Thread: installer problems
Hi, I'm having problems installing the database, see: anfitrite:/opt# ./postgresql-9.0.0-1-linux.bin Error: Error running /tmp/postgresql_installer/getlocales : child killed: floating-point exception Press [Enter] to continue : anfitrite:/opt# anfitrite:/opt# uname -a Linux anfitrite 2.6.18-6-686 #1 SMP Fri Feb 19 23:40:03 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux anfitrite:/opt# cat /etc/debian_version 4.0 Thanks. Samuel rettore@gmail.com
On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 3:19 PM, Samuel Rettore <rettore@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi, > > I'm having problems installing the database, see: > > anfitrite:/opt# ./postgresql-9.0.0-1-linux.bin > > Error: Error running /tmp/postgresql_installer/getlocales=A0 : child kill= ed: > floating-point exception > Press [Enter] to continue : > anfitrite:/opt# > > > anfitrite:/opt# uname -a > Linux anfitrite 2.6.18-6-686 #1 SMP Fri Feb 19 23:40:03 UTC 2010 i686 > GNU/Linux > > anfitrite:/opt# cat /etc/debian_version > 4.0 Debian is not a supported platform for the installers - we don't see enough demand for it to justify the testing requirements I'm afraid. --=20 Dave Page Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com Twitter: @pgsnake EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise Postgres Company
On tor, 2010-09-23 at 16:45 +0100, Dave Page wrote: > On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 3:19 PM, Samuel Rettore <rettore@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I'm having problems installing the database, see: > > > > anfitrite:/opt# ./postgresql-9.0.0-1-linux.bin > > > > Error: Error running /tmp/postgresql_installer/getlocales : child killed: > > floating-point exception > > Press [Enter] to continue : > > anfitrite:/opt# > > > > > > anfitrite:/opt# uname -a > > Linux anfitrite 2.6.18-6-686 #1 SMP Fri Feb 19 23:40:03 UTC 2010 i686 > > GNU/Linux > > > > anfitrite:/opt# cat /etc/debian_version > > 4.0 > > Debian is not a supported platform for the installers - we don't see > enough demand for it to justify the testing requirements I'm afraid. Surely the error message can be polished, though?
On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 11:46 PM, Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> wrote: > On tor, 2010-09-23 at 16:45 +0100, Dave Page wrote: >> On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 3:19 PM, Samuel Rettore <rettore@gmail.com> wrot= e: >> > Hi, >> > >> > I'm having problems installing the database, see: >> > >> > anfitrite:/opt# ./postgresql-9.0.0-1-linux.bin >> > >> > Error: Error running /tmp/postgresql_installer/getlocales =A0: child k= illed: >> > floating-point exception >> > Press [Enter] to continue : >> > anfitrite:/opt# >> > >> > >> > anfitrite:/opt# uname -a >> > Linux anfitrite 2.6.18-6-686 #1 SMP Fri Feb 19 23:40:03 UTC 2010 i686 >> > GNU/Linux >> > >> > anfitrite:/opt# cat /etc/debian_version >> > 4.0 >> >> Debian is not a supported platform for the installers - we don't see >> enough demand for it to justify the testing requirements I'm afraid. > > Surely the error message can be polished, though? Well we don't know what errors we might get on unsupported platforms until we test them, and we certainly don't have the resources to test every unsupported platform. It's hard enough to test the 40 or so we do support. --=20 Dave Page Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com Twitter: @pgsnake EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise Postgres Company
On tor, 2010-09-23 at 23:56 +0100, Dave Page wrote: > > Surely the error message can be polished, though? > > Well we don't know what errors we might get on unsupported platforms > until we test them, and we certainly don't have the resources to test > every unsupported platform. It's hard enough to test the 40 or so we > do support. I don't accept that argument, but FWIW, it works just fine on my Debian installation, so nothing to worry about.
On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 6:28 AM, Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> wrote: > On tor, 2010-09-23 at 23:56 +0100, Dave Page wrote: >> > Surely the error message can be polished, though? >> >> Well we don't know what errors we might get on unsupported platforms >> until we test them, and we certainly don't have the resources to test >> every unsupported platform. It's hard enough to test the 40 or so we >> do support. > > I don't accept that argument, How else would you suggest we find out what may go wrong on an unsupported platform? -- Dave Page Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com Twitter: @pgsnake EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise Postgres Company
Dave Page <dpage@pgadmin.org> writes: > On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 6:28 AM, Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> wrote: >> On tor, 2010-09-23 at 23:56 +0100, Dave Page wrote: >>> > Surely the error message can be polished, though? > > How else would you suggest we find out what may go wrong on an > unsupported platform? My guess here is that you could use `lsb_release -a` or some other system dependant facilities to know the current platform, then error out with a nice error message if it's not one you know you support. This way the installer won't even try to run and won't go wrong on an unsupported platform=E2=80=A6 Regards, --=20 dim
On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 11:30 AM, Dimitri Fontaine <dfontaine@hi-media.com> wrote: > Dave Page <dpage@pgadmin.org> writes: >> On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 6:28 AM, Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> wrot= e: >>> On tor, 2010-09-23 at 23:56 +0100, Dave Page wrote: >>>> > Surely the error message can be polished, though? >> >> How else would you suggest we find out what may go wrong on an >> unsupported platform? > > My guess here is that you could use `lsb_release -a` or some other > system dependant facilities to know the current platform, then error out > with a nice error message if it's not one you know you support. > > This way the installer won't even try to run and won't go wrong on an > unsupported platform=85 I didn't know that existed - thanks. Unfortunately the first box I tried it on didn't have it, but that's quite old and not a supported platform anyway. if it does exist on everything we support, then that could work. --=20 Dave Page Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com Twitter: @pgsnake EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise Postgres Company
