drdan@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Dan Johnson) (05/10/91)
In article <1991May8.225511.126@midway.uchicago.edu> langer@control.uchicago.edu (Steve Langer) writes: >... > I've had problems with Versaterm leaving my computer in some sort of >funny state --- if I want to use Mathematica after using Versaterm, I >have to reboot, or Mathematica will crash as it starts up. On the other >... >not too many INITs, a recent version of Versaterm (I don't remember which >one at the moment) and Mathematica 1.2. I had the same problem. The answer was to upgrade to Mathematica 1.2.2. Be warned that if you plan on using a Mathematica backend on a different machine, Math 1.2.2 is much fussier about how you make the connection than Math 1.2. Daniel P. Johnson Honeywell Systems and Research Center e-mail: drdan@src.honeywell.com phone: 612-782-7427 office: 2433 fax: 612-782-7438 Mac Mail: "Johnson Dan" voice: "Yo, Dan!" US mail: MN65-2500, 3660 Technology Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55418
langer@gibbs.uchicago.edu (Steve Langer) (05/10/91)
In article <1991May9.181042.13564@src.honeywell.com> drdan@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Dan Johnson) writes: >In article <1991May8.225511.126@midway.uchicago.edu> langer@control.uchicago.edu I wrote: >>... >> I've had problems with Versaterm leaving my computer in some sort of >>funny state --- if I want to use Mathematica after using Versaterm, I >>have to reboot, or Mathematica will crash as it starts up. On the other >>... >>not too many INITs, a recent version of Versaterm (I don't remember which >>one at the moment) and Mathematica 1.2. > >I had the same problem. The answer was to upgrade to Mathematica 1.2.2. What can Versaterm be doing to make Mathematica crash *after* Versaterm quits? Does it confuse the modem port in some way, and Mathematica has a bug that only lets it start if the modem port is not confused? I'm not using a remote Mathematica kernel, so it shouldn't care about the port, right? The principle of cause and effect seems to say that Versaterm is at fault, not Mathematica. Somebody else (sorry, I forgot your name) asked if I'd reported this problem to Versaterm. No, I haven't, but only because I've been lazy and I don't use Mathematica and Versaterm together too much. I'll do it soon, unless somebody convinces me that cause and effect doesn't hold for Macintosh software. -- Steve (langer@control.uchicago.edu)
jackb@MDI.COM (Jack Brindle) (05/10/91)
In article <1991May9.201312.17709@midway.uchicago.edu> langer@gibbs.UUCP (Steve Langer) writes: >What can Versaterm be doing to make Mathematica crash *after* Versaterm >quits? Does it confuse the modem port in some way, and Mathematica >has a bug that only lets it start if the modem port is not confused? >I'm not using a remote Mathematica kernel, so it shouldn't care >about the port, right? The principle of cause and effect seems to say >that Versaterm is at fault, not Mathematica. > Come now. There's lots. Versaterm may be patching system calls, then unpatching them when it leaves. One of the tricks we use to speed things up is to get a trap address, and call it directly. When Versaterm removed the patch, it might leave the direct address incorrect (it was the address of the patch...). Mathematica calls the old address, and crashes. There are quite a few similar scenerios that could also cause crashes (changes to common globals, i.e. not those that MultiFinder swaps out, etc.). The Mathematica developers could tell you quickly if they do anything that patching would affect, like trap dereferencing. Some programs (mostly older ones, pre-MultiFinder) leave trails behind that the Finder would clean up. With MultiFinder, this may not happen, and thus a crash may occur. So, who's fault is it? Neither, or both. Either way, you're not happy... Jack Brindle ham radio: wa4fib/7
drdan@src.honeywell.com (05/11/91)
In article <1991May9.201312.17709@midway.uchicago.edu> langer@gibbs.UUCP (Steve Langer) writes: >What can Versaterm be doing to make Mathematica crash *after* Versaterm >quits? Does it confuse the modem port in some way, and Mathematica >has a bug that only lets it start if the modem port is not confused? >I'm not using a remote Mathematica kernel, so it shouldn't care >about the port, right? The principle of cause and effect seems to say >that Versaterm is at fault, not Mathematica. >... > Somebody else (sorry, I forgot your name) asked if I'd reported this >problem to Versaterm. No, I haven't, but only because >I've been lazy and I don't use Mathematica and Versaterm together too much. I reported it to both companies, since I do use VersaTerm and Mathemetica together a lot. The following is a partial list of my log: --10/20/89: Problem: Under Multi-finder, launch VersaTerm-Pro, Quit, launch Mathematica, Quit. System bombs, sometimes with ID=11, ID=10, or simply freezes in middle of window updates. Call to Wolfram Research: --bug in Apple Palette Manager,try system 6.0.4 and call back --10/23/89: Follow-up: Installed 6.0.4. Problem still occurs. Increased Finder memory allocation. Problem no longer reproducible, but still occurs. Problem also occurs running VersaTerm and Telnet without Mathematica. [Hindsight 5/10/91, this went away after next upgrade of Telnet.] --11/15/89: Call to Synergy Software: Lonny Abelbeck: Bug in initialization of other programs (e.g. Mathematica, Telnet). VersaTerm-PRO has history of exposing bugs in other programs that way (a case was a beta copy of Adobe Illustrator). Possible workaround: turn off "shared" attribute of VT-PRO using ResEdit & "Get Info". Follow-up: "shared" bit already off. --17-apr-90: Received 3.1.1 upgrade with communications toolbox. Operating under system 6.0.5 with multifinder 6.1b9. Mathematica bombs upon launch after launching Versaterm, even when started using serial tool instead of native serial link. --31-may-90: Found readnews article on complex interaction bug between AddressBook, VersaTerm, and SuperClock under MultiFinder involving modem port. Author claimed problem was modem port usage coupled with an application calling "InitWindow" before "InitFont". Suggested using hex edit tool to find "A9 12 A8 FE" and changing it to "A8 FE A9 12". Found and changed two occurances in Mathematica. Result bombed in presence of VersaTerm. (Also found "A9 12" in CODE resource "Main" ID=1, did not change it.) --18-jul-90: Found readnews article which stated that Multifinder had "A9 12 A8 FE" bug as well. Found one occurance in CODE resource "INIT" ID=1, as well as one occurance of correct "A8 FE A9 12". Rehacked Mathematica and Multifinder (6.1b9). Did not find occurances in VersaTerm-PRO or Darkness 1.01. --19-oct-90: Updated system version to 6.0.7. --22-oct-90: Talked to Tech Support about current status. About a month ago, Synergy Software (Versaterm) contacted them about a bug in VersaTerm causing problems. Current version of Mathematica is 1.2.2. --13-nov-90 Received upgrade to Mathematica 1.2.2, and MacTCP 1.0.1. First trial suggests that Versaterm and Mathematica can now run simultaneously. --10-may-91 I am currently running successfully with Multifinder, system 6.0.7, Mathematica 1.2.2, and Versaterm-Pro 3.1.1 (both with and without CTB). Evidence seems to support Adelbeck's suggestion, that Versaterm leaves memory in such a way that certain bugs in other programs are exposed. Daniel P. Johnson Honeywell Systems and Research Center e-mail: drdan@src.honeywell.com phone: 612-782-7427 office: 2433 fax: 612-782-7438 Mac Mail: "Johnson Dan" voice: "Yo, Dan!" US mail: MN65-2500, 3660 Technology Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55418