How can I fix pip install error: 'EnvironmentError: [Errno 42] Illegal byte sequence'?

Question

I am trying to download kivy module using pip.

When I run the pip install command, I got an error: Could not install packages due to an EnvironmentError: [Errno 42] Illegal byte sequence.

I already re-installed python, I am running as an administrator and I also tried to download via the wheel file. All of the above causes the same environment error.

Answer 1

There seems to be a bug in pip https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/5665. The current workaround is to run the command in silent mode

pip install kivy -q

or

pip install kivy --progress-bar=off

Answer 2

pip install kivy -q

(Not a solution, a workaround - This is a bug in displaying progress bar in pip. Above command hides the progress bar while installing)

Solution based on this.