Re: BIG Issue with 1.7 install... inuse files causes random problems

[Linda Walsh <cygwin at tlinx dot org>]

Christopher Faylor wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 12:43:00PM -0800, Linda Walsh wrote:
> > Michael Kwong wrote:
> > > I wonder if anyone else has seen this issue, but after installing 1.7
> > > from setup.exe, starting up cygwin causes it to complain about not
> > > being able to find /usr/bin/sed, and the shell also doesn't seem to be
> > > fully functional either (delete key doesn't work, less is not working
> > > properly ... etc).
> > I have no mkpasswd or group, no mount.  Don't know what else is missing.
> > I do have 'sed', but it might have been there from before (I didn't reinstall
> > it).
>
> > I've done a cygcheck -c to see if any packages had missing files.
> >
> > cygwin-doc and gcc4-<something> -- I reinstalled them but it changed nothing.
> >
> > I didn't really expect it to, since package 'cygwin' is supposed to contain 
> > mkpasswd, and it was listed as complete.
>
> So, you were looking specifically for "mkpasswd" and tried reinstalling
> "cygwin-doc" and "gcc4-<something>"?  That doesn't make a lot of sense.
----
	It doesn't make sense for mkpasswd or mkgroup to be missing from cygwin
either.  When you encounter something that doesn't make sense, you at least fix
what you can and proceed.  A basic rule of debugging.  Fix what you know is broken 
then re-examine what is not working.  It doesn't matter that A shouldn't cause B
or that they are unrelated.  You still have to fix "A".  

	It's most likely related to: 

Andy Koppe wrote:
> Did you get a message complaining about a Cygwin process still running
> during the install? There does appear to be an issue with setup not
> resuming correctly after that.


  It's pretty screwed up.  I reinstalled 1.70-68, and still got a file
inuse -- I searched with process explorer for what could have it in use
and it returned nothing!  (maybe explorer was holding it open, I dunno).
But then finished with 1.70-68, and mkpasswd/group came back byt cygcheck
-l cygwin was empty.  (couldn't find /etc/setup/cygwin.lst.gz).  Just now
I again made sure nothing was running and reinstalled 1.71-1 (latest), and
all expected files were(are) present and the listing is present.  So it
certainly seems to be some very bizarre behavior caused by the problem
Andy mentioned.

As for this:

> > I have no mkpasswd or group, no mount.  Don't know what else is
> > missing. I do have 'sed', but it might have been there from before (I
> > didn't reinstall it).

> Please don't spread misinformation.  There is no reason for sed to be a
> prerequisite since it is in the Base category and should be installed
> unless it is explicitly disabled.

Please don't mistakenly believe that your expectations of reality are
universally true in call cases.  In order for most systems to boot up and
install/run scripts, 'sed' is a prerequisite.  AFAIK, it's presence is
mandated for POSIX compliance.  Without it one will experience random
failures. 

Additionally,  I've encountered cases where software I've been used to
being part of some packages has been plit off and was not installed.  In
~25 years of unix experience, the presence of these utilities was
considered a given for proper functioning of installed programs.  I have
noticed, since the move to 1.7 that some of these prerequisite programs
are no longer being installed with their main package.  

Specifically, I remember this being true with 'xhost' and 'xset' and the
xserver.  I've never encountered a case where the xserver install didn't
include those utilities as  part of the server package -- until 1.7 in
cygwin.  It's not so good that one can't control security on on their X
server, by default -- one must install extra packages, now -- and neither
can one change one's font-path or dpi after one's started 'X' with the
provided shortcut.  

It's further annoying since the Xserver is installed
with what is now a non-standard, ~30 year old resolution standard of
72dpi.  Very few (if any) monitors use such poor resolution.  The defaults
should be 100dpi which comes much closer to modern standards (like the
96dpi now being the lowest possible setting in Win7 (a bit annoying with
my 94dpi monitor! ;^)). But since when has MS cared about reality?

 So, programs that have always been included are no longer included, and
some users also experienced the missing of the requisite 'sed' program.
Thus my statement that prerequisites for some programs seems to be broken
doesn't seem so much like misinformation, but an recitation of the obvious.
Just because reality doesn't match with what you believe it 'should' be doesn't
mean it may not be what some people are observing.  It could boil down to
you using different terms or definitions or simply not having encountered
the same problems.

Thanks,
Linda




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