Axidraw & Raspberry Pi 4

[D_C_E]

Hello all – I’m attempting to use my Axidraw A3 SE with a Raspberry Pi 4 and Inkscape. I believe I’ve all the correct extensions installed for Inkscape, including plotink. But perhaps they’re not in the right place? I’m getting this error when I attempt to connect to the plotter:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "axidraw_control.py", line 39, in <module>
    import ebb_serial # Requires v 0.13 in plotink:	 https://github.com/evil-mad/plotink
  File "/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/ebb_serial.py", line 39, in <module>
    from .plot_utils_import import from_dependency_import
ValueError: Attempted relative import in non-package

Any advice or suggestions suggestions? I feel like I’m this close to getting it all working. Thanks in advance for the help!

[pythonpinky]

Hello, does anyone know if this person’s problem got resolved? I’m in the exact same situation with pretty much the exact result.
I’ve read through the discord starting at January 2020, and holy cow your support is responsive. So it’s surprising to see this post has no replies. I found similar issues in Discord, and stepped alongside the suggestions, but do not find a solution.
Intended design is to have a Raspberry Pi 4 B (4g ram) used solely to operate the plotter based on documents it’s handed. I’m not using it to create pieces. I have a MCB with Illustrator for that, but Inkscape will crash after a plot when running in the background. Hence a separate device. So I hear you, understand you, and agree with you if you say ‘use CLI with raspy’ but I can’t even get that to work. So hopefully if gui works then I can graduate to CLI later.

I’m happy to eliminate any variables. From a brand, brand new Rasperry Pi OS Full install, having only configured the NIC:
#sudo apt update
#sudo apt install inkscape
#sudo reboot
#pip install plotink
(plotink was a wild guess based on above post error message)
downloaded the zipped extensions from cdn.evilmadscientist.com
unzipped
copy the 32 items, paste in /home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions (as determined by Inkscape>Edit>Preferences>system>Extensions)
#groups
confirmed username ‘pi’ is in groups ‘dialout’
#sudo reboot
Inkscape>Extensions>AxiDraw Control>Setup>Pen up/down>Apply

Traceback (most recent call last):
File “axidraw_control.py”, line 10, in <module>
axidraw_control = from_dependency_import(‘axidrawinternal.axidraw_control’)
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/plot_utils_import.py”, line 36, in from_dependency_import
module = import_module(module_name)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py”, line 37, in import_module
__import__(name)
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/axidrawinternal/axidraw_control.py”, line 28, in <module>
from axidrawinternal import axidraw # https://github.com/evil-mad/axidraw
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/axidrawinternal/axidraw.py”, line 38, in <module>
from axidrawinternal import axidraw_svg_reorder
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/axidrawinternal/axidraw_svg_reorder.py”, line 44, in <module>
plot_utils = from_dependency_import(‘plotink.plot_utils’) # https://github.com/evil-mad/plotink Requires version 0.15
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/plotink/plot_utils_import.py”, line 36, in from_dependency_import
module = import_module(module_name)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py”, line 37, in import_module
__import__(name)
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/plotink/plot_utils.py”, line 40, in <module>
from math import sqrt, isclose
ImportError: cannot import name isclose

Close error message
Freehand tool (F6)
Draw small squiggle
AxidrawControls>Plot>Apply

Traceback (most recent call last):
File “axidraw_control.py”, line 10, in <module>
axidraw_control = from_dependency_import(‘axidrawinternal.axidraw_control’)
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/plot_utils_import.py”, line 36, in from_dependency_import
module = import_module(module_name)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py”, line 37, in import_module
__import__(name)
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/axidrawinternal/axidraw_control.py”, line 28, in <module>
from axidrawinternal import axidraw # https://github.com/evil-mad/axidraw
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/axidrawinternal/axidraw.py”, line 38, in <module>
from axidrawinternal import axidraw_svg_reorder
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/axidrawinternal/axidraw_svg_reorder.py”, line 44, in <module>
plot_utils = from_dependency_import(‘plotink.plot_utils’) # https://github.com/evil-mad/plotink Requires version 0.15
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/plotink/plot_utils_import.py”, line 36, in from_dependency_import
module = import_module(module_name)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py”, line 37, in import_module
__import__(name)
File “/home/pi/.config/inkscape/extensions/axidraw_deps/plotink/plot_utils.py”, line 40, in <module>
from math import sqrt, isclose
ImportError: cannot import name isclose

Same when in Preview mode
Plug plotter into mac, runs no problem

I am a nobody at Linux, Python, coding. I’m also 15 years into IT. That’s long enough to know I don’t know anything about 95% of my field. I will humbly run any gauntlet to troubleshoot this. I’ll even do a ground-up SOP on how to get Axidraw working from fresh install on a raspy. If there’s some other distro I should be using let me know.

PS this plotter really is a nice piece and otherwise worked out of the box turnkey on the mac. I do love it.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Windell Oskay]

@D_C_E I’m sorry I didn’t see this post; it does not show up in the forum index for reasons that are unclear to me. If you’re still having trouble, please contact tech support directly — we’ll get you taken care of.

@pythonpinky This is an unrelated issue. The issue is that the software requires python 3, and you are (somehow) running Python 2 here. (The Inkscape extensions no longer work under python 2.) Please update to python 3. Make sure that you’re running Inkscape 1.0 (or newer). You may also need to manually edit Inkscape’s preferences.xml file to explicitly state which version of python to use, if it’s still locating python 2.

[D_C_E]

@pythonpinky I set the project aside for a bit, but am encountering a similar problem with another RasPi project. Getting everything configured properly between Python, Pi and a microcontroller has been a challenge. I’m deeply familiar with coming across unresolved discussion threads.

@windell_oskay I’ll fire up the Pi and will see if I can reproduce the problem I was experiencing. I’ll post back here with the results.

[Windell Oskay]

I’d suggest a fresh install of Inkscape and the AxiDraw software; this isn’t a common issue that we’ve seen.

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