compiling GHC with a custom path to GCC

[Malcolm Wallace]

Seth Kurtzberg <seth at cql.com> writes:

> There has to be one, because the problem occurs when you compile gcc 
> with gcc.  I'll look for a specific bug report.  It happens much more 
> frequently with 3.x than with 2.95, in my testing, but that was not a 
> test of compiling Haskell, so I have no frequency information, specifically.

Sounds like a CPU-overheating problem to me.  It is well known that
running an inadequately cooled processor at 100% for an extended
period will cause random crashes.  There are third-party reports
that it happens with Linux kernel builds, and I have personally seen
it with builds of nhc98 and Hat.  When I replaced the CPU fan, the
problems disappeared.

> The other problem for the gcc people is the fact that it occurs 
> randomly.  The behavior has changed; 3.4 will crash in a different place 
> than 3.3.  If the program is large enough, it will happen.

Non-repeatable crashes certainly point the finger first at hardware
rather than software.  Could also be deteriorating memory chips -
but that is likely to bring the whole machine down eventually.

Regards,
    Malcolm