Added note about missign pg headers to INSTALL.

2 files changed, 18 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index 873dbfa..c133c81 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@ Compiling and installing psycopg
    libpq will leak memory.
 
 While psycopg 1.x used autoconf for its build process psycopg 2 switched to
-the more pythoning setup.py. Currently both psycopg's author and distutils
-have some limitations so the file setup.cfg is almost unused and most build
-options are hidden in setup.py. Before building psycopg look at setup.cfg file
+the more pythoning setup.py. Before building psycopg look at setup.cfg file
 and change any settings to follow your system (or taste); then:
 
     python setup.py build
@@ -21,6 +19,21 @@ to build in the local directory; and:
 to install system-wide.
 
 
+Common errors and build problems
+================================
+
+One of the most common errors is trying to build psycopg without the right
+development headers for PostgreSQL, Python or both. If you get errors, look
+for the following messages and then take the appropriate action:
+
+libpq-fe.h: No such file or directory
+  PostgreSQL headers are not properly installed on your system or are
+  installed in a non default path. First make sure they are installed, then
+  check setup.cfg and make sure pg_config points to a valid pg_config
+  executable. If you don't have a working pg_config try to play with the
+  include_dirs variable (and note that a working pg_config is better.)
+
+
 Using setuptools and EasyInstall
 ================================
 
@@ -46,3 +59,4 @@ First you need to create a libpython2X.a as described in
 http://starship.python.net/crew/kernr/mingw32/Notes.html. Then run:
 
     python setup.py build_ext --compiler=mingw32 install
+
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 45daed7..20975e5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -272,7 +272,6 @@ ext.append(Extension("psycopg2._psycopg", sources,
                      define_macros=define_macros,
                      include_dirs=include_dirs,
                      undef_macros=[]))
-
 setup(name="psycopg2",
       version=PSYCOPG_VERSION,
       maintainer="Federico Di Gregorio",
@@ -291,3 +290,4 @@ setup(name="psycopg2",
       packages=['psycopg2'],
       cmdclass={ 'build_ext': psycopg_build_ext },
       ext_modules=ext)
+