RE: Request for Help with EPICS Asyn Build Issues

[Mark Rivers via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>]

Hi Jonathon,

• Initially, after compiling Asyn and running the IOC (st.cmd), many Asyn-related commands (asynReport, asynOctetWriteRead, etc.) were missing.

What IOC are you referring to?  One that is included in asyn, or a separate IOC you are building outside of asyn?  If the problem is an IOC outside of asyn, have you verified that the test IOCs inside of asyn build OK?

 

Please do the following at the top-level of asyn and send the complete output.

 

make -s clean

make -sj

 

You said the following:

• I am encountering persistent build issues while compiling Asyn (asyn-R4-43) with EPICS Base 7.0.9 on Ubuntu 22.04 (Linux x86_64). Despite multiple attempts to resolve the issues, the build process fails with the following error:
• Initially, after compiling Asyn and running the IOC (st.cmd), many Asyn-related commands (asynReport, asynOctetWriteRead, etc.) were missing.

Those 2 statements seem contradictory, since first you said you could not build asyn, and then you said that after building asyn you got run-time errors when running the IOC.

 

I have not tested base 7.0.9, but I have successfully built asyn on 7.0.8 and I think it is unlikely that base 7.0.9 is causing the problem.

 

Mark

 

 

From: Tech-talk <tech-talk-bounces at aps.anl.gov> On Behalf Of Jonathan Hai via Tech-talk
Sent: Thursday, March 6, 2025 11:52 AM
To: tech-talk at aps.anl.gov
Cc: Aye Chan Moe <moea at mcmaster.ca>
Subject: Request for Help with EPICS Asyn Build Issues

 

Dear EPICS Tech-Talk,

I am encountering persistent build issues while compiling Asyn (asyn-R4-43) with EPICS Base 7.0.9 on Ubuntu 22.04 (Linux x86_64). Despite multiple attempts to resolve the issues, the build process fails with the following error:

No rule to make target '../%', needed by 'asynRecord.dbd'.

I would appreciate any guidance on how to fix this issue. Below is a summary of what I have tried so far.

---

Initial Build Attempt (Missing Asyn Support)

Problem:

• Initially, after compiling Asyn and running the IOC (st.cmd), many Asyn-related commands (asynReport, asynOctetWriteRead, etc.) were missing.
• The error messages included:

·         ERROR: Command asyn_registerRecordDeviceDriver not found.

·         ERROR: Can't open include file "asynRecord.dbd".

·         ERROR: Can't open include file "devEpics.dbd".

Fixes Tried:

• Verified Asyn libraries (libasyn.so) and DBD files (asynRecord.dbd, devEpics.dbd) exist.
• Modified testApp/src/Makefile to include:

·         DBD += asyn.dbd

·         DBD += asynRecord.dbd

·         DBD += devEpics.dbd

• Ensured st.cmd includes:

·         dbLoadDatabase("../../dbd/asyn.dbd")

·         dbLoadDatabase("../../dbd/asynRecord.dbd")

·         dbLoadDatabase("../../dbd/devEpics.dbd")

·         asyn_registerRecordDeviceDriver(pdbbase)

• Rebuilt Asyn using:

·         make clean

·         make

Result:

• The missing commands were still not found.
• asynRecord.dbd and devEpics.dbd were still missing or not properly recognized.

---

Missing asynRecord.dbd and devEpics.dbd

Problem:

• Despite confirming that asynRecord.dbd exists (ls -l ~/epics-base/support/asyn/asyn-R4-43/dbd/), the build system could not find it.
• make install failed with:

·         No rule to make target '../%', needed by 'asynRecord.dbd'.

Fixes Tried:

• Verified INSTALL_DBD in configure/CONFIG:

·         INSTALL_DBD += asyn.dbd

·         INSTALL_DBD += asynRecord.dbd

·         INSTALL_DBD += devEpics.dbd

• Checked configure/CONFIG for INSTALL_LOCATION:

·         INSTALL_LOCATION = $(TOP)

• Ensured asyn.dbd includes:

·         include "asynRecord.dbd"

·         include "devEpics.dbd"

• Rebuilt Asyn and the IOC:

·         make distclean

·         make clean

·         make -B

Result:

• The same error persisted:

·         No rule to make target '../%', needed by 'asynRecord.dbd'.

---

Debugging Makefile Dependency Issues

Problem:

• The wildcard rule (%) in the Makefile might be broken or misconfigured.

Fixes Tried:

• Checked asyn/Makefile for incorrect % rules:

·         ../%: $(INSTALL_LOCATION)/%

• Commented it out to prevent the broken rule:

o    #../%: $(INSTALL_LOCATION)/%

• Rebuilt everything:

·         make clean

·         make install

Result:

• Still getting the same error.

---

Request for Help

Key Questions

1. Why is the build system trying to use ../% as a dependency for asynRecord.dbd?
2. Is there a known issue with Asyn (asyn-R4-43) and EPICS Base compatibility?
3. How can I properly ensure asynRecord.dbd is installed and recognized?
4. Are there specific EPICS build settings I should check to resolve this?

---

System & Build Environment

• EPICS Base: 7.0.9
• Asyn Version: asyn-R4-43
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04 (Linux x86_64)
• Compiler: gcc (Ubuntu 11.3.0-1ubuntu1~22.04)

I appreciate any insights or suggestions on how to resolve this issue.

Jonathan Hai

Researcher/Tech Monkey

CNBL | Department of Physics and Astronomy

McMaster University

Sapere Aude