[Rd] R unstable and crashes after executing .C

[Oleg Sklyar]

There are many packages around that use .C and .Call interfaces with 
really huge objects and still are pretty stable. The error is most 
likely in your own C code and it most likely to be connected to memory 
allocation/deallocation or array indexing, but without having the code 
here no one will be able to help further.

Oleg

Sole Acha, Xavi wrote:
> Dear R listers,
> 
>  
> 
> I have developed a C function to be executed from R through the ".C" interface. After doing dyn.load, the function executes properly and I get the results. However, after executing my function, R seems to get unstable and crashes (giving a segmentation fault and exiting) whenever I try to do ANYTHING with a relatively large object (creating a new one or even just writing the name of an existing one). 
> 
>  
> 
> I use R 2.4.0 under a Linux machine with 1 GB RAM. Below there is an example of execution, so you can get an idea of what is happening:
> 
>  
> 
> --------------------
> 
> dyn.load("my_C_module.so");
> 
> res <- .C("my_C_function",.....); #The function executes fine and res is ok
> 
> dyn.unload("my_C_module.so") #I know this isn't strictly necessary
> 
>  
> 
> #Here R is still running, but when I execute:
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>  
> 
> m <- matrix(0,1000,100); #I try to create a new object and R crashes
> 
>  
> 
> *** caught segfault ***
> 
> address 0x10, cause 'memory not mapped'
> 
>  
> 
> Traceback:
> 
>  1: matrix(0, 1000, 100)
> 
>  
> 
> Possible actions:
> 
> 1: abort (with core dump)
> 
> 2: normal R exit
> 
> 3: exit R without saving workspace
> 
> 4: exit R saving workspace
> 
> --------------------
> 
>  
> 
> Although I tell R to abort and give me the core dump, it doesn't succeed in doing so.
> 
>  
> 
> I would be grateful if anyone could tell me what could be the problem with my C function that makes R behave this way?
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you very much in advance, and apologies for this long email.
> 
>  
> 
> Xavier Solé.
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>  
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> 	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
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> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
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-- 
Dr Oleg Sklyar * EBI/EMBL, Cambridge CB10 1SD, England * +44-1223-494466