24

I got this all the time after updating to 9.0 (OS 10.8.2):

"Internal self-test error" message

That's Clipboard|c|3015 for the benefit of anyone searching.

The error went away with 9.0.1, but a version has reappeared (multiple times at each launch) since updating my OS (to 10.9):

enter image description here

That's SpanBox|c|2178 for the benefit of anyone searching.

What does an "Internal self-test error" mean?

Community
  • 1
orome
  • 12,819
  • 3
  • 52
  • 100
  • 5
    I've reinstalled multiple times, rebooted, etc.. I've also contacted Wolfram, both through the reporting mechanism in the "click here" link, and directly through "Premium" support. – orome Dec 04 '12 at 17:17
  • 2
    This isn't specific to version 9. I get them sometimes on version 8. I assume it's a trapped bug or failed assertion, from which Mathematica is able to (gracefully or not) recover, unlike the crashes and freezes, from which it can't. – cormullion Dec 04 '12 at 18:11
  • 2
    I have also been getting these things all the time, doing all sorts of random things. Especially when browsing the Documentation Center. – Eli Lansey Dec 04 '12 at 18:12
  • @cormullion: I get this in all kinds of circumstances. Even things like just typing Cmd+Shift+F. – orome Dec 04 '12 at 18:14
  • @EliLansey: Yes, Documentation Center seems to be a big offender. – orome Dec 04 '12 at 18:15
  • There's been a discussion in chat about stability issues, too. – Eli Lansey Dec 04 '12 at 18:21
  • 1
    FWIW, I have gotten Kernels|c|6568 – Eli Lansey Dec 04 '12 at 18:50
  • What is the text of the message output to Console.app? – ragfield Dec 04 '12 at 19:47
  • @EliLansey: I also get occasional "Kernels|c|6568". – orome Dec 08 '12 at 17:51
  • @ragfield: Do you mean Mathematica has detected a possible internal error. If possible, please report the error to support@wolfram.com, quoting "Assertion 'badPasteboardSyncErr' failed at Clipboard.c:3015", and describe in as much detail as possible what you were doing when the error occurred. – orome Dec 08 '12 at 17:52
  • @raxacoricofallapatorius Yes, that's what I meant. It provides slightly more information than what is displayed on screen. – ragfield Dec 09 '12 at 09:25
  • I have gotten similar errors when using the Documentation Center. I have noticed sluggish performance in the Documentation Center in Mathematica 8 and 9. I'm running Windows 7 64-bit. – Todd Allen Jan 08 '13 at 15:36
  • I also see the Kernels.c:6568 error on linux. It's showing up when I make charts. At the moment, it seems to happen when I use DistributionCharts and try to get logarithmic scaling of the data. No idea why... I never got this error with mathematica 8, but it's happening all the time with mathematica 9. – garrett mitchener Jan 25 '13 at 21:53
  • This appears to be fixed in 9.0.1. – orome Jan 31 '13 at 21:03
  • This issue reappears with the OS X update to 10.9. – orome Oct 30 '13 at 19:05
  • I apologize if my comments inre the problems that I have been experiencing all semester with Mathematica appear to not be on point but I have lost more homework and documents on this application than in my entire life of using computers combined. Errors most recently experienced: InternalSelfTestErrorMathEditCells[sic]2089 InternalSelftestErrorBoxDataBox|c|2024 Can someone comment on this? My university "naturally" uses Beta versions but this is the pits. I've used Mathematica before and have never experienced these kinds of problems. This app is installed on a dual boot system at Rutgers and –  May 03 '16 at 17:34

3 Answers3

6

I think the comment of @cormullion is on target. The developers put in such internal tests to check for conditions that theoretically should not happen. If you report them, supposedly they try to track them down and fix them. It helps if you can create a notebook that reproduces the error. You see a lot more of them in beta testing. This one in particular (Clipboard|c|3015) has been persistent. I've been unable to create conditions that reliably reproduce it. If no one else can, then it might be with us for a while. I still report it now and then (squeaky wheel). The message itself is funny: "find out if this problem is known...." I've never found out.

I doubt it's a third-party issue, unless the third party is the OS.

Michael E2
  • 235,386
  • 17
  • 334
  • 747
2

Given the specific error you cite (badPasteboardSyncErr) my initial thought would be that perhaps you have some sort of 3rd party clipboard management utility that isn't playing nicely with Mathematica.

ragfield
  • 1,365
  • 7
  • 11
  • 8
    That's what "support" said too. But I don't have any such utilities (that I know of) and in any case, it's a bit weird that Mathematica (my most expensive app) should be the only one that's so sensitive. – orome Dec 09 '12 at 15:32
1

I got the same error one day and after I restarted Mathematica, I became unable to open a notebook.

I tried this and the problem was fixed.

How do I fix common problems by resetting Mathematica to its default configuration?"

Hayashi Yoshiaki
  • 906
  • 4
  • 11