Re: when a build fails with debian source
On Sun, Dec 19, 1999 at 11:41:38PM -0600, Matt Garman wrote
>
> If I'm building a package from the Debian package source, and the build
> fails half way through, how do I pick up where I left off when I retry,
> rather than starting from scratch?
>
> For example, I'm building xfree 3.3.5 from the Debian source. Compiling
> xfree86 takes a tremendous amount of time. The build failed half-way
> through because it couldn't find a header file. I remedied the header
> file situation, then again executed "./debian/rules binary" and the
> build appears to be starting from the beginning! That means I lost
> hours of compile time already. Was there something I should have done
> to make it start where it left off, rather than start fresh?
>
For the geenral case it's hard (and perhaps foolish) to re-start from
where you left off after installing missing header files. Most large
packages use configure or some such at the start of the build process
to produce make files based on what headers and libraries you seem to have,
and if you add libraries halfway through then the build may not complete
successfully for two (or more) reasons:
- As configure has already been run, the build may disregard the
libraries that you install at this stage;
- Parts already built may have employed some 'workaround' for the
missing libraries that make them incompatible with parts subsequently
built to use those libraries.
Generally, it's safest to do debian/rules clean ; rm config.cache
before re-starting the build to make sure that everything starts from
scratch. It may seem like a hassle now, but for a large package like
X you may save yourself time and frustration in the long run by giving
yourself a high degree of assurance that your .debs will not contain any
(novel) bugs.
John P.
--
huiac@camtech.net.au
john@huiac.apana.org.au
"Oh - I - you know - my job is to fear everything." - Bill Gates in Denmark
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