After answering various faq-like questions on xemacs-beta I decided to redo the troubleshooting section of the FAQ so it really has everything people should know. In the process I've found some very very old stuff. Some I just terminated with extreme prejudice [e.g. some business about OpenWindows 3.0], but others I would like to get some input before deleting them entirely. ********************************************************* The following used to make extensive reference to 19.14 and 19.15. I fixed it up to remove those, but I don't know whether the resulting question has any relevance. ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.23, Q2.1.24, Q2.1.22, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.21: Movemail on Linux does not work Movemail on Linux defaults to using ＠code{.lock} file locking. If this is not appropriate for your system, edit src/s/linux.h and uncomment the line that reads: ＠example #define MAIL_USE_FLOCK ＠end example ＠end quotation ========================================================== Are any of the following still relevant? ========================================================== ＠node Q2.0.8, Q2.0.9, Q2.0.7, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.8: can't resolve symbol _h_errno You are using the Linux/ELF distribution of XEmacs 19.14, and your ELF libraries are out of date. You have the following options: ＠enumerate ＠item Upgrade your libc to at least 5.2.16 (better is 5.2.18, 5.3.12, or 5.4.10). ＠item Patch the XEmacs binary by replacing all occurrences of ＠samp{_h_errno^＠＠} with ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠samp{h_errno^＠＠^＠＠}. Any version of Emacs will suffice. If you don't understand how to do this, don't do it. ＠item Rebuild XEmacs yourself---any working ELF version of libc should be O.K. ＠end enumerate ＠email{hniksic＠(a)xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes: ＠quotation Why not use a Perl one-liner for No. 2? ＠example perl -pi -e 's/_h_errno\0/h_errno\0\0/g' \ /usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14 ＠end example NB: You ＠emph{must} patch ＠file{/usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14}, and not ＠file{xemacs} because ＠file{xemacs} is a link to ＠file{xemacs-19.14}; the Perl ＠samp{-i} option will cause unwanted side-effects if applied to a symbolic link. ＠end quotation ＠email{steve＠(a)xemacs.org, SL Baur} writes: ＠quotation If you build against a recent libc-5.4 (late enough to have caused problems earlier in the beta cycle) and then run with an earlier version of libc, you get a ＠example $ xemacs xemacs: can't resolve symbol '__malloc_hook' zsh: 7942 segmentation fault (core dumped) xemacs ＠end example (Example binary compiled against libc-5.4.23 and run with libc-5.4.16). The solution is to upgrade to at least libc-5.4.23. Sigh. Drat. ＠end quotation ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.0.10, Q2.0.11, Q2.0.9, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.10: After I run configure I find a core dump, is something wrong? Not necessarily. If you have GNU sed 3.0 you should downgrade it to 2.05. From the ＠file{README} at prep.ai.mit.edu: ＠quotation sed 3.0 has been withdrawn from distribution. It has major revisions, which mostly seem to be improvements; but it turns out to have bugs too which cause trouble in some common cases. Tom Lord won't be able to work fixing the bugs until May. So in the mean time, we've decided to withdraw sed 3.0 from distribution and make version 2.05 once again the recommended version. ＠end quotation It has also been observed that the vfork test on Solaris will leave a core dump. ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.0.11, Q2.0.12, Q2.0.10, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.11: XEmacs doesn't resolve hostnames. This is the result of a long-standing problem with SunOS and the fact that stock SunOS systems do not ship with DNS resolver code in libc. ＠email{ckd＠(a)loiosh.kei.com, Christopher Davis} writes: ＠quotation That's correct [The SunOS 4.1.3 precompiled binaries don't do name lookup]. Since Sun figured that everyone used NIS to do name lookups (that DNS thing was apparently only a passing fad, right?), the stock SunOS 4.x systems don't have DNS-based name lookups in libc. This is also why Netscape ships two binaries for SunOS 4.1.x. The best solution is to compile it yourself; the configure script will check to see if you've put DNS in the shared libc and will then proceed to link against the DNS resolver library code. ＠end quotation ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.4, Q2.1.5, Q2.1.3, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.11: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup I get tons of translation table syntax error messages during startup. How do I get rid of them? There are two causes of this problem. The first usually only strikes people using the prebuilt binaries. The culprit in both cases is the file ＠file{XKeysymDB}. ＠itemize ＠bullet ＠item The binary cannot find the ＠file{XKeysymDB} file. The location is hardcoded at compile time so if the system the binary was built on puts it a different place than your system does, you have problems. To fix, set the environment variable ＠code{XKEYSYMDB} to the location of the ＠file{XKeysymDB} file on your system or to the location of the one included with XEmacs which should be at ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠file{<xemacs_root_directory>/lib/xemacs-19.16/etc/XKeysymDB}. ＠item The binary is finding the XKeysymDB but it is out-of-date on your system and does not contain the necessary lines. Either ask your system administrator to replace it with the one which comes with XEmacs (which is the stock R6 version and is backwards compatible) or set your ＠code{XKEYSYMDB} variable to the location of XEmacs's described above. ＠end itemize ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.6, Q2.1.7, Q2.1.5, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.6: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal! Help! I can not get XEmacs to display on my Envizex X-terminal! Try setting the ＠code{DISPLAY} variable using the numeric IP address of the host you are running XEmacs from. ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.7, Q2.1.8, Q2.1.6, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.7: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server! There have been several reports of the X server locking up under Linux. In all reported cases removing speedo and scaled fonts from the font path corrected the problem. This can be done with the command ＠code{xset}. It is possible that using a font server may also solve the problem. ========================================================== ========================================================= ＠node Q2.1.8, Q2.1.9, Q2.1.7, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.8: HP Alt key as Meta. How can I make XEmacs recognize the Alt key of my HP workstation as a Meta key? Put the following line into a file and load it with xmodmap(1) before starting XEmacs: ＠example remove Mod1 = Mode_switch ＠end example ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.13, Q2.1.14, Q2.1.12, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.13: HP/UX 10.10 and ＠code{create_process} failure. ＠email{Dave.Carrigan＠(a)ipl.ca, Dave Carrigan} writes: ＠quotation With XEmacs 19.13 and HP/UX 10.10, anything that relies on the ＠code{create_process} function fails. This breaks a lot of things (shell-mode, compile, ange-ftp, to name a few). ＠end quotation ＠email{johnson＠(a)dtc.hp.com, Phil Johnson} writes: ＠quotation This is a problem specific to HP-UX 10.10. It only occurs when XEmacs is compiled for shared libraries (the default), so you can work around it by compiling a statically-linked binary (run configure with ＠samp{--dynamic=no}). I'm not sure whether the problem is with a particular shared library or if it's a kernel problem which crept into 10.10. ＠end quotation ＠email{cognot＠(a)ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes: ＠quotation I had a few problems with 10.10. Apparently, some of them were solved by forcing a static link of libc (manually). ＠end quotation ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.19, Q2.1.20, Q2.1.18, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.18: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone. When using one of the prebuilt binaries many users have observed that XEmacs uses the timezone under which it was built, but not the timezone under which it is running. The solution is to add: ＠lisp (set-time-zone-rule "MET") ＠end lisp to your ＠file{init.el}/(a)file{.emacs} or the ＠file{site-start.el} file if you can. Replace ＠code{MET} with your local timezone. ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.24, Q2.1.25, Q2.1.23, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.22: XEmacs won't start without network. If XEmacs starts when you're on the network, but fails when you're not on the network, you may be missing a "localhost" entry in your ＠file{/etc/hosts} file. The file should contain an entry like: ＠example 127.0.0.1 localhost ＠end example Add that line, and XEmacs will be happy.＠node Q3.7.5, Q3.7.6, Q3.7.4, Customization ＠unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.5: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool? We don't know. It's a bug. There does seem to be a work-around, however. Try running xclipboard first. It appears to fix the problem even if you exit it. (This should be mostly fixed in 19.13, but we haven't yet verified that). ========================================================== Is the following still relevant? If so, is it relevant outside of HP/UX? If so, could someone help me rewrite it to work generally? If not, could someone help me fix it up to the latest HP/UX? ========================================================== ＠node Q2.1.10, Q2.1.11, Q2.1.9, Installation ＠unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.10: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers. The following information comes from the ＠file{PROBLEMS} file that comes with XEmacs. If you're having troubles with HP/UX it is because HP/UX defines the modifiers wrong in X. Here is a shell script to fix the problem; be sure that it is run after VUE configures the X server. ＠example #! /bin/sh xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF keysym Alt_L = Meta_L keysym Alt_R = Meta_R EOF xmodmap - << EOF clear mod1 keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol add mod1 = Meta_L keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch add mod2 = Mode_switch EOF ＠end example ========================================================== How about the following question regardling TM? TM was once the way to get MIME support for GNUS, VM, etc. but I gather they all do this by default now. And maybe there's a newer version of