21.4 crashes in mark_object()

[Kevin Layer]

I'm running on Fedore Core 5.  Kernel 2.6.17-1.2187_FC5.
For a while now, I've been having random crashes.  A few weeks ago I
built emacs from the FC5 sources and have been running under gdb.
Below are the stack traces from the last 3 crashes.

I'm really not sure what to do at this point.  I have no idea how to
debug this, nor the time to learn.

My guess is that something in my rather complex .emacs is tickling a
bug in emacs.  I have seen crashes on two different machines, so I
think that rules out hardware issues.  (None of the other users on the
machine report any problems with emacs, which gives more weight to my
.emacs file being involved.)

I googled for debugging techniques, but didn't find anything.  If
anyone has any ideas, let me know.  As I said, I don't have a lot of
time to put into this, so it'll have to be pretty simple.

I've been using GNU Emacs for 20+ years (hi, rms), and I can't
remember the last time (before these started months ago) I had an
outright crash.  It was probably in the 80's.

Kevin Layer

Program received signal SIGABRT, Aborted.
0x001f4402 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
(gdb) where
#0  0x001f4402 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
#1  0x0023a2d6 in kill () from /lib/libc.so.6
#2  0x080dd40b in abort () at emacs.c:387
#3  0x08125735 in mark_object (argptr=0x8ecd5d4) at alloc.c:4744
#4  0x08125883 in mark_object (argptr=0x8ecd59c) at alloc.c:4730
#5  0x08125883 in mark_object (argptr=0xbfa3af34) at alloc.c:4730
#6  0x0812888d in mark_stack () at alloc.c:3506
#7  0x08128fdc in Fgarbage_collect () at alloc.c:4105
#8  0x0813b646 in Ffuncall (nargs=3, args=0xbfa3b0a0) at eval.c:2599
#9  0x0813a376 in Fapply (nargs=2, args=0xbfa3b0f0) at eval.c:2169
#10 0x0813a474 in apply1 (fn=421218212, arg=1512265620) at eval.c:2423
#11 0x08168cd0 in read_process_output_call (fun_and_args=1512265612) at 
process.c:2873
#12 0x08139fc3 in internal_condition_case_1 (bfun=0x8168cb0 
<read_process_output_call>, arg=1512265612, handlers=405523588, hfun=0x8168c60 
<read_process_output_error_handler>) at eval.c:1307
#13 0x0816ba0a in read_process_output (proc=1233640928, channel=6) at 
process.c:3054
#14 0x0816cbbc in wait_reading_process_input (time_limit=30, microsecs=0, 
read_kbd=268435455, do_display=1) at process.c:2775
#15 0x08051480 in sit_for (sec=30, usec=0, reading=1, display=1, 
initial_display=0) at dispnew.c:6240
#16 0x080e942b in read_char (commandflag=1, nmaps=2, maps=0xbfa3b9d0, 
prev_event=405427244, used_mouse_menu=0xbfa3ba5c) at keyboard.c:2518
#17 0x080e9f8e in read_key_sequence (keybuf=0xbfa3bb18, bufsize=30, 
prompt=405427244, dont_downcase_last=0, can_return_switch_frame=1, 
fix_current_buffer=1) at keyboard.c:8214
#18 0x080ebecd in command_loop_1 () at keyboard.c:1451
#19 0x0813a09d in internal_condition_case (bfun=0x80ebce0 <command_loop_1>, 
handlers=405523588, hfun=0x80e46b0 <cmd_error>) at eval.c:1267
#20 0x080e4263 in command_loop_2 () at keyboard.c:1245
#21 0x0813a152 in internal_catch (tag=405485172, func=0x80e4240 
<command_loop_2>, arg=405427244) at eval.c:1030
#22 0x080e43a7 in command_loop () at keyboard.c:1224
#23 0x080e444e in recursive_edit_1 () at keyboard.c:950
#24 0x080e456b in Frecursive_edit () at keyboard.c:1006
#25 0x080ddf35 in main (argc=3, argv=0xbfa3c254, envp=Cannot access memory at 
address 0xe) at emacs.c:1547
(gdb)



