# Issue with loading MUMPS plugin in FreeFEM (develop branch) on macOS Apple Silicon after PETSc build **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2025, 12:40pm UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/issue-with-loading-mumps-plugin-in-freefem-develop-branch-on-macos-apple-silicon-after-petsc-build/3918 "2025-05-15T12:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ruiruibeauty](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.freefem.org/ruiruibeauty/32/3226_2.png) [@ruiruibeauty](https://community.freefem.org/u/ruiruibeauty)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 12:40pm UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/issue-with-loading-mumps-plugin-in-freefem-develop-branch-on-macos-apple-silicon-after-petsc-build/3918/1 "2025-05-15T12:40:41Z")
Dear FreeFEM Development Team, I am writing to report an issue I’m encountering with loading the MUMPS plugin in FreeFEM on my macOS Apple Silicon system. I have followed the official compilation guide and, per previous advice (from Pierre Jolivet regarding CMake compatibility), I switched to the `develop` branch of FreeFEM to use PETSc 3.23.2, which should be compatible with my CMake 4.0.2. **Summary of my installation process:** 1. Cleaned previous attempts. 2. Cloned `FreeFem-sources`, checked out the `develop` branch, and ran `autoreconf -i`. 3. Ran a basic FreeFEM `./configure` for the main program. 4. Successfully ran `make petsc-slepc` in the `3rdparty/ff-petsc/` directory. This step downloaded and compiled PETSc 3.23.2 and its dependencies (including MUMPS, METIS, ParMETIS, SLEPc, HPDDM, etc.). The PETSc `make check` within its own build directory (`petsc-3.23.2/ARCH_NAME/`) passed successfully. 5. Returned to the FreeFEM root directory, ran `./configure` (or `./reconfigure`) for FreeFEM, which seemed to complete. 6. Ran `make -j8` and `sudo make install` for FreeFEM, which also seemed to complete, installing files to `/Users/zhangpingrui/my_freefem_install/`. 7. I can successfully run `FreeFem++-mpi` and it reports version 4.15 (git v4.15-66-gf2864243). **The Issue:** When I try to run example scripts that explicitly load the MUMPS plugin, such as `testsolver_MUMPS.edp` (which contains `load "MUMPS_mpi"` or `load "MUMPS_FreeFem"`), the script fails with a load error. Here is the terminal output when trying to run `testsolver_MUMPS.edp` (this specific example tries to `load "MUMPS_mpi"`): `zhangpingrui@zhangpingruideMacBook-Air mpi % ff-mpirun -np 4 testsolver\_MUMPS.edp ‘/opt/homebrew/bin/mpiexec’ -np 4 /Users/zhangpingrui/my\_freefem\_install/bin/FreeFem+±mpi -nw ‘testsolver\_MUMPS.edp’ – FreeFem++ v4.15 (2025年 5月15日 星期四 15时29分56秒 CST - git v4.15-66-gf2864243) file : testsolver\_MUMPS.edp Load: lg\_fem lg\_mesh lg\_mesh3 eigenvalue parallelempi 1 : // run with MPI: ff-mpirun -np 4 script.edp 2 : // NBPROC 4 3 : 4 : load “MUMPS\_mpi” current line = 4 mpirank 1 / 4 current line = 4 mpirank 3 / 4 current line = 4 mpirank 2 / 4 Load error: MUMPS\_mpi fail: dlerror : dlopen(../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib, 0x0002): tried: ‘../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/Users/zhangpingrui/my\_freefem\_install/ff-petsc/r/lib/../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/Users/zhangpingrui/my\_freefem\_install/ff-petsc/r/lib/../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/Users/zhangpingrui/my\_freefem\_install/ff-petsc/r/lib/../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/Users/zhangpingrui/my\_freefem\_install/ff-petsc/r/lib/../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/usr/lib/../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file, not in dyld cache), ‘../../plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/Users/zhangpingrui/FreeFem-sources/plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/Users/zhangpingrui/FreeFem-sources/plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file), ‘/Users/zhangpingrui/FreeFem-sources/plugin/seq/MUMPS\_mpi.dylib’ (no such file) list prefix: ‘../../plugin/mpi/’ ‘’ ‘../../plugin/seq/’ list suffix: ‘’ , ‘.dylib’ current line = 4 mpirank 0 / 4 Load error : MUMPS\_mpi line number :4, MUMPS\_mpi error Load error : MUMPS\_mpi line number :4, MUMPS\_mpi code = 2 mpirank: 0`Another example script using`load "MUMPS\_FreeFem"`shows a similar`dlopen`error for`MUMPS\_FreeFem.dylib`.)