[Vm-dev] Intermittent VM hang [was: Which plugins for OSProcess?]

David T. Lewis lewis at mail.msen.com
Sun Feb 11 00:23:39 UTC 2007


I am moving this discussion to vm-dev, because it is unlikely to be of interest
on the general list.

To add to my last message, I have now build a newer VM with an old OSProcessPlugin:
        Squeak3.8 of ''5 May 2005'' [latest update: #6665]
        installed plugin UnixOSProcessPlugin 6 February 2007 (e) version 3.3

The problem still exists when running 300 iterations of:
  OSProcess debugMessage: 'start 300 iterations'.
  (1 to: 300) do: [:i |
    OSProcess debugMessage: i asString.
    CommandShell new pipeline: 'ls /no/such/file | stdout nextPutAll: stdin upToEnd !']

This give us:

Older VM plus older OSPP ==> no failures
Recent VM plus recent OSPP ==> intermittent failure after about 100 iterations
Recent VM plus older OSPP ==> intermittent failure after about 100 iterations

The problem is also unrelated to image version and unrelated to OSProcess
version.  That seems to narrow it down to something changing in the VM (support
code and/or VMMaker). That's purely correlational; it does not mean there is
something wrong in the VM, rather that something changed that either provokes
the bug in OSProcess or that OSProcess puts enough load on the VM to provoke
the bug. At this point, I have no clue as to which one it is.

Bryce's original diagnosis was right on target:
> > Here it looks like the primitive is blocking waiting for input that
> > doesn't come even though it looks to me like it's blocking on a   
> > non-blocking file.
> >
> > Bryce

After getting the VM to hang up like this, I can interrupt from gdb and
get a stack trace that makes absolutely no sense to me (particularly since
the test case does not do any file opens whatsoever). I'm no expert on
gdb, so if anyone give me a pointer as to what this means, I'd be grateful.
Line 600 of FilePlugin.c is "interpreterProxy->popthenPush(3, filePointer);"
at the end of primitiveFileOpen(). It acts as if it's being called recursively,
which is impossible, and by the time we get to sqFileReadIntoAt(), we are
dealing with what looks like a bad case of scrambled brains. My test is running
on Linux, so there should be no pthreads involved. The stack trace is attached
below.

Dave

stack dump of VM interrupted from gdb:

(gdb) run TestImageHang.1
[New Thread 16384 (LWP 5753)]
^C
Program received signal SIGINT, Interrupt.
[Switching to Thread 16384 (LWP 5753)]
0x4013d088 in read () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
(gdb) bt
#0  0x4013d088 in read () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#1  0x4019dfd8 in __DTOR_END__ () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#2  0x400dc232 in _IO_file_read_internal () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#3  0x400dafa1 in _IO_new_file_underflow () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#4  0x400dcfc6 in __underflow () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#5  0x400dc70a in _IO_file_xsgetn_internal () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#6  0x400dd3e8 in _IO_sgetn_internal () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#7  0x400d0942 in fread () from /lib/i686/libc.so.6
#8  0x080a2499 in sqFileReadIntoAt (f=0x4019dfd8, count=1, byteArrayIndex=0x1 <Address 0x1 out of bounds>, startIndex=4294966784) at /data3/lewis/squeak/sq/Squeak64BitPort/images/platforms/Cross/plugins/FilePlugin/sqFilePluginBasicPrims.c:247
#9  0x080a19ad in primitiveFileRead () at /data3/lewis/squeak/sq/Squeak64BitPort/images/src/vm/intplugins/FilePlugin/FilePlugin.c:641
#10 0x00000010 in ?? ()
#11 0x41a6d770 in ?? ()
#12 0x00000001 in ?? ()
#13 0x40b1cc5c in ?? ()
#14 0x080a1880 in primitiveFileOpen () at /data3/lewis/squeak/sq/Squeak64BitPort/images/src/vm/intplugins/FilePlugin/FilePlugin.c:600
#15 0x40b1cc5c in ?? ()
#16 0x080a1880 in primitiveFileOpen () at /data3/lewis/squeak/sq/Squeak64BitPort/images/src/vm/intplugins/FilePlugin/FilePlugin.c:600
#17 0x41317be0 in ?? ()
#18 0x000003f2 in ?? ()
#19 0x080a1880 in primitiveFileOpen () at /data3/lewis/squeak/sq/Squeak64BitPort/images/src/vm/intplugins/FilePlugin/FilePlugin.c:600
#20 0x41a8c698 in ?? ()
#21 0x40b1c61e in ?? ()
#22 0x41a8c6c8 in ?? ()
#23 0x41a8c698 in ?? ()
#24 0x0805e4a7 in dispatchFunctionPointer (aFunctionPointer=0x8067b50) at gnu-interp.c:4024
#25 0x08062990 in interpret () at gnu-interp.c:7902
#26 0x0805c04c in main (argc=-1073745031, argv=0x0, envp=0xfffffe00) at /data3/lewis/squeak/sq/Squeak64BitPort/images/platforms/unix/vm/sqUnixMain.c:1388
(gdb) 


