INTERNAL PSYCHTOOLBOX ERRORs when running PTB OSX Demos

1
I am having some difficulty implementing any code using PTB and
matlab; while trying to
run scripts matlab returns error messages instead of the predicted
results. Even more
fustrating is the fact that the error messages all differ from one
script to the next. Here are the error messages I am getting:

1. While running 'MovieDemoOSX'
INTERNAL PSYCHTOOLBOX ERROR
error: PsychError_internal
general description: Unspecified error, probably a Psychtoolbox bug
specific description: Unrecognized screen depth value
module name: Screen
subfunction call: DrawText
file name: ../../../Source/Common/Screen/ScreenTypes.c
function name: PsychGetWhiteValueFromDepthStruct
line number: 151
??? (null)

2. While running 'DrawSomeTextOSX'
INTERNAL PSYCHTOOLBOX ERROR
error: PsychError_internal
general description: Unspecified error, probably a Psychtoolbox bug
specific description: Error attempting to coerce color specifier
module name: Screen
subfunction call: FillRect
file name: ../../../Source/Common/Screen/ScreenTypes.c
function name: PsychCoerceColorModeFromSizes
line number: 304

3. When Trying my own script:

-----------------------------------------------

Segmentation violation detected at Wed Sep 21 15:19:10 2005

-----------------------------------------------


Configuration:
MATLAB Version: 6.5.2.203039 (R13) Service Pack 2
Operating System: Darwin 7.9.0 Darwin Kernel Version 7.9.0: Wed
Mar 30 20:11:17 PST
2005; root:xnu/xnu-517.12.7.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC Power Macintosh
Window System: The XFree86 Project, Inc (40300000),
display:0.0
Current Visual: 0x22 (class 4, depth 15)
Virtual Machine: Java 1.3.1_16 with "Apple Computer, Inc." Java
HotSpot(TM) Client VM
(mixed mode)

Segmentation violation occurred within signal handler.
Unable to complete stack trace (stack was probably corrupted)

This error was detected while a MEX-file was running. If the
MEX-file
is not an official MathWorks function, please examine its source
code
for errors. Please consult the External Interfaces Guide for
information
on debugging MEX-files.

If it is an official MathWorks function, please
follow these steps in reporting this problem to The MathWorks so
that we have the best chance of correcting it:

1. Send this crash report to segv@... for automated
analysis.
For your convenience, this information has been recorded in:
/Users/psychophysics/matlab_crash_dump.415

2. Also, if the problem is reproducible, send the crash report to
support@... along with:
- A specific list of steps that will reproduce the problem
- Any M, MEX, MDL or other files required to reproduce the
problem
- Any error messages displayed prior to this crash report
A technical support engineer will contact you with further
information.

Thank you for your assistance. Please save your workspace and
restart
MATLAB before continuing your work.

??? (null)

Even worse, running this script results in a Matlab Crashing and
prompting me to restart
before continuing to work in Matlab. Here is the script I am using:

try
whichScreen = 0;
nCols = 320;
nRows = 240;

white=WhiteIndex(whichScreen);
black=BlackIndex(whichScreen);
gray=(white+black)/2;
if round(gray)==white
gray=black;
end

image1 = (rand(nRows,nCols));

tex = Screen('MakeTexture',whichScreen,image1*gray);

window = Screen('OpenWindow',whichScreen,0,[],32,2);

Screen('FillRect',window,gray);
Screen('Flip',window);
Screen('FillRect',window,gray);

Screen('CloseAll')

catch
Screen('CloseAll')
rethrow(lasterror)
end

If I take out the call to Screen to 'MakeTexture' then the script no
longer crashes.

4. DriftDemoOSX runs successfully without any complaint from matlab,
despite the fact that it calls the same functions as the above
scripts.

I am currently running PsychToolbox v1.0.1 wiht Matlab 6.5.2 on a
Dual 1.25 GHz G4 running OSX v10.3.9. If anyone has any insight into
what is
preventing me from running scripts successfully, I would much
appreciate the help.

Thanks for your time,
Seth Egger
2
Hi,

please, always use the latest available release
of the Psychtoolbox, especially if you experience
trouble/bugs. Lots of bug-fixes and improvements are
made in each new release, so your specific bug may be
fixed already, and PTB 1.0.1 is over a year old!

I would recommend you to download the 1.0.5 from the
website and then downloading the update from:

<http://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/bu/people/kleinerm/ptbosx/>

Replace the Screen.mexmac of PTB 1.0.5 with the Screen.mexmac
in the update and retry.

Possible reasons for your crashes may be:

1. Using an ATI Rage Pro gfx-card -> unsupported.
2. Running at a color depths other than "Millions of colors",
which can cause malfunctions but is not detected by older
PTB releases.

