PackagesNotFoundError: The following packages are not available from current channels:

Question

I'm somewhat new to Python. I've used it in a bunch of projects, but haven't really needed to stray from its standard setup. I'm trying to install some new packages to get access to functions necessary for a university assignment. When I try to install, I get the following:

(base) C:\Anaconda2\Jupyter>conda install -c python-control -c cyclus slycot control
Solving environment: failed

PackagesNotFoundError: The following packages are not available from current channels:

  - slycot
  - control

Current channels:

  - https://conda.anaconda.org/python-control/win-64
  - https://conda.anaconda.org/python-control/noarch
  - https://conda.anaconda.org/cyclus/win-64

...

And a bunch of other channels similar to that above.

I've been searching for a solution, but haven't found anything substantial. I've seen that it may be a problem with Windows, which is what I'm using it on. Past that I haven't a clue of what is going on.

Keep in mind, I don't really understand how channels and packages work, so any insight on that matter would be great too.

Answer 1

Try adding the conda-forge channel to your list of channels with this command:
conda config --append channels conda-forge. It tells conda to also look on the conda-forge channel when you search for packages. You can then simply install the two packages with conda install slycot control.

Channels are basically servers for people to host packages on and the community-driven conda-forge is usually a good place to start when packages are not available via the standard channels. I checked and both slycot and control seem to be available there.