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From: Marten Kemp <marten_kemp@yahoo.com>
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Subject: Re: stupid question?
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Nick Van Borst wrote:
> 
> Well, Kees J Bot said there were such things as stupid questions, so lets
> see if this is one...
> 
> I recently installed Minix on a 386SX laptop with 3 mb RAM and an 80 mb HD.
> I plan to use this computer as a place to experiment with Unix and C, two
> things about which I know basically nothing.  Everything has gone pretty
> smoothely, for the most part, except for one pesky detail.  I'm not sure if
> this is a Minix question or a C question, so if I'm in the wrong place,
> please reprimand me sternly.
> 
> Anyways, whenever I compile and run a program (including ones copied
> verbatim from tutorials and books) that involves printing floating point
> variables the program compiles fine but when the executable is run the
> system hangs, completely.  Like, I have to press the power button to get it
> to work again.  (You can see how it took me a long time to nail down the
> exact cause of the error...)
> 
> Anways, here is an example of the kind of code that generates these fatal
> errors:
> 
> #include <stdio.h>
> 
> main()
> {    float lmnop=1.1;
>     printf("%10.1f \n", lmnop);
> }
> 
> Note that if the printf statement is removed it does not cause an error.
> 
> As stated before, I am a complete C novice (obviously), but have not been
> able to find any evidence that this is a programming error on my part.
> 
> Any comments greatly appreciated.
> 
> Nick

Do you have a 387 math coprocessor? Only the 486DX and above have one
built in. I'm trying to get some other stuff working before installing
Minix but there may be math coprocessor emulator software available.
-- Marten Kemp


