Codehelp blog

over 96% successful

243 packages built successfully.
8 packages failed to cross build.

Failing packages

1. cups
   

   http-addr.c: In function 'httpGetHostByName':
   
   http-addr.c:464: error: invalid 'asm': invalid operand for code 'w'
   
   http-addr.c:464: error: invalid 'asm': invalid operand for code 'w'

   
   history
   


2. gtk+2.0 - cairo-directfb problems.
   history
   The cross-build keeps finding /usr/arm-linux-gnu/lib/libcairo.so first so it misses the extra symbols provided in /usr/arm-linux-gnu/lib/libcairo-directfb/lib/libcairo.so. Hopefully, this can be resolved by judicious hackery of LDFLAGS and LD_LIBRARY_PATH.


3. ncurses
   
/trunk/n/ncurses/trunk/ncurses-5.6+20080713/ncurses/curses.priv.h:1417: warning: parameter names (without types) in function declaration
/trunk/n/ncurses/trunk/ncurses-5.6+20080713/ncurses/curses.priv.h:1418: error: expected '=', ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before '_nc_to_widechar'

   history
   


4. ntp - same assembly error as cups
   

   authkeys.c: In function 'authencrypt':
   
   authkeys.c:445: error: invalid 'asm': invalid operand for code 'w'
   
   authkeys.c:445: error: invalid 'asm': invalid operand for code 'w'

   
   history
   


5. slang2 - confusing build behaviour - outside a chroot, files are put into a directory called elfobjs. Inside a chroot, files are put into a directory called elfamd64objs (and presumably that would change according to the BUILD architecture with is plain insane.
   history
   

The assembly errors look spooky and the cairo and slang2 errors could be made much simpler if the upstream builds were sane. (Honestly, why can't we just have /usr/lib/libcairo-directfb.so ?)

Some other packages fail to build, e.g. gcc-4.2, but we don't need those anymore so I'm ignoring those.

Autobuilder Summary:

138 packages built successfully. 19 packages failed to cross build. 2 packages are tagged for a manual upload. (Dependency issues - rather than break the archive, these packages will not be uploaded until relevant dependencies have been fixed and uploaded.)

Stats

87% built OK
12% failed

Notes:

1. All these packages built previously and fail at the latest versions in Debian Sid. Many could be upstream errors. All exist in Emdebian at
   previous versions (only 1 failure is known to contain bugs in the current versions in Emdebian and this only affects GUI installations. Two other GUI packages contains bugs but build OK.).
2. Some of the packages in the repository (including some of the failures) are not used in *any* of the default emsandbox configurations. Two need to be removed from the repository completely.
3. Some fixes are waiting for updates in Debian, either new uploads migrating to mirrors or pending fixes awaiting upload by me. (Probably tomorrow.)
4. The history of each package is now available via the Emdebian Autobuilder Report. The package name links to the history of previous build attempts for this package. The version string links to the repository data for the current version in Emdebian. The result of the build links to the build log.
5. A comparison with Debian unstable is constantly updated.
6. 254 source packages exist in Emdebian but only 137 are currently built by the autobuilder. The rest will be built when new versions are uploaded to Debian (in some cases, that won't be until after Lenny). If I get time, I'll add build logs for these packages.
7. The repository contains a fair number of packages that we don't currently use. This is a reflection of the problems of determining the "path" through the dependencies when starting at the bottom (glibc| uClibc etc.). Bear this in mind when considering new architectures and new package sets. The process involves a lot of trial and error, particularly as cross-building potentially alters the dependency path at each iteration.

Problems

1. libselinux and libsepol have just been uploaded with a bug fix that is needed for e2fsprogs and file cross-builds, amongst others. Waiting
   for the ARM mirror to receive the new builds, hopefully tomorrow.
2. gtk+2.0 fails to cross-build because the patches now try to build the udeb which comes up against a bug in dpkg-cross. I'll be uploading the new version (including a couple of other bug fixes) tonight. (Final testing currently in progress.). The Gtk package also needs some work to run /usr/lib/libgtk2.0-0/update-gdkpixbuf-loaders so that the icons can be read in the GUI.
3. pango1.0 also needs a fix to update the pango modules. This is usually done at build time but it means running a cross-built binary. It is a minor task and not CPU intensive so I plan to do this in postinst. Without this fix, no text is rendered in the GUI, only empty glyphs.
4. xfonts-base is way too large still. More work is needed here to optimise just what is meant by the 'fixed' font for X, precisely which font files can be removed, which might be needed outside C or English locales etc.
5. Other packages not currently cross-building include: (NOTE: Some of these build logs are VERY large.)
   • adduser - needs to be removed from the repository, it is perl and we implement it via busybox.
   • cups|cupsys - /usr/include/pthread.h:653: warning: '__regparm__' attribute directive ignored.
   • gcc-4.2 - needs to be removed from the repository, it no longer builds libgcc1 which was the main reason for cross-building it.
   • glib2.0 - more generated content: /bin/sh: line 2: /usr/bin/glib-genmarshal: No such file or directory
   • gnomevfs - hasn't built for ages and isn't usable anyway due to dependency issues. Currently preventing the use of gpe-filemanager. Due to be replaced by GIO in Debian.
   • libusb - build failure, so far resistant to usual fixes.
   • ncurses - build failure - uses gcc in wide char support build.
   • ntp - build failure - assembly error. authkeys.c:445: error: invalid 'asm': invalid operand for code 'w'
   • pcre3 - build failure - apparently simply unresolved symbols resistant to usual fixes.
   
