75

I was trying to configure the kernel and I got the following error. Can somebody please tell me what I should do?

root@nitr-desktop:/usr/src/linux# make menuconfig
 *** Unable to find the ncurses libraries or the
 *** required header files.
 *** 'make menuconfig' requires the ncurses libraries.
 *** 
 *** Install ncurses (ncurses-devel) and try again.
 *** 
make[1]: *** [scripts/kconfig/dochecklxdialog] Error 1
make: *** [menuconfig] Error 2
Zanna
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user141332
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3 Answers3

114

Open up your terminal and install libncurses-dev by using this command:

sudo apt-get install libncurses-dev
David Foerster
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shahid
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    Not found. This should be ncurses-dev as in the answer below. – user643722 Dec 17 '14 at 09:00
  • @user643722: What's the problem? `apt-cache show libncurses-dev` yields `N: Can't select versions from package 'libncurses-dev' as it is purely virtual`, which means I could install it like the answer says. – David Foerster Oct 04 '16 at 16:46
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    `libncurses-dev` works for me. – Throw Away Account Feb 03 '18 at 21:00
  • I know this is ubuntu, but it's still my top result for debian searches... debian uses libncurses5-dev – isaaclw Aug 14 '18 at 15:21
  • I got a `cannot find -lncursesw` which I solved using the [other answer](https://askubuntu.com/a/907500/121101): `apt install libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev`. Upvote it too. – marcelocra Feb 11 '19 at 23:51
23

Above problem solved now. all I did was:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ncurses-dev
Parto
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MayurKubavat
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  • It says `Note, selecting 'libncurses5-dev' instead of 'ncurses-dev'`. But I specifically need `libncurses-dev` instead of `libncurses5-dev`. – Chirag Mittal Nov 24 '19 at 09:21
14

Tested on Ubuntu 17.04

You should install libncurses5-dev and libncursesw5-dev:

apt install libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev

References: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-install-ncurses-library-headers-on-debian-ubuntu-centos-fedora/

Mateusz Piotrowski
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