On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 11:45 AM, Dave Page <dpage@pgadmin.org> wrote: > On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 3:19 PM, Samuel Rettore <rettore@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I'm having problems installing the database, see: >> >> anfitrite:/opt# ./postgresql-9.0.0-1-linux.bin >> >> Error: Error running /tmp/postgresql_installer/getlocales=A0 : child kil= led: >> floating-point exception >> Press [Enter] to continue : >> anfitrite:/opt# >> >> >> anfitrite:/opt# uname -a >> Linux anfitrite 2.6.18-6-686 #1 SMP Fri Feb 19 23:40:03 UTC 2010 i686 >> GNU/Linux >> >> anfitrite:/opt# cat /etc/debian_version >> 4.0 > > Debian is not a supported platform for the installers - we don't see > enough demand for it to justify the testing requirements I'm afraid. So I think what that means for the OP is that he should install PostgreSQL by some other method - for example, apt-get, or compiling from source. --=20 Robert Haas EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise Postgres Company
On fre, 2010-09-24 at 09:01 +0100, Dave Page wrote: > How else would you suggest we find out what may go wrong on an > unsupported platform? Well, some amount of robust and defensive programming can probably create better error messages in even the most unknown environment. Especially since the product you're creating is to some degree intended for newbies. Now I suspect that the problem of the user might be unrelated to the installer not actually supporting the host platform, but I'm questioning the approach of dismissing error messages like "child killed" and "floating-point exception" with "unsupported, don't care". Note also that actually finding out which platforms are supported requires the unsuspecting user to download a PDF file and scroll down a few pages, whereas the way it's presented for download might give the impression in runs everywhere.
On fre, 2010-09-24 at 11:38 +0100, Dave Page wrote: > I didn't know that existed - thanks. Unfortunately the first box I > tried it on didn't have it, but that's quite old and not a supported > platform anyway. if it does exist on everything we support, then that > could work. It's tempting, but I would caution against that. The installer might work just fine (or 95% fine) on unsupported platforms, but if you just shut people out you won't know. Of course you might want to print a *warning* based on lsb_release.
Excerpts from Peter Eisentraut's message of vie sep 24 10:55:58 -0400 2010: > On fre, 2010-09-24 at 11:38 +0100, Dave Page wrote: > > I didn't know that existed - thanks. Unfortunately the first box I > > tried it on didn't have it, but that's quite old and not a supported > > platform anyway. if it does exist on everything we support, then that > > could work. > > It's tempting, but I would caution against that. The installer might > work just fine (or 95% fine) on unsupported platforms, but if you just > shut people out you won't know. Of course you might want to print a > *warning* based on lsb_release. I think the logic is if lsb_release exists on all supported platforms, then use it to determine whether this is a supported platform or not. If it doesn't exist, then you know it's not a supported platform in the first place. -- Ãlvaro Herrera <alvherre@commandprompt.com> The PostgreSQL Company - Command Prompt, Inc. PostgreSQL Replication, Consulting, Custom Development, 24x7 support
On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 3:52 PM, Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> wrote: > On fre, 2010-09-24 at 09:01 +0100, Dave Page wrote: >> How else would you suggest we find out what may go wrong on an >> unsupported platform? > > Well, some amount of robust and defensive programming can probably > create better error messages in even the most unknown environment. > Especially since the product you're creating is to some degree intended > for newbies. We're pretty restricted on how we can handle errors in the installer. When we want to do more complex things, we call out to helper programs and scripts where we can more effectively handle errors, but when it's one of those that is failing to even run properly it's difficult to deal with every possibility. > Now I suspect that the problem of the user might be unrelated to the > installer not actually supporting the host platform, but I'm questioning > the approach of dismissing error messages like "child killed" and > "floating-point exception" with "unsupported, don't care". Well I'm struggling to see where floating-point exception might come from anyway. The code that apparently gave the error doesn't have any floating point arithmetic in it, so it must be coming from some other library or glibc. Much as it would be nice to know whats going on, it's simply not practical to chase such bugs on platforms we haven't tested so "unsupported" really is the only option. > Note also that actually finding out which platforms are supported > requires the unsuspecting user to download a PDF file and scroll down a > few pages, whereas the way it's presented for download might give the > impression in runs everywhere. The download page states exactly what distros we consider supported. -- Dave Page Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com Twitter: @pgsnake EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise Postgres Company
On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 4:09 PM, Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@commandprompt.com> wrote: > Excerpts from Peter Eisentraut's message of vie sep 24 10:55:58 -0400 201= 0: >> On fre, 2010-09-24 at 11:38 +0100, Dave Page wrote: >> > I didn't know that existed - thanks. Unfortunately the first box I >> > tried it on didn't have it, but that's quite old and not a supported >> > platform anyway. if it does exist on everything we support, then that >> > could work. >> >> It's tempting, but I would caution against that. =A0The installer might >> work just fine (or 95% fine) on unsupported platforms, but if you just >> shut people out you won't know. =A0Of course you might want to print a >> *warning* based on lsb_release. > > I think the logic is if lsb_release exists on all supported platforms, > then use it to determine whether this is a supported platform or not. > If it doesn't exist, then you know it's not a supported platform in the > first place. Yeah. We wouldn't prevent execution on an unsupported platform - just warn the user that it hasn't been tested and therefore might not work so well. --=20 Dave Page Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com Twitter: @pgsnake EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise Postgres Company
On fre, 2010-09-24 at 16:10 +0100, Dave Page wrote: > The download page states exactly what distros we consider supported. Sorry, I was actually looking at the Postgres Plus download page.