PIL.Image.open() IOError: cannot identify image file [closed]

Question

Apparently this is a rather common issue in Python (see here, here and here) but I can't wrap my head around why this is happening in this script, which I took from here. I have attached the snippet causing the problem, as well as the Minimal Working Example (MWE) and the error trace. Could someone tell me what I am doing wrong. Thank you.

Snippet:

def captureTestImage():
    command = "raspistill -w %s -h %s -t 0 -e bmp -o -" % (100, 75)
    imageData = StringIO.StringIO()
    imageData.write(subprocess.check_output(command, shell=True))
    imageData.seek(0)
    im = Image.open(imageData)
    buffer = im.load()
    imageData.close()
    return im, buffer

Error Trace:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./test2.py", line 61, in <module>
    image1, buffer1 = captureTestImage()
  File "./test2.py", line 31, in captureTestImage
    im = Image.open(imageData)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/PIL/Image.py", line 1980, in open
    raise IOError("cannot identify image file")
IOError: cannot identify image file

MWE:

#!/usr/bin/env python

import StringIO
import subprocess
import os
import time
from datetime import datetime
from PIL import Image

# Motion detection settings:
# Threshold (how much a pixel has to change by to be marked as "changed")
# Sensitivity (how many changed pixels before capturing an image)
# ForceCapture (whether to force an image to be captured every forceCaptureTime seconds)
threshold = 10
sensitivity = 20
forceCapture = True
forceCaptureTime = 60 * 60 # Once an hour

# File settings
saveWidth = 1280
saveHeight = 960
diskSpaceToReserve = 40 * 1024 * 1024 # Keep 40 mb free on disk

# Capture a small test image (for motion detection)
def captureTestImage():
    command = "raspistill -w %s -h %s -t 0 -e bmp -o -" % (100, 75)
    imageData = StringIO.StringIO()
    imageData.write(subprocess.check_output(command, shell=True))
    imageData.seek(0)
    im = Image.open(imageData)
    buffer = im.load()
    imageData.close()
    return im, buffer

# Save a full size image to disk
def saveImage(width, height, diskSpaceToReserve):
    keepDiskSpaceFree(diskSpaceToReserve)
    time = datetime.now()
    filename = "capture-%04d%02d%02d-%02d%02d%02d.jpg" % (time.year, time.month, time.day, time.hour, time.minute, time.second)
    subprocess.call("raspistill -w 1296 -h 972 -t 0 -e jpg -q 15 -o %s" % filename, shell=True)
    print "Captured %s" % filename

# Keep free space above given level
def keepDiskSpaceFree(bytesToReserve):
    if (getFreeSpace() < bytesToReserve):
        for filename in sorted(os.listdir(".")):
            if filename.startswith("capture") and filename.endswith(".jpg"):
                os.remove(filename)
                print "Deleted %s to avoid filling disk" % filename
                if (getFreeSpace() > bytesToReserve):
                    return

# Get available disk space
def getFreeSpace():
    st = os.statvfs(".")
    du = st.f_bavail * st.f_frsize
    return du

# Get first image
image1, buffer1 = captureTestImage()

# Reset last capture time
lastCapture = time.time()

while (True):

    # Get comparison image
    image2, buffer2 = captureTestImage()

    # Count changed pixels
    changedPixels = 0
    for x in xrange(0, 100):
        for y in xrange(0, 75):
            # Just check green channel as it's the highest quality channel
            pixdiff = abs(buffer1[x,y][1] - buffer2[x,y][1])
            if pixdiff > threshold:
                changedPixels += 1

    # Check force capture
    if forceCapture:
        if time.time() - lastCapture > forceCaptureTime:
            changedPixels = sensitivity + 1

    # Save an image if pixels changed
    if changedPixels > sensitivity:
        lastCapture = time.time()
        saveImage(saveWidth, saveHeight, diskSpaceToReserve)

    # Swap comparison buffers
    image1 = image2
    buffer1 = buffer2

Answer 1

God I feel really stupid, but this was not a software problem at all, it was an unstable Raspi problem. Turns out the right drivers for the camera had not been loaded so the camera was not taking pictures, but generating an error instead. All it took was a reboot.