3 At the time of this release (SXEmacs 22.1.14), SXEmacs has the
4 following idiosyncrasies:
9 ** User init file (C-h v user-init-file)
11 SXEmacs searches for its init file in `~/.sxemacs/init.el'.
12 Symlinking your old ~/.xemacs directory should be enough to get you up
15 $ ln -s ~/.xemacs ~/.sxemacs RET
17 BTW, unlike XEmacs, SXEmacs doesn't attempt to "migrate" your old init
18 file or Gnu/Emacs .emacs file.
22 The default location that SXEmacs searches for packages is
23 `$prefix/share/sxemacs/'. The same as for the user-init-file, a
24 symlink is all you need to get up and running.
26 $ ln -s /usr/local/lib/xemacs /usr/local/share/sxemacs RET
34 *** FFI is not included with your distro
36 Sadly, some Linux distributions (hello Fedora) don't ship a libffi
37 package, and their GCC does NOT include libffi or FFI headers either.
38 In this instance you have 2 options...
40 1) Get the standalone package of libffi at
41 <http://sourceware.org/libffi/>.
43 2) Compile your own GCC from source, making sure you enable the java
44 compiler. Enabling java in your GCC build is the only way to get
47 Obviously, option #1 there is the easiest and quickest path to
48 FFI-enabled SXEmacsen, and it is the option that we recommend.
50 Oh, and please nag your distro to have FFI included by default.
52 *** FFI is included in your GCC but you see missing header errors
54 Often libffi headers aren't completely installed. If you are getting
55 errors in effi.c that seem to be hinged from something like...
57 /usr/include/ffi.h:63:23: ffitarget.h: No such file or directory
59 You need to find `ffitarget.h' and put it in the same directory as
60 your `ffi.h'. Your libffi came with GCC, so you'll find it within
63 $ dirname $(gcc -print-libgcc-file-name)
64 /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i586-pc-linux-gnu/3.3.1
66 Using that example, ffitarget.h would be in...
68 /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i586-pc-linux-gnu/3.3.1/libffi/
70 Just copy or symlink the ffitarget.h there to /usr/include
72 *** FFI on SELinux enabled machines
74 If you are running with SELinux enabled and configure fails with
75 messages like the following in `config.log'...
77 error while loading shared libraries: /usr/local/lib/libffi.so.1:
78 cannot restore segment prot after reloc: Permission denied
80 You need to correct the default security context for `libffi.so'.
82 $ chcon -t textrel_shlib_t /usr/local/lib/libffi.so
86 The autoconf tests for PostgreSQL support have changed. SXEmacs'
87 configure script now uses `pg_config' to determine whether or not to
88 enable PostgreSQL. Because of this you may have to set you $PATH
89 environment to include the pgsql bin directory. It is normally
90 `/usr/local/pgsql/bin/'. Another popular directory on Solaris 9 is
91 `/opt/crw/postgresql/bin/'. Check with your site administrator.
93 Bash users can do it like this...
95 export PATH=/usr/local/pgsql/bin:$PATH
97 *** Solaris 9 with 64-bit PostgreSQL
99 There has also been a report that on Solaris 9 you may also need to
100 configure with `--with-cflags='-mcpu=ultrasparc -m64''. Apparently
101 GCC on Solaris 9 defaults to building 32-bit, so you lose if you have
104 ** 64-bit test suite failure
106 We have had a couple of reports of the test suite failing on 64-bit
107 systems. The error is like this (or similar)...
109 Testing /usr/src/sxemacs/modules/ase/ase-heap-tests.el...
110 Loading ase_heap v0.0.0 (SXEmacs module: ase-heap)
111 Loaded module ase_heap v0.0.0 (SXEmacs module: ase-heap)Fatal error: assertion failed, file alloc.c, line 298, block != (void*)0xCAFEBABEDEADBEEF
112 make[3]: *** [check-am] Aborted
114 At this point we are not too sure exactly what the issue is. It looks
115 like it might be a bug in the malloc or free code of the libc. We do
116 know that not all 64-bit systems are affected, so far, only Fedora
117 Core 7, and Gentoo on x86_64.
119 One user has reported that using `-O1' in CFLAGS prevents it.
121 But even with this test failure, SXEmacs still runs and opperates
122 without incident. In fact, the failure can't be reproduced when
123 running the test suite interactively. With that in mind, it should be
124 safe to install if you see this failure.
126 We'll endeavour to get to the bottom of this one ASAP, if you think
127 you can help, let us know.
129 ** m4, libtool, autoconf, automake, and whatnot
131 SXEmacs tries to cope with any combination of versions of the above
132 programs. However, there is one lower bound, autoconf 2.60, and
133 unfortunately this has an impact on the other parts of the build
136 To cut it really short, here is the minimum known-to-work combination:
137 - autoconf 2.62, automake 1.9.6, libtool 1.5.22, m4 1.4.6
139 In general we support (as of April, 2010):
140 - autoconf >= 2.62, including current git versions
141 - automake 1.9.6, 1.10, 1.10a, 1.11.1, and current git versions
142 - libtool 1.5.N with N >= 22, libtool >= 2.1a (current CVS version)
143 - m4 1.4.M with M >= 6 plus current git versions
145 Note that many libtool packages shipped with the distros (OpenSuSE,
146 Debian, just to name two) are _broken_. Make sure you compile
147 your own libtool in case you want to rerun autogen.sh or bootstrap
148 the build chain, and double check that you use --enable-ltdl-install
151 If you are on a platform that has its own _non_gnu libtool (like OS/X
152 Leopard) add --program-prefix=g to your gnu libtool configure so it
153 installs as glibtool and doesn't clobber your other one.
155 Sometimes it helps just to copy over the libtool script manually:
156 cp -a $(type -p libtool) ${top_builddir}
158 *** ylwrap fails with sed errors
160 Some versions of the ylwrap script provided by autotools uses commas
161 as separators in sed commands. As such if your build path uses commas
162 the ylwrap will fail.
164 Sample message (where the build path was /Users/njsf/Projects/SXEmacs/nsx-up/,,mac):
166 /Users/njsf/Projects/SXEmacs/nsx-up/,,mac/lib-src/make-docfile --modname cl-loop -E cl-loop.doc.c ../../../modules/cl/cl-loop.c
167 /bin/sh ../../../ylwrap ../../../modules/cl/cl-loop-parser.y y.tab.c cl-loop-parser.c y.tab.h cl-loop-parser.h y.output
168 cl-loop-parser.output -- bison -y -d
169 sed: 1: "s,/Users/njsf/Projects/ ...": bad flag in substitute command: 'm'
170 sed: 1: "s,/Users/njsf/Projects/ ...": bad flag in substitute command: 'm'
172 The workaround is to use a path without commas in it.
175 *** Missing libltdl.la (Solaris 2.8)
177 We've had a report that missing libtool on Solaris 2.8 isn't detected
178 and so the included libtool still isn't used. If you see an error
179 about a missing libltdl.la all you need to do is configure SXEmacs
186 *** configure on FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc.
188 Building SXEmacs on *BSD as far as we know requires the GNU Bourne
189 Again SHell (bash) versions 3 or 4.
191 bash is available for all tier 1 architectures as a binary package and
192 and for tier 2/3 as a port.
194 To run configure successfully...
196 CONFIG_SHELL=/path/to/bash $CONFIG_SHELL configure [option, ...]
198 *** configure on FreeBSD
200 Turning on the use of libssp and -fstack-protector from configure
201 ( --with-error-checking=stack ) will result in a broken build.
203 Do not, under any circumstances, add -fstack-protector to CFLAGS, even
204 independently of the stack error checking option.
206 ** bdwgc and gcc and code optimisation
208 There are some weird optimisation issues with the Boehm-Demers-Weiser
209 garbage collector (hereafter BDWGC) and the GCC C compilers of the 2 and
210 3 series. The build will crash like this:
212 Loading build-autoloads.el...
213 Loading loadup-el.el...
214 Loading loadup.el...make[3]: *** [auto-autoloads.el] Segmentation fault
216 make[3]: Leaving directory
218 The C backtrace will look like:
220 #0 0xbff9a2f0 in ?? ()
221 #1 0xb7eaf7d6 in GC_invoke_finalizers () at finalize.c:787
222 #2 0xb7eaf8ed in GC_notify_or_invoke_finalizers () at finalize.c:844
223 #3 0xb7eb2c8c in GC_generic_malloc (lb=32, k=0) at malloc.c:190
225 If this is true for you, you may want to try another optimisation level:
227 ./configure CFLAGS="-g -O2"
229 If this still does not work out either dispense with BDWGC support or
230 use a recent C compiler. ATTOW, all GCC 4.x compilers (including SVN)
235 ENT is basically a conglomerate of internally and externally implemented
236 arithmetics. Hence it supports a number of libraries, some of which
237 overlap in their functionality, some others do not but then break at the
240 One of the most likely problems is the GMP vs. MPFR issue. In past
241 times, mpfr (a multiprecision library for floats with exact rounding
242 facilities) has been a part of the GMP distribution. Later on, mpfr got
243 separated from it and has been developed independently while the version
244 of mpfr which ships with GMP stayed the same. Now that scenario is
247 Inattentive distributions (like Fedora) still deliver packages of GMP
248 with the old'n'incompatible mpfr library. SXEmacs will disable the MPFR
249 support on such systems by default (at configure time). However, if you
250 install a supported version of mpfr in parallel to the packaged ones on
251 such a system SXEmacs autodetection correctly reports that a sane
252 version of mpfr is available and enables it. Nonetheless, the according
253 build may fail (or the build may even succeed but calling the binary may
256 number-mpfr.o: In function `ent_lt_BIGFR_T':
257 /home/martin/src/edit/sxemacs-main/src/number-mpfr.c:661: undefined
258 reference to `mpfr_less_p'
259 number-mpfr.o: In function `ent_gt_BIGFR_T':
260 /home/martin/src/edit/sxemacs-main/src/number-mpfr.c:671: undefined
261 reference to `mpfr_greater_p'
264 Especially note that we _only_ support the standalone version of MPFR,
265 and not the one distributed with GMP.
270 Badger your distributor and demand separate packages for GMP and
273 Remove the GMP package and install your own build -- available at
274 http://swox.com/gmp -- afterwards install your own build of mpfr (the
275 one from http://www.mpfr.org)
277 Reconfigure and rebuild SXEmacs afterwards.
280 ** Build fails because of missing makeinfo
282 Install the GNU texinfo package on your system. You'll need at least
286 ** MacOS X warns of a crash during configure
288 This is normal, as one of the tests made during configure (for the
289 realpath call correctness) induces as crash.
291 If you are developing SXEmacs and will do lots of runs of configure
292 and that dialog annoys you, consider issuing:
294 # Disable crash reporting
295 sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ReportCrash.Root.plist
296 # Redo last configure
297 ./config.status --recheck
298 # Enable crash reporting
299 sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ReportCrash.Root.plist
301 Another alternative (not recommended) is to launch
303 /Developer/Applications/Utilities/CrashReporterPrefs
305 and configure the mode to server, but you will loose notifications of
306 crashes on all applications.
308 In order to give SXEmacs developers with good diagnosis information it
309 is recommended the mode be Developer.
313 SXEmacs does build and run on OpenIndiana (151a) but you will need to
314 install a few files/packages beforehand. Namely...
316 Common Name OpenIndiana Package Name
320 automake automake-110
322 libtool libtool (also install libltdl)
329 Yes, you read that right... to get pkg-config you must install the
330 "gettext" package. :-)
332 In that list, `bison', `gmp', and `mpfr' are not critical, but you
333 will get extra functionality in your SXEmacs if you have them.
335 *** automake additional instructions for OpenIndiana
337 When you install the automake-110 OpenIndiana package it won't set up
338 the symlinks to /usr/bin/automake or /usr/bin/aclocal. Fix that
341 sudo ln -sv automake-1.10 /usr/bin/automake
342 sudo ln -sv aclocal-1.10 /usr/bin/aclocal
344 *** Running SXEmacs configure on OpenIndiana
346 There's one more quirk with OpenIndiana when you try to run SXEmacs'
347 configure... you MUST set $CONFIG_SHELL
349 CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash ../configure [opts]
354 We have identified 2 packages so far that don't work "out of the box"
355 with SXEmacs. In both of these the problem is with parsing version
356 information. Patches have been sent to the appropriate maintainer to
357 fix the problem and are included here in case the packages haven't
358 been updated by the time you install SXEmacs.
