Guru meditation

The Guru Meditation is an error message that can appear in some versions of the Amiga computer system. It was later used for fatal bugs in other software as well.

description

Every Guru meditation that has occurred contains the address at which the error occurred and a code number that allows a programmer to infer which error has occurred. In the first place of the code number there are two digits for the subsystem ID , whereby a subsystem can be the CPU , a library , a device , a resource or the like. The highest bit of the subsystem ID is set for an unrecoverable error, i.e. the first digit is increased by 8. This is followed by two digits of general error codes , which are used to indicate insufficient memory or a failed opening of a subsystem. The last four digits give subsystem-specific information about the type of error.

The Guru Meditation can be left with a mouse click : The left button leads to a restart of the computer, and the right button starts the debugger or ROMWack located in the ROM , which is connected to the serial interface (interface parameters : 9600, 8-N-1 ) connected terminal can be operated.

Concept history

The term goes back to the programmer of the Amiga - OS back. Amiga Inc. manufactured the so-called Joyboard. It looks like a wide skateboard and stands on a ball joint. It works like a joystick when you lean to one side. The programmers used the Joyboard to relax and calm down when an error occurred. You sit down on the wobbly board like an Indian guru and meditate until the Joyboard remained calm and motionless. During that time, they focused on the problem and considered what might have happened. As soon as they were relaxed, they easily went back to programming. RJ Mical even wanted to write a game that would reward quick relaxation with points. Instead of a high-score list, one should come to nirvana. Unfortunately, he never wrote it. Since any system crash is a reason to meditate, they named the error message indicating a crash " Guru Meditation" .

AmigaOS

Up to AmigaOS 1.3 a software error is not indicated by an error or something similar, but by a red frame, which contains the description of the error and is titled Guru Meditation . Even if the message from AmigaOS 2.0 is only software failure , the name has become common.

Other software

The visualization of errors as Guru Meditation can also be found on other operating systems such as Windows, for example as a script error message in the Winamp application . This designation can also be found in the virtualization software VirtualBox , since an error message called Guru Meditation is output in the event of serious errors in the virtual machine. In the PC game Gothic 3 , a window with the title "Where is the Guru?" Appears in the event of serious errors. The web accelerator Varnish also shows the string "Guru Meditation:" with the error message 503 (if for example the Apache2 behind it does not respond).

In the embedded platform ESP32 (development environment ESP-IDF) CPU exceptions are output as English Guru Meditation Error of type… .

Web links

• A guide to Guru Meditation Error Codes at www.amigahistory.co.uk
• GURU-MEDITATION ( Memento from June 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Guru Meditation: History of The Guru Meditation. April 8, 2014, accessed June 13, 2018 . 
2. ↑ Happy Computer: 05/1988 Stories about the history of the Amiga: The dream sold. Retrieved June 13, 2018 .