How to report problems

f78 How to report problems

How to report problems

If you find a problem in this release (also known, more familiarly, as a bug), please report it to Cygnus. Use the Cygnus bug-report form to ensure that we can respond to your problem as quickly as possible. For a listing of problems fixed since the last release, see Fixed problems.

For UNIX environments, see Reporting Problems for Unix systems and, also, see Reporting Problems in GNUPro Advanced Topics.
For Win95/NT users, use a blank copy of the SENDPR.TXT file in the installation directory (see Reporting problems for Win95/NT systems). To save time, customize the form beforehand with your Cygnus customer ID (see Some things that might go wrong). The easiest and the most reliable means to report a bug is to copy this form to your email program and email to: bugs@cygnus.com.

If email is not possible, print the SENDPR.TXT file; see Reporting problems for Win95/NT systems. Then, fill in the problem report, and FAX it ( +1 408 542 9699 ) to Cygnus, after alerting the technical support hotline ( +1 408 542 9601 ) to apprise the Technical Support staff of the transmission.

Email is the most reliable way to submit problem reports and to get speedy resolution to any problems with GNUPro Toolkit.

For issues pertaining to this release, see Red flag alerts & enhancements.

Some things that might go wrong

The following discussion shows some warning messages for some installation problems and the solutions to manage the problems.

No access to /usr/cygnus

./Install --tape=/dev/ tape -installdir=directory

Running the programs

Links for easy access and updating

WARNING!

If you can't install in '/usr/cygnus' (or link your installation directory to that name), some of the defaults configured into this release of GNUPro Toolkit won't work. See Running the programs for information on overriding or reconfiguring these defaults.

No customer ID for send-pr

Some error messages from `Install`

Install

bugs@cygnus.com

gcc: cannot exec cpp

...This is a problem.

Cannot cd to installdir

I do not know why I cannot create installdir< ffb /B>

hello.c fails to run

test-ioctl.c fails to run

These errors (the first covers anything that ends in '...This is a problem') are from paranoia checks; they are issued for situations that other checks should cover, or for unlikely situations that require further diagnosis. If you get one of these messages, contact Cygnus.

Reporting problems for Unix systems

Unix users use a script, send-pr, to send Cygnus problem reports (PRs). send-pr is configured by the Cygnus Problem Report Management System (PRMS) to update reports of problems to Cygnus technical support staff.

send-pr invokes an editor on a problem report form (after filling in some fields with reasonable default values). When you exit the editor, send-pr sends the filled out form to the PRMS at Cygnus. You can use the environment variable, EDITOR, to specify which editor to use (the default is the vi text editor). Emacs users will find PRMS especially easy to use. For more information on send-pr, see Reporting Problems in GNUPro Advanced Topics. Use bugs@cygnus.com or support@cygnus.com if you have any problems. See How to contact Cygnus for other means to reach Cygnus.

Filling out a problem report for Unix users

Use send-pr for both questions and bug reports. send-pr ensures that questions and bug reports are tracked and routed directly to the appropriate person (Cc: the assigned Cygnus engineer, if you know who that is; do not email the engineer directly, since the most reliable means to get a response is to send the report to bugs@cygnus.com). Include the category and PR number in the Subject line of your email, such as gcc/13844.

Problem reports have a structure so that a database program can manage them. When you fill out the form, remember the following guidelines:

Each PR needs a valid customer-id and category.

Describe only one problem per problem.

For follow-up mail, use the same subject line as the one in the automatic acknowledgment. It shows the category, the pr number and the original synopsis line. This causes your mail to automatically be filed with the original bug report. Your follow-up comments will be sent to all the people working on the bug.

Try to make the subject or synopsis line as informative as possible. For instance, you might use a sentence of the form 'Encrypted rlogin hangs if you send interrupt' or 'g++: calling wrong overloaded function' or something as direct.

You don't need to delete the comment lines while editing the PR form; this is done by send-pr. Put your information before or after the com ffb ments. See An example in Reporting Problems in GNUPro Advanced Topics for more discussion on this topic.

See Valid categories for problems for a list by category of bugs and their descriptions.

See Confidential information in reports for Unix users for a discussion regarding how to deal with confidential topics in the reports.