\* This suggests that the `MUMPS_mpi.dylib` (or `MUMPS_FreeFem.dylib`) plugin was not correctly built or installed by FreeFEM, or it cannot be found at runtime, despite PETSc (which should provide MUMPS via the `--download-mumps` option used during its configuration) appearing to build and check successfully. I have checked my PETSc `configure.log` and it indicates that MUMPS was configured for download. I also have the `make all` log for PETSc. **My System Environment Details:** - **OS:** macOS Apple Silicon (arm64), version appears to be macOS 15.4.1. - **FreeFEM:** `develop` branch (git v4.15-66-gf2864243 as of May 15, 2025). - **PETSc:** 3.23.2 (built by FreeFEM’s `make petsc-slepc`). - **MPI:** MPICH 4.3.0 (from Homebrew). - **Compilers:** Apple Clang 17.0.0 (for C/C++ via MPICH wrappers), GNU Fortran 14.2.0\_1 (for Fortran via MPICH wrapper). - **CMake:** 4.0.2 (from Homebrew). - **FreeFEM Installation Prefix:** `/Users/zhangpingrui/my_freefem_install/` - **Environment Variables:** `PATH` and `DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH` have been updated to include `/Users/zhangpingrui/my_freefem_install/bin` and `/Users/zhangpingrui/my_freefem_install/lib/ff++/4.15/lib` (and `/mpi` subfolder) respectively. Could you please provide some guidance on why the MUMPS plugin might not be loading correctly and what steps I can take to resolve this? Is there a specific way to check if PETSc’s MUMPS was successfully built and made available to FreeFEM, and how to ensure FreeFEM builds its MUMPS interface plugin? I also noticed some warnings about “missing mpi plugin” and “MISSING lib fftw3” during the main FreeFEM `make install`, which I can provide more details on if they are relevant. Thank you for your continued support. Sincerely, Pingrui ---
**Author:** ![prj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecae2f/32.png) [@prj](https://community.freefem.org/u/prj)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 9:00am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/issue-with-loading-mumps-plugin-in-freefem-develop-branch-on-macos-apple-silicon-after-petsc-build/3918/2 "2025-05-16T09:00:32Z")
If you do `make check` in the `FreeFem-sources/examples/hpddm` folder, what is the output, please? ---
**Author:** ![ruiruibeauty](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.freefem.org/ruiruibeauty/32/3226_2.png) [@ruiruibeauty](https://community.freefem.org/u/ruiruibeauty)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 9:50am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/issue-with-loading-mumps-plugin-in-freefem-develop-branch-on-macos-apple-silicon-after-petsc-build/3918/3 "2025-05-16T09:50:09Z")
Hi Pierre, Thanks again for your guidance! As you suggested, I ran `make check` in the `FreeFem-sources/examples/hpddm` directory after successfully completing the `make petsc-slepc` step on the `develop` branch. The results are very positive: ![截屏2025-05-16 17.25.21](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/freefem/original/2X/b/b5167d1e5d09b5b2bd3c4fd3f080d5ff4c2d26d7.jpeg) ![截屏2025-05-16 17.25.46](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/freefem/original/2X/4/4aabdb9c3a82492416d0f5cdc7d010fb3f5a6dd7.jpeg) ![截屏2025-05-16 17.25.58](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/freefem/original/2X/c/c0b6d5f2298e71e0457f4ca9fbce7ff5e6a5d47b.png) ---
**Author:** ![prj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecae2f/32.png) [@prj](https://community.freefem.org/u/prj)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 5:03am UTC](https://community.freefem.org/t/issue-with-loading-mumps-plugin-in-freefem-develop-branch-on-macos-apple-silicon-after-petsc-build/3918/4 "2025-05-17T05:03:04Z")
What if you launch `testsolver_MUMPS.edp` from within that folder?