   
   • slang2 - possibly needs a patch update, tries to build -pic archives and then fails.
   • xorg-server - build failure: make[4]: *** No rule to make target `-L/usr/arm-linux-gnu/lib', needed by `Xprt'. Stop.

Of the problems above, only problems 2, 3 and 4 (gtk, pango and xfonts-base) are "critical" as these are the only ones where the current packages are sufficiently broken that the new version is essential before Emdebian can make a "release" of a series of three root filesystems for ARM. Sizes are still larger than desired - a fix for that requires changes in glibc which I hope to investigate during DebConf.

Any help on the above issues is appreciated.

Problem-solving:
$ emsource -c $package
$ cd /path/to/$package
$ emdebuild

If you have SVN access, use 'emdebuild --svn-only' to commit your changes (even if your changes don't solve all the problems).

Without SVN access, post the result of 'svn diff ../emdebian*' to this list (or 'svn diff ../debian*' if you have added a patch for the upstream code to debian/patches/).

Platforms:
All the above is based solely on Emdebian ARM for balloon3:
Linux balloon 2.6.25.2-pxa270 #1 Sun May 18 22:38:11 BST 2008 armv5tel unknown
balloon3 in CUED case
http://balloonboard.org/gallery/300/balloon3-0v1-fpga.jpg

AFAICT no other ARM platforms have been tested.

I have a few fixes for the balloon3-config package that also needs an update in Emdebian - I've had some feedback from the touchscreen driver
upstream that we might be trying to use the wrong device (/dev/input/mice is the wrong target for the symlink, we can set whatever device we want in /etc/X11/xorg.conf and the driver will use that in preference to /dev/event0). As this is device-specific, /etc/X11/xorg.conf will be put into balloon3-config which is available via Emdebian SVN.

Some time ago, I added a
Spammers Hall of Shame to my first website, codehelp.co.uk.

"... sites that send me unsolicited commercial email can expect a poison
response. If such companies are arrogant enough to not even read the
contents of this page, then I shall post details of their incompetence
here."

It's not often that I add a new one - generally when the spammer in question tries to claim that it is not spam and pretends to have taken an interest in the site when it is plainly obvious that the About page has been completely ignored. It takes a special kind of idiocy to get onto the list - something that motivates me to a noticeable level of annoyance. The vast majority of spam doesn't come anywhere close. It has to be something that has some indication of being supposedly "customised" for me and my website(s) yet equally takes absolutely no notice of the content of that website, specifically the content explicitly added to About that should have been noticed by anyone with half a brain.

Anyway, my latest poison pen is now available for everyone to see.

True, it gives their spam email a wider airing but it's not as if codehelp.co.uk is anything but a very quiet backwater of the internet so it's not going to affect traffic in any real way. I just get annoyed when idiots who claim to be professionals do not have the simple courtesy of reading.

In a similar tone:
http://qof-gen.sourceforge.net/#free

My first go at getting Emdebian to run a GUI:


Yes, yes, there are no icons and the touchscreen library doesn't work so
the apps can't start (at least via the screen) but it's a start!

Silver USB cable on the left if ethernet-over-usb (which works fine), on the right is a USB key from which the root filesystem, kernel and modules were installed (not needed for subsequent operation but used for debugging by copying log files to the key etc.).

Stats:
Still too large at over 80Mb installed for a full GUI but that is still
100Mb smaller than a minimal Debian system without any GUI stuff.
Available only for ARM
Tested only on Balloon3 : http://balloonboard.org/index.html
Not installing cleanly at this stage - some fettling is required.

192 packages used.
Linux balloon 2.6.25.2-pxa270 #1 Sun May 18 22:38:11 BST 2008 armv5tel
unknown

ii dpkg 1.14.20em1
ii libgpewidget1 0.115-5em1
ii libgtk2.0-0 2.12.3-2em1

Access:
Ethernet over USB (static IP only at the moment)
USB storage / keyboard
Serial connection
SSH pending

Lots to do to make it simple but at least it works.

Problems with hmrc.gov.uk - the new non-PDF format of the tax return is a complete mess and very misleading. I wanted a PDF so that I could compare the generated return with an actual return from previous years, so I sent this feedback:

"The Help and FAQ claim that a colour PDF is available and I'm
assuming that the PDF will be a closer match to the paper based form
which I need to be able to compare this return against last year. The
option to obtain a PDF has disappeared. (I am able to process PDF
without needing any software from Adobe as that is the main point of a
Portable Document Format so if this is because the site is checking for
Adobe software on my computer, it should stop doing so and simply
provide a link to the PDF file.) "

The response shows that nobody actually reads the comment:

"Thank you for your online enquiry.

To print your return in PDF format you are required to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 or above. If you do not have this on your computer please logon http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html to download a copy. Please be aware that this download can take a long time."

i.e. Her Majesty's Government requires that you allow them to interrogate your computer to find a specific executable file or registry ID and if this is not found, certain services will be refused to you without further comment.

Instead of just generating the PDF on the server and providing a link to it.

The worst part is, the "secure gateway" used by HMRC doesn't even allow replies!

The only option is delete!!

More bias from government departments against free software. I refuse to use anything under an Adobe licence when there are perfectly capable PDF clients available under a free licence. (Let alone the discriminatory download licence). (I'm a British national but I still object to a licence that would prevent someone with dual British-Iraqi nationality, for example, obtaining a service from HMRC.) Besides which, I somehow doubt that the site would be able to correctly identify the Unix version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

I receive notification of all my taxable income via PDF so why is the taxman different??