64bit: "This interpreter (vers. 68000) cannot read image file (vers. 274877913446)."

 
On Nov 3, 2007, at 4:22 , Ian Piumarta wrote:

>> Andrew's latest update is here, ready to be moved to squeakvm.org:
>
> http://squeakvm.org/squeak64/faq.html
>
> Linked (twice) from the squeak64 front page.  I hope I didn't break  
> anything while adding the internal links.
>
> Cheers, and THANKS!

This is excellent info, thanks to Andrew and all contributors.

One thing that is odd not about the FAQ but about our beloved VMMaker  
tool is that the "64-bit VM?" check box in VMMaker actually governs  
building support for a 64-bit image, to use the FAQ's terms:

"What is a 64-bit image? A 64-bit image is an image in which the  
object memory uses a 64-bit word size for object pointers"

"What is a 64-bit VM? A 64-bit VM is one which is compiled with the  
LP64 or ILP64 data model"

So IMHO we should change that check box label to something indicating  
"64-bit image support" to reduce a major confusion point. Putting a  
link to the FAQ (or even a copy of the FAQ) into the tool itself  
might be an extra bonus.

- Bert -

 
On Nov 4, 2007 11:57 PM, Bert Freudenberg <[hidden email]> wrote:

 
On Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 09:02:01AM +0200, Andrew Gaylard wrote:
>  
> While still on the topic of 64 bits, ...
>
> - Is there a list of which plugins still need to be fixed to work in a
> 64-bit VM?

No there is not, but it would be good to have one. It should be kept
separate from the FAQ, because if we actually start working on making
the plugins 64-bit clean the list will need to be updated as progress
it made. The list would probably need to track the status of each plugin
of all four combinations of 32/64 bit image and VM, as well as the
operating system. This is because many plugins rely on external
support code and libraries that are different on different platforms.

The following plugins currently work on Linux for all combinations
of 32/64 bit image and VM:

  BalloonEnginePlugin
  BitBitSimulation
  FilePlugin
  SocketPlugin
  AioPlugin
  OSProcessPlugin
  XDisplayControlPlugin

> - Is there a (programmatic) way to find out if a given plugin will work
> in a 64-bit VM? (e.g. compile-time errors, or the absence of them?)

No. Compiler warnings can give a clue of where to look for problems, but
are not sufficient to indicate whether or not a plugin will work at runtime.

> - Is there a set of guidelines on what to fix when porting a plugin?

Yes, there is a good set of guidelines on the http://www.squeakvm.org/squeak64/
page. See the "Hacking the VM" section, which explains the issues.

Dave