On 2015-08-21, Alan McKinnon <alan.mckin...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Earlier I saw segfaults in gcc, and another poster pointed it out.
>
> When gcc segfaults, it is always suspicious mostly because the compiler
> is an app where we know the devs take extraordinary measures to prevent it.
>
> The most common cause is faulty hardware (most often memory) as gcc
> tends to use all of it in ways no other app does. The usual procedure
> at this point is to run memtest for an extended period - say 48
> hours, or even 72 for an older slow machine.

That is definitely good advice.  I've run into this situation several
times.  A machine had bad RAM that didn't seem to cause any problems
under "normal" operation.  But, when trying to compile something large
like gcc, I would see non-repeatable segfaults (it wouldn't always
segfault at the exact same point).  In those cases, I could often run
memtest for several passes and not see an error. But, _eventually_
ramtest would catch it.  Run memtest for a few days.  Really.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I'm having an
                                  at               EMOTIONAL OUTBURST!!  But,
                              gmail.com            uh, WHY is there a WAFFLE
                                                   in my PAJAMA POCKET??


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