To see a synopsis of the possible commands for PRMS, send a query message like the following on the To: line: query-pr@cygnus.com. Then, on the Subject: line, use the command, --help . A list of possible commands will display.

You can interrogate non-confidential bug reports in the Cygnus Problem Report Management System ( prms ) by electronic mail. Send mail to 'query-pr@cygnus.com' with query parameters in the 'Subject:' line of your mail header. (The message body is ignored.) For example, to inquire about problem reports numbered 4020 and 5004, send mail including the following input lines in the To: header.

query-pr@cygnus.com Subject: 4020 5004

You can also include many command line options to request information on bugs in a particular state, or a particular category; for instance, the following header's example input requests a list of all open g++ bugs that are not confidential.

To: query-pr@cygnus.com

Subject: --state=open --category=g++

If you do not include a '--state=' specification in your subject line, the mail server uses the following statement (showing all the various input for State:).

--state= "open|analyzed|feedback|suspended "

WARNING!

Since the default state specification for electronic mail queries does not include closed, a closed bug yields a response with no message body.

Confidential bug reports are not available using the mail query server. You can request the status of your confidential PRs by contacting Cygnus technical support by phone (408-542-9601).

Confidential information in reports for Unix users

There has been some confusion about where to put confidential information in problem reports sent with send-pr. If you submit a problem report to Cygnus, and you want its detailed contents to remain confidential, set the '>Confidential:' field to 'yes'.

However, the 'Subject:' line in the ma ffb il header and the '>Synopsis:' field in the body of the PR are not treated as confidential information. They are used when Cygnus compiles reports of fixed problems (see Valid categories for problems for a list by category of the bugs and their descriptions). Do not put confidential information in these fields.

Any code samples, machine descriptions, problem details, and so on, remain, of course, strictly confidential in any problem report marked as such in the report.

The mail query server for problem reports never reports any information from confidential bug reports.

Reporting problems for Win95/NT systems

The following file is available for reporting problems for WIN95/NT users.

USING SEND-PR TO REPORT PROBLEMS FOR WINDOWS 95/NT

The following fields appear in the send-pr interface.

Use this example and these descriptions to to inform us

of any problems you encounter.

In a Windows NT/95 system, clip the text from Problem Report Fields

in the following example and paste it into your email window.

Where a line begins with ">" (greater-than mark), there should

be no more than than one in your email transmission. If there is

more than one ">", we can't process your report efficiently,

which may delay our response to you.

Then consult the following pages for instructions.

THE FULL PROBLEM REPORT SCREEN

                        E-Mail Header Fields

To: & ffb nbsp;     bugs@cygnus.com

Subject: <problem description>

From:     <yourname@youraddress.com>

                        Problem Report Fields

---------------------------------Cut Here----------------------------

> Submitter-Id:    <identifier assigned by Cygnus salesperson>

> Originator:      <Your full name>

> Organization:    <Your company name>

> Confidential:    <[ yes | no ] (one line)>]

> Synopsis:        <synopsis of the problem (one line)>

> Severity:        <[ non-critical | serious | critical ] (choose one)>

> Priority:        <[ low | medium | high ] (choose one)>

> Category:        <name of the product

                   (chose one from ">Category:" field See bfd binutils build.)>

> Class:           <[ sw-bug | doc-bug | change-request | support ] (one line)>

> Release:         <the release you are reporting on, such as 97r2>

> Environment:     <machine, os, target, libraries (multiple lines)>

                   Architecture: <machine-architecture>

    ffb                 System        <operating system>

> Description:     <precise description of the problem (multiple lines)>

> How-To-Repeat:   <code/input/activities to reproduce the problem

                   (multiple lines)>

> Fix:             <how to correct or work around the problem, if known

                   (multiple lines)>

---------------------------------Cut Here----------------------------

The following text describes each field and the information you need

to include in each one.

Prompts in the Problem Report are surrounded by quotes. For example,

where a prompt item appears in the following description, it is

surrounded by quotes, as in the first prompt, ">Submitter ID:"

Please Note: Seven critical fields are underlined in the following

text. They begin with ">" and end with ":". They are:

     "> Submitter-ID: "

     "> Category: "

     "> Release: "

     "> Description: "

      > Environment:     <machine, os, target, libraries (multiple lines)>

                    Architecture: <machine-architecture>

    &n ffb bsp;               System:         <operating system>

The last two fields in the ">Environment:" field do not use the ">" character.

