Subject: 24.3.93; tramp persistency file: incompatible with old versions? Tramp won't start!

From: David Reitter <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 23:26:48 -0400

After upgrading to [Aquamacs based on] a pre-release of 24.4, a user complained about Tramp not working.

Some investigation showed that the error was reproducible with a 

(load “tramp” nil)

and it occurred when it tried to load the file specified in `tramp-persistency-file-name’.  The error message was:

eval-buffer: Invalid function: (["scpc" "dr” “xxx.yyy.org" nil] ("uname" "Darwin 9.8.0") ("test" "test") ("remote-path" ("/usr/bin" "/bin" "/usr/sbin" "/sbin" "/usr/local/bin")) ("remote-shell" "/bin/sh") ("~" "/Users/dr") ("readlink" nil) ("perl-file-spec" t) ("perl-cwd-realpath" t) ("perl" "\\perl") …)

The file contents of the file specified in tramp-persistency-file-name began with

> ; Tramp connection history.  Don't change this file.
> ;; You can delete it, forcing Tramp to reapply the checks.
> 
> ((["scpc" "dr" "braeburn.aquamacs.org" nil]
>   ("uname" "Darwin 9.8.0")
>   ("test" "test")
>   ("remote-path"
>    ("/usr/bin" "/bin" "/usr/sbin" "/sbin" "/usr/local/bin"))
>   ("remote-shell" "/bin/sh”)

This does not look like a file that can be loaded with `load’.

It was probably produced with an older Emacs version, but judging from the file date, probably just the previous release 23.3.

Deleting the file makes the error go away.  Tramp works just fine then.

I think Emacs should be smart enough to handle the version upgrade.  Perhaps re-generating the file if reading it produces an exception should be a transparent and automatic measure.

In Aquamacs 3.1dev GNU Emacs 24.3.93.11
(x86_64-apple-darwin13.3.0, NS apple-appkit-1265.21)
of 2014-09-16 (Aquamacs-3.0a-2881-g08aa69d) on momo
Operating System: OS X Version 10.9.4 (Build 13E28)
Important settings:
  value of $LANG: en_US.UTF-8
  locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix

Major mode: Text

Minor modes in effect:
  TeX-PDF-mode: t
  TeX-source-correlate-mode: t
  shell-dirtrack-mode: t
  which-function-mode: t
  savehist-mode: t
  smart-frame-positioning-mode: t
  aquamacs-autoface-mode: t
  recentf-mode: t
  osx-key-mode: t
  tabbar-mwheel-mode: t
  tabbar-mode: t
  show-paren-mode: t
  delete-selection-mode: t
  cua-mode: t
  tooltip-mode: t
  electric-indent-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  tool-bar-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  smart-spacing-mode: t
  size-indication-mode: t
  column-number-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  visual-line-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: (only . t)

Recent input:
<return> <help-echo> <wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <help-echo> 
<wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <help-echo> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> 
<help-echo> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> ⌘W <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> ⌘W <ns-application-activated> ⌘W N <menu-bar> 
<options> <save> <ns-application-activated> <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> ⌘W ⌘A ⌘C <help-echo> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> 
<wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> 
<wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> 
<wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> 
<wheel-left> <wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> 
<wheel-up> <wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> 
<wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <switch-frame> <ns-application-activated> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> ⌘T ( L O A D SPC " T R A M 
P " SPC N I L ) ^X ^E <help-echo> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-movement> 
<mouse-movement> <mouse-movement> <mouse-movement> 
<mouse-movement> <drag-mouse-1> <menu-bar> <help-menu> 
<bug-diagnosis> <debug-on-quit> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> 
^X ^E <help-echo> <down-mouse-1> <drag-mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> <switch-frame> <wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <wheel-down> 
<double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<help-echo> <ns-application-activated> <switch-frame> 
^H V T R A M P - <tab> C O N N <tab> H I <tab> <backspace> 
<backspace> <tab> <M-backspace> <tab> <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> ⌘F F I L E ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G <wheel-down> 
<double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G ⌘G <wheel-down> 
<double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <help-echo> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <S-down-mouse-1> <S-mouse-1> 
⌘C <help-echo> <ns-application-activated> <switch-frame> 
<menu-bar> <help-menu> <bug-diagnosis> <send-emacs
-bug-report>

Recent messages:
Loading /Users/dr/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/tramp...
eval-buffer: Invalid function: (["scpc" "dr" "braeburn.aquamacs.org" nil] ("uname" "Darwin 9.8.0") ("test" "test") ("remote-path" ("/usr/bin" "/bin" "/usr/sbin" "/sbin" "/usr/local/bin")) ("remote-shell" "/bin/sh") ("~" "/Users/dr") ("readlink" nil) ("perl-file-spec" t) ("perl-cwd-realpath" t) ("perl" "\\perl") ...)
Mark set
Auto-saving...
Debug on Quit enabled globally
Loading /Users/dr/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/tramp...
eval-buffer: Invalid function: (["scpc" "dr" "braeburn.aquamacs.org" nil] ("uname" "Darwin 9.8.0") ("test" "test") ("remote-path" ("/usr/bin" "/bin" "/usr/sbin" "/sbin" "/usr/local/bin")) ("remote-shell" "/bin/sh") ("~" "/Users/dr") ("readlink" nil) ("perl-file-spec" t) ("perl-cwd-realpath" t) ("perl" "\\perl") ...)
user-error: Minibuffer window is not active
Making completion list... [3 times]
Type "q" to quit the help frame.

