gdk-pixbuf fails to install

[tobbi]

Output of brew config

% brew config
HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.6.12-11-g21c60eb
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: 21c60eb773618f039434d923d2522120c4df56ea
Last commit: 22 hours ago
Branch: main
Core tap HEAD: 5a73a7dc992ca8c1fecada308804eca867a6f10a
Core tap last commit: 2 days ago
Core tap JSON: 23 Sep 14:06 UTC
Core cask tap HEAD: ca5ce79a1388679c12cbbd6b26d5ed933aeaf2fd
Core cask tap last commit: 2 days ago
Core cask tap JSON: 23 Sep 14:06 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /usr/local
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_DISPLAY: /private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.gXHjXjYc6R/org.xquartz:0
HOMEBREW_FORBID_PACKAGES_FROM_PATHS: set
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 8
HOMEBREW_SORBET_RUNTIME: set
Homebrew Ruby: 3.4.5 => /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.4.5/bin/ruby
CPU: octa-core 64-bit ivybridge
Clang: 14.0.0 build 1400
Git: 2.37.1 => /Volumes/Development/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 12.7.6-x86_64
CLT: 14.2.0.0.1.1668646533
Xcode: 14.2 => /Volumes/Development/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Output of brew doctor

% brew doctor
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Warning: Some installed formulae are deprecated or disabled.
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If you didn't put them there on purpose they could cause problems when
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Unexpected header files:
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Uncommitted files:
   M Formula/g/gcc.rb
   M Formula/n/numpy.rb
  ?? .DS_Store
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Description of issue

I'm trying to install gdk-pixbuf, but keep getting an error message:
I'm very confused about it not being able to find cmake.

==> Installing libadwaita dependency: gdk-pixbuf
==> meson setup build -Dtests=false
Last 15 lines from /Users/tobiasmarkus/Library/Logs/Homebrew/libadwaita/01.meson.log:
C linker for the host machine: clang ld64 820.1
Host machine cpu family: x86_64
Host machine cpu: x86_64
Found pkg-config: YES (/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/shims/mac/super/pkg-config) 2.5.1
Run-time dependency glib-2.0 found: YES 2.86.0
Run-time dependency gio-2.0 found: YES 2.86.0
Did not find CMake 'cmake'
Found CMake: NO
Run-time dependency gtk4 found: NO (tried pkgconfig, framework and cmake)
Not looking for a fallback subproject for the dependency gtk4 because:
Use of fallback dependencies is disabled.

meson.build:41:10: ERROR: Dependency 'gtk4' is required but not found.

A full log can be found at /private/tmp/libadwaita-20250923-59664-reqof4/libadwaita-1.8.0/build/meson-logs/meson-log.txt



Error: You are using macOS 12.
We (and Apple) do not provide support for this old version.

This is a Tier 3 configuration:
  https://docs.brew.sh/Support-Tiers#tier-3
You can report Tier 3 unrelated issues to Homebrew/* repositories!
Read the above document instead before opening any issues or PRs.

[tobbi]

After this issue, I keep getting another error message when trying to upgrade rust:

==> Upgrading rust
  1.90.0 -> 1.90.0
Error: An exception occurred within a child process:
  FormulaUnavailableError: No available formula with the name "formula.jws.json".

IDK if those two are related or separate issues.

[daeho-ro]

You are not correctly linked to the homebrew rust, so maybe you need to link it first.

Warning: You have unlinked kegs in your Cellar.
Leaving kegs unlinked can lead to build-trouble and cause formulae that depend on
those kegs to fail to run properly once built. Run brew link on these:
qt@4
rust

brew link rust

[tobbi]

Somehow rust works now. Not sure if it was because of the thing you wrote or not. Anyway...

[p-linnane]

Try installing gtk4.

[tobbi]

% brew install gtk4
==> Auto-updating Homebrew...
Adjust how often this is run with `$HOMEBREW_AUTO_UPDATE_SECS` or disable with
`$HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1`. Hide these hints with `$HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS=1` (see `man brew`).
==> Auto-updated Homebrew!
Updated 2 taps (homebrew/core and homebrew/cask).
==> New Formulae
atomic_queue: C++14 lock-free queues
==> New Casks
folder-preview-pro: Quick Look extension for folders
rclone-ui: GUI for Rclone

You have 14 outdated formulae and 1 outdated cask installed.

Warning: gtk4 4.20.1 is already installed and up-to-date.
To reinstall 4.20.1, run:
  brew reinstall gtk4

[cho-m]

Look in /Users/tobiasmarkus/Library/Logs/Homebrew/libadwaita/ for meson-log.txt (may be in a subdirectory) and provide information on relevant log output for why meson couldn't find gtk4. Or attach copy of logs here or via brew gist-logs

[tobbi]

meson-log.txt

[cho-m]

Root cause is same as @stewmehr

Pkg-config error with 'gtk4': Could not generate cflags for gtk4:
Package libdeflate was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `libdeflate.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
Package 'libdeflate', required by 'libtiff-4', not found

You can try workaround I wrote below to rebuild libtiff.

