ImportError:cannot import name '_gi' while trying to add any PPA repository

Question

I have been trying to install MPV on my Ubuntu (18.04 LTS). Whenever I am trying to add a PPA repository to my system I get this error.

For example, I tried this:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mc3man/mpv-tests

And got this:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/add-apt-repository", line 11, in <module>
    from softwareproperties.SoftwareProperties import SoftwareProperties, shortcut_handler
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/softwareproperties/SoftwareProperties.py", line 67, in <module>
    from gi.repository import Gio
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/__init__.py", line 42, in <module>
    from . import _gi
ImportError: cannot import name '_gi' from partially initialized module 'gi' (most likely due to a circular import) (/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/__init__.py)

It happens every time I am trying to add any PPA to my system. I had Python 3.6 installed by default but later updated to Python 3.8.0. I am new to Linux. What might be causing this problem? And How to solve this?

Thank you!

Solution

Sounds like your system might have issues choosing the correct Python version.

Try editing the file /usr/bin/add-apt-repository and changing out the line #!/usr/bin/python3 with the specific version of python, in your case:

#!/usr/bin/python3.8

Alternatively see if you have an older working version of python installed that you could use instead:

ls -al /usr/bin | grep python

look for other versions, like python3.5 or python3.6 and try replacing the #!/usr/bin/python3.8 with the apropriate version number.