Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 21:01:40 -0800 (PST) From: dima@unixfreak.org To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org Subject: docs/24823: [PATCH] New FAQ entry about top(1) not working (``nlist'' errors) Message-ID: <200102030501.f1351eI92415@hornet.unixfreak.org>
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>Number: 24823
>Category: docs
>Synopsis: [PATCH] New FAQ entry about top(1) not working (``nlist'' errors)
>Confidential: no
>Severity: non-critical
>Priority: low
>Responsible: freebsd-doc
>State: open
>Quarter:
>Keywords:
>Date-Required:
>Class: change-request
>Submitter-Id: current-users
>Arrival-Date: Fri Feb 02 21:10:01 PST 2001
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator: Dima Dorfman
>Release: FreeBSD 4.2-20010102-STABLE i386
>Organization:
Private
>Environment:
Not relevant.
>Description:
If one loads the kernel directly from boot0 (not using /boot/loader),
or if one screws up an upgrade and the kernel is out of synch with the
userland, one can get weird errors from top(1) and some other programs
about certain kernel symbols not being found. This seems to come up
on -questions every few weeks; this FAQ entry should explain the cause
and solution.
>How-To-Repeat:
Read -questions.
>Fix:
Apply the following to doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml.
Index: book.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /st/src/FreeBSD/doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.140
diff -u -r1.140 book.sgml
--- book.sgml 2001/01/18 01:14:24 1.140
+++ book.sgml 2001/01/30 01:34:16
@@ -4166,6 +4166,41 @@
</answer>
</qandaentry>
+
+ <qandaentry>
+ <question>
+ <para>I get the error <literal>nlist failed</literal> when running,
+ for example, <command>top</command> or
+ <command>systat</command>.</para>
+ </question>
+
+ <answer>
+ <para>The problem is that the application you are trying to run is
+ looking for a specific kernel symbol, but, for whatever reason,
+ cannot find it; this error stems from one of two problems:</para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Your kernel and userland are not synchronized (i.e., you
+ built a new kernel but did not do an installworld, or vice
+ versa), and thus the symbol table is different from what the
+ user application thinks it is. If this is the case, simply
+ complete the upgrade process (see
+ <filename>/usr/src/UPDATING</filename> for the correct
+ sequence).</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>You are not using <command>/boot/loader</command> to load
+ your kernel, but doing it directly from boot0 (see
+ &man.boot.8;). While there is nothing wrong with bypassing
+ <command>/boot/loader</command>, it generally does a better
+ job of making the kernel symbols available to user
+ applications.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </answer>
+ </qandaentry>
</qandaset>
</chapter>
>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted:
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