[SciPy-dev] sse related crash in numpy-1.2.1 and scipy-0.7.0b1

[Pieter Cristiaan de Groot]

Hello all,

In addition to this post: 
http://www.nabble.com/Re:-scipy-on-old-CPU-crashes-td20787430.html

I would like to report that numpy-1.2.1 and scipy-0.7.0b1 crash on there 
corresponding .test() scripts.
It is a windows XP machine with an Athlon XP 2200 processor (does have 
SSE, doesn't have SSE2), using python 2.5.4.

I found out the hard way that at least "leastsq" from "scipy.optimize" 
crashes. The windows crashreport points towards "_minpack.dll" if I 
remember correctly.
Digging into the problem, it turned out that both numpy and scipy crash 
on there .test() scripts. Going back to numpy 1.2.0 and scipy-0.6.0-P3 
solved the problem. I think it is a reasonable guess (but not more then 
that) that is related to SSE(2) instrucions ( see link above ).

Unfortunately I didn't store any output of the test scripts, and since 
it is a critical machine I cannot experiment to much anymore with 
different versions. Still I hope that this report may help.

Pieter

p.s. I'm a relatively new user and was confused by the 'superpack' name 
in the download section. After getting familiar with the problems 
described above I think I understand what it means now. Would it be a 
good idea to put a small explanation what 'superpack' means on the 
website (just before, or in the downoad section)?