Thread: initdb error
Hi: I'd like to submit this problem with installing PostgreSQL on Windows XP Professional, Cygwin 1.5.7-1. The error (during initdb), after running 'make MAX_CONNECTIONS=5 check' is: semctl(35, 16, SETVAL, 536) failed: Invalid argument The complete initdb.log is pasted below the end of this e-mail. Thank You, Greg B. Hill Running in noclean mode. Mistakes will not be cleaned up. The files belonging to this database system will be owned by user "Greg". This user must also own the server process. The database cluster will be initialized with locale C. creating directory /cygdrive/c/postgresql-7.4.1/src/test/regress/./tmp_check/data... ok creating directory /cygdrive/c/postgresql-7.4.1/src/test/regress/./tmp_check/data/base... ok creating directory /cygdrive/c/postgresql-7.4.1/src/test/regress/./tmp_check/data/global... ok creating directory /cygdrive/c/postgresql-7.4.1/src/test/regress/./tmp_check/data/pg_xlog... ok creating directory /cygdrive/c/postgresql-7.4.1/src/test/regress/./tmp_check/data/pg_clog... ok selecting default max_connections... 10 selecting default shared_buffers... 50 creating configuration files... ok creating template1 database in /cygdrive/c/postgresql-7.4.1/src/test/regress/./tmp_check/data/base/1... FATAL: semctl(35, 16, SETVAL, 536) failed: Invalid argument initdb: failed initdb: data directory "/cygdrive/c/postgresql-7.4.1/src/test/regress/./tmp_check/data" not removed at user's request
When I had this problem I experienced more or less the following series
of events - this was awhile ago so my apologies
for the lack of exact detail (i.e. which argument, which range of vals,
etc.).
1) try initdb and it fails (for some other config error than the semctl
invalid argument error).
2) fix the orig problem but now it fails because of the semctl invalid
argument error.
3) each time retry, one of the semctl args bumps up higher and higher
each time, and the error repeats itself, in fact
the problematic arg gets more and more out of range.
4) finally i decided to try rebooting, wondering if that would wipe
whatever memory the semctl was using to determine
the initial value for its args.
5) this worked - so for me, the solution was, if initdb fails for any
reason, correct the problem, but then reboot before
reattempting.
It would be nicer of course to know where semctl is storing this
information and be able to change it there, etc. etc. etc.
hth, Greg
Eric.Schwarzenbach@wrycan.com wrote:
> We are getting this same exact error-- always this
>
> semctl(35, 16, SETVAL, 536) failed: Invalid argument
>
> on the creating template1 step of initdb.
>
> On my Windows XP machine I had 7.4.1 working fine last month (service
> configuration).
>
> If I install 7.4.2 I get this error. If I reinstall 7.4.1 (rerun make
> install) initdb works. If I reinstall 7.4.2 it fails again with that
> semctl error. I tried rebuilding 7.41 from scratch and installing,
> thinking maybe it was a configuration difference when I built it last
> month, but no, 7.4.1 initdb still works.
>
> My coworker, on the other hand (not running it as a service), gets
> this same semctl error even with 7.4.1.
>
> This is preventing us from switching from mySQL to Postgres. Can
> anyone please offer a clue how to get around this?
>
> Eric Schwarzenbach
>
>
We are getting this same exact error-- always this semctl(35, 16, SETVAL, 536) failed: Invalid argument on the creating template1 step of initdb. On my Windows XP machine I had 7.4.1 working fine last month (service configuration). If I install 7.4.2 I get this error. If I reinstall 7.4.1 (rerun make install) initdb works. If I reinstall 7.4.2 it fails again with that semctl error. I tried rebuilding 7.41 from scratch and installing, thinking maybe it was a configuration difference when I built it last month, but no, 7.4.1 initdb still works. My coworker, on the other hand (not running it as a service), gets this same semctl error even with 7.4.1. This is preventing us from switching from mySQL to Postgres. Can anyone please offer a clue how to get around this? Eric Schwarzenbach