360 Update: The EFS, and Dired XEmacs packages that are currently
361 available from the "Pre-Releases" area of XEmacs package mirrors are
362 both now compatible with SXEmacs and do not need the patches mentioned
367 Here is the patch to make EFS work with SXEmacs:
369 (Note: the current EFS package that XEmacs distributes has this
373 ===================================================================
374 RCS file: /pack/xemacscvs/XEmacs/packages/xemacs-packages/efs/ChangeLog,v
375 retrieving revision 1.41
376 diff -u -U0 -r1.41 ChangeLog
377 --- ChangeLog 4 Oct 2004 08:54:56 -0000 1.41
378 +++ ChangeLog 14 Jan 2005 02:43:10 -0000
380 +2005-01-14 Steve Youngs <steve@sxemacs.org>
382 + * efs-fnh.el (efs-handle-emacs-version): Use `emacs-*-version'
383 + variables for version info instead of string-matching through
387 ===================================================================
388 RCS file: /pack/xemacscvs/XEmacs/packages/xemacs-packages/efs/efs-fnh.el,v
389 retrieving revision 1.13
390 diff -u -u -r1.13 efs-fnh.el
391 --- efs-fnh.el 2 Oct 2004 14:06:00 -0000 1.13
392 +++ efs-fnh.el 14 Jan 2005 02:42:59 -0000
394 (let ((ehev-match-data (match-data)))
396 (let ((xemacsp (string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version))
398 - (or (string-match "^\\([0-9]+\\)\\.\\([0-9]+\\)" emacs-version)
399 - (error "efs does not work with emacs version %s" emacs-version))
400 - (setq ver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version
401 - (match-beginning 1)
403 - subver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version
404 - (match-beginning 2)
406 + (ver emacs-major-version)
407 + (subver emacs-minor-version))
409 + (or (string-match "^\\([0-9]+\\)\\.\\([0-9]+\\)" emacs-version)
410 + (error "efs does not work with emacs version %s" emacs-version))
411 + (setq ver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version
412 + (match-beginning 1)
414 + subver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version
415 + (match-beginning 2)
419 ;; XEmacs (emacs-version looks like \"19.xx XEmacs\")
423 Here is the patch to make Dired work with SXEmacs:
425 (Note: the current Dired package that XEmacs distributes has this
429 ===================================================================
430 RCS file: /pack/xemacscvs/XEmacs/packages/xemacs-packages/dired/ChangeLog,v
431 retrieving revision 1.19
432 diff -u -U0 -r1.19 ChangeLog
433 --- ChangeLog 4 Oct 2004 08:54:24 -0000 1.19
434 +++ ChangeLog 14 Jan 2005 02:37:37 -0000
436 +2005-01-14 Steve Youngs <steve@sxemacs.org>
438 + * dired.el: Use `emacs-*-version' variables for finding version
439 + information instead of string-matching through `emacs-version'.
441 + * diff.el (diff-emacs-19-p): Ditto.
444 ===================================================================
445 RCS file: /pack/xemacscvs/XEmacs/packages/xemacs-packages/dired/diff.el,v
446 retrieving revision 1.4
447 diff -u -u -r1.4 diff.el
448 --- diff.el 2 Oct 2004 14:06:17 -0000 1.4
449 +++ diff.el 14 Jan 2005 02:37:23 -0000
451 ;;; Internal variables
453 (defconst diff-emacs-19-p
454 - (let ((ver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version 0 2))))
455 + (let ((ver emacs-major-version))
458 (or diff-emacs-19-p (require 'emacs-19))
460 ===================================================================
461 RCS file: /pack/xemacscvs/XEmacs/packages/xemacs-packages/dired/dired.el,v
462 retrieving revision 1.7
463 diff -u -u -r1.7 dired.el
464 --- dired.el 2 Oct 2004 14:06:19 -0000 1.7
465 +++ dired.el 14 Jan 2005 02:37:25 -0000
467 ;; Testing against the string `Lucid' breaks InfoDock. How many years has
468 ;; it been since Lucid went away?
469 (let ((lucid-p (string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version))
471 - (or (string-match "^\\([0-9]+\\)\\.\\([0-9]+\\)" emacs-version)
472 - (error "dired does not work with emacs version %s" emacs-version))
473 - (setq ver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version (match-beginning 1)
475 - subver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version (match-beginning 2)
477 + (ver emacs-major-version)
478 + (subver emacs-minor-version))
480 + (or (string-match "^\\([0-9]+\\)\\.\\([0-9]+\\)" emacs-version)
481 + (error "dired does not work with emacs version %s" emacs-version))
482 + (setq ver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version (match-beginning 1)
484 + subver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version (match-beginning 2)
489 @@ -6616,11 +6618,12 @@
490 ;;;; --------------------------------------------------------------
492 (let ((lucid-p (string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version))
494 - (or (string-match "^\\([0-9]+\\)\\." emacs-version)
495 - (error "Weird emacs version %s" emacs-version))
496 - (setq ver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version (match-beginning 1)
498 + (ver emacs-major-version))
500 + (or (string-match "^\\([0-9]+\\)\\." emacs-version)
501 + (error "Weird emacs version %s" emacs-version))
502 + (setq ver (string-to-int (substring emacs-version (match-beginning 1)
505 ;; Reading with history.
509 * Problems with running SXEmacs
510 ===============================
514 *** ffi-wand.el refuses to load.
516 Can't load library `libMagickWand': libgomp.so.1: shared object cannot be
519 If you get that error when trying to load ffi-wand, it is because you
520 have a ImageMagick that is using OpenMP (currently only svn HEAD). To
521 fix this you will need to rebuild ImageMagick, making sure that you
522 configure it using --disable-openmp.
524 See: <http://issues.sxemacs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=104>
526 ** Multimedia Goodness
528 *** SXEmacs hangs or crashes during (init-asynchronousity).
530 This is most likely a known effect (we do not want to call it bug,
531 since there is no definite location) with certain (g)libc and kernel
532 combinations under Linux. If it crashes analyse the core file, it
533 should look like this:
535 #0 0x4014ebc4 in __sigsuspend (set=0xbffffbb4) at
536 ../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/sigsuspend.c:48
537 #1 0x40101b34 in __pthread_wait_for_restart_signal (self=0x401116e0) at
539 #2 0x40101138 in __pthread_create_2_1 (thread=0x206f8dc, attr=0xbffffc58,
540 start_routine=0x20043ac <console>, arg=0xbffffd88) at restart.h:26
542 A definite fault-prone setup is using kernel 2.6.x in conjunction with
545 *** SXEmacs hangs or crashes before it ought to playback sound.
547 As before, this is most likely a suspicious (g)libc/kernel
550 *** SXEmacs dumps core when using the ALSA audio device
552 This has been reported to happen with old ALSA libraries (1.0.3 to be
553 precise). At the moment it is uncertain at which version these
554 problems disappear (no developer wants to downgrade to a non-working
555 ALSA :D). We highly suggest to use the version 1.0.10 and above, or
558 *** SXEmacs in async mode does not play simultaneous sounds with ALSA
560 This is due to missing (hardware-)mixing capabilities of your
561 soundcard. There is a user-space plugin called dmix, which can
562 effectively circumvent this issue.
564 *** SXEmacs dumps core when using the aRts audio device
566 Does it? Please report details (version number of aRts, backtrace,
569 *** SXEmacs crashes when using state sentinels with asynchronous sounds
571 This is a known bug (#13 in our bug database). At the moment the only
572 advise we can give is: do not use sentinels before 22.1.7.
573 Also see our bug database at http://issues.sxemacs.org
575 *** make-media-stream seems to recognise any file as valid audio
577 This is a known issue with fully-featured ffmpeg builds. The current
578 code in SXEmacs blindly relies on FFmpeg when it reports a file or
579 string as valid audio. There is no way to double-check that at the
580 moment. However, you can perform the additional check yourself if
581 you have taglib installed. Use the included ffi-taglib.el.
584 * Original XEmacs PROBLEMS File
585 ===============================
586 From here down is a reproduction of the original XEmacs PROBLEMS
587 file. Much of it is already fixed in SXEmacs (and in XEmacs too).
588 We're keeping it here for prosperity, or until somebody finds the time
589 to go through it all and remove the irrelevant stuff. :-)
591 Note: Some irrelevant stuff purged (mostly windows rubbish) 2010-04-01
593 This file describes various problems that have been encountered
594 in compiling, installing and running XEmacs. It has been updated for
597 This file is rather large, but we have tried to sort the entries by
598 their respective relevance for XEmacs, but may have not succeeded
599 completely in that task. The file is divided into four parts:
601 - Problems with building XEmacs
602 - Problems with running XEmacs
603 - Compatibility problems
606 Use `C-c C-f' to move to the next equal level of outline, and
607 `C-c C-b' to move to previous equal level. `C-h m' will give more
608 info about the Outline mode.
610 Also, Try finding the things you need using one of the search commands
611 XEmacs provides (e.g. `C-s').
615 WATCH OUT for your init file! (~/.xemacs/init.el or ~/.emacs) If
616 you observe strange problems, invoke XEmacs with the `-vanilla'
617 option and see if you can repeat the problem.
619 Note that most of the problems described here manifest at RUN
620 time, even those described as BUILD problems. It is quite unusual
621 for a released XEmacs to fail to build. So a "build problem"
622 requires you to tweak the build environment, then rebuild XEmacs.
623 A "runtime problem" is one that can be fixed by proper
624 configuration of the existing build. Compatibility problems and
625 Mule issues are generally runtime problems, but are treated
626 separately for convenience.
629 * Problems with building XEmacs
630 ===============================
634 Much general information is in INSTALL. If it's covered in
635 INSTALL, we don't repeat it here.
637 *** How do I configure to get the buffer tabs/progress bars?
639 These features depend on support for "native widgets". Use the
640 --with-widgets option to configure. Configuration of widgets is
641 automatic for "modern" toolkits (MS Windows, GTK, and Motif), but if
642 you are using Xt and the Athena widgets, you will probably want to
643 specify a "3d" widget set. See configure --usage, and don't forget to
644 install the corresponding development libraries.
646 *** I know I have libfoo installed, but configure doesn't find it.
648 Typical of Linux systems with package managers. To link with a shared
649 library, you only need the shared library. To compile objects that
650 link with it, you need the headers---and distros don't provide them with
651 the libraries. You need the additional "development" package, too.
653 *** When using gcc, you get the error message "undefined symbol __fixunsdfsi".
654 When using gcc, you get the error message "undefined symbol __main".
656 This means that you need to link with the gcc library. It may be called
657 "gcc-gnulib" or "libgcc.a"; figure out where it is, and define LIB_GCC in
658 config.h to point to it.
660 It may also work to use the GCC version of `ld' instead of the standard one.
662 *** src/Makefile and lib-src/Makefile are truncated--most of the file missing.
664 This can happen if configure uses GNU sed version 2.03. That version
665 had a bug. GNU sed version 2.05 works properly.
669 Motif is the X11 version of the Gnus torture test: if there's a way to
670 crash, Motif will find it. With the open source release of Motif, it
671 seems like a good idea to collect all Motif-related issues in one
674 You should also look in your OS's section, as it may not be Motif's
677 *** XEmacs visibly repaints itty-bitty rectangles very slowly.
679 This should only be visible on a slow X connection (ISDN, maybe T1).
681 At least some versions of Motif apparently do not implement
682 XtExposeCompressMaximal properly, so it is disabled. If you wish to
683 experiment, you can remove the #ifdef LWLIB_NEEDS_MOTIF at line 238
684 (or so) of src/EmacsFrame.c, leaving only the line
686 /* compress_exposure */ XtExposeCompressMaximal | XtExposeNoRegion,
688 and recompile. This enables exposure compression, giving a 10:1 or
689 better speedup for some users. However, on some Motif platforms (Red
690 Hat Linux 9.0 and Solaris 2.8, at least), this causes XEmacs to hang
691 while displaying the progress bar (eg, in font-lock). A workaround
692 for that problem is to setq `progress-feedback-use-echo-area' to `t'.
694 *** XEmacs crashes on exit (#1).
696 The backtrace is something like:
699 #0 0xfeb9a480 in _libc_kill () from /usr/lib/libc.so.1
700 #1 0x000b0388 in fatal_error_signal ()
701 #2 <signal handler called>
702 #3 YowIter (ht=0xb, id=0x0, v=0x74682074, client=0x47e3c0)
704 #4 0xff26cc5c in _LTHashTableForEachItem (ht=0x4725e8,
705 iter=0xff26dda0 <YowIter>, ClientData=0x47e3c0) at Hash.c:671
706 #5 0xff2a4664 in destroy (w=0x496550) at Screen.c:352
707 #6 0xfef92118 in Phase2Destroy () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
708 #7 0xfef91940 in Recursive () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
709 #8 0xfef91e44 in XtPhase2Destroy () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
710 #9 0xfef91ae8 in _XtDoPhase2Destroy () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
711 #10 0xfef918cc in XtDestroyWidget () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
712 #11 0xfef91438 in CloseDisplay () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
713 #12 0xfef91394 in XtCloseDisplay () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
714 #13 0x0025b8b0 in x_delete_device ()
715 #14 0x000940b0 in delete_device_internal ()
716 #15 0x000806a0 in delete_console_internal ()
718 This is known to happen with Lesstif version 0.93.36. Similar
719 backtraces have also been observed on HP/UX and Solaris. There is a
720 patch for Lesstif. (This is not a solution; it just stops the crash.
