R devel - Dec 2013 - Arithmetic Error while compiling R with the Intel compilers

Hi Team,
               I downloaded the R 3.0.2 and,  built and installed it 
using Intel compilers (icc and ifort) from Intel parallel studio 2013, 
sp1. After performing make tried to check it using 'make check'. Most of
the tests passed successfully but while checking a 'stats' package I saw
many lines were printed which did not match the desired output.

e.g.
       There were two types of mismatch
Case 1)
6300c6300
< Grand Mean: 291.5937
---
 > Grand Mean: 291.5938

Case 2)
12699c12699
< UrbanPop *0.278* -0.873 -0.378  0.134
---
 > UrbanPop *-0.278* -0.873 -0.378  0.134


               Case 1 was having slight difference in the values and 
assumed due to the floating point error, but Case 2 is having values 
with difference signs. Is such behaviour is normal or there is any issue 
with the Intel libraries. I used some of the libraries from Intel MKL 
like fftw, mkl_lapack etc. I am pasting below the command that I used to 
configure this R package.


./configure --prefix=$INSTALL_DIR --with-blas="-lmkl_intel_lp64 
-lmkl_intel_thread -lmkl_lapack -lmkl_core -lpthread -lfftw3xf_intel 
-lfftw3xc_intel" --with-lapack

             I also tried installing using Intel compilers without using 
Intel MKL libraries. It was done using below command.

./configure --prefix=$INSTALL_DIR

       Exactly same errors were there.
       There were no mismatch observed while compiling with gcc.Kindly 
provide your suggestions whether it is good idea to use Intel compilers. 
Thanks for your kind attention and time.


Sincerely,
Swapnil

	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]

On 02/12/2013 1:39 PM, Swapnil Gaikwad wrote:
> Hi Team,
>                 I downloaded the R 3.0.2 and,  built and installed it
> using Intel compilers (icc and ifort) from Intel parallel studio 2013,
> sp1. After performing make tried to check it using 'make check'.
Most of
> the tests passed successfully but while checking a 'stats' package
I saw
> many lines were printed which did not match the desired output.
>
> e.g.
>         There were two types of mismatch
> Case 1)
> 6300c6300
> < Grand Mean: 291.5937
> ---
>   > Grand Mean: 291.5938
>
> Case 2)
> 12699c12699
> < UrbanPop *0.278* -0.873 -0.378  0.134
> ---
>   > UrbanPop *-0.278* -0.873 -0.378  0.134
>
>
>                 Case 1 was having slight difference in the values and
> assumed due to the floating point error, but Case 2 is having values
> with difference signs. Is such behaviour is normal or there is any issue
> with the Intel libraries.
You need to look at the context of what is being tested.  In this 
particular case, you are testing principal component loadings:  they can 
all be multiplied by -1 and give exactly the same results, so this one 
is okay.  (The choice of sign is probably being made in the linear 
algebra routines.)

> I used some of the libraries from Intel MKL
> like fftw, mkl_lapack etc. I am pasting below the command that I used to
> configure this R package.
>
>
> ./configure --prefix=$INSTALL_DIR --with-blas="-lmkl_intel_lp64
> -lmkl_intel_thread -lmkl_lapack -lmkl_core -lpthread -lfftw3xf_intel
> -lfftw3xc_intel" --with-lapack
>
>               I also tried installing using Intel compilers without using
> Intel MKL libraries. It was done using below command.
>
> ./configure --prefix=$INSTALL_DIR
>
>         Exactly same errors were there.
>         There were no mismatch observed while compiling with gcc.Kindly
> provide your suggestions whether it is good idea to use Intel compilers.
> Thanks for your kind attention and time.

Can't help you with your final question, I have no experience with them.

Duncan Murdoch