Why do I get invalid handle errors when starting MATLAB 6.5 (R13) on Linux?

I receive the following errors when starting MATLAB 6.5 (R13) on Linux:

 ??? Error using ==> set

 Invalid handle.

 Error in ==> /usr/local/matlab/toolbox/matlab/graph3d/whitebg.m

 On line 137  ==>     set(fig(k),'defaultfigureinverthardcopy','on');

 Error in ==> /usr/local/matlab/toolbox/matlab/graph3d/colordef.m

 (wdefault)

 On line 103  ==> whitebg(fig,[1 1 1])

 Error in ==> /usr/local/matlab/toolbox/matlab/graph3d/colordef.m

 On line 50  ==>   wdefault(fig)

 Error in ==> /usr/local/matlab/toolbox/local/matlabrc.m

 On line 84  ==> colordef(0,'white') % Set up for white defaults

After these errors, I also receive similar errors about invalid handles when trying to create or modify any MATLAB figure window.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

These errors are due to a conflict between MATLAB and your system libraries. To resolve the conflict, go to

$MATLAB /bin/glnx86

(where $MATLAB = MATLABs root directory on your machine)

and issue the following commands

ldd libmwhg.so

ldd libmwudd.so

To resolve the conflict, please compare what system libraries these are linking against and compare that to the logs of what packages you have updated on your system.

In addition, some customers have also reported this behavior when using Gentoo. According to a customer, the problem is caused by a broken gcc/glibc. (Optimizing for march=pentium4 will cause problems and MATLAB graphics will not work.) Try rebuilding gcc/glibc and utilities with march=pentium3, which will resolve the MATLAB problems for Pentium IV processors.