721 It may or may not be harmless, but "it works for the author".)
723 Note that this backtrace looks a lot like the one in the next item.
724 However, this one is invulnerable to the Solaris patches mentioned there.
726 Frank McIngvale <frankm@hiwaay.net> says:
728 Ok, 0.93.34 works, and I tracked down the crash to a section
729 marked "experimental" in 0.93.36. Patch attached, "works for me".
731 diff -u -r lesstif-0.93.36/lib/Xm/ImageCache.c lesstif-0.93.36-mod/lib/Xm/ImageCache.c
732 --- lesstif-0.93.36/lib/Xm/ImageCache.c 2002-08-05 14:53:24.000000000 -0500
733 +++ lesstif-0.93.36-mod/lib/Xm/ImageCache.c 2002-11-11 11:13:12.000000000 -0600
734 @@ -1166,5 +1166,4 @@
735 DEBUGOUT(_LtDebug0(__FILE__, NULL, "_LtImageCacheScreenDestroy (XmGetPixmapByDepth) %p\n",
738 - (void) _LTHashTableForEachItem(PixmapCache, YowIter, (XtPointer)s);
741 *** XEmacs crashes on exit (#2)
743 Especially frequent with multiple frames. Crashes that produce C
744 backtraces like this:
746 #0 0xfec9a118 in _libc_kill () from /usr/lib/libc.so.1
747 #1 0x77f48 in fatal_error_signal (sig=11)
748 at /codes/rpluim/xemacs-21.4/src/emacs.c:539
749 #2 <signal handler called>
750 #3 0xfee929f4 in XFindContext () from /usr/openwin/lib/libX11.so.4
751 #4 0xfee92930 in XFindContext () from /usr/openwin/lib/libX11.so.4
752 #5 0xff297e54 in DisplayDestroy () from /usr/dt/lib/libXm.so.4
753 #6 0xfefbece0 in XtCallCallbackList () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
754 #7 0xfefc486c in XtPhase2Destroy () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
755 #8 0xfefc45d0 in _XtDoPhase2Destroy () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
756 #9 0xfefc43b4 in XtDestroyWidget () from /usr/openwin/lib/libXt.so.4
757 #10 0x15cf9c in x_delete_device (d=0x523f00)
759 are caused by buggy Motif libraries. Installing the following patches
760 has been reported to solve the problem on Solaris 2.7:
764 For information (although they have not been confirmed to work), the
765 equivalent patches for Solaris 2.8 are:
769 *** On HP-UX 11.0 XEmacs causes excessive X11 errors when running.
770 (also appears on AIX as reported in comp.emacs.xemacs)
772 Marcus Thiessel <marcus@xemacs.org>
774 Unfortunately, XEmacs releases prior to 21.0 don't work with
775 Motif2.1. It will compile but you will get excessive X11 errors like
777 xemacs: X Error of failed request: BadGC (invalid GC parameter)
779 and finally XEmacs gets killed. A workaround is to use the
780 Motif1.2_R6 libraries. You can the following line to your call to
783 --x-libraries="/usr/lib/Motif1.2_R6 -L/usr/lib/X11R6"
785 Make sure /usr/lib/Motif1.2_R6/libXm.sl is a link to
786 /usr/lib/Motif1.2_R6/libXm.3.
788 *** On HP-UX 11.0: Object "" does not have windowed ancestor
790 Marcus Thiessel <marcus@xemacs.org>
792 XEmacs dies without core file and reports:
794 Error: Object "" does not have windowed ancestor.
796 This is a bug. Please apply the patch PHSS_19964 (check if
797 superseded). The other alternative is to link with Motif1.2_R6 (see
800 *** Motif dialog boxes lose on Irix.
802 Larry Auton <lda@control.att.com> writes:
803 Beware of not specifying
805 --with-dialogs=athena
807 if it builds with the motif dialogs [boom!] you're a dead man.
811 *** IBM compiler fails: "The character # is not a valid C source character."
813 Most recently observed in 21.5.9, due to USE_KKCC ifdefs (they just
814 happen to tickle the implementation).
816 Valdis Kletnieks says:
818 The problem is that IBM defines a *MACRO* called 'memcpy', and we
819 have stuck a #ifdef/#endif inside the macro call. As a workaround,
820 try adding '-U__STR__' to your CFLAGS - this will cause string.h to
821 not do a #define for strcpy() to __strcpy() - it uses this for
822 automatic inlining support.
824 (For the record, the same issue affects a number of other functions
825 defined in string.h - basically anything the compiler knows how to
828 *** On AIX 4.3, you must specify --with-dialogs=athena with configure
830 *** The libXt shipped with AIX 4.3 up to 4.3.2 is broken. This causes
831 xemacs -nw to fail in various ways. The official APAR is this:
833 APAR NUMBER: <IX89470> RESOLVED AS: PROGRAM ERROR
836 <IX89470>: LIBXT.A INCORRECT HANDLING OF EXCEPTIONS IN XTAPPADDINPUT
838 The solution is to install X11.base.lib at version >=4.3.2.5.
840 *** On AIX, you get this compiler error message:
842 Processing include file ./XMenuInt.h
843 1501-106: (S) Include file X11/Xlib.h not found.
845 This means your system was installed with only the X11 runtime i.d
846 libraries. You have to find your sipo (bootable tape) and install
849 *** On AIX 4.1.2, linker error messages such as
850 ld: 0711-212 SEVERE ERROR: Symbol .__quous, found in the global symbol table
851 of archive /usr/lib/libIM.a, was not defined in archive member shr.o.
853 This is a problem in libIM.a. You can work around it by executing
854 these shell commands in the src subdirectory of the directory where
857 cp /usr/lib/libIM.a .
861 Then change -lIM to ./libIM.a in the command to link temacs (in
864 *** Excessive optimization on AIX 4.2 can lead to compiler failure.
866 Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu writes:
867 At least at the b34 level, and the latest-and-greatest IBM xlc
868 (3.1.4.4), there are problems with -O3. I haven't investigated
873 *** Dumping error when using GNU binutils / GNU ld on a Sun.
875 Errors similar to the following:
877 Dumping under the name xemacs unexec():
878 dldump(/space/rpluim/xemacs-obj/src/xemacs): ld.so.1: ./temacs:
879 fatal: /space/rpluim/xemacs-obj/src/xemacs: unknown dynamic entry:
882 are caused by using GNU ld. There are several workarounds available:
884 In XEmacs 21.2 or later, configure using the new portable dumper
887 Alternatively, you can link using the Sun version of ld, which is
888 normally held in /usr/ccs/bin. This can be done by one of:
890 - building gcc with these configure flags:
891 configure --with-ld=/usr/ccs/bin/ld --with-as=/usr/ccs/bin/as
893 - adding -B/usr/ccs/bin/ to CFLAGS used to configure XEmacs
894 (Note: The trailing '/' there is significant.)
896 - uninstalling GNU ld.
898 The Solaris2 FAQ claims:
900 When you install gcc, don't make the mistake of installing
901 GNU binutils or GNU libc, they are not as capable as their
902 counterparts you get with Solaris 2.x.
904 *** Link failure when using acc on a Sun.
906 To use acc, you need additional options just before the libraries, such as
908 /usr/lang/SC2.0.1/values-Xt.o -L/usr/lang/SC2.0.1/cg87 -L/usr/lang/SC2.0.1
910 and you need to add -lansi just before -lc.
912 The precise file names depend on the compiler version, so we
913 cannot easily arrange to supply them.
915 *** Problems finding X11 libraries on Solaris with Openwindows
917 Some users have reported problems in this area. The reported solution
918 is to define the environment variable OPENWINHOME, even if you must set
919 it to `/usr/openwin'.
921 *** Sed problems on Solaris 2.5
923 There have been reports of Sun sed truncating very lines in the
924 Makefile during configuration. The workaround is to use GNU sed or,
925 even better, think of a better way to generate Makefile, and send us a
928 *** On Solaris 2 I get undefined symbols from libcurses.a.
930 You probably have /usr/ucblib/ on your LD_LIBRARY_PATH. Do the link with
931 LD_LIBRARY_PATH unset. Generally, avoid using any ucb* stuff when
934 *** On Solaris 2 I cannot make alloc.o, glyphs.o or process.o.
936 The SparcWorks C compiler may have difficulty building those modules
937 with optimization level -xO4. Try using only "-fast" optimization
938 for just those modules. (Or use gcc).
940 *** Solaris 2.3 /bin/sh coredumps during configuration.
942 This only occurs if you have LANG != C. This is a known bug with
943 /bin/sh fixed by installing Patch-ID# 101613-01. Or, you can use
944 bash by setting the environment variable CONFIG_SHELL to /bin/bash
946 *** Solaris 2.x configure/Makefile syntax "errors"
948 This is a known bug with /bin/sh and /bin/test, i.e. they do not
949 support the XPG4 standard. You can use bash as a workaround or an
950 XPG4-compliant Bourne shell such as the Sun-supplied /usr/xpg4/bin/sh
951 by setting the environment variable CONFIG_SHELL to /usr/xpg4/bin/sh
953 *** On SunOS, you get linker errors
955 _get_wmShellWidgetClass
956 _get_applicationShellWidgetClass
958 The fix to this is to install patch 100573 for OpenWindows 3.0
959 or link libXmu statically.
961 *** On Sunos 4, you get the error ld: Undefined symbol __lib_version.
963 This is the result of using cc or gcc with the shared library meant
964 for acc (the Sunpro compiler). Check your LD_LIBRARY_PATH and delete
965 /usr/lang/SC2.0.1 or some similar directory.
967 *** Undefined symbols when linking on Sunos 4.1.
969 If you get the undefined symbols _atowc _wcslen, _iswprint, _iswspace,
970 _iswcntrl, _wcscpy, and _wcsncpy, then you need to add -lXwchar after
971 -lXaw in the command that links temacs.
973 This problem seems to arise only when the international language
974 extensions to X11R5 are installed.
976 *** On a Sun running SunOS 4.1.1, you get this error message from GNU ld:
978 /lib/libc.a(_Q_sub.o): Undefined symbol __Q_get_rp_rd referenced from text segment
980 The problem is in the Sun shared C library, not in GNU ld.
982 The solution is to install Patch-ID# 100267-03 from Sun.
984 *** SunOS 4.1.2: undefined symbol _get_wmShellWidgetClass
986 Apparently the version of libXmu.so.a that Sun ships is hosed: it's missing
987 some stuff that is in libXmu.a (the static version). Sun has a patch for
988 this, but a workaround is to use the static version of libXmu, by changing
989 the link command from "-lXmu" to "-Bstatic -lXmu -Bdynamic". If you have
990 OpenWindows 3.0, ask Sun for these patches:
991 100512-02 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 libXt Jumbo patch
992 100573-03 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 undefined symbols with shared libXmu
994 *** Random other SunOS 4.1.[12] link errors.
996 The X headers and libraries that Sun ships in /usr/{include,lib}/X11 are
997 broken. Use the ones in /usr/openwin/{include,lib} instead.
1001 See also Intel Architecture General, above.
1003 *** Under Linux, you get "too many arguments to function `getpgrp'".
1005 You have probably installed LessTiff under `/usr/local' and `libXm.so'
1006 could not be found when linking `getpgrp()' test program, making XEmacs
1007 think that `getpgrp()' takes an argument. Try adding `/usr/local/lib'
1008 in `/etc/ld.so.conf' and run `ldconfig'. Then run XEmacs's `configure'
1009 again. As with all problems of this type, reading the config.log file
1010 generated from configure and seeing the log of how the test failed can
1013 *** `Error: No ExtNode to pop!' on Linux systems with Lesstif.
1015 This error message has been observed with lesstif-0.75a. It does not
1016 appear to cause any harm.
