Re: [PATCH] Add FAQ How do I fix find_fast_cwd warnings?
Hi Brian, On Nov 13 11:51, Brian Inglis wrote: > On 2017-11-13 10:12, Brian Inglis wrote: > > [full quote deleted] > > I guess I may have been a little enthusiastic to get something out there we > > could refer to in future - and reduce the annoyance level for both posters > > and > > subscribers - attaching a hopefully more accurate diff for comment, also > > addressing some of the other points I suggested. > > Made all URIs in messages links, fixed tags, links, improved flow and wording. Please send this as `git format-patch' with commit message and all. > +This happens when the Cygwin release you installed can not find out > + how to get your current directory from the Windows release you are > + using. I think this paragraph raises more questions than it answers. Of course Cygwin still can get the CWD, just not in the preferred way. Even if you change it to more technically correct terms, it doesn't give any useful info for users. Let's just drop it. > +Unfortunately some projects and products still distribute older > + Cygwin releases which do not support newer Windows releases, instead of > + installing the current release from the Cygwin project. > + They also may not provide any obvious way to keep the Cygwin packages > + their application uses up to date with fixes for security issues and > + upgrades. > +The fix is simply downloading and running Cygwin Setup, following > the > + instructions in the Internet Setup section of > + https://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/setup-net.html";> > + Setting Up Cygwin in the Cygwin User's Guide. > +When running Setup, you should not change most of the values > + presented, just select the Next button in most > + cases, as you already have a Cygwin release installed and only want to > + upgrade your current installation. > + You should make your own selection if the internet connection to your > + system requires a proxy; and you must always pick an up to date Cygwin > + download (mirror) site, preferably the site nearest to your system for > + faster downloads, as shown with more details to help you choose on the > + https://cygwin.com/mirrors.html";> > + Mirror Sites web page. > +Cygwin Setup will download and apply updates to all packages > required > + for Cygwin itself and installed applications. > + Any problems with applying updates, or the application after updates, > + should be reported to the project or product vendor for follow up > + action. > +As Cygwin is a volunteer project, and we can not provide support > for > + older releases installed by projects or products, but would like to be > + able to follow up to reduce reports of these issues if possible, it > + would be helpful if you would send us a quick > + url="mailto:cyg...@cygwin.com?subject=Source%20of%20application%20providing%20Cygwin%20warning%20about%20FAST_CWD";> > + email to let us know where you obtained the application > + which installed the older Cygwin release: whether it was purchased from > + a vendor or a project downloaded from the Internet, any related web > + pages, or other details you may have readily available. Do we really want all this information? It should be sufficient to know the name of the project, so it's in the records for later reference. But we won't follow up on this anyway. There are just too many well-meaning, but short-lived TPPs on the web using Cygwin under the hood. Thanks, Corinna -- Corinna Vinschen Please, send mails regarding Cygwin to Cygwin Maintainer cygwin AT cygwin DOT com Red Hat signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [PATCH] Add FAQ How do I fix find_fast_cwd warnings?
On 2017-11-14 02:29, Corinna Vinschen wrote: > On Nov 13 11:51, Brian Inglis wrote: >> On 2017-11-13 10:12, Brian Inglis wrote: > Please send this as `git format-patch' with commit message and all. One more diff for comment, and I could use some pointer on how to build htdocs html from doc xml, and whether I need to concatenate the screen ulinks to get them to render as a single line, which could be answered by the build. >> +This happens when the Cygwin release you installed can not find >> out >> +how to get your current directory from the Windows release you are >> +using. > I think this paragraph raises more questions than it answers. Of course > Cygwin still can get the CWD, just not in the preferred way. Even if > you change it to more technically correct terms, it doesn't give any > useful info for users. Let's just drop it. Reworded to say that it the issue may not be serious, but may be a performance impact, to put the issue into perspective, and give the user some context. I think your comment applies best to the message itself. ;^> Perhaps we should consider dropping it, or rewording to be less alarming? >> +As Cygwin is a volunteer project, and we can not provide support >> for >> +older releases installed by projects or products, but would like to be >> +able to follow up to reduce reports of these issues if possible, it >> +would be helpful if you would send us a quick >> +> url="mailto:cyg...