We can add --disable-libdeflate to avoid opportunistic linkage.

[cho-m]

We can add --disable-libdeflate to avoid opportunistic linkage.

• libtiff: avoid opportunistic linkage to libdeflate homebrew-core#246122

[ziavai777]

@tobbi

[stewmehr]

I'm in a similar boat. Same package (gdk-pixbuf), same config tier (3), but a different dependency acting up; libdeflate is allegedly missing.

brew upgrade gdk-pixbuf
==> Upgrading 1 outdated package:
gdk-pixbuf 2.42.12_1 -> 2.44.2
Warning: You are using macOS 13.
We (and Apple) do not provide support for this old version.

This is a Tier 3 configuration:
  https://docs.brew.sh/Support-Tiers#tier-3
You can report Tier 3 unrelated issues to Homebrew/* repositories!
Read the above document instead before opening any issues or PRs.

==> Fetching downloads for: gdk-pixbuf
==> Fetching gdk-pixbuf
==> Downloading https://download.gnome.org/sources/gdk-pixbuf/2.44/gdk-pixbuf-2.44.2.tar.xz
Already downloaded: /Users/xxx/Library/Caches/Homebrew/downloads/79f9669d9be429358c76537ea997ee4b02f8f979e33e9d2aae601179c46dbcd4--gdk-pixbuf-2.44.2.tar.xz
==> Upgrading gdk-pixbuf
  2.42.12_1 -> 2.44.2 
==> meson setup build -Drelocatable=false -Dnative_windows_loaders=false -Dtests=false -Dinstalled_tests=false -Dman=true -Dgtk_doc=false -Dpng=enabled -Dtiff=enabled -Djpeg=enabled -Dothers=enabled -Dintrospection=enabled -Dglycin=disabled
Last 15 lines from /Users/xxx/Library/Logs/Homebrew/gdk-pixbuf/01.meson.log:
Run-time dependency libjpeg found: YES 3.1.2
Checking for function "jpeg_destroy_decompress" with dependency libjpeg: YES 
Checking for function "jpeg_simple_progression" with dependency libjpeg: YES 
Did not find CMake 'cmake'
Found CMake: NO
Run-time dependency libtiff-4 found: NO (tried framework)

meson.build:388:13: ERROR: Dependency lookup for libtiff-4 with method 'pkgconfig' failed: Could not generate cflags for libtiff-4:
Package libdeflate was not found in the pkg-config search path.
Perhaps you should add the directory containing `libdeflate.pc'
to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
Package 'libdeflate', required by 'libtiff-4', not found


A full log can be found at /private/tmp/gdk-pixbuf-20250929-54163-7q1754/gdk-pixbuf-2.44.2/build/meson-logs/meson-log.txt



Error: You are using macOS 13.
We (and Apple) do not provide support for this old version.

This is a Tier 3 configuration:
  https://docs.brew.sh/Support-Tiers#tier-3
You can report Tier 3 unrelated issues to Homebrew/* repositories!
Read the above document instead before opening any issues or PRs.

Just to confirm that libdeflate should be available:

brew info libdeflate
==> libdeflate: stable 1.24 (bottled)
Heavily optimized DEFLATE/zlib/gzip compression and decompression
https://github.com/ebiggers/libdeflate
Installed
/usr/local/Cellar/libdeflate/1.24 (17 files, 338.5KB) *
  Poured from bottle using the formulae.brew.sh API on 2025-09-28 at 23:23:58
From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/HEAD/Formula/lib/libdeflate.rb
License: MIT
==> Dependencies
Build: cmake ✔
==> Downloading https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/libdeflate.json
==> Analytics
install: 51,166 (30 days), 163,214 (90 days), 848,477 (365 days)
install-on-request: 148 (30 days), 353 (90 days), 2,218 (365 days)
build-error: 35 (30 days)

[cho-m]

libtiff likely autodetected libdeflate during build, which can cause issues when building dependents like gdk-pixbuf.

You can check if this is the case via brew linkage libtiff

A workaround is to rebuild libtiff without formulae like libdeflate visible, maybe brew unlink libdeflate && brew reinstall libtiff

[stewmehr]

This has solved my issue. Thanks!

[protrolium]

@cho-m you solved my problem as well, I was unable to get gdk-pixbuf to compile on macOS Ventura and this did the trick. tysm you are an angel blowing in the wind ≈