1020 *** More coredumping in Irix (6.5 known to be vulnerable)
1022 No fix is known yet. Here's the best information we have:
1024 Valdis Kletnieks <Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu> writes:
1026 Were xemacs and [any 3rd party, locally-compiled] libraries [you use]
1027 all compiled with the same ABI ( -o32, -n32, -64) and
1028 mips2/mips3/mips4 flags, and are they appropriate for the machine in
1029 question? I know the IP30 implies an Octane, so it should be an R10K
1030 chipset and above such nonsense, but I've seen the most astoundingly
1031 bizzare crashes when somebody managed to compile with -mips4 and get
1032 it to run on an R4400 or R5K system. ;)
1034 Also, since you're using gcc, try re-running fixincludes and *then*
1035 rebuilding xemacs and [any] libraries - mismatched headers can do that
1036 sort of thing to you with little or no clue what's wrong (often you
1037 get screwed when one routine does an malloc(sizeof(foo_struct)) and
1038 passes the result to something that things foo_struct is a bit bigger,
1041 Here's typical crash backtrace. With --pdump, this occurs usually at
1042 startup under X windows and xemacs -nw at least starts, while without
1043 --pdump a similar crash is observed during build.
1045 #0 0x0fa460b8 in kill () at regcomp.c:637
1046 637 regcomp.c: No such file or directory.
1049 #0 0x0fa460b8 in kill () at regcomp.c:637
1050 #1 0x10087f34 in fatal_error_signal ()
1053 This is confusing because there is no such file in the XEmacs
1054 distribution. This is seen on (at least) the following configurations:
1056 uname -a: IRIX64 oct202 6.5 01091821 IP30
1057 XEmacs 21.4.9 "Informed Management" configured for `mips-sgi-irix6.5'.
1058 XEmacs 21.5-b9 "brussels sprouts" configured for `mips-sgi-irix6.5'.
1060 *** On Irix 6.5, the MIPSpro compiler gets an internal compiler error
1062 The MIPSpro Compiler (at least version 7.2.1) can't seem to handle the
1063 union type properly, and fails to compile src/glyphs.c. To avoid this
1064 problem, always build ---use-union-type=no (but that's the default, so
1065 you should only see this problem if you're an XEmacs maintainer).
1067 *** Linking with -rpath on IRIX.
1069 Darrell Kindred <dkindred@cmu.edu> writes:
1070 There are a couple of problems [with use of -rpath with Irix ld], though:
1072 1. The ld in IRIX 5.3 ignores all but the last -rpath
1073 spec, so the patched configure spits out a warning
1074 if --x-libraries or --site-runtime-libraries are
1075 specified under irix 5.x, and it only adds -rpath
1076 entries for the --site-runtime-libraries. This bug was
1077 fixed sometime between 5.3 and 6.2.
1079 2. IRIX gcc 2.7.2 doesn't accept -rpath directly, so
1080 it would have to be prefixed by -Xlinker or "-Wl,".
1081 This would be fine, except that configure compiles with
1082 ${CC-cc} $CFLAGS $LDFLAGS ...
1083 rather than quoting $LDFLAGS with prefix-args, like
1084 src/Makefile does. So if you specify --x-libraries
1085 or --site-runtime-libraries, you must use --use-gcc=no,
1086 or configure will fail.
1088 *** On Irix 6.3, the SGI ld quits with segmentation fault when linking temacs
1090 This occurs if you use the SGI linker version 7.1. Installing the
1091 patch SG0001872 fixes this problem.
1093 *** On Irix 6.0, make tries (and fails) to build a program named unexelfsgi
1095 A compiler bug inserts spaces into the string "unexelfsgi . o"
1096 in src/Makefile. Edit src/Makefile, after configure is run,
1097 find that string, and take out the spaces.
1099 Compiler fixes in Irix 6.0.1 should eliminate this problem.
1101 *** On Irix 5.2, unexelfsgi.c can't find cmplrs/stsupport.h.
1103 The file cmplrs/stsupport.h was included in the wrong file set in the
1104 Irix 5.2 distribution. You can find it in the optional fileset
1105 compiler_dev, or copy it from some other Irix 5.2 system. A kludgy
1106 workaround is to change unexelfsgi.c to include sym.h instead of
1109 *** Coredumping in Irix 6.2
1111 Pete Forman <gsez020@compo.bedford.waii.com> writes:
1112 A problem noted by myself and others (I've lost the references) was
1113 that XEmacs coredumped when the cut or copy toolbar buttons were
1114 pressed. This has been fixed by loading the SGI patchset (Feb 98)
1115 without having to recompile XEmacs.
1117 My versions are XEmacs 20.3 (problem first noted in 19.15) and IRIX
1118 6.2, compiled using -n32. I'd guess that the relevant individual
1119 patch was "SG0002580: multiple fixes for X libraries". SGI recommends
1120 that the complete patch set be installed rather than parts of it.
1122 ** Digital UNIX/OSF/VMS
1123 *** On Digital UNIX, the DEC C compiler might have a problem compiling
1126 In particular, src/extents.c and src/faces.c might cause the DEC C
1127 compiler to abort. When this happens: cd src, compile the files by
1128 hand, cd .., and redo the "make" command. When recompiling the files by
1129 hand, use the old C compiler for the following versions of Digital UNIX:
1130 - V3.n: Remove "-migrate" from the compile command.
1131 - V4.n: Add "-oldc" to the compile command.
1133 A related compiler bug has been fixed by the DEC compiler team. The
1134 new versions of the compiler should run fine.
1136 *** Under some versions of OSF XEmacs runs fine if built without
1137 optimization but will crash randomly if built with optimization.
1139 Using 'cc -g' is not sufficient to eliminate all optimization. Try
1140 'cc -g -O0' instead.
1142 *** Compilation errors on VMS.
1144 Sorry, XEmacs does not work under VMS. You might consider working on
1145 the port if you really want to have XEmacs work under VMS.
1148 *** On HPUX, the HP C compiler might have a problem compiling some files
1151 Richard Cognot <cognot@ensg.u-nancy.fr> writes:
1153 Had to drop once again to level 2 optimization, at least to
1154 compile lstream.c. Otherwise, I get a "variable is void: \if"
1155 problem while dumping (this is a problem I already reported
1156 with vanilla hpux 10.01 and 9.07, which went away after
1157 applying patches for the C compiler). Trouble is I still
1158 haven't found the same patch for hpux 10.10, and I don't
1159 remember the patch numbers. I think potential XEmacs builders
1160 on HP should be warned about this.
1162 *** I don't have `xmkmf' and `imake' on my HP.
1164 You can get these standard X tools by anonymous FTP to
1165 hpcvaaz.cv.hp.com. Essentially all X programs need these.
1167 *** On HP-UX, problems with make
1169 Marcus Thiessel <marcus@xemacs.org>
1171 Some releases of XEmacs (e.g. 20.4) require GNU make to build
1172 successfully. You don't need GNU make when building 21.x.
1174 *** On HP-UX 9.05 XEmacs won't compile or coredump during the build.
1176 Marcus Thiessel <marcus@xemacs.org>
1178 This might be a sed problem. For your own safety make sure to use
1179 GNU sed while dumping XEmacs.
1183 *** Native cc on SCO OpenServer 5 is now OK. Icc may still throw you
1184 a curve. Here is what Robert Lipe <robertl@arnet.com> says:
1186 Unlike XEmacs 19.13, building with the native cc on SCO OpenServer 5
1187 now produces a functional binary. I will typically build this
1188 configuration for COFF with:
1190 /path_to_xemacs_source/configure --with-gcc=no \
1191 --site-includes=/usr/local/include --site-libraries=/usr/local/lib \
1192 --with-xpm --with-xface --with-sound=nas
1194 This version now supports ELF builds. I highly recommend this to
1195 reduce the in-core footprint of XEmacs. This is now how I compile
1196 all my test releases. Build it like this:
1198 /path_to_XEmacs_source/configure --with-gcc=no \
1199 --site-includes=/usr/local/include --site-libraries=/usr/local/lib \
1200 --with-xpm --with-xface --with-sound=nas --dynamic
1202 The compiler known as icc [ supplied with the OpenServer 5 Development
1203 System ] generates a working binary, but it takes forever to generate
1204 XEmacs. ICC also whines more about the code than /bin/cc does. I do
1205 believe all its whining is legitimate, however. Note that you do
1206 have to 'cd src ; make LD=icc' to avoid linker errors.
1208 The way I handle the build procedure is:
1210 /path_to_XEmacs_source/configure --with-gcc=no \
1211 --site-includes=/usr/local/include --site-libraries=/usr/local/lib \
1212 --with-xpm --with-xface --with-sound=nas --dynamic --compiler="icc"
1214 NOTE I have the xpm, xface, and audio libraries and includes in
1215 /usr/local/lib, /usr/local/include. If you don't have these,
1216 don't include the "--with-*" arguments in any of my examples.
1218 In previous versions of XEmacs, you had to override the defaults while
1219 compiling font-lock.o and extents.o when building with icc. This seems
1220 to no longer be true, but I'm including this old information in case it
1221 resurfaces. The process I used was:
1224 [ procure pizza, beer, repeat ]
1226 make CC="icc -W0,-mP1COPT_max_tree_size=3000" font-lock.o extents.o
1229 If you want sound support, get the tls566 supplement from
1230 ftp.sco.com:/TLS or any of its mirrors. It works just groovy
1233 The M-x manual-entry is known not to work. If you know Lisp and would
1234 like help in making it work, e-mail me at <robertl@dgii.com>.
1235 (UNCHECKED for 19.15 -- it might work).
1237 In earlier releases, gnuserv/gnuclient/gnudoit would open a frame
1238 just fine, but the client would lock up and the server would
1239 terminate when you used C-x # to close the frame. This is now
1242 In etc/ there are two files of note. emacskeys.sco and emacsstrs.sco.
1243 The comments at the top of emacskeys.sco describe its function, and
1244 the emacstrs.sco is a suitable candidate for /usr/lib/keyboard/strings
1245 to take advantage of the keyboard map in emacskeys.sco.
1247 Note: Much of the above entry is probably not valid for XEmacs 21.0
1250 * Problems with running XEmacs
1251 ==============================
1254 *** XEmacs consistently crashes in a particular strange place.
1256 One known case is on Red Hat Linux, compiled with GCC, attempting to
1257 render PNG images. The problem is that XEmacs code is not compliant
1258 with ANSI rules about aliasing. Adding -fno-strict-aliasing to CFLAGS
1259 may help (or the equivalent for your compiler). (Some versions of
1260 XEmacs may already do this automatically, but if you specify CFLAGS or
1261 --cflags yourself, you will have to add this flag by hand.)
1263 If you diagnose this bug for some other symptoms or systems, please
1264 let us know (if you can send mail from the affected system, use M-x
1265 report-xemacs-bug) so we can update this entry.
1267 *** Changes made to .el files do not take effect.
1269 You may have forgotten to recompile them into .elc files. Then the
1270 old .elc files will be loaded, and your changes will not be seen. To
1271 fix this, do `M-x byte-recompile-directory' and specify the directory
1272 that contains the Lisp files.
1274 Note that you will get a warning when loading a .elc file that is
1275 older than the corresponding .el file.
1277 *** VM appears to hang in large folders.
1279 This is normal (trust us) when upgrading to VM-6.22 from earlier
1280 versions. Let VM finish what it is doing and all will be well.
1282 *** Starting with 21.4.x, killing text is absurdly slow.
1284 See FAQ Q3.10.6. Should be available on the web near
1285 http://www.xemacs.org/faq/xemacs-faq.html#SEC160.
1287 *** Whenever I try to retrieve a remote file, I have problems.
1289 A typical error: FTP Error: USER request failed; 500 AUTH not understood.
1290 Thanks to giacomo boffi <giacomo.boffi@polimi.it> on comp.emacs.xemacs:
1292 tell your ftp client to not attempt AUTH authentication (or do not
1293 use FTP servers that don't understand AUTH)
1295 and notes that you need to add an element (often "-u") to
1296 `efs-ftp-program-args'. Use M-x customize-variable, and verify the
1297 needed flag with `man ftp' or other local documentation.
1299 *** gnuserv is running, some clients can connect, but others cannot.
1301 The code in gnuslib.c respects the value of TMPDIR. If the server and
1302 the client have different values in their environment, you lose.
1303 One program known to set TMPDIR and manifest this problem is exmh.
1304 You can defeat the use of TMPDIR by unsetting USE_TMPDIR at the top of
1305 gnuserv.h at build time.
1309 *** You type Control-H (Backspace) expecting to delete characters.
