Subject: Re: bug#52908: 'tests/guix-system.sh' fails on aarch64-linux

From: Chris Marusich <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2022 23:28:40 -0800

Hi Pierre and Aiko,

Pierre Langlois <[email-masked]> writes:

> I believe we'll have to update the package as well. For example on
> aarch64 I can do a `guix pull' just fine, however `guix system reconfigure'
> fails because it builds the full guix package, including running the
> tests.
>
> You've mentioned that `guix pull' was not working for you on ppc64
> though right? I wonder why, is this a difference between using Guix as
> the OS as opposed to a package manager on top of another OS?

Aiko Kyle <[email-masked]> writes:

> I actually encountered this issue not doing a "guix pull" but in doing
> a "guix system reconfigure" after a guix pull. I don't really
> understand why, but I think guix system reconfigure will continue to
> fail until the "guix" package is updated. I may be totally incorrect
> here though as I'm still new to this.

You're right.  I was confused.

I incorrectly thought that Leo and Aiko were saying that they couldn't
run "guix pull".  However, Leo's original message (on Thu, 30 Dec 2021)
explained that the problem occurred for him while building the "guix"
package, not while running "guix pull".  In fact, I've just confirmed
that "guix pull" DOES work for me on powerpc64le-linux using commit
b9c5dff57ff961a16c8fc24843a4535ea817e732.  I ran this command:

  guix pull --cores=14 --commit=b9c5dff57ff961a16c8fc24843a4535ea817e732 --profile=/tmp/test-pull-b9c5dff57

I'm not sure why I was confused, but I apologize.  The "guix pull"
command actually works fine on powerpc64le-linux.  However, the "guix"
package fails to build, exactly as described in this bug report.

So, I agree: in addition to the patch, we do also need to update the
guix package.  To that end, when I commit the patch to the master branch
in about 24 hours, I will also add two commits to update the "guix"
package twice, since the comment in the "guix" package (added in commit
c0a693dfec3e0c3361dab40f354966730dde4ef3) explains that it must be
updated twice:

  ;; If you are updating this package because it fails to build, you need to
  ;; actually update it *twice*, as the installer is pointing to the N-1 guix
  ;; package revision.

I'll let you know once I've done that.

-- 
Chris

PGP: https://savannah.gnu.org/people/viewgpg.php?user_id=106836