(gdb) where
#0  0x001f4402 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
#1  0x0023a2d6 in kill () from /lib/libc.so.6
#2  0x080dd40b in abort () at emacs.c:387
#3  0x08125735 in mark_object (argptr=0xae26a8c) at alloc.c:4744
#4  0x08125883 in mark_object (argptr=0xae26a54) at alloc.c:4730
#5  0x08125883 in mark_object (argptr=0xbfeac924) at alloc.c:4730
#6  0x08128759 in mark_stack () at alloc.c:3398
#7  0x08128fdc in Fgarbage_collect () at alloc.c:4105
#8  0x0813b646 in Ffuncall (nargs=2, args=0xbfeaca90) at eval.c:2599
#9  0x0813cba9 in call1 (fn=405547124, arg1=405543900) at eval.c:2456
#10 0x0814d86c in temp_output_buffer_setup (bufname=0x81866ca " 
*code-converting-work*") at print.c:603
#11 0x08088514 in run_pre_post_conversion_on_str (str=971190260, 
coding=0xbfeb0f20, encodep=1) at coding.c:5864
#12 0x08093a38 in encode_coding_string (str=971190260, coding=0xbfeb0f20, 
nocopy=1) at coding.c:6091
#13 0x0816ee5e in Fcall_process (nargs=12, args=0xbfeb14e4) at callproc.c:405
#14 0x0813b8e8 in Ffuncall (nargs=13, args=0xbfeb14e0) at eval.c:2640
#15 0x0813a376 in Fapply (nargs=6, args=0xbfeb15c4) at eval.c:2169
#16 0x0813b8e8 in Ffuncall (nargs=7, args=0xbfeb15c0) at eval.c:2640
#17 0x0816765b in Fbyte_code (bytestr=969592724, vector=1238030784, maxdepth=8) 
at bytecode.c:716
#18 0x0813b27b in funcall_lambda (fun=1238030944, nargs=9, 
arg_vector=0xbfeb1778) at eval.c:2851
#19 0x0813b670 in Ffuncall (nargs=10, args=0xbfeb1774) at eval.c:2716
#20 0x0813a39a in Fapply (nargs=10, args=0xbfeb1774) at eval.c:2118
#21 0x0813b8e8 in Ffuncall (nargs=11, args=0xbfeb1770) at eval.c:2640
#22 0x0816765b in Fbyte_code (bytestr=971190212, vector=1239627088, 
maxdepth=11) at bytecode.c:716
#23 0x0813b27b in funcall_lambda (fun=1239627368, nargs=1, 
arg_vector=0xbfeb18a4) at eval.c:2851
#24 0x0813b670 in Ffuncall (nargs=2, args=0xbfeb18a0) at eval.c:2716
#25 0x0816765b in Fbyte_code (bytestr=971176132, vector=1239626616, maxdepth=5) 
at bytecode.c:716
#26 0x0813b27b in funcall_lambda (fun=1239626816, nargs=2, 
arg_vector=0xbfeb19c4) at eval.c:2851
#27 0x0813b670 in Ffuncall (nargs=3, args=0xbfeb19c0) at eval.c:2716
#28 0x0816765b in Fbyte_code (bytestr=971169084, vector=1239608656, maxdepth=4) 
at bytecode.c:716
#29 0x0813b27b in funcall_lambda (fun=1239608904, nargs=1, 
arg_vector=0xbfeb1a70) at eval.c:2851
#30 0x0813b488 in apply_lambda (fun=1239608904, args=1505684812, eval_flag=1) 
at eval.c:2770
#31 0x0813a79a in Feval (form=1505685020) at eval.c:2071
#32 0x0813ae46 in Fprogn (args=1505684740) at eval.c:431
#33 0x0813d335 in Flet (args=1505685252) at eval.c:875
#34 0x0813abf9 in Feval (form=1505685340) at eval.c:1960
#35 0x0813ae46 in Fprogn (args=1505685348) at eval.c:431
#36 0x0813d335 in Flet (args=1480730060) at eval.c:875
#37 0x0813abf9 in Feval (form=1480698500) at eval.c:1960
#38 0x0813ae46 in Fprogn (args=1480698724) at eval.c:431
#39 0x0813b3c2 in funcall_lambda (fun=163519604, nargs=0, 
arg_vector=0xbfeb1de4) at eval.c:2844
#40 0x0813b670 in Ffuncall (nargs=1, args=0xbfeb1de0) at eval.c:2716
#41 0x0813a489 in apply1 (fn=434310012, arg=405427244) at eval.c:2412
#42 0x081380ec in Fcall_interactively (function=434310012, 
record_flag=405427244, keys=1210792360) at callint.c:367
#43 0x080e145e in Fcommand_execute (cmd=434310012, record_flag=405427244, 
keys=405427244, special=405427244) at keyboard.c:9255
#44 0x080ec09d in command_loop_1 () at keyboard.c:1661
#45 0x0813a09d in internal_condition_case (bfun=0x80ebce0 <command_loop_1>, 
handlers=405523588, hfun=0x80e46b0 <cmd_error>) at eval.c:1267
#46 0x080e4263 in command_loop_2 () at keyboard.c:1245
#47 0x0813a152 in internal_catch (tag=405485172, func=0x80e4240 
<command_loop_2>, arg=405427244) at eval.c:1030
#48 0x080e43a7 in command_loop () at keyboard.c:1224
#49 0x080e444e in recursive_edit_1 () at keyboard.c:950
#50 0x080e456b in Frecursive_edit () at keyboard.c:1006
#51 0x080ddf35 in main (argc=3, argv=0xbfeb26d4, envp=Cannot access memory at 
address 0xe) at emacs.c:1547
(gdb)