1311 Emacs has traditionally used Control-H for help; unfortunately this
1312 interferes with its use as Backspace on TTY's. As of XEmacs 21,
1313 XEmacs looks at the "erase" setting of TTY structures and maps C-h to
1314 backspace when erase is set to C-h. This is sort of a special hack,
1315 but it makes it possible for you to use the standard:
1319 to get your backspace key to erase characters. The erase setting is
1320 recorded in the Lisp variable `tty-erase-char', which you can use to
1321 tune the settings in your .emacs.
1323 A major drawback of this is that when C-h becomes backspace, it no
1324 longer invokes help. In that case, you need to use f1 for help, or
1325 bind another key. An example of the latter is the following code,
1326 which moves help to Meta-? (ESC ?):
1328 (global-set-key "\M-?" 'help-command)
1330 *** At startup I get a warning on stderr about missing charsets:
1332 Warning: Missing charsets in String to FontSet conversion
1334 You need to specify appropriate charsets for your locale (usually the
1335 value of the LANG environment variable) in .Xresources. See
1336 etc/Emacs.ad for the relevant resources (mostly menubar fonts and
1337 fontsets). Do not edit this file, it's purely informative.
1339 If you have no satisfactory fonts for iso-8859-1, XEmacs will crash.
1341 It looks like XFree86 4.x (the usual server on Linux and *BSD) has
1342 some braindamage where .UTF-8 locales will always generate this
1343 message, because the XFree86 (font)server doesn't know that UTF-8 will
1344 use the ISO10646-1 font registry (or a Cmap or something).
1346 If you are not using a .UTF-8 locale and see this warning for a
1347 character set not listed in the default in Emacs.ad, please let
1348 xemacs-beta@xemacs.org know about it, so we can add fonts to the
1349 appropriate fontsets and stifle this warning. (Unfortunately it's
1350 buried in Xlib, so we can't easily get rid of it otherwise.)
1352 *** Mail agents (VM, Gnus, rmail) cannot get new mail
1354 rmail and VM get new mail from /usr/spool/mail/$USER using a program
1355 called `movemail'. This program interlocks with /bin/mail using the
1356 protocol defined by /bin/mail.
1358 There are two different protocols in general use. One of them uses
1359 the `flock' system call. The other involves creating a lock file;
1360 `movemail' must be able to write in /usr/spool/mail in order to do
1361 this. You control which one is used by defining, or not defining, the
1362 macro MAIL_USE_FLOCK in config.h or the m- or s- file it includes. IF
1363 YOU DON'T USE THE FORM OF INTERLOCKING THAT IS NORMAL ON YOUR SYSTEM,
1366 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and fascist restrictions
1367 prevent ordinary users from writing the lock files in /usr/spool/mail,
1368 you may need to make `movemail' setgid to a suitable group such as
1369 `mail'. To do this, use the following commands (as root) after doing
1375 Installation normally copies movemail from the build directory to an
1376 installation directory which is usually under /usr/local/lib. The
1377 installed copy of movemail is usually in the directory
1378 /usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/TARGET. You must change the group and
1379 mode of the installed copy; changing the group and mode of the build
1380 directory copy is ineffective.
1382 *** Things which should be bold or italic (such as the initial
1383 copyright notice) are not.
1385 The fonts of the "bold" and "italic" faces are generated from the font
1386 of the "default" face; in this way, your bold and italic fonts will
1387 have the appropriate size and family. However, emacs can only be
1388 clever in this way if you have specified the default font using the
1389 XLFD (X Logical Font Description) format, which looks like
1391 *-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-*-*
1393 if you use any of the other, less strict font name formats, some of
1396 lucidasanstypewriter-12
1400 then emacs won't be able to guess the names of the "bold" and "italic"
1401 versions. All X fonts can be referred to via XLFD-style names, so you
1402 should use those forms. See the man pages for X(1), xlsfonts(1), and
1405 *** The dumped Emacs crashes when run, trying to write pure data.
1407 Two causes have been seen for such problems.
1409 1) On a system where getpagesize is not a system call, it is defined
1410 as a macro. If the definition (in both unexec.c and malloc.c) is wrong,
1411 it can cause problems like this. You might be able to find the correct
1412 value in the man page for a.out (5).
1414 2) Some systems allocate variables declared static among the
1415 initialized variables. Emacs makes all initialized variables in most
1416 of its files pure after dumping, but the variables declared static and
1417 not initialized are not supposed to be pure. On these systems you
1418 may need to add "#define static" to the m- or the s- file.
1420 *** Reading and writing files is very very slow.
1422 Try evaluating the form (setq lock-directory nil) and see if that helps.
1423 There is a problem with file-locking on some systems (possibly related
1424 to NFS) that I don't understand. Please send mail to the address
1425 xemacs-beta@xemacs.org if you figure this one out.
1427 *** When emacs starts up, I get lots of warnings about unknown keysyms.
1429 If you are running the prebuilt binaries, the Motif library expects to find
1430 certain thing in the XKeysymDB file. This file is normally in /usr/lib/X11/
1431 or in /usr/openwin/lib/. If you keep yours in a different place, set the
1432 environment variable $XKEYSYMDB to point to it before starting emacs. If
1433 you still have the problem after doing that, perhaps your version of X is
1434 too old. There is a copy of the MIT X11R5 XKeysymDB file in the emacs `etc'
1435 directory. Try using that one.
1437 *** My X resources used to work, and now some of them are being ignored.
1439 Check the resources in .../etc/Emacs.ad (which is the same as the file
1440 sample.Xresources). Perhaps some of the default resources built in to
1441 emacs are now overriding your existing resources. Copy and edit the
1442 resources in Emacs.ad as necessary.
1444 *** I have focus problems when I use `M-o' to switch to another screen
1445 without using the mouse.
1447 The focus issues with a program like XEmacs, which has multiple
1448 homogeneous top-level windows, are very complicated, and as a result,
1449 most window managers don't implement them correctly.
1451 The R4/R5 version of twm (and all of its descendants) had buggy focus
1452 handling. Sufficiently recent versions of tvtwm have been fixed. In
1453 addition, if you're using twm, make sure you have not specified
1454 "NoTitleFocus" in your .tvtwmrc file. The very nature of this option
1455 makes twm do some illegal focus tricks, even with the patch.
1457 It is known that olwm and olvwm are buggy, and in different ways. If
1458 you're using click-to-type mode, try using point-to-type, or vice
1461 In older versions of NCDwm, one could not even type at XEmacs windows.
1462 This has been fixed in newer versions (2.4.3, and possibly earlier).
1464 (Many people suggest that XEmacs should warp the mouse when focusing
1465 on another screen in point-to-type mode. This is not ICCCM-compliant
1466 behavior. Implementing such policy is the responsibility of the
1467 window manager itself, it is not legal for a client to do this.)
1469 *** Emacs spontaneously displays "I-search: " at the bottom of the screen.
1471 This means that Control-S/Control-Q (XON/XOFF) "flow control" is being
1472 used. C-s/C-q flow control is bad for Emacs editors because it takes
1473 away C-s and C-q as user commands. Since editors do not output long
1474 streams of text without user commands, there is no need for a
1475 user-issuable "stop output" command in an editor; therefore, a
1476 properly designed flow control mechanism would transmit all possible
1477 input characters without interference. Designing such a mechanism is
1478 easy, for a person with at least half a brain.
1480 There are three possible reasons why flow control could be taking place:
1482 1) Terminal has not been told to disable flow control
1483 2) Insufficient padding for the terminal in use
1484 3) Some sort of terminal concentrator or line switch is responsible
1486 First of all, many terminals have a set-up mode which controls whether
1487 they generate XON/XOFF flow control characters. This must be set to
1488 "no XON/XOFF" in order for Emacs to work. Sometimes there is an
1489 escape sequence that the computer can send to turn flow control off
1490 and on. If so, perhaps the termcap `ti' string should turn flow
1491 control off, and the `te' string should turn it on.
1493 Once the terminal has been told "no flow control", you may find it
1494 needs more padding. The amount of padding Emacs sends is controlled
1495 by the termcap entry for the terminal in use, and by the output baud
1496 rate as known by the kernel. The shell command `stty' will print
1497 your output baud rate; `stty' with suitable arguments will set it if
1498 it is wrong. Setting to a higher speed causes increased padding. If
1499 the results are wrong for the correct speed, there is probably a
1500 problem in the termcap entry. You must speak to a local Unix wizard
1501 to fix this. Perhaps you are just using the wrong terminal type.
1503 For terminals that lack a "no flow control" mode, sometimes just
1504 giving lots of padding will prevent actual generation of flow control
1505 codes. You might as well try it.
1507 If you are really unlucky, your terminal is connected to the computer
1508 through a concentrator which sends XON/XOFF flow control to the
1509 computer, or it insists on sending flow control itself no matter how
1510 much padding you give it. Unless you can figure out how to turn flow
1511 control off on this concentrator (again, refer to your local wizard),
1512 you are screwed! You should have the terminal or concentrator
1513 replaced with a properly designed one. In the mean time, some drastic
1514 measures can make Emacs semi-work.
1516 You can make Emacs ignore C-s and C-q and let the operating system
1517 handle them. To do this on a per-session basis, just type M-x
1518 enable-flow-control RET. You will see a message that C-\ and C-^ are
1519 now translated to C-s and C-q. (Use the same command M-x
1520 enable-flow-control to turn *off* this special mode. It toggles flow
1523 If C-\ and C-^ are inconvenient for you (for example, if one of them
1524 is the escape character of your terminal concentrator), you can choose
1525 other characters by setting the variables flow-control-c-s-replacement
1526 and flow-control-c-q-replacement. But choose carefully, since all
1527 other control characters are already used by emacs.
1529 IMPORTANT: if you type C-s by accident while flow control is enabled,
1530 Emacs output will freeze, and you will have to remember to type C-q in
1533 If you work in an environment where a majority of terminals of a
1534 certain type are flow control hobbled, you can use the function
1535 `enable-flow-control-on' to turn on this flow control avoidance scheme
1536 automatically. Here is an example:
1538 (enable-flow-control-on "vt200" "vt300" "vt101" "vt131")
1540 If this isn't quite correct (e.g. you have a mixture of flow-control hobbled
1541 and good vt200 terminals), you can still run enable-flow-control
1544 I have no intention of ever redesigning the Emacs command set for the
1545 assumption that terminals use C-s/C-q flow control. XON/XOFF flow
1546 control technique is a bad design, and terminals that need it are bad
1547 merchandise and should not be purchased. Now that X is becoming
1548 widespread, XON/XOFF seems to be on the way out. If you can get some
1549 use out of GNU Emacs on inferior terminals, more power to you, but I
1550 will not make Emacs worse for properly designed systems for the sake
1551 of inferior systems.
1553 *** Control-S and Control-Q commands are ignored completely.
1555 For some reason, your system is using brain-damaged C-s/C-q flow
1556 control despite Emacs's attempts to turn it off. Perhaps your
1557 terminal is connected to the computer through a concentrator
1558 that wants to use flow control.
1560 You should first try to tell the concentrator not to use flow control.
1561 If you succeed in this, try making the terminal work without
1562 flow control, as described in the preceding section.
1564 If that line of approach is not successful, map some other characters
1565 into C-s and C-q using keyboard-translate-table. The example above
1566 shows how to do this with C-^ and C-\.
1568 *** Control-S and Control-Q commands are ignored completely on a net
1571 Some versions of rlogin (and possibly telnet) do not pass flow
1572 control characters to the remote system to which they connect.
1573 On such systems, emacs on the remote system cannot disable flow
1574 control on the local system.
1576 One way to cure this is to disable flow control on the local host
1577 (the one running rlogin, not the one running rlogind) using the
1578 stty command, before starting the rlogin process. On many systems,
1579 `stty start u stop u' will do this.
1581 Some versions of tcsh will prevent even this from working. One way
1582 around this is to start another shell before starting rlogin, and
1583 issue the stty command to disable flow control from that shell.
1585 If none of these methods work, the best solution is to type
1586 `M-x enable-flow-control' at the beginning of your emacs session, or
1587 if you expect the problem to continue, add a line such as the
1588 following to your .emacs (on the host running rlogind):
1590 (enable-flow-control-on "vt200" "vt300" "vt101" "vt131")
1592 See the entry about spontaneous display of I-search (above) for more
1595 *** TTY redisplay is slow.
1597 XEmacs has fairly new TTY redisplay support (beginning from 19.12),
1598 which doesn't include some basic TTY optimizations -- like using
1599 scrolling regions to move around blocks of text. This is why
1600 redisplay on the traditional terminals, or over slow lines can be very
1603 If you are interested in fixing this, please let us know at
1604 <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>.
1606 *** Screen is updated wrong, but only on one kind of terminal.
1608 This could mean that the termcap entry you are using for that terminal
1609 is wrong, or it could mean that Emacs has a bug handing the
1610 combination of features specified for that terminal.