@cygwin.com?subject=Source%20of%20application%20providing%20Cygwin%20warning%20about%20FAST_CWD";> >> +email to let us know where you obtained the application >> +which installed the older Cygwin release: whether it was purchased from >> +a vendor or a project downloaded from the Internet, any related web >> +pages, or other details you may have readily available. > > Do we really want all this information? It should be sufficient to know > the name of the project, so it's in the records for later reference. > But we won't follow up on this anyway. There are just too many > well-meaning, but short-lived TPPs on the web using Cygwin under the > hood. Scrunched, but I am always reminded of the White Knight's song in Alice http://world.std.com/~swmcd/steven/programming/knight.html when users are asked the name of a project or product e.g. "McAfee"! -- Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada diff --git a/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml b/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml index b6b152e4e..6be533652 100644 --- a/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml +++ b/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml @@ -1419,4 +1419,64 @@ such as virtual memory paging and file caching. difficult to make fork() work reliably. + + + How do I fix find_fast_cwd warnings? + +Older Cygwin releases asked users to report problems to the mailing + list with the message: + +find_fast_cwd: WARNING: Couldn't compute FAST_CWD pointer. Please report + this problem to the public mailing list + mailto:cyg...@cygwin.com";> + cyg...@cygwin.com + +Recent Cygwin releases changed this to the message: + +This typically occurs if you're using an older Cygwin version on a newer Windows. + Please update to the latest available Cygwin version from + https://cygwin.com/";> + https://cygwin.com/. + If the problem persists, please see + https://cygwin.com/problems.html";> + https://cygwin.com/problems.html. + +This is usually not a serious issue, just a warning that Cygwin + performance may be affected, when the Cygwin release you installed can + not find a quick way to get your current directory from the Windows + release you are using. +Unfortunately some projects and products still distribute older + Cygwin releases which may not fully support newer Windows releases, + instead of installing the current release from the Cygwin project. + They also may not provide any obvious way to keep the Cygwin packages + their application uses up to date with fixes for security issues and + upgrades. +The fix is simply downloading and running Cygwin Setup, following the + instructions in the Internet Setup section of + https://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/setup-net.html#internet-setup";> + Setting Up Cygwin in the Cygwin User's Guide. +When running Setup, you should not change most of the values + presented, just select the Next button in most + cases, as you already have a Cygwin release installed and only want to + upgrade your current installation. + You should make your own selection if the internet connection to your + system requires a proxy; and you must always pick an up to date Cygwin + download (mirror) site, preferably the site nearest to your system for + faster downloads, as shown with more details to help you choose on the + https://cygwin.com/mirrors.html";> + Mirror Site
Re: [PATCH] Add FAQ How do I fix find_fast_cwd warnings?
On Nov 14 13:52, Brian Inglis wrote: > On 2017-11-14 02:29, Corinna Vinschen wrote: > > On Nov 13 11:51, Brian Inglis wrote: > >> On 2017-11-13 10:12, Brian Inglis wrote: > > Please send this as `git format-patch' with commit message and all. > > One more diff for comment, and I could use some pointer on how to build htdocs > html from doc xml, and whether I need to concatenate the screen ulinks to get > them to render as a single line, which could be answered by the build. > > >> +This happens when the Cygwin release you installed can not find > >> out > >> + how to get your current directory from the Windows release you are > >> + using. > > I think this paragraph raises more questions than it answers. Of course > > Cygwin still can get the CWD, just not in the preferred way. Even if > > you change it to more technically correct terms, it doesn't give any > > useful info for users. Let's just drop it. > > Reworded to say that it the issue may not be serious, but may be a performance > impact, to put the issue into perspective, and give the user some context. > I think your comment applies best to the message itself. ;^> > Perhaps we should consider dropping it, or rewording to be less alarming? The technical issue is much more complicated than just performance. In a nutshell, CWD handles are opened without FILE_SHARE_DELETE by the OS, so we open the CWD handle by ourselves. Starting with Vista the OS changed the way CWD info is stored for reasons unknown. Performance was just an assumption at the time which led to the FAST_CWD name for the struct. Unfortunately the new ways to handle CWDs is even less documented than the old ways and changed two times between five OS versions. And this doesn't yet explain why we want the CWD opened with FILE_SHARE_DELETE at all, which requires YA nutshell. None of this info should be of any interest to the user struggling with the FAST_CWD message. That's why I opt for dropping. Thanks, Corinna -- Corinna Vinschen Please, send mails regarding Cygwin to Cygwin Maintainer cygwin AT cygwin DOT com Red Hat signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [PATCH] Add FAQ How do I fix find_fast_cwd warnings?
