comparison =PROBLEMS @ 2860:c93004d53e7a

* PROBLEMS: Some updates from David J. Mackenzie.

2859:422fbc398a11

This means that the file `etc/DOC-...' doesn't properly correspond
with the Emacs executable.  Redumping Emacs and then installing the
corresponding pair of files should fix the problem.

* M-x shell immediately responds "Process shell exited abnormally with code 1".

This is often due to inability to run the program `env'.
This should be in the `etc' subdirectory of the directory
where Emacs is installed, and it should be marked executable.

* Trouble using ptys on AIX.

People often instll the pty devices on AIX incorrectly.
Use `smit pty' to reinstall them properly.

    if ( ! ${?TERMCAP} ) setenv TERMCAP ~/my-termcap-file

Or you could set TERMCAP only when you set TERM--which should not
happen in a non-login shell.

* Error compiling sysdep.c, "sioctl.h: no such file or directory".

Among USG systems with TIOCGWINSZ, some require sysdep.c to include
the file sioctl.h; on others, sioctl.h does not exist.  We don't know
how to distinguish these two kind of systems, so currently we try to
include sioctl.h on all of them.  If this #include gets an error, just
delete it.

* X Windows doesn't work if DISPLAY uses a hostname.

People have reported kernel bugs in certain systems that cause Emacs
not to work with X Windows if DISPLAY is set using a host name.  But

when unpacking the shell archive.

I have also seen character \177 changed into \377.  I do not know
what transfer means caused this problem.  Various network
file transfer programs are suspected of clobbering the high bit.

The only verified ways to transfer GNU Emacs are `tar', kermit (in
binary mode on Unix), and rcp or internet ftp between two Unix systems,
or chaosnet cftp using raw mode.

If you have a copy of Emacs that has been damaged in its
nonprinting characters, you can fix them:

 1) Record the names of all the .elc files.

You may have forgotten to recompile them into .elc files.
Then the old .elc files will be loaded, and your changes
will not be seen.  To fix this, do M-x byte-recompile-directory
and specify the directory that contains the Lisp files.

* The dumped Emacs (xemacs) crashes when run, trying to write pure data.

Two causes have been seen for such problems.

1) On a system where getpagesize is not a system call, it is defined

give it.  You are screwed!  You should replace the terminal or
concentrator with a properly designed one.  In the mean time,
some drastic measures can make Emacs semi-work.

One drastic measure to ignore C-s and C-q, while sending enough
padding that the terminal will not really lose any output.
Ignoring C-s and C-q can be done by using keyboard-translate-table
to map them into an undefined character such as C-^ or C-\.  Sending
lots of padding is done by changing the termcap entry.  Here is how
to make such a keyboard-translate-table:

    (let ((the-table (make-string 128 0)))
      ;; Default is to translate each character into itself.
      (let ((i 0))
	(while (< i 128)
	  (aset the-table i i)
	  (setq i (1+ i))))
      ;; Swap C-s with C-\
      (aset the-table ?\C-\\ ?\C-s)
      (aset the-table ?\C-s ?\C-\\)
      ;; Swap C-q with C-^
      (aset the-table ?\C-^ ?\C-q)
      (aset the-table ?\C-q ?\C-^)
      (setq keyboard-translate-table the-table))

An even more drastic measure is to make Emacs use flow control.
To do this, evaluate the Lisp expression (set-input-mode nil t).
Emacs will then interpret C-s and C-q as flow control commands.  (More
precisely, it will allow the kernel to do so as it usually does.)  You

    !       if (syscall == RSYS_close)
		    proc->p_returnval = deallocate_fd(proc, msg->m_args[0]);
	    else
	    {

* ld complains because `alloca' is not defined on your system.

Alloca is a library function in 4.2bsd, which is used very heavily by
GNU Emacs.  Use of malloc instead is very difficult, as you would have
to arrange for the storage to be freed, and do so even in the case of
a longjmp happening inside a subroutine.  Many subroutines in Emacs
can do longjmp.