If you no not fill out these fields, your problem report may be delayed.

THE E-MAIL HEADER FIELDS

"To:" bugs@cygnus.com

     Send your problem report to this e-mail address.

" Subject: "

     Describe your problem here briefly, in one line.

" From: "

     Your email address.

THE PROBLEM REPORT FIELDS

"> Submitter-Id: "

     Critical information.

     If you know your Submitter ID enter it here. If you do not

     have a contract with Cygnus, contact Cygnus Sales at

     sales@cygnus.com for information on support contracts.

"> Originator: "

     Full name of the submitter.

"> Organization: "

     The name of the originator's company or parent organization.

"> Confidential: "

     Cygnus changes this to "no" only when information is no

     longer sensitive for the customer, or if the sender does

     not have a support contract.

     yes is the default

"> Synopsis: "

     This should reflect the Subject: field and be a single line.

"> Severity: "

    Use one of the following values:

    "non-critical"    The product, component or concept is working

                      in general, but lacks features, has irritating

                      behavior, does something wrong, or doesn't

                      match its documentation.

    "serious"        The product, component or concept is not

                      working properly. Problems that would otherwise

                      be considered "critical" are rated "serious"

                      when a workaround is known.

    "critical"        The product, component or concept is completely

                      non-operational or some essential functionality

     & ffb nbsp;                is missing. No workaround is known.

     The default is "serious."

"> Priority: "

     How soon the originator requires a solution. Use one of the

     following values:

    "low"             The problem to be solved in a future release.

    "medium"          The problem to be solved in the next release,

                      if possible.

    "high"            A solution is needed as soon as possible.

The default is "medium."

"> Category: "

     Critical information.

     Choose from the table of valid categories.

     bfd         binutils    build

     byacc       config      diff

     doc         dos         expect

     flex        g++         gas

ffb      gcc         gcov        gdb

     glob        gprof       help-request

     id-request info        info-request

     install     ld          libc

     libg++      libiberty   libm

     make        makeinfo    mgmt

     netware     other       patch

     query-pr    readline    send-pr

     sim         shipping    tcl

     test        testsuites texindex

     texinfo

"> Class: "

     The class of a problem uses one of the following subjects

     as input:

    "sw-bug"           A general product problem.

                       ("sw" stands for software.)

    "doc-bug"          A problem with the documentation.

    "change-request"   A request for a change in behavior, etc.

    "support"          A support problem or question.

     The default is "sw-bug".

"> Release: "

     Critical information.

     Provide release or version number of the product, component

     or concept-for example, "gnupro-98r1" or, for custom

     contracts, "chipname-yymmdd".

"> Environment: "

     Description of the environment where the problem occurred:

     machine architecture, operating system, host and target

     types, libraries, pathnames, etc.

"Architecture"

     For example, "solaris 2.5.1"

"System"

     For example, "sun4".

"> Description: "

     Critical information.

     Provide a precise description of the problem.

"> How-To-Repeat: "

     Example code, input, or activities to reproduce the

     problem. The support organization uses example code both to

     reproduce the problem and to test whether the problem is
ffb

     fixed. Include all preconditions, inputs, outputs,

     conditions after the problem, and symptoms. Include any

     additional important information, such as all the details,

     however obvious, that would be necessary for someone else

     to recreate the reported problem. Sometimes seemingly

     arbitrary or obvious information can point the way toward a

     solution.

"> Fix: "

     How to work around the problem, if known.

Valid categories for problems

The following list describes valid entries for the >Category: field for reporting problems.

bfd

GNU binary file descriptor library.

binutils

GNU utilities for binary files (ar, nm, objcopy, objdump, size ...).

bison

GNU parser generator.

build

Cygnus software re-building.

byacc

Free parser generator.

config

Cygnus software configuration and installation.

diff

GNU diff program.

doc

Documentation and manuals.

flex

GNU lexical analyzer.

g++

GNU C++ compiler.

gas

GNU assembler.

gcc

GNU C compiler.

gdb

GNU source code debugger.

gprof

GNU profiler.

info

GNU info hypertext reader (non-critical PRs only).

ld

GNU linker.

