Conference netcad::hub_mgnt

978.0. "Cannot display Ultrix Probewatch to VMS workstation" by RDGENG::PRATT () Wed May 11 1994 12:00

Hi,

This problem was originally found with PathDoctor, but further investigation
found that ProbeWatch also suffers the same problem.

Basically after upgrading my VAX workstation from V5.5-2 to V6.1, I was then
unable to display either PathDoctor or ProbeWatch back to my workstation - they
both core dump. This has been discussed in the DECWINDOWS conference, and a
detailed problem statement is attached below.

As I am sure that our customers will be seeing this problem shortly I thought
that I raise it here so that people can work on it. I am assuming that it will
also apply to HubWatch as well (although I haven't verified that this core dumps
as well).

Ian

             <<< BULOVA::DOCD$:[NOTES$LIBRARY]DECWINDOWS.NOTE;2 >>>
                                -< DECWINDOWS >-
================================================================================
Note 4456.6    Cannot display Ultrix applications with Motif V1.2         6 of 6
COMICS::NAIRN "Out to lunch"                         31 lines  11-MAY-1994 10:05
              -< Ultrix toolkit problem (XtKeysymToKeycodeList) >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This problem is caused by a bug in the ultrix X libraries (either
(/usr/lib/libXt.a or libX11.a or both) that were based on X11/R4.
It was first noted a year ago (almost to the day) in noted::ultrix
2564. The problem is the routine XtKeysymToKeycodeList overflowing
a buffer or running off the end of an array or something. The
problem existed in vanilla X11/R4 librares. It's fixed in R5 and
hence Ultrix 4.4 (R5 based).

The problem occurs when the X server supports keycodes from 8 to 255
inclusive. The VMS V5.5 DECwindows server supports keycodes from 86
to 251 (as do all ultrix servers I've looked at). The VMS V6.0
(and above) server supports keycodes from (surprise, surprise) 8 to 255.

There is mention of a patch for this problem for VAX Ultrix (noted::motif
4279.2 - eng cross ref MOTVUECO01113) which I believe fixes the libraries.
However, I've never seen this patch nor a patch for RISC Ultrix.

As mentioned earlier, simply upgrading Ultrix won't solve any problems
with layered products that were built on versions of Ultrix prior to
V4.4 because they will still have the bug (thanks to Ultrix's static
libraries).

I've never had the time or motivation to search QAR databases and find
out if there is a RISC Ultrix patch anywhere or if the problem has been
officially reported. The bug has never affected me enough for me to do
anything about it (sorry). Presumably there is a patch out there
somewhere.

Hope this helps (and saves someone wading through core dumps),
Cheers,
Steve.