[Simh] EXT :Re: OpenBSD on Simh VAX 3.8-1 - Segmentation fault

[Hittner, David T [US] (MS)]

So two follow on action items, now that the problem seems to be solved:

1) How can we work with this Linux vendor to provide a baseline SIMH 4.0 package instead of the older SIMH 3.8-1 package?

2) Should the instructions for downloading and building the latest SIMH that Mark provided be included in the FAQ (under Linux hosts)?

Dave

From: Simh [mailto:simh-bounces at trailing-edge.com] On Behalf Of Gary Lee Phillips
Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2017 11:12 AM
To: Mark Pizzolato <Mark at infocomm.com>
Cc: simh at trailing-edge.com
Subject: EXT :Re: [Simh] OpenBSD on Simh VAX 3.8-1 - Segmentation fault

Thanks for the very clear answer, Mark.
I followed your instructions and the 4.0-0 beta built in minutes. Last time I tried to build Simh myself, it took several frustrating days of patching the makefile and changing references. That was on Slackware Linux and several versions back of both the environment and Simh. So thanks ever so much to the developers who have continued to enhance and tune this package. It is brilliantly done.
Now the even better news. The vax3900/vax module in 4.0-0 beta does not have the segmentation fault I encountered with 3.8-1. OpenBSD 5.7 is able to ftp and sftp transfer in and out without any complaints. So thank you again to whoever it was that found and fixed that problem.
--Gary

On Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 1:50 AM, Mark Pizzolato <Mark at infocomm.com<mailto:Mark at infocomm.com>> wrote:
Hi Gary,

On Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 5:29 AM, Gary Lee Phillips wrote:
> I am running VAX 3.8-1 on a 64-bit Linux system. It performs well
> with OpenVMS as the operating system. But when I try to run it
> with OpenBSD 5.7 there are issues.
>
> The base system installs and boots correctly. But in order to bring
> in tools such as language compilers or editors, it is necessary to
> use ftp or sftp. I cannot get these to transfer anything because the
> moment a transfer starts, no matter which mode or direction or
> whether the transfer is initiated from within OpenBSD or from the
> outside, an immediate segmentation fault occurs. This appears to
> be within the SimH code itself, and not on OpenBSD.

That would certainly seem to be the case.  Simulator crashes
definitely should be fixed.  3.8-1 was released some 8 years ago,
and 3.9 was some 6 years ago.  Both are way behind the current
code base located at https://github.com/simh/simh/ downloadable
as https://github.com/simh/simh/archive/master.zip

> The same SimH VAX environment running OpenVMS 7.3 can
> perform transfers over ethernet without any apparent issues.

This is a useful data point.

> I have tried running SimH in supervisor mode or in user mode,
> same results. Also same results whether the transfer is initiated
> by root or by a normal user account.

I wouldn't expect you to be able to run the simulator as non-root
and have Ethernet functionality...

> The ethernet connection itself seems to be working. Telnet
> connections function normally, and ftp or sftp will pass directory
> information and accept commands, but file transfers fail.
>
> I guess I could try another version of OpenBSD. Upgrading SimH
> is also possible but a bit more daunting since 3.8 is what is offered
> as current on my Linux distro. (Linux Mint 18 "Sarah" 64 bit generic
> 4.4.0-97)

It really isn't particularly daunting:

First, you'll need the following:

        $ sudo apt install libpcap-dev
Then:
        $ wget https://github.com/simh/simh/archive/master.zip
        $ unzip master.zip
        $ cd simh-master
        $ make vax
        $# Start the newly built simulator:
        $ BIN/vax


If you see any sort of segmentation fault, there is a problem that needs
fixing, and I'll be glad to address it.   If you have a problem please create
an issue at https://github.com/simh/simh/issues

- Mark

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