libc

Cygnus C Library (use newlib for more expedient and accurate fixes).

libiberty

GNU libiberty library.

libm

Cygnus Math Library (use newlib for more expedient and accurate fixes).

make

GNU make program.

makeinfo

GNU utility to build info (online help files) from Texinfo documents (non-critical PRs only).

newlib

Cygnus C and Math Libraries.

other

Anything which is not covered by the previous categories.

patch

GNU bug patch program.

send-pr

GNU Problem Report submitting program.

test

Category to use when testing send-pr.

texindex

GNU documentation indexing utility (non-critical PRs only).

texinfo

GNU documentation macros (non-critical PRs only).

Fixed problems

The following documentation shows the bugs that have been fixed by Cygnus since the last release.

They are listed alphabetically by category, such as config or gcc, and by their assigned number to that category. The first line of the problem's description (from the submitter of the bug) accompanies each listing.

binutils

9082

     ar does not archive non .o files

12993

     ARM/Thumb disassembly not consistent

14422

     objcopy generates an exception with option --strip-all

14559

     objcopy incorrectly converts ppc-elf format to aixcoff

14804

     objcopy doesn't compute the tekhex record checksum

14892

     objcopy doesn't relocate sections when converting

15356

     objdump displays wrong address for PC-relative Thumb loads

build

14420

     Can't build 97r2 from source

14805

     Can't build 97r2 on powerpc-ibm-aix4.1.5.0

config

14861

     96q1 native won't configure target libs

14951

     97r2 configure doesn't work

g++

6910

     Template instatiation too strict - not deferred until

8529

     sparc-sun-sunos X mips-idt-ecoff g++ fails to link

9647

     void * parameter accepts const T *

9652

     passing a const ref may produce bogus error messages

10239

     Template friends do not work

10439

     Trouble recognizing the implicitly instantiated templates

11873

     program which works using HP10.10 cyngus g++ cores on DEC

11925

     Internal compiler error with -O2 (hpux 10.01)

12029

     Overloading virtual functions with default parameters

12043

     Unable to compile bison output on DEC

12194

     -fansi-overloading works differenly on HP than DEC

12211

     Weird thing happening with exception I think?

12379

     Internal compiler error with -O3.

12525

     g++ exceptions defect

12721

     Warnings in gnu header files using -W option (Solaris 2.5)

13437

     assembler fails on bison/g++ generated code

13439

     param.h header automatically included by g++ overides

13532

& ffb nbsp;   won't compile with -O

13723

     Declaring an array of objects within another class fails.

13804

     Compiler defined operator= not copying correctly.

13857

     Compilation of specific class results in "virtual memory

13939

     integer sqrt inefficient

14025

     Can not throw exception through libio.

14126

     istream Segmentation fault

14127

     gcc/g++ moves big global objects into local scope

14275

     internal compiler error

14294

     A test in the Rogue Wave test suite failed

14328

     Internal compiler error

14384

     __sjthrow calls __terminate for some reason.

14431

     Internal compiler error - static initialisers.

14503

     Internal compiler error when using STL reserve() method

14534

     Internal compiler error when compiling bison code.

14543

     g++ methods with squirrely ($sp) action

14584

     SEGV from executable produced by g++

14596

     g++ bails out on ...

14609

     Internal Compiler Error in STL with -O

14629

     g++ produces internal compiler error

14687

     g++ using directive doesn't work as specified in CD2

14699

     Optimization produces incorrect results

14746

     Optimizing code, don't understand why

14748

     cc1plus croaks on no copy constructor

14788

     non-virtual destructor warnings

14823

     -fignore-overflow causes incorrect optimization

14836
     poor handling of

14837

     poor handling of

14856

     EH - which platforms use

14858

     internal compiler error on template instantiation

14866

     can't resolve method when in templates

14915

     -O and -Wall cause internal compiler error

15015

     shared libraries hard code directory name

15030

     purify reports freeing mismatched memory

15045

     internal compiler with -O and static member

15058

     g++ Problem

15121

     undefined reference to __default_alloc_template<0, 0>

15139

     String ctor incorrectly computes string length

15165

     Problems linking more than one library

15174

     basic_string copy (...) method should be declared const

15183

     Internal compiler error.

