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You've got hardware problems.
Authored by: TrumpetPower! on Jun 25, '04 01:00:46PM

If you're getting segfaults and re-starting ``make'' lets you continue, you've almost certainly got bad hardware. If gcc is dying with SIG11 errors, you can remove the ``almost.'' In fact, repeatedly compiling known-good code is a classic hardware test.

RAM is often cited as the most likely culprit, but it could also be the CPU, motherboard interconnects, a bad hard disk or hard disk cable, bad power supply....

I sure hope you're regularly making true archival backups. Don't be surprised if, before long, you're looking for a six-month old copy of some file, because it corrupted when you saved it five months ago.

Cheers,

b&



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You've got hardware problems.
Authored by: wgscott on Jun 25, '04 02:15:26PM

I've had seg faults with g77 v. 3.4 that are reproducible, but I haven't got around them by retrying. Sometimes lowering the optimization helps.



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You've got hardware problems.
Authored by: greck on Jun 25, '04 09:48:08PM

This is exactly what I was about to say... every single time (and I've been doing this a pretty long time) I've seen gcc die on an 11, it's been bad hardware. And not even bad as in "broken" all the time, e.g. I have a couple of Shuttle SK43Gs that die identically during extended compiles, apparently by design.

The first time I ever learned this lesson was with a 100 MHz Pentium that would only get through a kernel compile if you downclocked it to 90. It was a little mini-tower, and one day after monkeying around inside it my roommate noticed a faint *clink* when I stood it back up. A little while later we found the noise... the thermal compound between the CPU and the heat sink had dried out, and when you stood the board up on its side, the heat sink would fall away from the CPU slightly. A buck's worth of compound later, it worked like a champ at 100.

So script-writer, it's definitely worth checking to make sure all your fans and heat sinks are in good working order, and if you don't find anything, then start looking for a borked part before it really bites you in the ass.



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