TM? Therefore, the following should probably get rewritten or deleted [suggestions?]: ========================================================== ＠node Q4.3.1, Q4.3.2, Q4.2.4, Subsystems ＠unnumberedsec 4.3: Other Mail & News ＠unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.1: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages? ＠c Changed June VM supports MIME natively. You probably want to use the Tools for MIME (tm). ＠xref{Q4.3.2}, for details. ＠email{trey＠(a)cs.berkeley.edu, Trey Jackson} has an Emacs & MIME web page at ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠uref{http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/~trey/emacs/mime.html}. Another possibility is RMIME. You may find RMIME at ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠uref{http://www.cinti.net/~rmoody/rmime/index.html}. ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q4.3.2, Q4.3.3, Q4.3.1, Subsystems ＠unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.2: What is TM and where do I get it? TM stands for ＠dfn{Tools for MIME} and not Tiny MIME. TM integrates with all major XEmacs packages like Gnus (all flavors), VM, MH-E, and mailcrypt. It provides totally transparent and trouble-free MIME support. When appropriate a message will be decoded in place in an XEmacs buffer. TM now comes as a package with XEmacs 19.16 and XEmacs 20.2. TM was written by ＠email{morioka＠(a)jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} and ＠email{shuhei-k＠(a)jaist.ac.jp, KOBAYASHI Shuhei}. It is based on the work of ＠email{umerin＠(a)mse.kyutech.ac.jp, UMEDA Masanobu}, the original writer of GNUS. The following information is from the ＠file{README}: ＠dfn{tm} is a MIME package for GNU Emacs. tm has following functions: ＠itemize ＠bullet ＠item MIME style multilingual header. ＠item MIME message viewer (mime/viewer-mode). ＠item MIME message composer (mime/editor-mode). ＠item MIME extenders for mh-e, GNUS, RMAIL and VM. ＠end itemize tm is available from following anonymous ftp sites: ＠itemize ＠bullet ＠comment ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/GNU/elisp/mime/} (Japan). ＠comment ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.nis.co.jp/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (Japan). ＠comment ＠c The host above is unknown. ＠comment ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.nisiq.net/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (US). ＠comment ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/gnus/jaist.ac.jp/} (US). ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.unicamp.br/pub/mail/mime/tm/} (Brasil). ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/editors/GNU-Emacs/lisp/mime/} (Germany). ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/editors/xemacs/contrib/} (Germany). ＠end itemize Don't let the installation procedure & instructions stop you from trying this package out---it's much simpler than it looks, and once installed, trivial to use. ＠email{youngs＠(a)xemacs.org, Steve Youngs} writes: ＠quotation All the major Emacs Lisp based MUAs (Gnus, MH-E, and VM) all do their own thing when it comes to MIME so you won't need TM to get MIME support in these packages. ＠end quotation ========================================================== ========================================================== ＠node Q4.3.5, Q4.4.1, Q4.3.4, Subsystems ＠unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.5: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)? pstogif is part of the latex2html package. ＠email{vroonhof＠(a)math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes: latex2html is best found at the CTAN hosts and their mirrors in ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠file{tex-archive/support/latex2html}. CTAN hosts are: ＠itemize ＠bullet ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}. ＠item ＠uref{ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}. ＠end itemize There is a good mirror at ftp.cdrom.com; ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠uref{ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan/support/latex2html/}. ========================================================== How about the following question about AUC TeX and ftpmail? This is clearly out-of-date. Could someone give an up-to-date summary? Does ftpmail(a)decwrl.dec.com exist at all any more? ========================================================== ＠node Q4.7.1, Q4.7.2, Q4.6.1, Subsystems ＠unnumberedsec 4.7: Other Unbundled Packages ＠unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.1: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it? AUC TeX is a package written by ＠email{abraham＠(a)dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen}. Starting with XEmacs 19.16, AUC TeX is bundled with XEmacs. The following information is from the ＠file{README} and website. AUC TeX is an extensible package that supports writing and formatting TeX files for most variants of GNU Emacs. Many different macro packages are supported, including AMS TeX, LaTeX, and TeXinfo. The most recent version is always available by ftp at ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠uref{ftp://sunsite.dk/packages/auctex/auctex.tar.gz}. In case you don't have access to anonymous ftp, you can get it by an email request to ＠email{ftpmail＠(a)decwrl.dec.com}. WWW users may want to check out the AUC TeX page at ＠iftex ＠* ＠end iftex ＠uref{http://sunsite.dk/auctex/}. ==========================================================