MacPorts erlang "Bus error" due to Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update

The past few weeks, I’ve used my train ride home to dig deeper and deeper into erlang. Then after an OS X update released on May 28, 2008 my macports erlang installation stopped working! Running erl caused a “bus error” to occur.  Trying to recompile erlang caused the same bus error to occur.  Directions below work whether you have an existing erlang installation or you’re trying to compile erlang without prior installation.

Here’s how I was able to get it working again:

Open the erlang portfile with your favorite text editor, I prefer vi.

cd /opt/local/var/macports/sources/rsync.macports.org/release/ports/lang/erlang
sudo vi Portfile

Delete this line from configure.args attribute:

--enable-hipe \

The MacPorts configuration doesn’t depend on the enabling of HiPE and erlang will work fine without it. By default HiPE (Hi-Performance Erlang) isn’t enabled or supported on Mac OS X so I’m not sure why the Portfile enables it. HiPE is a project aimed at creating a faster Erlang by compiling to native code. You can find out more about HiPE here.

Reinstall erlang:

sudo port uninstall erlang
sudo port install erlang

You should see a message that says: Portfile changed since last build; discarding previous state.

Use erlang again!

If you want to know when the MacPorts issue is solved you can follow the Trac ticket here.

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