#2927: gcc-version-dependent error: Range error setting parameter
Reporter: Jordan Nicoules Status: new Milestone: Version: Type: bug Priority: major Component: Cactus
For reference, thread on the mailing list: https://lists.einsteintoolkit.org/pipermail/users/2026-March/009901.html
# TLDR #
With certain versions of gcc, having a (real) parameter defined with a range only consisting of ``*`` causes a range error at the start of the simulation.
# Description #
With certain versions of gcc (13.3.0, 14.3.0), having a real parameter defined with a range only consisting of ``*`` causes a range error at the start of the simulation, right after thorn activation: ``` WARNING[L2,P0] (Cactus): ParameterSetReal: Unable to set real 'Coordinates::h_radial_1' = '0.40000000000000002' not in any active range WARNING[L1,P0] (Cactus): Major error in parameter file '/home/jnicoules/Work/ET_test/Simus/parfiles/Gallery/Kerr-Schild_Multipole_stretch.par' line 46: Range error setting parameter 'Coordinates::h_radial_1' to '0.40000000000000002' WARNING level 0 from host cnx001.deucalion.macc.fccn.pt process 0 in thorn Cactus, file /projects/F202407872CPCAA2/jnicoules/ET_test/Cactus/configs/ET_test__x86__GCC-13.3.0/build/Cactus/main/ProcessParameterDatabase.c:201: -> CCTKi_SetParameterSetMask: 1 major error in parameter file ```
The issue was encountered with a specific parameter, ``Coordinates::h_radial_1``, from the ``llama`` repo. I didn't experiment with other parameters from different thorns.
Most of the experimentation was performed on x86 nodes of the Deucalion cluster (https://docs.macc.fccn.pt/deucalion/). Three different versions of gcc and available related modules were tested: 12.3.0, 13.3.0, 14.3.0.
# Minimal (non)working example #
The issue can be seen with the attached parameter file, based on the Multipatch wave equation Gallery example, tweaked to include parameter ``Coordinates::h_radial_1``. The used ET version for the MWE is 2025-05 and the thornlist is a shaved off version of the one on the ET website (https://bitbucket.org/einsteintoolkit/manifest/raw/ET_2025_05/einsteintoolki...), to ease configuration and compilation. The outputs are attached, for each of the three versions mentioned above. Additionally, it contains the output for a configuration using GCC-13.3.0, but changing, in ``Cactus/repos/llama/Coordinates/param.ccl``,
``` real h_radial_1 "Intended radial resolution of the first stretched domain" { * :: "negative turns off stretching" } -1 ``` by ``` real h_radial_1 "Intended radial resolution of the first stretched domain" { *:* :: "negative turns off stretching" } -1 ``` which is enough to have the simulation work properly.
# Other notes #
As mentioned in https://lists.einsteintoolkit.org/pipermail/users/2026-March/009901.html, gcc 15 might work just well.
Testing on my other setups (workstation and other clusters), where I have various older versions of gcc, the issue did not occur. I'm not attaching the respective files here, as the MWE shows both working and non-working situations.
# Attachments # ``` range_error_MWE/ |__ einstein_toolkit.th # Thornlist |__ Kerr-Schild_Multipole_stretch.par # Parameter file |__ Kerr-Schild_Multipole_stretch/ # Contains the output for the various cases, without .h5 files for size reasons |__ README |__ output-*/ |__ GCC-*/ # contains compilation information in each case |__ *.cfg # option file |__ config_*.log # output of make config |__ make_*.log # output of make |__ make.config.defn # file found in Cactus/configs/*/config-data ``` attachment: range_error_MWE.zip (https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/einsteintoolkit/tickets/issues/29...)
-- Ticket URL: https://bitbucket.org/einsteintoolkit/tickets/issues/2927/gcc-version-depend...