A few comments to your script:

The safest way is to first open an onscreen window:

w=Screen('OpenWindow', .....)

and then using the window handle 'w' for successive commands
like Screen('MakeTexture', ...).

Upcoming releases of PTB will require you to do it this way
in exchange for a much faster, much more capable DrawTexture
function :-)


-mario


--- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "sethegger1313" <sethegger@s...>
wrote:
> I am having some difficulty implementing any code using PTB and
> matlab; while trying to
> run scripts matlab returns error messages instead of the predicted
> results. Even more
> fustrating is the fact that the error messages all differ from one
> script to the next. Here are the error messages I am getting:
>
> 1. While running 'MovieDemoOSX'
> INTERNAL PSYCHTOOLBOX ERROR
> error: PsychError_internal
> general description: Unspecified error, probably a Psychtoolbox
bug
> specific description: Unrecognized screen depth value
> module name: Screen
> subfunction call: DrawText
> file name: ../../../Source/Common/Screen/ScreenTypes.c
> function name: PsychGetWhiteValueFromDepthStruct
> line number: 151
> ??? (null)
>
> 2. While running 'DrawSomeTextOSX'
> INTERNAL PSYCHTOOLBOX ERROR
> error: PsychError_internal
> general description: Unspecified error, probably a Psychtoolbox
bug
> specific description: Error attempting to coerce color specifier
> module name: Screen
> subfunction call: FillRect
> file name: ../../../Source/Common/Screen/ScreenTypes.c
> function name: PsychCoerceColorModeFromSizes
> line number: 304
>
> 3. When Trying my own script:
>
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> Segmentation violation detected at Wed Sep 21 15:19:10 2005
>
> -----------------------------------------------
>
>
> Configuration:
> MATLAB Version: 6.5.2.203039 (R13) Service Pack 2
> Operating System: Darwin 7.9.0 Darwin Kernel Version 7.9.0:
Wed
> Mar 30 20:11:17 PST
> 2005; root:xnu/xnu-517.12.7.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC Power Macintosh
> Window System: The XFree86 Project, Inc (40300000),
> display:0.0
> Current Visual: 0x22 (class 4, depth 15)
> Virtual Machine: Java 1.3.1_16 with "Apple Computer, Inc."
Java
> HotSpot(TM) Client VM
> (mixed mode)
>
> Segmentation violation occurred within signal handler.
> Unable to complete stack trace (stack was probably corrupted)
>
> This error was detected while a MEX-file was running. If the
> MEX-file
> is not an official MathWorks function, please examine its source
> code
> for errors. Please consult the External Interfaces Guide for
> information
> on debugging MEX-files.
>
> If it is an official MathWorks function, please
> follow these steps in reporting this problem to The MathWorks so
> that we have the best chance of correcting it:
>
> 1. Send this crash report to segv@m... for automated
> analysis.
> For your convenience, this information has been recorded in:
> /Users/psychophysics/matlab_crash_dump.415
>
> 2. Also, if the problem is reproducible, send the crash report
to
> support@m... along with:
> - A specific list of steps that will reproduce the problem
> - Any M, MEX, MDL or other files required to reproduce the
> problem
> - Any error messages displayed prior to this crash report
> A technical support engineer will contact you with further
> information.
>
> Thank you for your assistance. Please save your workspace and
> restart
> MATLAB before continuing your work.
>
> ??? (null)
>
> Even worse, running this script results in a Matlab Crashing and
> prompting me to restart
> before continuing to work in Matlab. Here is the script I am using:
>
> try
> whichScreen = 0;
> nCols = 320;
> nRows = 240;
>
> white=WhiteIndex(whichScreen);
> black=BlackIndex(whichScreen);
> gray=(white+black)/2;
> if round(gray)==white
> gray=black;
> end
>
> image1 = (rand(nRows,nCols));
>
> tex = Screen('MakeTexture',whichScreen,image1*gray);
>
> window = Screen('OpenWindow',whichScreen,0,[],32,2);
>
> Screen('FillRect',window,gray);
> Screen('Flip',window);
> Screen('FillRect',window,gray);
>
> Screen('CloseAll')
>
> catch
> Screen('CloseAll')
> rethrow(lasterror)
> end
>
> If I take out the call to Screen to 'MakeTexture' then the script no
> longer crashes.
>
> 4. DriftDemoOSX runs successfully without any complaint from matlab,
> despite the fact that it calls the same functions as the above
> scripts.
>
> I am currently running PsychToolbox v1.0.1 wiht Matlab 6.5.2 on a
> Dual 1.25 GHz G4 running OSX v10.3.9. If anyone has any insight
into
> what is
> preventing me from running scripts successfully, I would much
> appreciate the help.
>
> Thanks for your time,
> Seth Egger