1612 The first step in tracking this down is to record what characters
1613 Emacs is sending to the terminal. Execute the Lisp expression
1614 (open-termscript "./emacs-script") to make Emacs write all terminal
1615 output into the file ~/emacs-script as well; then do what makes the
1616 screen update wrong, and look at the file and decode the characters
1617 using the manual for the terminal. There are several possibilities:
1619 1) The characters sent are correct, according to the terminal manual.
1621 In this case, there is no obvious bug in Emacs, and most likely you
1622 need more padding, or possibly the terminal manual is wrong.
1624 2) The characters sent are incorrect, due to an obscure aspect of the
1625 terminal behavior not described in an obvious way by termcap.
1627 This case is hard. It will be necessary to think of a way for Emacs
1628 to distinguish between terminals with this kind of behavior and other
1629 terminals that behave subtly differently but are classified the same
1630 by termcap; or else find an algorithm for Emacs to use that avoids the
1631 difference. Such changes must be tested on many kinds of terminals.
1633 3) The termcap entry is wrong.
1635 See the file etc/TERMS for information on changes that are known to be
1636 needed in commonly used termcap entries for certain terminals.
1638 4) The characters sent are incorrect, and clearly cannot be right for
1639 any terminal with the termcap entry you were using.
1641 This is unambiguously an Emacs bug, and can probably be fixed in
1642 termcap.c, terminfo.c, tparam.c, cm.c, redisplay-tty.c,
1643 redisplay-output.c, or redisplay.c.
1645 *** My buffers are full of \000 characters or otherwise corrupt.
1647 Some compilers have trouble with gmalloc.c and ralloc.c; try recompiling
1648 without optimization. If that doesn't work, try recompiling with
1649 SYSTEM_MALLOC defined, and/or with REL_ALLOC undefined.
1651 *** A position you specified in .Xresources is ignored, using twm.
1653 twm normally ignores "program-specified" positions.
1654 You can tell it to obey them with this command in your `.twmrc' file:
1656 UsePPosition "on" #allow clents to request a position
1658 *** With M-x enable-flow-control, you need to type C-\ twice to do
1659 incremental search--a single C-\ gets no response.
1661 This has been traced to communicating with your machine via kermit,
1662 with C-\ as the kermit escape character. One solution is to use
1663 another escape character in kermit. One user did
1665 set escape-character 17
1667 in his .kermrc file, to make C-q the kermit escape character.
1669 *** The Motif version of Emacs paints the screen a solid color.
1671 This has been observed to result from the following X resource:
1673 Emacs*default.attributeFont: -*-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-140-*-*-*-*-iso8859-*
1675 That the resource has this effect indicates a bug in something, but we
1676 do not yet know what. If it is an Emacs bug, we hope someone can
1677 explain what the bug is so we can fix it. In the mean time, removing
1678 the resource prevents the problem.
1680 *** After running emacs once, subsequent invocations crash.
1682 Some versions of SVR4 have a serious bug in the implementation of the
1683 mmap () system call in the kernel; this causes emacs to run correctly
1684 the first time, and then crash when run a second time.
1686 Contact your vendor and ask for the mmap bug fix; in the mean time,
1687 you may be able to work around the problem by adding a line to your
1688 operating system description file (whose name is reported by the
1689 configure script) that reads:
1690 #define SYSTEM_MALLOC
1691 This makes Emacs use memory less efficiently, but seems to work around
1694 *** Inability to send an Alt-modified key, when Emacs is communicating
1695 directly with an X server.
1697 If you have tried to bind an Alt-modified key as a command, and it
1698 does not work to type the command, the first thing you should check is
1699 whether the key is getting through to Emacs. To do this, type C-h c
1700 followed by the Alt-modified key. C-h c should say what kind of event
1701 it read. If it says it read an Alt-modified key, then make sure you
1702 have made the key binding correctly.
1704 If C-h c reports an event that doesn't have the Alt modifier, it may
1705 be because your X server has no key for the Alt modifier. The X
1706 server that comes from MIT does not set up the Alt modifier by
1709 If your keyboard has keys named Alt, you can enable them as follows:
1711 xmodmap -e 'add mod2 = Alt_L'
1712 xmodmap -e 'add mod2 = Alt_R'
1714 If the keyboard has just one key named Alt, then only one of those
1715 commands is needed. The modifier `mod2' is a reasonable choice if you
1716 are using an unmodified MIT version of X. Otherwise, choose any
1717 modifier bit not otherwise used.
1719 If your keyboard does not have keys named Alt, you can use some other
1720 keys. Use the keysym command in xmodmap to turn a function key (or
1721 some other 'spare' key) into Alt_L or into Alt_R, and then use the
1722 commands show above to make them modifier keys.
1724 Note that if you have Alt keys but no Meta keys, Emacs translates Alt
1725 into Meta. This is because of the great importance of Meta in Emacs.
1727 *** In Shell mode, you get a ^M at the end of every line.
1729 This happens to people who use tcsh, because it is trying to be too
1730 smart. It sees that the Shell uses terminal type `unknown' and turns
1731 on the flag to output ^M at the end of each line. You can fix the
1732 problem by adding this to your .cshrc file:
1735 if ($EMACS == "t") then
1737 stty -icrnl -onlcr -echo susp ^Z
1741 *** An error message such as `X protocol error: BadMatch (invalid
1742 parameter attributes) on protocol request 93'.
1744 This comes from having an invalid X resource, such as
1746 (which is invalid because it specifies a color name for something
1747 that isn't a color.)
1749 The fix is to correct your X resources.
1751 *** Once you pull down a menu from the menubar, it won't go away.
1753 It has been claimed that this is caused by a bug in certain very old
1754 (1990?) versions of the twm window manager. It doesn't happen with
1755 recent vintages, or with other window managers.
1757 *** Emacs ignores the "help" key when running OLWM.
1759 OLWM grabs the help key, and retransmits it to the appropriate client
1760 using XSendEvent. Allowing emacs to react to synthetic events is a
1761 security hole, so this is turned off by default. You can enable it by
1762 setting the variable x-allow-sendevents to t. You can also cause fix
1763 this by telling OLWM to not grab the help key, with the null binding
1764 "OpenWindows.KeyboardCommand.Help:".
1766 *** Programs running under terminal emulator do not recognize `emacs'
1769 The cause of this is a shell startup file that sets the TERMCAP
1770 environment variable. The terminal emulator uses that variable to
1771 provide the information on the special terminal type that Emacs
1774 Rewrite your shell startup file so that it does not change TERMCAP
1775 in such a case. You could use the following conditional which sets
1776 it only if it is undefined.
1778 if ( ! ${?TERMCAP} ) setenv TERMCAP ~/my-termcap-file
1780 Or you could set TERMCAP only when you set TERM--which should not
1781 happen in a non-login shell.
1783 *** The popup menu appears at the bottom/right of my screen.
1785 You probably have something like the following in your ~/.Xresources
1787 Emacs.geometry: 81x56--9--1
1789 Use the following instead
1791 Emacs*EmacsFrame.geometry: 81x56--9--1
1793 *** When I try to use the PostgreSQL functions, I get a message about
1796 The only known case in which this happens is if you are using gcc, you
1797 configured with --error-checking=all and --with-modules, and you
1798 compiled with no optimization. If you encounter this problem in any
1799 other situation, please inform xemacs-beta@xemacs.org.
1801 This problem stems from a gcc bug. With no optimization, functions
1802 declared `extern inline' sometimes are not completely compiled away. An
1803 undefined symbol with the function's name is put into the resulting
1804 object file. In this case, when the postgresql module is loaded, the
1805 linker is unable to resolve that symbol, so the module load fails. The
1806 workaround is to recompile the module with optimization turned on. Any
1807 optimization level, including -Os, appears to work.
1809 *** C-z just refreshes the screen instead of suspending Emacs.
1811 You are probably using a shell that doesn't support job control, even
1812 though the system itself is capable of it. Try using a different
1816 *** XEmacs crashes on MacOS within font-lock, or when dealing
1817 with large compilation buffers, or in other regex applications.
1819 The default stack size under MacOS/X is rather small (512k as opposed
1820 to Solaris 8M), hosing the regexp code, which uses alloca()
1821 extensively, overflowing the stack when complex regexps are used.
1824 1) Increase your stack size, using `ulimit -s 8192' or a (t)csh
1827 2) Recompile regex.c with REGEX_MALLOC defined.
1830 *** Your Delete key sends a Backspace to the terminal, using an AIXterm.
1832 The solution is to include in your .Xresources the lines:
1834 *aixterm.Translations: #override <Key>BackSpace: string(0x7f)
1835 aixterm*ttyModes: erase ^?
1837 This makes your Backspace key send DEL (ASCII 127).
1839 *** On AIX 4, some programs fail when run in a Shell buffer
1840 with an error message like No terminfo entry for "unknown".
1842 On AIX, many terminal type definitions are not installed by default.
1843 `unknown' is one of them. Install the "Special Generic Terminal
1844 Definitions" to make them defined.
1846 *** On AIX, you get this message when running Emacs:
1848 Could not load program emacs
1849 Symbol smtcheckinit in csh is undefined
1850 Error was: Exec format error
1854 Could not load program .emacs
1855 Symbol _system_con in csh is undefined
1856 Symbol _fp_trapsta in csh is undefined
1857 Error was: Exec format error
1859 These can happen when you try to run on AIX 3.2.5 a program that was
1860 compiled with 3.2.4. The fix is to recompile.
1862 *** Trouble using ptys on AIX.
1864 People often install the pty devices on AIX incorrectly.
1865 Use `smit pty' to reinstall them properly.
1869 *** The Emacs window disappears when you type M-q.
1871 Some versions of the Open Look window manager interpret M-q as a quit
1872 command for whatever window you are typing at. If you want to use
1873 Emacs with that window manager, you should try to configure the window
1874 manager to use some other command. You can disable the
1875 shortcut keys entirely by adding this line to ~/.OWdefaults:
1877 OpenWindows.WindowMenuAccelerators: False
1879 *** When Emacs tries to ring the bell, you get an error like
1881 audio: sst_open: SETQSIZE" Invalid argument
1882 audio: sst_close: SETREG MMR2, Invalid argument
1884 you have probably compiled using an ANSI C compiler, but with non-ANSI
1885 include files. In particular, on Suns, the file
1886 /usr/include/sun/audioio.h uses the _IOW macro to define the constant
1887 AUDIOSETQSIZE. _IOW in turn uses a K&R preprocessor feature that is
1888 now explicitly forbidden in ANSI preprocessors, namely substitution
1889 inside character constants. All ANSI C compilers must provide a
1890 workaround for this problem. Lucid's C compiler is shipped with a new
1891 set of system include files. If you are using GCC, there is a script
1892 called fixincludes that creates new versions of some system include
1893 files that use this obsolete feature.
1895 *** On Solaris 2.6, XEmacs dumps core when exiting.
1897 This happens if you're XEmacs is running on the same machine as the X
1898 server, and the optimized memory transport has been turned on by
1899 setting the environment variable XSUNTRANSPORT. The crash occurs
1900 during the call to XCloseDisplay.
1902 If this describes your situation, you need to undefine the
1903 XSUNTRANSPORT environment variable.
1905 *** On Solaris, C-x doesn't get through to Emacs when you use the console.
1907 This is a Solaris feature (at least on Intel x86 cpus). Type C-r
1908 C-r C-t, to toggle whether C-x gets through to Emacs.
1910 *** On Solaris 2.4, Dired hangs and C-g does not work. Or Emacs hangs
1911 forever waiting for termination of a subprocess that is a zombie.
1913 casper@fwi.uva.nl says the problem is in X11R6. Rebuild libX11.so
1914 after changing the file xc/config/cf/sunLib.tmpl. Change the lines
1917 #define SharedX11Reqs -lthread
1922 #if OSMinorVersion < 4
1924 #define SharedX11Reqs -lthread
1928 Be sure also to edit x/config/cf/sun.cf so that OSMinorVersion is 4
1929 (as it should be for Solaris 2.4). The file has three definitions for
1930 OSMinorVersion: the first is for x86, the second for SPARC under
1931 Solaris, and the third for SunOS 4. Make sure to update the
1932 definition for your type of machine and system.