15312

     Static structure with members initialized by "new" is left

15360

     Stabs debugging information incorrect

15377

     contains() broken in g++/String.h

15393

     Incorrect macro definition in va-i960.h

15430

     cyg134 -- How to turn off Runtime Type Information

15446

     breakpoint before global ctors

15453

     internal compiler error on

15502

     Incorrect code generated coverting compound statement

15526

     internal compiler error

15528

     internal compiler error

15551

     g++ and templates

gas

11103

     address in gas warning changes when using -a option

11784

     v850-ELF-as generate 16MB object after detected small

13915

     The PC relative branch "bra ." returns an error in H8

13916

     The H8/300 as does not support local labels

13940

     validate_immediate buggy

14354

     GAS produces illegal operation code for moveq command

14515

     GAS macro prerocessor fails with no reason

14536

     GAS can't parse some movem commands in absolute addressing

14689

     GAS option requested to suppress generation of absolute

14720

     register value vs .set defined constant conflict

14721

     non-intuitive error|warning messages

14722

     No error|warning message for an illegal statement

14723

     Some out of range values are not detected

14724

     assembler displays only the first encountered message

14934

     problem with .align

14940

     .fill as pseudo op won't accept absolute expression

14986

     -as reports .set symbols as undefined

15057

     why not count 'ones'?

15358

     Thumb out-of-range branches missed

gcc

5977

     Misses redundant store optimization

6216

     mips64-elf-gcc warning nit

8012

     compiling a file with -frtti which uses math.h causes a

8704

     gcc missed optimization - loop unrolling

10242

     profiling problem with AIX version of gcc

11911

     Verbose code generated for halfword access

11922

     Adjacent stores not merged into store-multiple

11927

     Stackframe created even for leaf functions

11968

     Redundant instructions generated

11970

     No tail-call optimisation

11983

     Shift that can be done in following instruction

11984

     no use of known address relationships

12022

     class methods named 'main' produce incorrect code

12227

     Argument stacking best done in the prologue

12231

     R10 never used when stack checking not in use

12266

     info files not updated

13092

     undefined library symbol __call_via_sl

13528

     Compilation generates "internal compiler error"

13732

     GCC doesn't support TX39 instructions (sync,cache)

13816

     "-gdwarf-2" option of as doesn't work well

14106

     G++ won't generate DWARF, powerpc-EABI, or IEEE-695

14302

     tools don't handle filenames with spaces

14310

     __declspec(naked) and "control reaches end of non-void

14475

     cyg118 -- 'fopen()' returns an error after repeating

14593

     amd29k compiler (95q4) generates incorrect code

14644

     Internal compiler error - insn does not satisfy its

14671

     -fomit-frame-pointer can fail to restore sp

14700

     long long arg slobbers all over the stack

14707

     sp-relative access inconsistent with fp-relative access

14749

     gcc Mips64 dies in assignment to 'long long' variable.

14790

ffb ;    -fignore-overflow causes incorrect optimization

14801

     missing library functions

14840

     gcc does not use fabs

14874

     can't match function prototype anymore

15161

     Difference between 97r1 and 97r2a powerpc-eabi-gcc

15185

     Big-endian Thumb floats do not work

15192

     How does power-pc compiler utilize registers?

15296

     no mips machine description template to match rtl -> crash

15396

     powerpc-eabi-gcc finds wrong multilib library under

15445

     gcc.97r1.arm-coff internal error--unrecognizable insn

gdb

6919

     gdb abort()s on loading executable

7691

     Would like clarification on support for CPU32BUG monitor

7965

     Wingdb problem

8088

     gdb hbreak

8359

     Command Path is awkward if drive name is specified

8527

     native gdb

8875

     bug in c-valprint.c

8926

     gdb target loss

8928

     gdb representation of breakpoints

8929

     gdb display values of variables

8932

     80-bit-floating-point feature

8951

     gdb debuger hangs

9245

     Query about PowerPC target stub support

9496

     How to debug Sun's light weight processes (lwp) with gdb

9747

     Using Sparc Exec. gdb

10100

     gdb symbol-file command doesn't work with Solaris 2.5

ffb 10358

     linker load data in the wrong location

10745

     Help needed understanding SIGCONT in remote stubs

11427

     gdb isn't demangling C++ names

12074

     GDB does not print FP values correctly

12076

     CALL_DUMMY mechanism flawed

12077

     push_dummy_frame/pop_frame not APCS-32

12557

     Problem init'ing target using gdb.

