Re: LUG: linux help - Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:11:15 -0500

Subject : Re: LUG: linux help

From : Brian Michael Adams <bmadams3@unity.ncsu.[redacted]>

Date : Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:11:15 -0500

Jack (all),

The problem with Matlab 7 'bench' on WS4 seems to be more elusive than I
thought too. Based on
http://www.mathworks.com/support/solutions/data/1-11D20K.html?solution=1-11D20K
and other articles, I thought it was just that the BLAS .so library they
ship didn't work with glibc 2.3.4 (the default on RHEL WS4).

For 7 and 7SP2 once upon a time I was able to eliminate the problem by
swapping out the Matlab BLAS for Intel's MKL, which affirmed the potential
BLAS problem. (This was on Realmkit boxes.)

However, I've since run 'bench' with Matlab 7, 7SP2, and 7SP3 on RHEL4
(glibc-2.3.4-2.13, not at NCSU) and the failures don't seem related to
BLAS (i.e. the LU or FFT portions of bench which rely on BLAS aren't
crashing):
--> 7 (7.0): seg faults on completion of bench
--> 7SP2 (7.0.4): seg faults on 2-D graphics
--> 7SP3 (7.1): I can't reproduce the problem (again not realmkit boxes)
You may get some mileage by using SP3. Maybe they updated their libraries
to work with glibc-2.3.4 (the file sizes are different), but there's no
evidence on their site or release notes.

I have also tried setting env. var BLAS_VERSION to either atlas_P4.so or
libmwblas.so -- doesn't make a difference (just changes where during
bench it crashes). I've seen some comments suggesting the problem is
related to OpenGL in some circumstances.

Ok enough coredump. I'm curious if you have the problem with SP3...
Brian

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005, Alex Marten wrote:

> I am running /afs/bp.ncsu.edu/dist/matlab7/bin/matlab over AFS. It
> appears to be running matlab 7.
>
> On 11/17/05, Jack Neely <jjneely@pams.ncsu.[redacted]> wrote:
>> On Wed, Nov 16, 2005 at 05:51:47PM -0500, Alex Marten wrote:
>>> Out of curiosity I tried running the MATLAB benchmark program a few
>>> times and had no troubles.
>>
>> Matlab 6.5?
>>
>> Can you try with 7? 'add matlab7'
>>
>> That helps...thanks.
>>
>> jack
>>
>>>
>>> On 11/16/05, Jack Neely <jjneely@pams.ncsu.[redacted]> wrote:
>>>> On Tue, Nov 15, 2005 at 03:17:19PM -0500, Alex Marten wrote:
>>>>> I am not an expert on the Realm linux kit offered by NCSU so I am not
>>>>> fully aware of all it offers the user in terms of NCSU services. I do
>>>>> however feel that the versions available free of charge and based on
>>>>> older Red Hat distros are out of date. I do not know the status of
>>>>> the Realm kit for Fedora maybe someone else could chime in here.
>>>>
>>>> The free versions from the ftp site, etc. are quite out of date. For
>>>> NCSU's supported Linux solution we have migrated to using RHEL.
>>>> Unfortunately, at this time I am not able to make RHEL availible to
>>>> students which is something that I am trying to fix.
>>>>
>>>> I am looking for a student that would be interested in developing and
>>>> maintaining Fedorae Core based versions of Realm Linux. There is some
>>>> notes and information on the CLS web site and the CLS wiki for building
>>>> and maintaining Realm Linux.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Personally I suggest Ubuntu for any box that will be used for academic
>>>>> research purposes. My reasoning is as follows: it is straight forward
>>>>> and easy to use, it will just work, and therefore allow you to just
>>>>> work. Upgrades do not break the box. Installing and upgrading
>>>>> software with apt (which has a graphical and command line interface)
>>>>> in my opinion is more efficient than other package management tools
>>>>> out there. Out of the box hardware support is better than most
>>>>> distros available.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ubuntu plays well with the NCSU AFS environment allowing you to access
>>>>> files and run programs (such as MATLAB, SAS, etc.) with very little
>>>>> effort. I put together a brief howto
>>>>> (http://www.equivalentsystems.net/marten/ubuntuafs.php) if you do
>>>>> decide to go the Ubuntu route.
>>>>
>>>> Run matlab and type 'bench'. It will segfault during the benchmarks
>>>> most of the time. Welcome to my world of pain. :-)
>>>>
>>>> Jack
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 11/15/05, Jeff Laiosa <jeff_laiosa@ncsu.[redacted]> wrote:
>>>>>> Hello All,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would like some help installing linux on a on-campus box. I am getting
>>>>>> a little lost in all of the NCSU Linux documentation out there. Between
>>>>>> CLS and the Realm Linux docs, I am going a little cross-eyed trying to
>>>>>> figure out which is most current and accurate. Could someone lay it out
>>>>>> for me? Specifically, Here are a few things I'm a little confused about:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1.) What do I need to get started? I have a Dell that is a few years old
>>>>>> and will more than likely meet all of the hardware requirements.
>>>>>> 2.) Is Realm Linux widely supported on campus? What are the advantages
>>>>>> of going with Realm Linux over the many other choices of distros out
>>>>>> there? Are there licensing issues? How much do they cost?
>>>>>> 3.) Am I really that much better off using Realm? Or should I pick some
>>>>>> other distro like, Red Hat, Fedora, etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I already posted this to realmlinux-user@ncsu.[redacted] and have received no
>>>>>> response.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thank you,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jeff Laiosa
>>>>>> NC State University, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
>>>>>> Communication Services
>>>>>> jeff_laiosa@ncsu.[redacted]
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Alex Marten
>>>>> alex.marten@gmail.[redacted]
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Jack Neely <jjneely@ncsu.[redacted]>
>>>> Campus Linux Services Project Lead
>>>> PAMS Computer Operations at NC State University
>>>> GPG Fingerprint: 1917 5AC1 E828 9337 7AA4 EA6B 213B 765F 3B6A 5B89
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Alex Marten
>>> alex.marten@gmail.[redacted]
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Jack Neely <jjneely@ncsu.[redacted]>
>> Campus Linux Services Project Lead
>> PAMS Computer Operations at NC State University
>> GPG Fingerprint: 1917 5AC1 E828 9337 7AA4 EA6B 213B 765F 3B6A 5B89
>>
>
>
> --
> Alex Marten
> alex.marten@gmail.[redacted]
>
>

Replies :

LUG: Death to Matlab