Why the Segmentation Fault! When I attempt to run / use Python Package gensim?

Am attempting to use [gensim][1], a Vector Space Modelling package for python in some Machine Learning experiments of mine. I followed their installation instructions as said here, though installation of scipy on my OpenSuse 11.3 failed when using easy_install as they recommend, so I resorted to installing it from a package available on the Official package search portal here.

Installation of scipy went ok, and then I used easy_install to install gensim as they recommend. Which also went ok.

Now, after installation, I attempted to run the very first example they give of using the package, which starts with a humble import statement as follows:

from gensim import corpora, models, similarities

Lo! When I attempted to run that in my python interpreter, the dear thing crashed with Segmentation Fault! This is what happened:

>>> from gensim import corpora, models, similarities
Segmentation fault

Someone save me, because I don't know where the error could possibly be coming from.

I understand the segfault usually is due to illegal memory access by a process, so could this be happening due to the import? or some error within gensim?

For more info, it is said that after installing the package it can be tested, so I did this to test my gensim, Lo! the same Segmentation Fault! Here is the ouput:

python setup.py test
running test
running egg_info
writing requirements to gensim.egg-info/requires.txt
writing gensim.egg-info/PKG-INFO
writing top-level names to gensim.egg-info/top_level.txt
writing dependency_links to gensim.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
reading manifest file 'gensim.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
reading manifest template 'MANIFEST.in'
warning: no files found matching '*.sh' under directory '.'
writing manifest file 'gensim.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
running build_ext
Segmentation fault

For the dependent packages, I have:

>>> numpy.version.version
'1.3.0'

>>> scipy.version.version
'0.8.0'

Ok, as requested in the comments, I did hook gdb to the interpreter, and then tried the import statement again, then this is what gdb gave when the segfault occurred again:

(gdb) continue
Continuing.
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/time.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=da29868e88d517efc61eed319c4a87b41404f932"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/strop.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=1a5723f070198420ae565b728f267f00ae7e9885"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/cStringIO.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=d02dafc8dd403786b35ee44d946fc67461c7af34"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/_functools.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=4d3d7d73a2d7abe3d4ac45bdc07a070abde67a3b"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/_collections.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=86c7e2481ef3930f858927648d270a96ef65e0d9"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/operator.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=ecdf6c9dfbb007d3698e4108e2412b575b14c3f0"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/unicodedata.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=b84b2bd4061ce43b8fe6e7319d0e3fe90431f3f9"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/cPickle.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=0cb3d3c8e51cd264b7fc0cfd6ad6cea7da6173f1"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/itertools.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=88125d7ede2ef83a18e46901c9b7bd938d7554b9"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/_bisect.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=e872da9d2f7456947a21d6cf8ac05115da084ee0"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/_heapq.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=0c250b23be656b9984a8fbf67c232930141c6a79"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/math.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=48f975758f43cffc37703cda98615cb2daaf8a08"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/core/multiarray.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=adcbae28e6012eecb870c60af4805f25554c9148"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/core/umath.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=1087f0837567a96e6db9fadb8258f21113173f01"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/core/_sort.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=c70e9c08253546b727376f7643cc9b6cc796465e"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/core/scalarmath.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=cbc4ec89676c6072f64ae92a2917548479141eee"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/lib/_compiled_base.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=6f71bf761290527c07afe78736211d2393caa95e"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/linalg/lapack_lite.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=ac2cb74a8a055e3d58e15f4ac0012159abbf7d1a"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/liblapack.so.3
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=5c9cf054c3e366ea04681d3c3b1e4d1fa8b46da5"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/libblas.so.3
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=c7ea0a3cdf0da62f1f07f81838207e6070e86449"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/libgfortran.so.3
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(bui开发者_运维百科ld-id)=6889f5fdc16cb8d7cb4d5e97c59080336c2e6e01"
Missing separate debuginfo for /lib/libgcc_s.so.1
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=ea12a9f70518dd6b807755150f1d2c6ba8550fe1"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/fft/fftpack_lite.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=32599ba87256834ebc65a962e4718aa1f9134b0e"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/numpy/random/mtrand.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=e43ddcab2e8e2961f3ab58087ac55dffa4094993"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/_ctypes.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=40cde5dd7ee47a3caac1ce1f94b6ef7fa28792ff"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/_struct.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=a5c456fe75e29e3424d7881fc05be8321fa65707"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/binascii.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=d3a2d6b38432a2b5076e238aef398cd3776bed20"
Missing separate debuginfo for /lib/libz.so.1
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=afddd839a6c18dd308b04b5289c56cc3abd1384f"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/_random.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=683d2819c1613d54dcd68c9169fc043ecb1b5444"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/fcntl.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=aaabeb0dbb01b7a14698fd221d09fedc6de19521"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/libjpeg.so.8
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=5656b9563c388beee6e716dbe832ecb4480895ba"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/array.so
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=4e4aea1f2106d4a7a7b4dbd51199e337549b83e2"
Missing separate debuginfo for /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6
Try: zypper install -C "debuginfo(build-id)=181385b3f6f58b2e13543468f07e08c5edd2cd86"

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x00000000 in ?? ()

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You are probably trying to run a 64-bit binary (or use a 64-bit library) on a 32-bit system.

Use python -v when you run the task that produces the segmentation fault to see if you can pinpoint where it is. If this isn't clear enough, then try strace python instead of just python. If the segmentation fault appears just after an attempt to "open" a .so file, then use a tool like file or readelf to find out how many bits the binary or .so library requires.

If you have a 686 Linux then everything must be 32 bits. If you have an x86_64 Linux then it should all be 64 bits.