12719

     gdb doesn't reread symbol file in various cases

12948

     gdb and threads follow up problem

13206

     Simulator doesn't work well

13246

     GDB will not set hbreak for mips16

13374

     gdb unable to see dynamically loaded modules

13500

     corrupted symbol/debug crashing our debugger

13618

     gdb incorrectly reports thread information

13620

     Control-C to interrupt GDB command only works once.

13681

     gdb loads sections to the vma address instead of the lma

13803

     gdb incorrectly reports number of threads and thread info.

13903

     gdb get segmentation fault loading program

14043

     problem in 'sizemem

14062

     Cannot create suitable debug output file

14079

     Exception during call foo() aborts gdb

14088

     call foo() needs target-specific breakpoint

14129

     Cygnus toolchain doesn't support OMF object file format

14342

     simulator request (Coprocessor 0 support)

14376

     GDB working with MacRaigor OCD (On Chip Debug box) makes

14545

     gdb.96q4.ppc seg faults on ffb large .sun files

14546

     gdb.96q4.ppc seg faults on large .sun files

14548

     gdb-96q4-68k gets errors "line # out of range for source

14549

     gdb.96q4.ppc seg faults on large .sun files

14571

     can't call my functions in gdb

14645

     can't set breakpoint in template

14787

     Program name only 14 chars in gdb (fwd)

14821

     shared library cores gdb when loading symbols

14871

     Symbol load time very slow

14923

     instructions for building little-endian mips64 gdb

15038

     need gdb97r1's C source files for callback.h/c, monitor.c

15049

     gdb does not start

15126

     Problem building TK for GDB 4.16-97r1

15169

     gdb shell output does not go to the GUI

15182

     Disassembly ignores the endianity

15251

     gdb confuses emacs with executable in subdir

help-request

10252

     How do i tell configure to ignore xmkmf?

14927

     gcc cannot find CYGWIN.DLL

info-request

15436

     GNU make errors

15440

     Cygnus progressive releases and egcs

info

14809

     how to extract the offset in C structur to use it in

install

14513

     uncompressing the src.tar.Z results in a directory

ld

10555

     loader dies with "bfd assertion fail stabs.c 515"

10685

     ld -oformat srec creates bad code for address@ha

11346

     fails srec check tests

12714

     Mips64-ELF linker has bug when mixing mip2 and mips3

13845

     Some question about the sections and where they (should)

13955

     wrong .debug information in ELF

14160

     Linker leaves holes in object file

14437

     The linker doesn't free space taken by unused functions

14444

     linker does not preserve alignment info

14703

     ld lexer doesn't recognize comments in script file.

14752

     Cannot longjmp from Thumb code

14810

     ld can't resolve a reference to "virtual table"

14904

     Cygnus dose not work on Solaris 2.6

15074

     97r1 i960-nindy-coff-ld VERY SLOW

15357

     Interworking warnings only show half the problem

15373

     Out-of-range branch checks faulty

libc

15063

     sbrk is not called by malloc (prob. with _impure_ptr?)

libm

15017

     Is there a way to speedup the "pow" math function?

make

15354

     GNU make errors

15416

     make trivially broken on i386-cygwin32 host

15597

     make.exe core dump

newlib

12918

     bit 0 of PC not Thumb state in APCS-26

505 13786

     RDI targets not handled

15103

     Need source code to certain object files (e.g. crt0.o)

other

14282

     essai d'erreur sur frog

14289

     Problem with gdb/libraries?

14484

     ld's unable to locate libpmon.a

14830

     Cygnus C/C++ compilers are not supported by purify

14869

     can not Purify Dynamic executable created by Cygnus 97r1

0

Some things that might go wrong

Some error messages from Install

Reporting problems for Unix systems

Filling out a problem report for Unix users

Confidential information in reports for Unix users

Reporting problems for Win95/NT systems

Valid categories for problems

Fixed problems

binutils

build

config

g++

gas

gcc

gdb

help-request

info-request

info

install

ld

libc

libm

make

newlib

other

Some error messages from `Install`