Problems installing Ruby and Rails and DevKit on windows 7 x64 - fix

Question

I have a number of problems when trying to install ruby ​​and rails. I tried both without and now after clearing the previous installed versions.

When I try to run "gem install rdiscount --platform = ruby" I get the following error:

C:\Windows\system32>gem install rdiscount --platform=ruby Temporarily enhancing PATH to include DevKit... Building native extensions. This could take a while... ERROR: Error installing rdiscount: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension. "C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/bin/ruby.exe" extconf.rb checking for random()... *** extconf.rb failed *** Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of necessary libraries and/or headers. Check the mkmf.log file for more details. You may need configuration options. Provided configuration options: --with-opt-dir --without-opt-dir --with-opt-include --without-opt-include=${opt-dir}/include --with-opt-lib --without-opt-lib=${opt-dir}/lib --with-make-prog --without-make-prog --srcdir=. --curdir --ruby=C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/bin/ruby --with-rdiscount-dir --without-rdiscount-dir --with-rdiscount-include --without-rdiscount-include=${rdiscount-dir}/include --with-rdiscount-lib --without-rdiscount-lib=${rdiscount-dir}/lib C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:368:in `try_do': The complier failed to generate an executable file. (RuntimeError) You have to install development tools first. from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:435:in `try_link0' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:440:in `try_link' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:552:in `try_func' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:797:in `block in have_func' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:693:in `block in checking_for' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:280:in `block (2 levels) in postpone' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:280:in `block in postpone' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:254:in `open' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:276:in `postpone' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:692:in `checking_for' from C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/mkmf.rb:796:in `have_func' from extconf.rb:5:in `<main>' Gem files will remain installed in C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/rdiscount-1.6.8 for inspection. Results logged to C:/Program Files (x86)/ruby-1.9.3/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/rdiscount-1.6.8/ext/gem_make.out 

I started the DevKit installation as indicated, and it seems to work. Rails previously worked, but now no. Anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Or is it a case of deletion and retry?

thanks

Floor

Answer 1

It seems you have installed Ruby (along DevKit?) Inside the directory with spaces .

As stated in Ruby's own installer, a path with spaces is not recommended (therefore, the default value is C:\Ruby193

GCC, the compiler included with DevKit, has problems with the path with spaces, so it is recommended that you install DevKit on a path without spaces (for example, C:\DevKit )

All of this is mentioned both in RubyInstaller and in the DevKit installation instructions page.

Answer 2

I would recommend uninstalling and reinstalling. I also recommend using the Rails installer from http://railsinstaller.org/ , in my experience it was the biggest way to get rails and rubies installed on windows.