Program received signal SIGABRT, Aborted.
0x001f4402 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
(gdb) where
#0  0x001f4402 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
#1  0x0023a2d6 in kill () from /lib/libc.so.6
#2  0x080dd40b in abort () at emacs.c:387
#3  0x08125735 in mark_object (argptr=0xb09e904) at alloc.c:4744
#4  0x08125883 in mark_object (argptr=0xb09e8bc) at alloc.c:4730
#5  0x08125883 in mark_object (argptr=0xbfbe82e4) at alloc.c:4730
#6  0x0812888d in mark_stack () at alloc.c:3506
#7  0x08128fdc in Fgarbage_collect () at alloc.c:4105
#8  0x0813a854 in Feval (form=1478980180) at eval.c:1912
#9  0x0813d0d8 in Fcondition_case (args=1527628796) at eval.c:1211
#10 0x08166840 in Fbyte_code (bytestr=942109044, vector=1210544624, maxdepth=5) 
at bytecode.c:898
#11 0x0813b27b in funcall_lambda (fun=1210544464, nargs=1, 
arg_vector=0xbfbe8694) at eval.c:2851
#12 0x0813b670 in Ffuncall (nargs=2, args=0xbfbe8690) at eval.c:2716
#13 0x0813cba9 in call1 (fn=405481724, arg1=1245119648) at eval.c:2456
#14 0x080e312d in timer_check (do_it_now=1) at keyboard.c:4103
#15 0x080e32bf in readable_events (do_timers_now=Variable "do_timers_now" is 
not available.) at keyboard.c:3181
#16 0x080e3317 in get_input_pending (addr=0x829d764, do_timers_now=1) at 
keyboard.c:6052
#17 0x080e33f0 in detect_input_pending_run_timers (do_display=1) at 
keyboard.c:9478
#18 0x0816cad2 in wait_reading_process_input (time_limit=0, microsecs=0, 
read_kbd=268435455, do_display=1) at process.c:2687
#19 0x080e6761 in kbd_buffer_get_event (kbp=0xbfbe8b10, 
used_mouse_menu=0xbfbe8c0c) at keyboard.c:3546
#20 0x080e8d60 in read_char (commandflag=1, nmaps=2, maps=0xbfbe8b80, 
prev_event=405427244, used_mouse_menu=0xbfbe8c0c) at keyboard.c:2608
#21 0x080e9f8e in read_key_sequence (keybuf=0xbfbe8cc8, bufsize=30, 
prompt=405427244, dont_downcase_last=0, can_return_switch_frame=1, 
fix_current_buffer=1) at keyboard.c:8214
#22 0x080ebecd in command_loop_1 () at keyboard.c:1451
#23 0x0813a09d in internal_condition_case (bfun=0x80ebce0 <command_loop_1>, 
handlers=405523588, hfun=0x80e46b0 <cmd_error>) at eval.c:1267
#24 0x080e4263 in command_loop_2 () at keyboard.c:1245
#25 0x0813a152 in internal_catch (tag=405485172, func=0x80e4240 
<command_loop_2>, arg=405427244) at eval.c:1030
#26 0x080e43a7 in command_loop () at keyboard.c:1224
#27 0x080e444e in recursive_edit_1 () at keyboard.c:950
#28 0x080e456b in Frecursive_edit () at keyboard.c:1006
#29 0x080ddf35 in main (argc=3, argv=0xbfbe9404, envp=Cannot access memory at 
address 0xe) at emacs.c:1547
(gdb)