. I just successfully built kdenlive on Mac OS X Lion (10.7.1) on an early 2008 MacBook (MacBook 4,1) and thought I'd share a little bit about what I learned (even if you're not using OS X 10.7 or my computer model, these tips should prove helpful, especially if you're a MacPorts newbie).

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--Tip #1: Realize that this installation will take several hours and possibly max out your processor for most of that time. Be patient. It's probably best to close most other programs first -- choose a time for the installation when you don't need to use your computer for much else but can still check on your computer periodically over the course of several hours.

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--Tip #2: When performing any MacPorts operations in Terminal, add "-v" to use verbose mode. Many individual processes during the installation will take a long time to complete, and if you don't use verbose mode you won't be able to tell if a process is stuck or if it's just taking a long time. So for example:

Instead of "sudo port -d selfupdate", do "sudo port -d -v selfupdate"
And instead of "sudo port install kdenlive", do "sudo port -v install kdenlive"

When I first tried to install kdenlive, the "smake" dependency got stuck, and I had to open Activity Monitor and kill the process called "avoffset.h" (verbose mode allowed me to figure out which process to kill). The installation then continued just fine.

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--Tip #3: While running "sudo port -v install kdenlive", installation may fail at some point (or at multiple points). If this happens, don't give up right away!!! From the error message that is displayed, you'll be able to tell which dependency failed to build. Try to install that dependency individually.

For me, the "virtuoso" dependency failed to build during the kdenlive installation. I simply ran "sudo port -v install virtuoso" and it installed just fine by itself. I then resumed the kdenlive installation ("sudo port -v install kdenlive") and everything was just fine...

...until...

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--Tip #4: If the "gavl" dependency fails to install and you get an error message that looks something like this:

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make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_multimedia_gavl/gavl/work/gavl-1.2.0/gavl'
make: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make: Leaving directory `/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_multimedia_gavl/gavl/work/gavl-1.2.0'
shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_multimedia_gavl/gavl/work/gavl-1.2.0" && /usr/bin/make -j2 -w all " returned error 2
Error: Target org.macports.build returned: shell command failed (see log for details)
Warning: the following items did not execute (for gavl): org.macports.activate org.macports.build org.macports.destroot org.macports.install
Error: Failed to install gavl
Log for gavl is at: /opt/local/var/macports/logs/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_multimedia_gavl/gavl/main.log
Error: The following dependencies were not installed: mlt frei0r-plugins gavl opencv faac liboil git-core p5-error rsync popt libdv libsamplerate libsndfile flac sox file libao libid3tag libmad wavpack
Error: Status 1 encountered during processing.

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...then you probably won't be able to successfully build gavl by itself. This problem was reported as a bug on the MacPorts website a couple months ago and was finally solved by someone who posted here: https://trac.macports.org/ticket/30488#comment:11 [2]

The solution involves editing the gavl config file, but because of permission issues you'll have to use vi editor in Terminal. Here are the steps:

#1. "sudo port -v extract gavl"

#2. "cd /usr/local/var/macports/build/[long dir name depending on how your ports are fetched -- look in Finder and you'll find the name]/gavl/work/gavl-1.2.0"
NOTE: on my machine, the parent directory for this string was "/opt/" instead of "/usr/". I don't know if the person who posted the solution made a mistake and meant to type "/opt/" instead of "/usr/", or if this will vary from machine to machine. So if "/usr/..." doesn't work, try "/opt/..." instead (or just look in Finder to be sure).

#3. "sudo vi config"

#4. **You'll probably have to edit line 3106 to read "host_cpu=x86_64". If that doesn't work (it didn't work for me), try editing line 3106 to read "host_cpu=x86_32" (if you have a MacBook 4,1 from early 2008 like I do, or any other older Mac for which Apple disallowed running the kernel in 64-bit mode for no apparent reason, this should do the trick).

#5. Save the changes and exit vi.

#6. Resume kdenlive installation ("sudo port -v install kdenlive")

**Note: If you're new to vi editor, you can find some basic instructions here: http://macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/02/21/vi_intro.html?page=1 [3] ... but if you're too lazy to read up on this yourself, here is how to complete step #4:

--type "3105" and press the down-arrow key (this will move you to line 3106 in the document... otherwise you'll be doing a lot of scrolling!)
--type "i" to enter insert mode
--delete "$1" from the end of the line and replace it with "x86_64" (or "x86_32" if "x86_64" doesn't solve the problem)
--press escape to exit insert mode
--type ":w" and press return to save changes
--type ":q" and press return to exit vi editor