286: Why no core dump?

[Bevis King]

I am attempting to get the public domain basic interpreter posted
to comp.sources.unix working on Microport SV/AT.  The problem I have
is that the program terminates with an "Illegal allignment" message.

While abnormal terminations resulting in core dumps are par for the
course in porting software, especially to an architecture like the
286, this error has a particular problem which concerns me.

When the "Illegal allignment" message is issued, the program terminates
(ok, fair enough), no core dump is generated (worrying) and the login
shell terminates (very worrying indeed).

Recompiling the program with "-g" to give hooks for sdb doen't help
matters either; the program, sdb and the login shell all terminate.

Has anyone else had these problems?  Why doesn't it core dump?  What
are the likely causes of such a message?

Thanks in advance for your help.                             Bevis.


Bevis King, Systems Programmer        |   Email:  brwk at doc.ic.ac.uk
Dept of Computing, Imperial College   |   UUCP :  ..!mcvax!ukc!icdoc!brwk
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          "Never argue with a computer" ... Avon (Blake's 7)