Subject: bug#35858: Null pointer error when partitioning with the graphical installer

From: Vivien Kraus <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 May 2019 20:53:05 +0200

Hello,

Thank you for all the work you've put in the Guixsd release.  I have
used guix on top of a Debian distribution for some time, but with the
release I wanted to try and install it on its own.

I'm trying to install guix on my system.  I have the 1.0.1 patch, but I
had the same problem with 1.0.0.

I already have a debian system with an encrypted drive, and I would like
to erase it with an encrypted Guix system with a separate /home partition.

I have chosen my language (français).

My location (France).

I have chosen the graphical installer.

I have chosen my timezone (Europe / Paris).

I have chosen my keyboard (Français / Français (sans touche morte Sun):
this one seems to be correct but I don't have much information.  It
would be awesome if I could test it in a text box).

I have chosen the guided installation with encryption.

I have chosen my hard drive, the only option:
ATA WDC WD15EARS-60M (scsi) /dev/sda 1500 GB gpt

I have chosen the option to have a separate /home.

And then I get the exception.  I copy it from another keyboard, but I
hope that I copied it correctly.

In ice-9/boot-9.scm:
    829:9 19 (catch srfi-34 #<procedure 22744c0 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 ()> #<procedure 2214550 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 (key c)> _)
    829:9 18 (catch srfi-34 #<procedure 22742c0 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 ()> #<procedure 2214500 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 (key c)> _)
    829:9 17 (catch srfi-34 #<procedure 22740c0 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 ()> #<procedure 22144b0 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 (key c)> _)
    829:9 16 (catch srfi-34 #<procedure 23a3280 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 ()> #<procedure c19fa0 at
./gnu/installer/steps.scm:144:7 (key c)> _)
In ./gnu/installer/steps.scm:
    182:21 15 (_)
In ./gnu/installer/newt/partition.scm:
    755:33 14 (run-partitioning-page)
In ./gnu/installer/parted.scm:
    1010:14 13 (auto-partition! #<<disk> bytestructure:
#<bytestructure 0xbddb10>> #:scheme _)
    870:21 12 (loop _ _ _)
    863:17 11 (loop _ 1962582833 967694336)
    771:25 10 (mkpart #<<disk> bytestructure: #<bytestructure
0xbddb10>> _ #:previous-partition _)
In parted/structs.scm:
    552:19 9 (pointer->partition _)
     132:3 8 (pointer->bytestructure #<pointer 0x0>
#<bytestructure-descriptor 0x251d600>)
In unknown file:
           7 (pointer->bytevector #<pointer 0x0> 88 #<undefined>
#<undefined>)
In ice-9/boot-9.scm:
   751:25  6 (dispatch-exception 5 null-pointer-error
("pointer->bytevector" "null pointer dereference" () ()))
In ice-9/eval.scm:
    619:8  5 (_ #(#(#<directory (guile-user) 68f140>
#<<installer> name: newt init: #<procedure init()> exit:
#<procedure exit ()> exit-error: #<procedure exit-error (file
key args)> final-p...>) ...))
    619:8  4 (_ #(#(#(#<directory (guile-user) 68f140>
#<<installer> name: newt init: #<procedure init ()> exit:
#<procedure exit ()> exit-error: #<procedure exit-error (file
key args)> fi...>) ...) #))
In ice-9/ports.scm:
   462:17  3 (call-with-output-file _ _ #:binary _ #:encoding _)
In ice-9/eval.scm:
    619:8  2 (_ #(#(#<directory (guile-user) 68f140>
null-pointer-error ("pointer->bytevector" "null pointer
dereference" () ())) #<output: /tmp/last-installer-error 12>))
    159:9  1 (_ #(#(#<directory (guile-user) 68f140>
null-pointer-error ("pointer->bytevector" "null pointer
dereference" () ())) #<output: /tmp/last-installer-error 12>))
In unknown file:
           0 (make-stack #t)
ice-9/eval.scm:159:9: In procedure pointer->bytevector: null
pointer dereference

If you need more information, please tell me.  I can retry the
installation to help debugging that, but I need simple instructions :)

Best regards,

Vivien