# Errors when install FreeFEM on Mac from sources
**URL:** https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193
**Category:** FreeFEM installation
**Created:** [January 20, 2026, 5:17am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193 "2026-01-20T05:17:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@zxss](https://community.freefem.org/u/zxss)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2026, 5:17am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/1 "2026-01-20T05:17:26Z")
Dear all,
I am now trying to install FreeFEM on my Mac from source files. And I met an error when I
`make petsc-slepc`
The corresponding log is ‘
[configure.log](https://community.freefem.org/uploads/short-url/jxbgbrSUq70LWOijCZaTHDYiV42.log) (38.5 KB)
Is it because my python version (3.9.6) is old or anything else?
---
### Author:  [@prj](https://community.freefem.org/u/prj)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2026, 6:41am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/2 "2026-01-20T06:41:19Z")
Have you read the error message at the bottom of the file? The error has nothing to do with Python, as written in the file…
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### Author:  [@zxss](https://community.freefem.org/u/zxss)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2026, 10:10am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/3 "2026-01-20T10:10:14Z")
Thanks for your reply, after installing some libraries (mpich, gel, etc) following the installation guide. I install FreeFEM on my Mac successfully.
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### Author:  [@prj](https://community.freefem.org/u/prj)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2026, 10:35am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/4 "2026-01-21T10:35:13Z")
You should not have install MPICH or GSL yourself, but anyway…
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### Author:  [@zxss](https://community.freefem.org/u/zxss)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 5:15am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/5 "2026-01-22T05:15:05Z")
Hi, I met an error when I run the following code on my Mac
[3Dparallel\_Parmmg\_global\_Lshape\_Poisson.edp](https://community.freefem.org/uploads/short-url/aOpYoGzVC30jrOliAyaAV6TYxwo.edp) (2.3 KB)
It says
by the way, there are 10 cores in my Mac, and when I choose less than 5 cores, it works well. What’s more, I run it on Ubuntu installed on my Mac, it runs well even when I choose 10 processes. I wonder why this error happened only on my Mac when I choose more than 5 processes. Is this situation normal?
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### Author:  [@prj](https://community.freefem.org/u/prj)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 5:53am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/6 "2026-01-22T05:53:47Z")
Stick to Mmg instead of ParMmg.
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### Author:  [@zxss](https://community.freefem.org/u/zxss)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/7 "2026-01-27T21:48:58Z")
Hi, I reinstall FreeFem on my Mac by compiling, however, I met a new problem when
```auto
make -j
```
it shows
Do you know how to handle this problem?
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### Author:  [@zxss](https://community.freefem.org/u/zxss)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/errors-when-install-freefem-on-mac-from-sources/4193/8 "2026-01-27T22:35:26Z")
After adding `--with-hdf5=no`, I reinstall FreeFem successfully.