Software⏱️ 3 min read📅 2026-06-11

How to Fix: Why do I get easy_install error "'NoneType' object has no attribute 'clone'"?

Error with easy_install and MySQLdb on Windows 7 x64 with Python 2.6 x86.

Quick Answer: Try installing MySQLdb using pip, which is a more modern package manager for Python.

The error 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'clone' occurs when trying to install the MySQLdb package using easy_install on Windows 7 x64 with Python 2.6 x86. This issue affects users who are attempting to install this specific package using easy_install.

This error can be frustrating for users, especially those who are new to Python and package installation. However, there is a solution available that will resolve the issue.

💡 Why You Are Getting This Error

  • The primary reason for this error is due to an incompatibility between the version of setuptools being used (0.6c11) and the architecture of the system (32-bit). The MySQLdb package requires a 64-bit Python installation to function correctly.
  • Another potential cause could be related to the specific version of Python being used, but this is less likely due to the fact that both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Python 2.6 x86 were tried without success.

🔧 Proven Troubleshooting Steps

Upgrading setuptools to a compatible version

  1. Step 1: Open a command prompt as an administrator and navigate to the directory where easy_install is installed.
  2. Step 2: Run the following command: `easy_install --upgrade --force-reinstall setuptools` to upgrade setuptools to a compatible version (0.7 or later).
  3. Step 3: If the above step fails, try installing setuptools using pip instead of easy_install.

Installing MySQLdb using pip

  1. Step 1: Open a command prompt as an administrator and navigate to the directory where you want to install MySQLdb.
  2. Step 2: Run the following command: `pip install mysqlclient` (for Python 2.6 x86) or `pip install mysqlclient==1.3.11` (for Python 2.6 x64).

🎯 Final Words

By upgrading setuptools to a compatible version or installing MySQLdb using pip, you should be able to resolve the 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'clone' error when trying to install the MySQLdb package using easy_install on Windows 7 x64 with Python 2.6 x86.

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