1934 Then do `make Everything' in the top directory of X11R6, to rebuild
1935 the makefiles and rebuild X. The X built this way work only on
1936 Solaris 2.4, not on 2.3.
1938 For multithreaded X to work it necessary to install patch
1939 101925-02 to fix problems in header files [2.4]. You need
1940 to reinstall gcc or re-run just-fixinc after installing that
1943 However, Frank Rust <frust@iti.cs.tu-bs.de> used a simpler solution:
1945 #define ThreadedX YES
1947 #define ThreadedX NO
1948 in sun.cf and did `make World' to rebuild X11R6. Removing all
1949 `-DXTHREAD*' flags and `-lthread' entries from lib/X11/Makefile and
1950 typing 'make install' in that directory also seemed to work.
1952 *** On SunOS 4.1.3, Emacs unpredictably crashes in _yp_dobind_soft.
1954 This happens if you configure Emacs specifying just `sparc-sun-sunos4'
1955 on a system that is version 4.1.3. You must specify the precise
1956 version number (or let configure figure out the configuration, which
1957 it can do perfectly well for SunOS).
1959 *** Mail is lost when sent to local aliases.
1961 Many emacs mail user agents (VM and rmail, for instance) use the
1962 sendmail.el library. This library can arrange for mail to be
1963 delivered by passing messages to the /usr/lib/sendmail (usually)
1964 program . In doing so, it passes the '-t' flag to sendmail, which
1965 means that the name of the recipient of the message is not on the
1966 command line and, therefore, that sendmail must parse the message to
1967 obtain the destination address.
1969 There is a bug in the SunOS4.1.1 and SunOS4.1.3 versions of sendmail.
1970 In short, when given the -t flag, the SunOS sendmail won't recognize
1971 non-local (i.e. NIS) aliases. It has been reported that the Solaris
1972 2.x versions of sendmail do not have this bug. For those using SunOS
1973 4.1, the best fix is to install sendmail V8 or IDA sendmail (which
1974 have other advantages over the regular sendmail as well). At the time
1975 of this writing, these official versions are available:
1977 Sendmail V8 on ftp.cs.berkeley.edu in /ucb/sendmail:
1978 sendmail.8.6.9.base.tar.Z (the base system source & documentation)
1979 sendmail.8.6.9.cf.tar.Z (configuration files)
1980 sendmail.8.6.9.misc.tar.Z (miscellaneous support programs)
1981 sendmail.8.6.9.xdoc.tar.Z (extended documentation, with postscript)
1983 IDA sendmail on vixen.cso.uiuc.edu in /pub:
1984 sendmail-5.67b+IDA-1.5.tar.gz
1986 *** Emacs fails to understand most Internet host names, even though
1987 the names work properly with other programs on the same system.
1988 Emacs won't work with X-windows if the value of DISPLAY is HOSTNAME:0.
1989 Gnus can't make contact with the specified host for nntp.
1991 This typically happens on Suns and other systems that use shared
1992 libraries. The cause is that the site has installed a version of the
1993 shared library which uses a name server--but has not installed a
1994 similar version of the unshared library which Emacs uses.
1996 The result is that most programs, using the shared library, work with
1997 the nameserver, but Emacs does not.
1999 The fix is to install an unshared library that corresponds to what you
2000 installed in the shared library, and then relink Emacs.
2002 On SunOS 4.1, simply define HAVE_RES_INIT.
2004 If you have already installed the name resolver in the file libresolv.a,
2005 then you need to compile Emacs to use that library. The easiest way to
2006 do this is to add to config.h a definition of LIBS_SYSTEM, LIBS_MACHINE
2007 or LIB_STANDARD which uses -lresolv. Watch out! If you redefine a macro
2008 that is already in use in your configuration to supply some other libraries,
2009 be careful not to lose the others.
2011 Thus, you could start by adding this to config.h:
2013 #define LIBS_SYSTEM -lresolv
2015 Then if this gives you an error for redefining a macro, and you see that
2016 the s- file defines LIBS_SYSTEM as -lfoo -lbar, you could change config.h
2019 #define LIBS_SYSTEM -lresolv -lfoo -lbar
2021 *** With process-connection-type set to t, each line of subprocess
2022 output is terminated with a ^M, making ange-ftp and GNUS not work.
2024 On SunOS systems, this problem has been seen to be a result of an
2025 incomplete installation of gcc 2.2 which allowed some non-ANSI
2026 compatible include files into the compilation. In particular this
2027 affected virtually all ioctl() calls.
2031 *** XEmacs crashes on startup, in make-frame.
2033 Typically the Lisp backtrace includes
2035 make-frame(nil #<x-device on ":0.0" 0x2558>)
2037 somewhere near the top. The problem is due to an improvement in GNU
2038 ld that sorts the ELF reloc sections in the executable, giving
2039 dramatic speedups in startup for large executables. It also confuses
2040 the traditional unexec code in XEmacs, leading to the core dump. The
2041 solution is to use the --pdump or --ldflags='-z nocombreloc' options
2042 to configure. Recent 21.4 and 12.5 autodetect this in configure.
2044 Red Hat and SuSE (at least) distributed a prerelease version of ld
2045 (versions around 2.11.90.x.y) where autodetection is impossible. The
2046 recommended procedure is to upgrade to binutils >= 2.12 and rerun
2047 configure. Otherwise you must apply the flags by hand. --pdump is
2050 *** I want XEmacs to use the Alt key, not the XXX key, for Meta commands
2052 For historical reasons, XEmacs looks for a Meta key, then an Alt key.
2053 It binds Meta commands to the X11 modifier bit attached to the first
2054 of these it finds. On PCs, the Windows key is often assigned the Meta
2055 bit, but many desktop environments go to great lengths to get all apps
2056 to use the Alt key, and reserve the Windows key to (sensibly enough)
2059 One correct way to implement this was suggested on comp.emacs.xemacs
2060 (by Kilian Foth and in more detail by Michael Piotrowski): unmap the
2061 Meta modifier using xmodmap or xkb, and then map the Meta/Windows key
2062 to the Super or Hyper keysym and an appropriate mod bit. XEmacs will
2063 not find the Meta keysym, and default to using the Alt key for Meta
2064 keybindings. Typically few applications use the (X11) Meta modifier;
2065 it is tedious but not too much so to teach the ones you need to use
2066 Super instead of Meta. There may be further useful hints in the
2067 discussion of keymapping on non-Linux platforms.
2069 *** The color-gcc wrapper
2071 This wrapper colorizes the error messages from gcc. By default XEmacs
2072 does not interpret the escape sequences used to generate colors,
2073 resulting in a cluttered, hard-to-read buffer. You can remove the
2074 wrapper, or defeat the wrapper colorization in Emacs process buffers
2075 by editing the "nocolor" attribute in /etc/colorgccrc:
2077 $ diff -u /etc/colorgccrc.old /etc/colorgccrc
2078 --- /etc/colorgccrc.old Tue Dec 26 02:17:46 2000
2079 +++ /etc/colorgccrc Tue Dec 26 02:15:48 2000
2082 +nocolor: dumb emacs
2084 If you want colorization in your Emacs buffers, you may get good
2085 results from the ansi-color.el library:
2087 http://www.geocities.com/kensanata/color-emacs.html#ansicolors
2089 This is written for the mainline GNU Emacs but the author has made
2090 efforts to adapt it to XEmacs. YMMV.
2092 *** Slow startup on Linux.
2094 People using systems based on the Linux kernel sometimes report that
2095 startup takes 10 to 15 seconds longer than `usual'. There are two
2096 problems, one older, one newer.
2098 **** Old problem: IPv4 host lookup
2100 On older systems, this is because Emacs looks up the host name when it
2101 starts. Normally, this takes negligible time; the extra delay is due
2102 to improper system configuration. (Recent Linux distros usually have
2103 this configuration correct "out of the box".) This problem can occur
2104 for both networked and non-networked machines.
2106 Here is how to fix the configuration. It requires being root.
2108 ***** Networked Case
2110 First, make sure the files `/etc/hosts' and `/etc/host.conf' both
2111 exist. The first line in the `/etc/hosts' file should look like this
2112 (replace HOSTNAME with your host name):
2114 127.0.0.1 localhost HOSTNAME
2116 Also make sure that the `/etc/host.conf' files contains the following
2122 Any changes, permanent and temporary, to the host name should be
2123 indicated in the `/etc/hosts' file, since it acts a limited local
2124 database of addresses and names (e.g., some SLIP connections
2125 dynamically allocate ip addresses).
2127 ***** Non-Networked Case
2129 The solution described in the networked case applies here as well.
2130 However, if you never intend to network your machine, you can use a
2131 simpler solution: create an empty `/etc/host.conf' file. The command
2132 `touch /etc/host.conf' suffices to create the file. The `/etc/hosts'
2133 file is not necessary with this approach.
2135 **** New problem: IPv6 CNAME lookup
2137 A newer problem is due to XEmacs changing to use the modern
2138 getaddrinfo() interface from the older gethostbyname() interface. The
2139 solution above is insufficient, because getaddrinfo() by default tries
2140 to get IPv6 information for localhost. This always involves a dns
2141 lookup to get the CNAME, and the strategies above don't work. It then
2142 falls back to IPv4 behavior. This is good[tm] according the people at
2143 WIDE who know about IPv6.
2145 ***** Robust network case
2147 Configure your network so that there are no nameservers configured
2148 until the network is actually running. getaddrinfo() will not try to
2149 access a nameserver that isn't configured.
2151 ***** Flaky network case
2153 If you have a flaky modem or DSL connection that can be relied on only
2154 to go down whenever you want to bring XEmacs up, you need to force
2155 IPv4 behavior. Explicitly setting DISPLAY=127.0.0.1:0.0 (or whatever
2156 is appropriate) works in most cases.
2158 If you cannot or do not want to do that, you can hard code IPv4
2159 behavior in src/process-unix.c. This is bad[tm], on your own head be
2160 it. Use the configure option `--with-ipv6-cname=no'.
2164 The Mandrake Linux distribution is attempting to comprehensively
2165 update the user interface, and make it consistent across
2166 applications. This is very difficult, and will occasionally cause
2167 conflicts with applications like Emacs with their own long-established
2168 interfaces. Known issues specific to Mandrake or especially common:
2170 Some versions of XEmacs (21.1.9 is known) distributed with Mandrake
2171 were patched to make the Meta and Alt keysyms synonymous. These
2172 normally work as expected in the Mandrake environment. However,
2173 custom-built XEmacsen (including all 21.2 betas) will "inexplicably"
2174 not respect the "Alt-invokes-Meta-commands" convention. See "I want
2175 XEmacs to use the Alt key" below.
2177 The color-gcc wrapper (see below) is in common use on the Mandrake
2180 *** You get crashes in a non-C locale with Linux GNU Libc 2.0.
2182 Internationalization was not the top priority for GNU Libc 2.0.
2183 As of this writing (1998-12-28) you may get crashes while running
2184 XEmacs in a non-C locale. For example, `LC_ALL=en_US xemacs' crashes
2185 while `LC_ALL=C xemacs' runs fine. This happens for example with GNU
2186 libc 2.0.7. Installing libintl.a and libintl.h built from gettext
2187 0.10.35 and re-building XEmacs solves the crashes. Presumably soon
2188 everyone will upgrade to GNU Libc 2.1 and this problem will go away.
2190 *** `C-z', or `M-x suspend-emacs' hangs instead of suspending.
2192 If you build with `gpm' support on Linux, you cannot suspend XEmacs
2193 because gpm installs a buggy SIGTSTP handler. Either compile with
2194 `--with-gpm=no', or don't suspend XEmacs on the Linux console until
2197 *** With certain fonts, when the cursor appears on a character, the
2198 character doesn't appear--you get a solid box instead.
2200 One user on a Linux system reported that this problem went away with
2201 installation of a new X server. The failing server was XFree86 3.1.1.
2202 XFree86 3.1.2 works.
2205 *** On Irix, I don't see the toolbar icons and I'm getting lots of
2206 entries in the warnings buffer.
2208 SGI ships a really old Xpm library in /usr/lib which does not work at
2209 all well with XEmacs. The solution is to install your own copy of the
2210 latest version of Xpm somewhere and then use the --site-includes and
2211 --site-libraries flags to tell configure where to find it.
2213 *** Trouble using ptys on IRIX, or running out of ptys.
2215 The program mkpts (which may be in `/usr/adm' or `/usr/sbin') needs to
2216 be set-UID to root, or non-root programs like Emacs will not be able
2217 to allocate ptys reliably.
2219 *** Beware of the default image & graphics library on Irix
2221 Richard Cognot <cognot@ensg.u-nancy.fr> writes:
2223 You *have* to compile your own jpeg lib. The one delivered with SGI
2224 systems is a C++ lib, which apparently XEmacs cannot cope with.
2227 ** Digital UNIX/OSF/VMS/Ultrix
2228 *** XEmacs crashes on Digital Unix within font-lock, or when dealing
2229 with large compilation buffers, or in other regex applications.
