Author: Robert Lohr

Software Developer, Technology Enthusiast, Sports Enthusiast, Metalhead

Grails Startup Error: ASSERTION FAILED at JPLISAgent.c

Robert LohrLeave a comment

Grails always has something new to offer, not only features but also random bugs (unfortunately). Out of the blue I couldn’t even let Grails show its own version (grails –version) let alone perform any other action. This is all I got for each and every command I tried to execute.

*** java.lang.instrument ASSERTION FAILED ***: "!errorOutstanding" with 
message transform method call failed at 
../../../src/share/instrument/JPLISAgent.c line: 844 
Exception: java.lang.StackOverflowError thrown from the 
UncaughtExceptionHandler in thread "main"

The following runtimes were used:

  • Windows 7 64bit
  • Java 7 Update 71 64bit
  • Grails 2.4.4

Of course I removed all temporary files and folders, the “target” folder of the project and the “.grails”, “.groovy”, “.m2” and “.ivy” folders in the user directory. Nothing helped. Some say it has to do with forking processes, but playing with those settings didn’t change a thing. After all, the error happens way earlier.

Then I came across a post that mentioned to create the “.inputrc” file (on a Linux system) because through debugging it was found that Grails tries to access this files. Well, I’m not using Linux, but since I was already in the “helplessly desperate” phase I wanted to give it a shot. Surprisingly, this file already existed.

Solution: I deleted “.inputrc” from the user folder et voilà, Grails worked again.

ASRock P67 Pro3 BIOS Error Code 97

Robert Lohr1 Comment

Recently I wanted to install a Gigabyte Radeon HD7870 in an older PC with an ASRock P67 Pro3 Mainboard. The surprise was big when the monitor didn’t show an image and the computer didn’t boot. Instead, the mainboard’s debug panel showed the error code 97. According to the manual this means “Console Output devices connect”. Not connectED but more likely in the process of initializing the graphics card and failing while doing that.

There’s an easy fix for that. Installing the latest BIOS version (3.30, installed at the time was 2.02) resolved the issue and the computer booted without problems.

Grails Upgrade 2.3 to 2.4: Validation Errors

Robert LohrLeave a comment

Recently I have updated our Grails 2.3 based web application to Grails 2.4. Although the 2.3 release was working fine, one doesn’t want to fall too far behind. I know out of experience that this can happen very fast. If you wait too long, then at some point the migration to a newer version is almost like starting from scratch, instead of just updating a few lines of code to accommodate for deprecated APIs. The biggest problem I encountered going to version 2.4 was a behavioral change regarding the validation.
Read More »

Samsung R50 WVM 1730 Disassembled

Robert LohrLeave a comment

In my second year as a trainee (nine long years ago) I bought myself a Samsung R50 notebook to replace my aging desktop PC and also take it with me to school (and play games on it – at home of course). At the time this computer was very efficient from a mobile perspective and also well suited to play serious games. Of course, at some point several years later its age became apparent and this year on April 8 the installed operating system, Windows XP, finally became officially obsolete. Since then the computer was sitting at my mother’s house, waiting for… well… a resurrection!Read More »

Performance Iterating Directories Revisited

Robert LohrLeave a comment

I have written about the performance of iterating directories before, in the context of Java and its switch from version 6 to 7 that brought with it the new Java NIO API. For whatever reason I felt the urge to do something similar again, but this time I wanted to compare two different approaches to recursively scanning a directory’s contents:

To make things more interesting, I implemented this in C++ using the Windows API and the Qt framework, in C# in combination with its buddy the .NET framework and, for good measure, I also threw in the old Java code from over a year ago.

Update (26.12.2014): I added additional data at the bottom of the article.
Read More »

WorkTracker v1.2.2 Released

Robert LohrLeave a comment

It has been around three months since the last release, June 22nd to be exact. Since then I have made some small changes along the way, but didn’t publish them because they haven’t been in the shape that I wanted them to be for a release, but still good and helpful enough for me to use them on a daily basis. The biggest new feature is an editor. Second comes the translation and around them gather a few improvements regarding usability.

Visit the GitHub page to download the latest version.Read More »

Windows Phone: 3 Months Later

Robert LohrLeave a comment

What started out as a reasonable decision at the beginning of 2014 now reached its climax with the Surface Pro 3: switching away from Apple, in every regard, and move to the Microsoft platform. First the PC, then the phone and lastly the tablet. Since having a Windows based PC is nothing unusual (although I might be one of the few that actually came to like Windows 8 – just as I was one of the few that liked Vista over XP; what does that say about me?) and the Surface is still too new to write about it in any meaningful way, that only leaves us with the phone.
Read More »

C# LINQ Performance vs. Iteration

Robert LohrLeave a comment

It’s been a while since I have written something related to programming. Time to remedy that.

Just recently my interest for the C# language rose again and to get back up to speed with the fundamentals I swallowed all videos of an absolute beginners guide on Microsoft Virtual Academy. Something that has been touched briefly was LINQ and my initial thought was: how’s the performance of that compared to how I would usually write it in C++ – where my expertise is?

Mind you, I’m not comparing C# vs C++, but merely LINQ vs. old-school iteration. Let’s go and find out.
Read More »

The Most Powerful First Song of an Album (Pt. 2)

Robert Lohr1 Comment

In the first „The Most Powerful First Song of an Album“ I stopped after five tracks, just because I had already written a lot of words. But it also made sense from the perspective of how many items I actually have on my list. If it all works out (read: this post will be quite long as well) then there will be another post with the last five tracks.

So, let’s continue with the next five songs, shall we?Read More »

The Most Powerful First Song of an Album (Pt. 1)

Robert Lohr2 Comments

It’s about time to get back to some music. This time though, I’m not writing a review of an album but I rather picked the first song of several albums I own, based on the premise that it is one hell of an opener to the record.

I developed the idea over quite a long time span, initiated by a few songs that are on the list and a few that are not, simply because they’re not the first track of the album. There are some songs that are so stunning that you can’t stop hitting replay once they’re over. They are just mind-blowing, either by very intelligent arrangements, melodies and outstanding individual performances or very simple, primal brute force. This is about those kind of songs.
Read More »

Camera Shootout: Nokia Lumia 925 vs iPhone 4s vs. Galaxy S2 (Switch From iOS Pt. 3)

Robert Lohr1 Comment

Apart from being a phone, the second most important feature of a smartphone for me is the camera. As I have written previously, the most time I had spent on researching available phones went into reading camera reviews. Since I was committed to about 80% to the Nokia Lumia 925 I was most interested on how this phone compared to my then current iPhone 4S. Unfortunately there haven’t been any reviews comparing those two devices. Most of them used the iPhone 5 or 5s as an opponent, which already had a better camera than my highly praised 4s.

Until now!
Read More »