Document Title: errata.txt
Subject: Known Problems in SPEC CPU2000
Last updated: 20 Dec 2000 3:30pm
(To check for possible updates to this document,
please see http://www.spec.org/cpu2000/docs )
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This document describes known problems in SPEC CPU2000 V1.1,
and solutions for problems previously documented for V1.0.
Note: When updating this document, please do not ever re-use problem
numbers.
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OPEN PROBLEM REPORTS
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Problem number: 10
Problem summary: Linux mount command should have -o exec
Details: The file install_guide_unix.txt recommends mounting
the CD with the following command on Linux systems:
mount -t iso9660 -o ro /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
This mount command is probably either too much or
too little. On some Linux systems, you may not need
any mount command at all - the system will automatically
mount it. But if your Linux system does require a
mount command, then you will probably do better with
mount -t iso9660 -o ro,exec /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
If you do not use "exec", you might not be able
to run the install script (permission denied), or the
script may run but fail to find a set of SPEC tools
for your architecture.
Workaround: Please add "exec", as described above.
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Problem number: 9
Problem summary: The installation procedure on Unix is more
quiet than the installation guide claims.
Details: The file install_guide_unix.txt says:
6) You will see thousands of filenames mentioned as
they are created
This is incorrect. As of V1.1, the files are created,
but they are not mentioned. Please see section III of
$SPEC/docs/changes_in_V1.1.txt
Workaround: If you prefer to see all the filenames, set VERBOSE=1
in your environment before installing.
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Problem number: 8
Problem summary: "perfect.in - tree removal aborted"
Details: On Windows/NT or Windows 2000, when building the
benchmark 253.perlbmk, the following message will
sometimes be seen:
Couldn't unlink
[...]CINT2000/253.perlbmk/run/00000001/perfect.in -
tree removal aborted
This message comes from the CPU2000 tools (specifically,
benchmark.pm line 965) and indicates that a file could
not be removed.
Workaround: None; the warning may safely be ignored.
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Problem number: 7
Problem summary: --output_format limitation on NT
Details: On Unix systems, a list of formats can be requested
by typing (for example):
runspec --output_format=asc,ps
rawformat -o ps,pdf,html
On NT systems, only one format may be selected.
Workaround: Either select the desired formats in your config
file, or run rawformat multiple times (once for
each format).
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Problem number: 6
Problem summary: PDFlib warning on NT
Details: When pdf output is selected on Windows/NT (or Windows
2000), a warning is printed:
PDFlib warning: Symbol font Symbol doesn't use
builtin encoding
This message indicates that when the pdf output was
produced, the copyright symbol was not printed.
Although the symbol is missing, the word "Copyright"
still appears.
Workaround: None; the warning may safely be ignored.
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CLOSED PROBLEM REPORTS
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Problem number: 5
Problem summary: --max_active_compares cannot exceed --users
Details: If you issue a runspec command with --max_active_compares
set to a value larger than the number of users being
tested, the tools may incorrectly report that a benchmark
got the wrong answer (miscompared).
Resolution: Fixed for SPEC CPU2000 V1.1
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Problem number: 4
Problem summary: runspec crashes quickly on Alpha/NT, trying to find PDF
Details: On Alpha/NT, the runspec command crashes soon after
starting up. The command window shows:
Identifying output formats...asc...html...
and then a dialog box is raised that says
specperl.exe - Application Error
The instruction at "0x011a8e04" referenced memory
at "0x00000628". The memory could not be "read".
Resolution: This problem is believed fixed for SPEC CPU2000 V1.1;
if it should recur, please apply the workaround below.
Workaround: Disable PDF and Postscript output by doing:
cd %SPEC%\bin
rename PSPDF.pm hideme_PSPDF.pm
Runspec will then be able to initialize correctly
(and other forms of output will work).
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Problem number: 3
Problem summary: runspec -V does not find specmake etc. on NT
Details: The command "runspec -V" provides detailed information
about versions of tools in the SPEC CPU2000 suite.
However, when used on NT, it does not correctly find
specinvoke, specmake, specgzip, and specperl.
Workaround: You can find out the versions of these tools by hand.
Try saying:
shrc
specinvoke -v
specmake -v
specgzip -h
specperl -v
Resolution: Fixed for SPEC CPU2000 V1.1
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Problem number: 2
Problem summary: --username does not work as documented
Details: The CPU2000 suite provides limited support for multiple
users, as described in runspec.txt. It is also
documented there that the switch "--username" can
be used to change the value that would otherwise be
defaulted from the current process.
Nevertheless, at this time the value is always
taken from the process. That is, if a user is logged
in as "michael", but says runspec --username=paula,
the run directories will still be tagged as michael's.
Resolution: Fixed for V1.1. Support is still limited (e.g. users
still share certain directories), but the features
described in runspec.txt now appear to work.
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Problem number: 1
Problem summary: Rate from speed sometimes loses reportable attribute.
Details: The CPU2000 run rules specify that it is legal to
generate a single-user rate result from a single-user
speed run. See runrules.txt 4.3.2 and the section
on rawformat in utility.txt.
However, when the instructions in utility.txt
are followed, the output files sometimes do not preserve
the reportable attribute. That is, reports say "INVALID
RUN". The problem has been seen only when attempting to
format base-only runs; no problems are known for
rawfiles that contain both base and peak metrics.
Resolution: Fixed for SPEC CPU2000 V1.1
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