[openbeos] Re: Various development problems and BeOS annoyances

On 2006-11-15 at 17:08:46 [+1300], Ryan Leavengood <leavengood@xxxxxxxxx> 
wrote:
> I decided to try to fix bugs #177 and #180 where the input server is
> not notified when the system is shutting down. This seemed easy enough.
> So I started reading code and making some experimental changes to the
> registrar and input server, but of course testing this is tricky. I
> decided to use QEMU since there is the option to output the serial
> debugging to standard out.
> 
> Anyhow, my problems started when I set my DEBUG level to 2. When
> compiling at this level two files in the storage kit cannot be compiled
> due to some compiler error:
> 
> C++ ../../../generated/objects/haiku/x86/debug_1/kits/storage/
> DiskDeviceList.o
> /work/gg/src/i686-beos-branch/gg/be/gnupro/gcc/dwarf2out.c:7659:
> Internal compiler error in function scope_die_for
> Please submit a full bug report to Be at http://bebugs.be.com.
> 
> C++ ../../../generated/objects/haiku/x86/debug_1/kits/storage/
> DiskDeviceRoster.o
> /work/gg/src/i686-beos-branch/gg/be/gnupro/gcc/dwarf2out.c:7659:
> Internal compiler error in function scope_die_for
> Please submit a full bug report to Be at http://bebugs.be.com.
> 
> This of course caused the build of the registrar and input server to
> fail at this debug level (and also at debug level 1.)

I just tested this on my machine, and it compiles just fine with DEBUG=2. 
I'm pretty sure you're using the old compiler, since it also says "Please 
submit a full bug report to Be at http://bebugs.be.com."; I'm sure Oliver 
would have changed that.

So, as a first step, please download the 2.95.3 build from 
<http://www.bebits.com/app/4011> and follow Olivers detailed instructions 
(inside the archive). You definitely don't need to build your own GCC when 
compiling under BeOS.

> So again I'm at a standstill. I don't give up too easily but this is
> starting to get really frustrating. In fact here are other BeOS
> problems I've been having:
> 
> 1. No version of Firefox can ever send emails in Gmail. I don't know
> why this happens, but it sure is annoying. Can anyone else use the
> Gmail web interface in BeOS?

Firefox can be annoying, I know.

> 2. So since I use Gmail for this list I had to set it up here in BeOS.
> But to do that I had to compile my own Mail Daemon Replacement with SSL
> support (thanks to mmadia for his very useful instructions in the
> Talkback for the MDR on BeBits.) I can handle this but I don't see how
> any average user could.

Have you considered Beam? This is a very solid and feature rich e-mail 
client that also supports SSL. Also a software by Oliver Tappe.
<http://www.bebits.com/app/2763>

> 3. More often than I would like my machine locks up. But it only seems
> to be the app_server because if I'm playing music it still plays, but
> the display does not update. Anyone have a trick for solving this
> problem? Maybe something with SpicyKeys and restarting the app_server?
> Also how could I determine the source of this lock-up? I imagine it is
> probably the video driver...

You cannot restart the app_server, because all running apps are attached to 
it. At least I never tried restarting it and all other apps including the 
registrar. :-) Anyways, what video driver are you using? The ATI driver by 
Thomas Kurschel and all drivers by Rudolf and Axel have been rock solid for 
me. The R5 app_server does have some problems with overlays, but when it 
locks up, then right when overlays are created or destroyed (whenever you 
start/quit MediaPlayer or VLC and such programs).
Another thing you can try is in ~/config/settings/kernel/drivers/kernel:

enable or insert the following line:

disk_cache_size 16384

With the default setting, my R5 installs could sometimes freeze up. Since I 
have that line in the settings, they are always rock solid.

> 4. Damn the net_server is slow and inefficient. I'm not very happy when
> downloading a page in FireFox consumes most of my CPU time. Of course I
> know this is well known and I may look into Bone. I'm thankful Haiku is
> coming up with a better solution for networking.

You should definitely give BONE a try. I know only one person that has 
problems with it and sticks to the R5 net_server. For me personally, it 
works much better.

> On a more positive note I finally got the SSL keys sorted out with
> berlios.de so I can use SVN without logging in. If anyone else has had
> trouble with this, let me know, I can help.

Cool, I also remember having trouble with that at first. Once you read some 
howtos and set it up, you tend to forget quickly... :-)

Best regards,
-Stephan

P.S. Now that I am done writing this email, the entire DEBUG=2 build of 
libbe.so went through without and error. :-)

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