On Tue, Feb 06, 2007 at 07:09:05AM -0500, David T. Lewis wrote:
> Hi Bryce,
> 
> I have been trying to isolate the problem (problems?) that you found here.
> I have not identified it yet, but I do have some information to pass along.
> 
> The problem is intermittent but reproducable. You reported that this fails:
> 
> 	"(1 to: 300) do: [:i | Transcript show: i; cr. CommandShellTestCase run: #testPipeline73]"
> 
> which I adapted as follows for testing:
> 
> 	"OSProcess debugMessage: 'start 300 iterations'.
> 	(1 to: 300) do: [:i |
> 		OSProcess debugMessage: i asString.
> 		CommandShell new pipeline: 'ls /no/such/file | stdout nextPutAll: stdin upToEnd !']"
> 
> The failure mode is that the image hangs completely, and the VM appears
> to be blocked on a low level file read. This is probably actually a file
> descriptor for an OS pipe (pipe readers are set non-blocking by OSProcess,
> but possibly there is a race condition that I have not identified).
> 
> I tested image versions and OSProcess versions, and found:
> - The problem is not related to image version 3.8 versus 3.9 (fails on both)
> - The problem is not related to OSProcess version 4.3 versus 4.0.1 (fails on both)
> 
> I tested VM and OSPP plugin versions and found:
> - The combination of recent VM and OSPP fails:
> 	Squeak3.8 of ''5 May 2005'' [latest update: #6665]
> 	UnixOSProcessPlugin 4 July 2004 (e) version 3.3
> - An older combination of VM and OSPP does not fail:
> 	Squeak3.7beta of ''1 April 2004'' [latest update: #5923]
> 	UnixOSProcessPlugin 4 July 2004 (e) version 3.3
> 
> So far this suggests a problem associated with some change in the VM
> and/or plugins. I have not yet successfully built a combination of newer
> VM with the older OSPP (due to various annoyances in the build, and I'm
> out of spare time for now). Hopefully if I can do this, the problem can
> be narrowed down to either the VM or the plugins (but note that this
> would not necessarily mean the that VM or plugin has a fault; it could
> still be a race condition in the image that is just aggrivated by some
> change in the VM).
> 
> There was also some discussion in this thread of possible aio problems.
> This particular issue does not seem to be related to aoi in the VM or
> to the AIO plugin.
> 
> Hopefully more to follow later,
> 
> Dave
> 
> On Mon, Jan 29, 2007 at 10:45:57PM +0000, bryce at kampjes.demon.co.uk wrote:
> > 
> > I'm have some problems getting OSProcess 4.3 to run reliably, I'm
> > using a VM with AioPlugin 2.0 and OSProcessPlugin 4.0.1. These are the
> > latest versions availible via SqueakMap. 
> > 
> > Most of my testing was done in my standard development image built on
> > the Squeak 3.9 developer image using an Exupery VM. Exupery was loaded
> > but not running. I'm trying to get Exupery's stress test to pass which
> > runs almost all the tests in the image 3 times. Up until now the
> > OSProcess tests have been useful for flushing out context switching
> > bugs.
> > 
> > Any idea how to build a VM with OSProcess that will run 3.9 images
> > reliably?
> > 
> > 
> > With both AioPlugin and OSProcessPlugin installed running:
> > 
> >      OSPipeTestCase buildSuite run
> > 
> > May lock up the image consuming 100% CPU. This only happens when
> > AioPlugin has been built and installed. It doesn't always happen.
> > 
> > Cannot find new threads: generic error
> > ioFindExternalFunctionIn(primitiveGetThreadID, 0x80a4e88):
> >   /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/build/UnixOSProcessPlugin/.libs/UnixOSProcessPlugin: undefined symbol: primitiveGetThreadID
> > ioFindExternalFunctionIn(primitiveTestEndOfFileFlag, 0x80a4e88):
> >   /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/build/UnixOSProcessPlugin/.libs/UnixOSProcessPlugin: undefined symbol: primitiveTestEndOfFileFlag
> > ioFindExternalFunctionIn(primitiveTestEndOfFileFlag, 0x80a4e88):
> >   /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/build/UnixOSProcessPlugin/.libs/UnixOSProcessPlugin: undefined symbol: primitiveTestEndOfFileFlag
> > 
> > Hitting Alt-. sometimes locks up the image after bringing up a
> > notifier.
> > 
> > When the image has locked up interrupting with gdb shows:
> > (gdb) p printCallStack ()
> > 1715565776 >idleProcess
> > 1715534844 [] in >startUp
> > 1715534936 [] in BlockContext>newProcess
> > $5 = 10
> > (gdb) where
