Couldn't get registers: Operation not permitted.

[Torin Ford]

Hey all,
   I'm currently attempting to work on a program that is a custom version of 
apache (httpd).  I'm using RedHat 9.0, so things are compiling with:

g++ (GCC) 3.2.2 20030222 (Red Hat Linux 3.2.2-5)
Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

gcc (GCC) 3.2.2 20030222 (Red Hat Linux 3.2.2-5)
Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

and linking with:

GNU ld version 2.13.90.0.18 20030206
Copyright 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This program is free software; you may redistribute it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License.  This program has absolutely no warranty.

and debugging with:

GNU gdb Red Hat Linux (5.3post-0.20021129.18rh)
Copyright 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and you are
welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain conditions.
Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
There is absolutely no warranty for GDB.  Type "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "i386-redhat-linux-gnu".

using glibc version:

GNU C Library stable release version 2.3.2, by Roland McGrath et al.
Copyright (C) 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.
There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Compiled by GNU CC version 3.2.2 20030222 (Red Hat Linux 3.2.2-5).
Compiled on a Linux 2.4.20 system on 2003-04-07.
Available extensions:
        GNU libio by Per Bothner
        crypt add-on version 2.1 by Michael Glad and others
        linuxthreads-0.10 by Xavier Leroy
        The C stubs add-on version 2.1.2.
        BIND-8.2.3-T5B
        NIS(YP)/NIS+ NSS modules 0.19 by Thorsten Kukuk
        Glibc-2.0 compatibility add-on by Cristian Gafton
        libthread_db work sponsored by Alpha Processor Inc
Report bugs using the `glibcbug' script to <address@hidden>.

running kernel:

2.4.20-9smp

The corresponding rpms would be:

binutils-2.13.90.0.18-9
gcc-3.2.2-5
gcc-c++-3.2.2-5
glibc-2.3.2-27.9
gdb-5.3post-0.20021129.18
kernel-smp-2.4.20-9

We have a custom apache module that ends up calling fork a lot.  Because of the 
NPTL changes in this version of glibc, our fork calls do not always return.  I 
decided to try debugging the program with gdb.  Everytime i do, I get "Couldn't 
get registers: Operation not permitted." immediately following a fork call:

(gdb) run
Starting program: /home/<user>/<dir path>/<program> -d /<dir path> -f /<dir 
path>/httpd.conf -DNO_DETACH -DONE_PROCESS -DDEBUG
[New Thread 16384 (LWP 21829)]
Couldn't get registers: Operation not permitted.
(gdb)

Once this happens, I cannot detach, kill the program or quit from the program.  
I have to kill the gdb process and the program's processes from another 
terminal.  Our apache module is using C++ and is linked with numerous of our 
own libraries as well as numerous system libraries including libpthread, 
libgcc_s, libc and libstdc++.  Is this an apache problem, a gdb problem, a 
glibc problem or a problem with our own code?  The same code will compile and 
debug/run just fine on RedHat 8.0, SuSe 8.0 and SuSe 8.1.  Any help would be 
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Torin