>Number:         32575
>Category:       port-sparc
>Synopsis:       GENERIC crashes with non-root vi on Tadpole 3GX
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       medium
>Responsible:    port-sparc-maintainer
>State:          open
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Thu Jan 19 20:10:00 +0000 2006
>Originator:     Ingolf Steinbach
>Release:        NetBSD 3.0
>Organization:
none
>Environment:
System: NetBSD ares.steinba.ch 3.0 NetBSD 3.0 (GENERIC.DDB) #0: Thu Jan 19 00:36:31 CET 2006 ingolf@ares.steinba.ch:/usr/src/sys/arch/sparc/compile/GENERIC.DDB sparc
Architecture: sparc
Machine: sparc
Model: Tadpole 3GX
>Description:
On a Tadpole 3GX, the GENERIC kernel can easily be crashed
by non-root users. For instance, when editing a file in vi
(on the console) and moving the cursor around a bit, the
console will eventually freeze. After a while, the watchdog
resets the SPARCbook.

In the hope of finding more information, I have re-compiled
the GENERIC kernel but with
 - options DDB
 - options DDB_HISTORY_SIZE=100
 - options DDB_ONPANIC=1
 - makeoptions DEBUG="-g"
enabled. After the freeze, the machine still drops to the
PROM ("cont" is not possible).

I have verified that I can enter ddb when everything is still
ok. However, as soon as the machine freezes, I can also no
longer enter the debugger.

Maybe the console code cannot handle the rather limited
capabilities of the 3GX when using the default fonts
selected in the GENERIC kernel. When booting, the kernel
messages are first displayed in a rather small font which
allows for sufficiently long lines. Then during the boot,
the font is switched to a larger one. Only 66x27 characters
can be displayed with this font. (This also makes several
messages unreadable during system installation...)
>How-To-Repeat:
Boot a plain 3.0 system on a Tadpole 3GX.
Login (either as root or real user)
vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
In vi, go to the last line (G), then move the cursor up
line by line.
After reaching the top line which is visible and moving
further up, the cursor will disappear and the machine
>Fix:
No idea.