On 2017-11-14 14:26, Corinna Vinschen wrote: > On Nov 14 13:52, Brian Inglis wrote: >> On 2017-11-14 02:29, Corinna Vinschen wrote: >>> On Nov 13 11:51, Brian Inglis wrote: On 2017-11-13 10:12, Brian Inglis wrote: >>> Please send this as `git format-patch' with commit message and all. >> >> One more diff for comment, and I could use some pointer on how to build >> htdocs >> html from doc xml, and whether I need to concatenate the screen ulinks to get >> them to render as a single line, which could be answered by the build. Found I had to rebuild all of newlib-cygwin to regenerate faq.html. +This happens when the Cygwin release you installed can not find out + how to get your current directory from the Windows release you are + using. >>> I think this paragraph raises more questions than it answers. Of course >>> Cygwin still can get the CWD, just not in the preferred way. Even if >>> you change it to more technically correct terms, it doesn't give any >>> useful info for users. Let's just drop it. >> >> Reworded to say that it the issue may not be serious, but may be a >> performance >> impact, to put the issue into perspective, and give the user some context. >> I think your comment applies best to the message itself. ;^> >> Perhaps we should consider dropping it, or rewording to be less alarming? > > The technical issue is much more complicated than just performance. In > a nutshell, CWD handles are opened without FILE_SHARE_DELETE by the OS, > so we open the CWD handle by ourselves. Starting with Vista the OS > changed the way CWD info is stored for reasons unknown. Performance was > just an assumption at the time which led to the FAST_CWD name for the > struct. Unfortunately the new ways to handle CWDs is even less > documented than the old ways and changed two times between five OS > versions. And this doesn't yet explain why we want the CWD opened with > FILE_SHARE_DELETE at all, which requires YA nutshell. As referred to in: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20101109-00/?p=12323 whose comments link to: https://cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2010-09/msg00342.html and include comments by CGF and someone called Corinna wondering why their comment was moderated [for discussing undocumented APIs] ;^> > None of this info should be of any interest to the user struggling > with the FAST_CWD message. That's why I opt for dropping. Hacked this bit up with your info and the above articles, and edited it down again to as little as possible, in hopes of persuading you we should provide the user at least minimal context to allow them to not worry too much about the warning. -- Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada >From 61fe6f174a840cffdac4ae8772e1a10a68e80beb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Brian Inglis Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2017 22:57:02 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] add FAQ How do I fix find_fast_cwd warnings --- winsup/doc/faq-using.xml | 50 1 file changed, 50 insertions(+) diff --git a/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml b/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml index b6b152e4e..f583b36ef 100644 --- a/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml +++ b/winsup/doc/faq-using.xml @@ -1419,4 +1419,54 @@ such as virtual memory paging and file caching. difficult to make fork() work reliably. + + + How do I fix find_fast_cwd warnings? + +Older Cygwin releases asked users to report problems to the mailing + list with the message: + + find_fast_cwd: WARNING: Couldn't compute FAST_CWD pointer. Please report + this problem to the public mailing list mailto:cyg...@cygwin.com";>cyg...@cygwin.com +Recent Cygwin releases changed this to the message: + + This typically occurs if you're using an older Cygwin version on a newer Windows. + Please update to the latest available Cygwin version from https://cygwin.com/";>https://cygwin.com/. + If the problem persists, please see https://cygwin.com/problems.html";>https://cygwin.com/problems.html. +This is not serious, just a warning that Cygwin may not always be + able to exactly emulate all aspects of Unix current directory handling + under your Windows release. +Unfortunately some projects and products still distribute older + Cygwin releases which may not fully support newer Windows releases, + instead of installing the current release from the Cygwin project. + They also may not provide any obvious way to keep the Cygwin packages + their application uses up to date with fixes for security issues and + upgrades. +The solution is simply downloading and running Cygwin Setup, + following the instructions in the Internet Setup section of + https://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/setup-net.html#internet-setup";> + Setting Up Cygwin in the Cygwin User's Guide. +Please exit from all applications before running Cygwin Setup. + When running Setup, you should not c
