FIX: You cannot create more processes when many Win32 processes are called from Interix (841898)

SYMPTOMS

Child processes that call an exec function on a Microsoft Win32-based binary executable file remain as zombie processes and consume process slots. Therefore, the Microsoft Interix subsystem eventually runs out of process slots and does not let new processes create.

In particular, the tcsh command shell does not succeed while it tries to create many pipes to Win32 processes. Additionally, you may receive the following error message:

No more processes

Note This problem occurs only with Win32-executable files. This problem does not occur with equivalent Interix-executable files.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement

You must restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   07-May-2004  01:46  8.0.1969.6        763,904  Psxss.exe

MORE INFORMATION

Sample code

The following sample code demonstrates this problem. Compile the Test1.c code as a Windows executable, and then run the Test.csh code.

Test1.c code

/* test1.c */
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
  int c;
  while( ( c = getchar()) != EOF )
    putchar( c ) ;
  return 0 ;
}

Test.csh code

#!/bin/csh
# 
# test.csh
#
while ( 1 )
set RESULT = `printf "a b c" | ./test1.exe`
echo $RESULT
end