Load-path shadows:
/Users/dr/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/JDEE/site-start hides /Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/Imaxima Plugin/site-start
/Users/dr/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/JDEE/site-start hides /Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/SLIME/site-start
/Users/dr/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/calc hides /Users/dr/ae24.git/nextstep/Aquamacs.app/Contents/Resources/lisp/calc/calc
/Users/dr/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/JDEE/site-start hides /Users/dr/ae24.git/nextstep/Aquamacs.app/Contents/Resources/lisp/aquamacs/site-start

Features:
(shadow sort mail-extr emacsbug battery time flyspell ispell hl-line
linum dired tramp-cache tramp-sh tramp tramp-compat auth-source
gnus-util password-cache tramp-loaddefs trampver debug log-edit message
format-spec rfc822 mml mml-sec mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode mail-parse
rfc2231 mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader matlab tempo log-view pcvs-util
vc vc-dispatcher edebug jka-compr eieio-opt speedbar sb-image ezimage
dframe find-func cc-langs cc-mode cc-fonts cc-guess cc-menus cc-cmds
cc-styles cc-align cc-engine cc-vars cc-defs preview prv-emacs
reftex-dcr reftex-auc reftex reftex-vars bib-cite tex-fold dbus xml
tex-bar tex-buf toolbar-x font-latex latex tex-style tex latexenc shell
pcomplete misearch multi-isearch bug-reference add-log vc-git help-mode
eieio eieio-core package act-up desktop frameset ghostedit
ghostedit-stopwords-en which-func imenu slime-banner slime-asdf grep
slime-fancy slime-trace-dialog slime-fontifying-fu slime-package-fu
slime-references slime-compiler-notes-tree slime-scratch
slime-presentations bridge slime-fuzzy slime-fancy-trace
slime-fancy-inspector slime-c-p-c slime-editing-commands slime-autodoc
eldoc slime-repl elp slime-parse slime derived edmacro kmacro gud
compile apropos etags arc-mode archive-mode noutline outline pp comint
ansi-color ring hyperspec browse-url slime-autoloads imaxima-autoloads
load-emacs-plugins aquamacs-mode-defaults auctex-config server
preview-latex tex-site auto-loads aquamacs-aux savehist
one-buffer-one-frame byte-opt bytecomp byte-compile cconv
smart-frame-positioning drews_init color-theme-autoloads view saveplace
visual-line disp-table aquamacs-bug aquamacs-autoface-mode
aquamacs-editing sendmail rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums mm-util mail-prsvr
mail-utils recentf tree-widget cus-edit wid-edit osxkeys
emulate-mac-keyboard-mode frame-cmds strings misc-fns thingatpt+
thingatpt frame-fns avoid aquamacs-mac-fontsets fit-frame
aquamacs-frame-setup aquamacs-tabbar tabbar-window cl-macs cl gv
cl-loaddefs cl-lib cus-start cus-load tabbar easy-mmode
load-emacs-pre-plugins aquamacs-site-start cocoa-compatibility
matlab-load smart-dnd revive filladapt aquamacs-redo check-for-updates
aquamacs-menu aquamacs osx_defaults aquamacs-tool-bar time-date
mac-extra-functions aquamacs-tools aquamacs-macros advice parse-time
timezone paren delsel cua-base help-fns easymenu tooltip electric
uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel ns-win tool-bar dnd
fontset image regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list newcomment lisp-mode
prog-mode register page menu-bar rfn-eshadow timer select scroll-bar
mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax facemenu font-core frame cham georgian
utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean
japanese hebrew greek romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian
cyrillic chinese case-table epa-hook jka-cmpr-hook help simple abbrev
minibuffer nadvice loaddefs button faces cus-face macroexp files
text-properties overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule
custom widget hashtable-print-readable backquote make-network-process
dbusbind cocoa ns multi-tty emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 16 423327 55403)
(symbols 48 42157 0)
(miscs 40 885 908)
(strings 32 83928 8080)
(string-bytes 1 2578816)
(vectors 16 37372)
(vector-slots 8 1627074 77406)
(floats 8 881 364)
(intervals 56 2963 220)
(buffers 960 50))

Command line: (/Users/dr/ae24.git/nextstep/Aquamacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Aquamacs)

PATH: /opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/Users/dr/Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/platform-tools:/Users/dr/.carton/bin:/Users/dr/Applications/AllegroCL:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/Current/bin:/usr/local/mysql-5.1.48-osx10.6-x86_64/bin/:/opt/local/lib/postgresql82/bin:/usr/local/git/bin:/usr/local/bin:/Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources:/Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/bin:/Users/dr/Applications/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/opt/X11/bin:/usr/local/git/bin:/usr/texbin:/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneFOSS.platform/Developer/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/texbin:/usr/local/texlive/2014/bin:/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/Imaxima Plugin/Maxima.app/Contents/Resources/bin:/Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/Imaxima Plugin/Gnuplot.app/Contents/Resources/bin

exec-path: (/opt/local/bin /opt/local/sbin /Users/dr/Applications/AndroidSDK/sdk/platform-tools /Users/dr/.carton/bin /Users/dr/Applications/AllegroCL /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/Current/bin /usr/local/mysql-5.1.48-osx10.6-x86_64/bin/ /opt/local/lib/postgresql82/bin /usr/local/git/bin /usr/local/bin /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/bin /Users/dr/Applications/bin /usr/bin /bin /usr/sbin /sbin /usr/local/bin /opt/X11/bin /usr/local/git/bin /usr/texbin /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneFOSS.platform/Developer/bin /usr/bin /bin /usr/sbin /sbin /Users/dr/ae24.git/nextstep/Aquamacs.app/Contents/MacOS/libexec /Users/dr/ae24.git/nextstep/Aquamacs.app/Contents/MacOS/bin /usr/local/texlive/2014/bin /Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/Imaxima Plugin/Maxima.app/Contents/Resources/bin /Library/Application Support/Aquamacs Emacs/Imaxima Plugin/Gnuplot.app/Contents/Resources/bin)