errantember

So I'm trying to help a customer figure out how to use a pointer transparently whether it's in p-memory or x-memory. First I try to declare all the variables locally, but the compiler won't let me declare any p-memory variables locally, because the stack, where locals are stored, is in x-memory. So I declare them globally instead. Then I assign each type of pointer to an integer stored in the same kind of memory, doing the address assignment with the declaration. The compiler eats this without complaint, but fails to actually place the correct address of *either* integer into the appropriate pointer.

At this point, I break for bacon.

After bacon, I try doing the address assignments inside main, and now the addresses are correct. So finally I go for the typecast, going through a void pointer. However, assigning the address of the int to the void pointer results in some crazy address that isn't where the int is located, so there's no point in even *trying* to make the p-memory pointer point toward the x-memory pointer since the intermediate void pointer isn't getting the correct address.

So *finally* I just decide to typecast the entire operation in one line, skipping the void pointer. I fear an error, but the compiler eats it!

Fabulous.

I run it, and when I get to the actual assignment statement, the debugger jumps to an "incorrect long-word alignment exception."

Time for bed.

...I might be just another ordinary mortal, I managed to use Knoppix, a CD-bootable version of Linux to load the NTFS partition on my Windows machine and correct the dates of large group of files that had accidentally been created with a date far in the future. These incorrect dates caused the software I use to do my job to completely stop working, wasting three days as I iterated through dozens of possible solutions before finally finding one that worked. Thanks to Chris for the suggestion to re-investigate Knoppix, which I previously didn't think as able to write to NTFS. Microsoft suppresses info on this file system to make it harder to migrate and inter-operate with anything non-Windows. Extra kudos to the Linux community for finding a way to get it done.

There's an object lesson here. We've got two computers and three operating systems.

I have Windows. What is it doing?
Nothing. It's fucking broken. I can't do my job.
Why is it broken? Because the cheap-ass HP clone I have can't remember what time it is.

I have Knoppix. What is it doing?
Fixing fucking Windows because Windows can't fucking fix itself.

I have MacOS X. What is it doing?
Keeping me sane by playing episodes of Dr. Who after having been dropped from waist height while running at least three times.

And laughing at fucking Windows.