If your system does not support alloca, try defining the symbol
C_ALLOCA in the m-...h file for that machine.  This will enable the use
in Emacs of a portable simulation for alloca.  But you will find that
Emacs's performance and memory use improve if you write a true
alloca in assembler language.

alloca (N) should return the address of an N-byte block of memory
added dynamically to the current stack frame.

* Vax C compiler bugs affecting Emacs.

You may get one of these problems compiling Emacs:

   foo.c line nnn: compiler error: no table entry for op STASG

This problem will not happen if the m-...h file for your type
of machine defines NO_UNION_TYPE.  That is the recommended setting now.

* C compilers lose on returning unions

I hear that some C compilers cannot handle returning
a union type.  Most of the functions in GNU Emacs return
type Lisp_Object, which is currently defined as a union.

This problem will not happen if the m-...h file for your type
of machine defines NO_UNION_TYPE.  That is the recommended setting now.

2860:c93004d53e7a

This means that the file `etc/DOC-...' doesn't properly correspond
with the Emacs executable.  Redumping Emacs and then installing the
corresponding pair of files should fix the problem.

* Trouble using ptys on AIX.

People often instll the pty devices on AIX incorrectly.
Use `smit pty' to reinstall them properly.

    if ( ! ${?TERMCAP} ) setenv TERMCAP ~/my-termcap-file

Or you could set TERMCAP only when you set TERM--which should not
happen in a non-login shell.

* X Windows doesn't work if DISPLAY uses a hostname.

People have reported kernel bugs in certain systems that cause Emacs
not to work with X Windows if DISPLAY is set using a host name.  But

when unpacking the shell archive.

I have also seen character \177 changed into \377.  I do not know
what transfer means caused this problem.  Various network
file transfer programs are suspected of clobbering the high bit.

If you have a copy of Emacs that has been damaged in its
nonprinting characters, you can fix them:

 1) Record the names of all the .elc files.

You may have forgotten to recompile them into .elc files.
Then the old .elc files will be loaded, and your changes
will not be seen.  To fix this, do M-x byte-recompile-directory
and specify the directory that contains the Lisp files.

Emacs should print a warning when loading a .elc file which is older
than the corresponding .el file.

* The dumped Emacs (xemacs) crashes when run, trying to write pure data.

Two causes have been seen for such problems.

1) On a system where getpagesize is not a system call, it is defined

give it.  You are screwed!  You should replace the terminal or
concentrator with a properly designed one.  In the mean time,
some drastic measures can make Emacs semi-work.

One drastic measure to ignore C-s and C-q, while sending enough
padding that the terminal will not really lose any output.  To make
such an adjustment, you need only invoke the function
enable-flow-control-on with a list of terminal types in your own
.emacs file.  As arguments, give it the names of one or more terminal
types you use which require flow control adjustments.
Here's an example:

(enable-flow-control-on "vt200" "vt300" "vt101" "vt131")

An even more drastic measure is to make Emacs use flow control.
To do this, evaluate the Lisp expression (set-input-mode nil t).
Emacs will then interpret C-s and C-q as flow control commands.  (More
precisely, it will allow the kernel to do so as it usually does.)  You

    !       if (syscall == RSYS_close)
		    proc->p_returnval = deallocate_fd(proc, msg->m_args[0]);
	    else
	    {

* Vax C compiler bugs affecting Emacs.

You may get one of these problems compiling Emacs:

   foo.c line nnn: compiler error: no table entry for op STASG

This problem will not happen if the m-...h file for your type
of machine defines NO_UNION_TYPE.  That is the recommended setting now.

* C compilers lose on returning unions

I hear that some C compilers cannot handle returning a union type.
Most of the functions in GNU Emacs return type Lisp_Object, which is
defined as a union on some rare architectures.

This problem will not happen if the m-...h file for your type
of machine defines NO_UNION_TYPE.