2231 The default stack size under Digital Unix is rather small (2M as
2232 opposed to Solaris 8M), hosing the regexp code, which uses alloca()
2233 extensively, overflowing the stack when complex regexps are used.
2236 1) Increase your stack size, using `ulimit -s 8192' or a (t)csh
2239 2) Recompile regex.c with REGEX_MALLOC defined.
2241 *** The `Alt' key doesn't behave as `Meta' when running DECwindows.
2243 The default DEC keyboard mapping has the Alt keys set up to generate the
2244 keysym `Multi_key', which has a meaning to xemacs which is distinct from that
2245 of the `Meta_L' and `Meta-R' keysyms. A second problem is that certain keys
2246 have the Mod2 modifier attached to them for no adequately explored reason.
2247 The correct fix is to pass this file to xmodmap upon starting X:
2250 keysym Multi_key = Alt_L
2254 *** The Compose key on a DEC keyboard does not work as Meta key.
2256 This shell command should fix it:
2258 xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xb1 = Meta_L'
2260 *** `expand-file-name' fails to work on any but the machine you dumped
2263 On Ultrix, if you use any of the functions which look up information
2264 in the passwd database before dumping Emacs (say, by using
2265 expand-file-name in site-init.el), then those functions will not work
2266 in the dumped Emacs on any host but the one Emacs was dumped on.
2268 The solution? Don't use expand-file-name in site-init.el, or in
2269 anything it loads. Yuck - some solution.
2271 I'm not sure why this happens; if you can find out exactly what is
2272 going on, and perhaps find a fix or a workaround, please let us know.
2273 Perhaps the YP functions cache some information, the cache is included
2274 in the dumped Emacs, and is then inaccurate on any other host.
2278 *** I get complaints about the mapping of my HP keyboard at startup,
2279 but I haven't changed anything.
2281 The default HP keymap is set up to have Mod1 assigned to two different keys:
2282 Meta_L and Mode_switch (even though there is not actually a Mode_switch key on
2283 the keyboard -- it uses an "imaginary" keycode.) There actually is a reason
2284 for this, but it's not a good one. The correct fix is to execute this command
2287 xmodmap -e 'remove mod1 = Mode_switch'
2289 *** On HP-UX, you get "poll: Interrupted system call" message in the
2290 window where XEmacs was launched.
2292 Richard Cognot <cognot@ensg.u-nancy.fr> writes:
2294 I get a very strange problem when linking libc.a dynamically: every
2295 event (mouse, keyboard, expose...) results in a "poll: Interrupted
2296 system call" message in the window where XEmacs was
2297 launched. Forcing a static link of libc.a alone by adding
2298 /usr/lib/libc.a at the end of the link line solves this. Note that
2299 my 9.07 build of 19.14b17 and my (old) build of 19.13 both exhibit
2300 the same behavior. I've tried various hpux patches to no avail. If
2301 this problem cannot be solved before the release date, binary kits
2302 for HP *must* be linked statically against libc, otherwise this
2303 problem will show up. (This is directed at whoever will volunteer
2304 for this kit, as I won't be available to do it, unless 19.14 gets
2305 delayed until mid-june ;-). I think this problem will be an FAQ soon
2306 after the release otherwise.
2308 Note: The above entry is probably not valid for XEmacs 21.0 and
2311 *** The right Alt key works wrong on German HP keyboards (and perhaps
2312 other non-English HP keyboards too).
2314 This is because HP-UX defines the modifiers wrong in X. Here is a
2315 shell script to fix the problem; be sure that it is run after VUE
2316 configures the X server.
2318 xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF
2319 keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
2320 keysym Alt_R = Meta_R
2325 keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol
2327 keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch
2328 add mod2 = Mode_switch
2332 *** XEmacs dumps core at startup when native audio is used. Native
2333 audio does not work with recent versions of HP-UX.
2335 Under HP-UX 10.20 and later (e.g., HP-UX 11.XX), with native audio
2336 enabled, the dumped XEmacs binary ("xemacs") core dumps at startup if
2337 recent versions of the libAlib.sl audio shared library is used. Note
2338 that "temacs" will run, but "xemacs" will dump core. This, of course,
2339 causes the XEmacs build to fail. If GNU malloc is enabled, a stack
2340 trace will show XEmacs to have crashed in the "first" call to malloc().
2342 This bug currently exists in all versions of XEmacs, when the undump
2343 mechanism is used. It is not known if using the experimental portable
2344 dumper will allow native audio to work.
2348 Recent versions of the HP-UX 10.20 (and later) audio shared library (in
2349 /opt/audio/lib), pulls in the libdce shared library, which pulls in a
2350 thread (libcma) library. This prevents the HP-UX undump() routine (in
2351 unexhp9k800.c) from properly working. What's happening is that some
2352 initialization routines are being called in the libcma library, *BEFORE*
2353 main() is called, and these initialization routines are calling
2354 malloc(). Unfortunately, in order for the undumper to work, XEmacs must
2355 adjust (move upwards) the sbrk() value *BEFORE* the first call to
2356 malloc(); if malloc() is called before XEmacs has properly adjusted sbrk
2357 (which is what is happening), dumped memory that is being used by
2358 XEmacs, is improperly re-allocated for use by malloc() and the dumped
2359 memory is corrupted. This causes XEmacs to die an horrible death.
2361 It is believed that versions of the audio library past December 1998
2362 will trigger this problem. Under HP-UX 10.20, you probably have to
2363 install audio library patches to encounter this. It's probable that
2364 recent "fresh, out-of-the-box" HP-UX 11.XX workstations also have this
2365 problem. For HP-UX 10.20, it's believed that audio patch PHSS_17121 (or
2366 a superceeding one, like PHSS_17554, PHSS_17971, PHSS_18777, PHSS_21481,
2367 or PHSS_21662, etc.) will trigger this.
2369 To check if your audio library will cause problems for XEmacs, run
2370 "chatr /opt/audio/lib/libAlib.sl". If "libdce" appears in the displayed
2371 shared library list, XEmacs will probably encounter problems if audio is
2376 Don't enable native audio. Re-run configure without native audio
2379 If your site supports it, try using NAS (Network Audio Support).
2381 Try using the experimental portable dumper. It may work, or it may
2385 *** `Pid xxx killed due to text modification or page I/O error'
2387 On HP-UX, you can get that error when the Emacs executable is on an NFS
2388 file system. HP-UX responds this way if it tries to swap in a page and
2389 does not get a response from the server within a timeout whose default
2390 value is just ten seconds.
2392 If this happens to you, extend the timeout period.
2394 *** Shell mode on HP-UX gives the message, "`tty`: Ambiguous".
2396 christos@theory.tn.cornell.edu says:
2398 The problem is that in your .cshrc you have something that tries to
2399 execute `tty`. If you are not running the shell on a real tty then tty
2400 will print "not a tty". Csh expects one word in some places, but tty
2401 is giving it back 3.
2403 The solution is to add a pair of quotes around `tty` to make it a
2406 if (`tty` == "/dev/console")
2408 should be changed to:
2410 if ("`tty`" == "/dev/console")
2412 Even better, move things that set up terminal sections out of .cshrc
2417 *** Regular expressions matching bugs on SCO systems.
2419 On SCO, there are problems in regexp matching when Emacs is compiled
2420 with the system compiler. The compiler version is "Microsoft C
2421 version 6", SCO 4.2.0h Dev Sys Maintenance Supplement 01/06/93; Quick
2422 C Compiler Version 1.00.46 (Beta). The solution is to compile with
2426 * Compatibility problems (with Emacs 18, GNU Emacs, or previous XEmacs/lemacs)
2427 ==============================================================================
2429 *** "Symbol's value as variable is void: unread-command-char".
2430 "Wrong type argument: arrayp, #<keymap 143 entries>"
2431 "Wrong type argument: stringp, [#<keypress-event return>]"
2433 There are a few incompatible changes in XEmacs, and these are the
2434 symptoms. Some of the emacs-lisp code you are running needs to be
2435 updated to be compatible with XEmacs.
2437 The code should not treat keymaps as arrays (use `define-key', etc.),
2438 should not use obsolete variables like `unread-command-char' (use
2439 `unread-command-events'). Many (most) of the new ways of doing things
2440 are compatible in GNU Emacs and XEmacs.
2442 Modern Emacs packages (Gnus, VM, W3, efs, etc) are written to support
2443 GNU Emacs and XEmacs. We have provided modified versions of several
2444 popular emacs packages (dired, etc) which are compatible with this
2445 version of emacs. Check to make sure you have not set your load-path
2446 so that your private copies of these packages are being found before
2447 the versions in the lisp directory.
2449 Make sure that your load-path and your $EMACSLOADPATH environment
2450 variable are not pointing at an Emacs18 lisp directory. This will
2453 ** Some packages that worked before now cause the error
2454 Wrong type argument: arrayp, #<face ... >
2456 Code which uses the `face' accessor functions must be recompiled with
2457 xemacs 19.9 or later. The functions whose callers must be recompiled
2458 are: face-font, face-foreground, face-background,
2459 face-background-pixmap, and face-underline-p. The .elc files
2460 generated by version 19.9 will work in 19.6 and 19.8, but older .elc
2461 files which contain calls to these functions will not work in 19.9.
2463 ** Signaling: (error "Byte code stack underflow (byte compiler bug), pc 38")
2465 This error is given when XEmacs 20 is compiled without MULE support
2466 but is attempting to load a .elc which requires MULE support. The fix
2467 is to rebytecompile the offending file.
2469 ** Signaling: (wrong-type-argument ...) when loading mail-abbrevs
2471 The is seen when installing the Insidious Big Brother Data Base (bbdb)
2472 which includes an outdated copy of mail-abbrevs.el. Remove the copy
2473 that comes with bbdb and use the one that comes with XEmacs.
2479 ** A reminder: XEmacs/Mule work does not currently receive *any*
2480 funding, and all work is done by volunteers. If you think you can
2481 help, please contact the XEmacs maintainers.
2483 ** XEmacs/Mule doesn't support TTY's satisfactorily.
2485 This is a major problem, which we plan to address in a future release
2486 of XEmacs. Basically, XEmacs should have primitives to be told
2487 whether the terminal can handle international output, and which
2488 locale. Also, it should be able to do approximations of characters to
2489 the nearest supported by the locale.
2491 ** Internationalized (Asian) Isearch doesn't work.
2493 Currently, Isearch doesn't directly support any of the input methods
2494 that are not XIM based (like egg, canna and quail) (and there are
2495 potential problems with XIM version too...). If you're using egg
2496 there is a workaround. Hitting <RET> right after C-s to invoke
2497 Isearch will put Isearch in string mode, where a complete string can
2498 be typed into the minibuffer and then processed by Isearch afterwards.
2499 Since egg is now supported in the minibuffer using string mode you can
2500 now use egg to input your Japanese, Korean or Chinese string, then hit
2501 return to send that to Isearch and then use standard Isearch commands
2504 ** Using egg and mousing around while in 'fence' mode screws up my
2507 Don't do this. The fence modes of egg and canna are currently very
2508 modal, and messing with where they expect point to be and what they
2509 think is the current buffer is just asking for trouble. If you're
2510 lucky they will realize that something is awry, and simply delete the
2511 fence, but worst case can trash other buffers too. We've tried to
2512 protect against this where we can, but there still are many ways to
2513 shoot yourself in the foot. So just finish what you are typing into
2514 the fence before reaching for the mouse.
2516 ** Not all languages in Quail are supported like Devanagari and Indian
2517 languages, Lao and Tibetan.
2519 Quail requires more work and testing. Although it has been ported to
2520 XEmacs, it works really well for Japanese and for the European
2523 ** Right-to-left mode is not yet implemented, so languages like
2524 Arabic, Hebrew and Thai don't work.
2526 Getting this right requires more work. It may be implemented in a
2527 future XEmacs version, but don't hold your breath. If you know
2528 someone who is ready to implement this, please let us know.
2530 ** We need more developers and native language testers. It's extremely
2531 difficult (and not particularly productive) to address languages that
2532 nobody is using and testing.
2534 ** The kWnn and cWnn support for Chinese and Korean needs developers
2535 and testers. It probably doesn't work.
2537 ** There are no `native XEmacs' TUTORIALs for any Asian languages,
2538 including Japanese. FSF Emacs and XEmacs tutorials are quite similar,
2539 so it should be sufficient to skim through the differences and apply
2540 them to the Japanese version.
2542 ** We only have localized menus translated for Japanese, and the
2543 Japanese menus are developing bitrot (the Mule menu appears in
2546 ** XIM is untested for any language other than Japanese.