ExMachinaTech

I’ve added a new systems infrastructure section to the site, where I can share my thoughts on systems administration and systems architecture.

It’s a work in progress (isn’t everything, really?) so feel free to check in periodically.

Hot off the presses, the new novi 1.1.9 is available for download.

Thanks to some eagle-eyed novi fans I have identified and resolved some #include<> problems related to the header file cleanup in GCC 4.3, which ships with Fedora 9.

If you try to build previous novi versions with GCC 4.3 the compiler will complain:

./src/RPM.cc: In member function 'void RPM::setArch(const std::string&)':


./src/RPM.cc:242: error: 'strcmp' was not declared in this scope

I also took this opportunity to remove some unused BuildRequires: entries from the spec file.

(There are no functionality changes in this version.)

Thanks to everyone who sent the GCC link and patches. I wasn’t able to use the patches but they pointed me in the right direction.

Cheers.

The latest novi 1.1.8 release is available for download.

This release includes a couple of internal code adjustments, plus a handy --version commandline switch so you can determine what version of novi you’re running.

If you try to build novi against later revs of Expat 1.95.x, the compiler throws the following error:


./src/RepodataRPMSource.cc:81: error: ‘XML_STATUS_OK’ was not declared


The new novi 1.1.7 release addresses that bug. Compile away!

I recently encountered (and resolved!) an error upgrading a machine to Fedora 7. I reasoned it was worth sharing, so here you go:

Early in the process, an Anaconda screen prompted me to decide between a full install (to overwrite the existing FC6) or an upgrade. After I chose “upgrade,” the installer choked with this stack trace:


Traceback (most recent call first):
File “/usr/lib/anaconda/iw/upgrade_bootloader_gui.py”, line 78, in _newToLibata
if l.strip()[0] == “#”:
File “/usr/lib/anaconda/iw/upgrade_bootloader_gui.py”, line 90, in getScreen
newToLibata = self._newToLibata(anaconda.rootPath)
File “/usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py”, line 1131, in setScreen
new_screen = self.currentWindow.getScreen(anaconda)
File “/usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py”, line 1042, in nextClicked
self.setScreen ()
IndexError: string index out of range


I dug deeper in the stack trace and found the culprit: Anaconda didn’t like that the system’s /etc/modprobe.conf began with comment lines. I removed those, restarted the upgrade, and it went off without a hitch.

Hopefully this will spare you a headache or two.