> > #0  0xffffe405 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
> > #1  0xf7f0d08d in select () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #2  0x0806ab6c in aioPoll (microSeconds=96000)
> >     at /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/platforms/unix/vm/aio.c:226
> > #3  0xf7e51743 in display_ioRelinquishProcessorForMicroseconds (
> >     microSeconds=96000)
> >     at /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/platforms/unix/vm-display-X11/sqUnixX11.c:2304
> > #4  0x080523fc in ioRelinquishProcessorForMicroseconds (us=1000)
> >     at /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/platforms/unix/vm/sqUnixMain.c:477
> > #5  0x0805be14 in primitiveRelinquishProcessor () at gnu-interp.c:19142
> > #6  0x080535f7 in dispatchFunctionPointer (aFunctionPointer=0x805bde0)
> >     at gnu-interp.c:4093
> > #7  0x08066c57 in interpret () at gnu-interp.c:9080
> > #8  0x08052019 in main (argc=256, argv=0x0, envp=0x0)
> >     at
> > /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/platforms/unix/vm/sqUnixMain.c:1390
> > 
> > 
> > Running:
> > 
> > 	300 timesRepeat: [CommandShellTestCase run: #testPipeline73]
> > 
> > Causes the image to lock up consuming 0% CPU. This happens even when
> > AioPlugin isn't loaded and I've reproduced it in a clean 3.9 image
> > with just OSProcess loaded running the latest Linux VM from
> > squeak.org. My Squeak images normally idle consuming a few percent CPU
> > due to polling.
> > 
> > Cannot find new threads: generic error
> > ioFindExternalFunctionIn(primitiveGetThreadID, 0x80a4e88):
> >   /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/build/UnixOSProcessPlugin/.libs/UnixOSProcessPlugin: undefined symbol: primitiveGetThreadID
> > 
> > 0xffffe405 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
> > (gdb) where
> > #0  0xffffe405 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
> > #1  0xf7e39143 in read () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #2  0xf7deb658 in _IO_file_read () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #3  0xf7dec83a in _IO_file_underflow () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #4  0xf7dee3cd in __underflow () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #5  0xf7deb15b in _IO_file_seek () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #6  0xf7decfa8 in _IO_sgetn () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #7  0xf7de19f0 in fread () from /lib/libc.so.6
> > #8  0xf7bb2787 in sqFileReadIntoAt (f=0x66412590, count=1, 
> >     byteArrayIndex=0x66412814 "", startIndex=0)
> >     at /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/platforms/Cross/plugins/FilePlugin/sqFilePluginBasicPrims.c:247
> > #9  0xf7bb12a4 in primitiveFileRead ()
> >     at /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/src/plugins/FilePlugin/FilePlugin.c:641
> > #10 0x080535f7 in dispatchFunctionPointer (aFunctionPointer=0xf7bb1160)
> >     at gnu-interp.c:4093
> > #11 0x0805c315 in primitiveExternalCall () at gnu-interp.c:15540
> > #12 0x080535f7 in dispatchFunctionPointer (aFunctionPointer=0x805c240)
> >     at gnu-interp.c:4093
> > #13 0x08066c57 in interpret () at gnu-interp.c:9080
> > #14 0x08052019 in main (argc=0, argv=0x0, envp=0x0)
> >     at /home/bryce/squeak/exuperyNew/platforms/unix/vm/sqUnixMain.c:1390
> > (gdb) p printCallStack ()
> > 1715621928 StandardFileStream>basicNext
> > 1715621836 StandardFileStream>next
> > 1715622132 [] in OSPipe>next
> > 1715621628 BlockContext>on:do:
> > 1715621536 OSPipe>next
> > 1715622040 [] in OSPipe>next:
> > 1715621444 Interval>do:
> > 1715621352 OSPipe>next:
> > 1715621720 [] in OSPipe>upToEnd
> > 1715621236 BlockContext>repeat
> > 1715621144 OSPipe>upToEnd
> > 1715620776 [] in PipeableEvaluator>?
> > 1715620636 PipeableEvaluator>blockValue
> > 1715620868 [] in PipeableEvaluator>value
> > 1715620960 [] in PipeableEvaluator>handleRuntimeErrorFor:
> > 1715620524 BlockContext>on:do:
> > 1715620432 PipeableEvaluator>handleRuntimeErrorFor:
> > 1715565264 PipeableEvaluator>value
> > 1715550668 CommandShell>pipeProxy:toCommandList:
> > 1715423904 CommandShell>pipeline:
> > 1715423788 CommandShellTestCase>testPipeline73
> > 
> > Here it looks like the primitive is blocking waiting for input that
> > doesn't come even though it looks to me like it's blocking on a
> > non-blocking file.
> > 
> > Bryce


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