Segmentation Fault when installing autoconf 2.64 on Snow Leopard 10.6.1

[mb-macports@…]

I ran into this problem while trying to upgrade outdated after installing macports 1.8.0

0 11:32 /Users/mike $ sudo port uninstall autoconf ; sudo port clean autoconf ; sudo port install -d autoconf
--->  Cleaning autoconf
Warning: Skipping upgrade since ncursesw 5.7_0 >= ncursesw 5.7_0, even though installed variants "" do not match "+darwin_10". Use 'upgrade --enforce-variants' to switch to the requested variants.
Warning: Skipping upgrade since ncurses 5.7_0 >= ncurses 5.7_0, even though installed variants "" do not match "+darwin_10". Use 'upgrade --enforce-variants' to switch to the requested variants.
--->  Computing dependencies for autoconf
--->  Fetching autoconf
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for autoconf
--->  Extracting autoconf
--->  Configuring autoconf
--->  Building autoconf
Error: Target org.macports.build returned: shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_devel_autoconf/work/autoconf-2.64" && /usr/bin/make -j2 all " returned error 2
Command output: chmod a-w autoheader.tmp
mv autoheader.tmp autoheader
rm -f ifnames ifnames.tmp
srcdir=''; \
	  test -f ./ifnames.in || srcdir=./; \
	  sed -e 's|@SHELL[@]|/bin/sh|g' -e 's|@PERL[@]|/opt/local/bin/perl|g' -e 's|@bindir[@]|/opt/local/bin|g' -e 's|@pkgdatadir[@]|/opt/local/share/autoconf|g' -e 's|@prefix[@]|/opt/local|g' -e 's|@autoconf-name[@]|'`echo autoconf | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autoheader-name[@]|'`echo autoheader | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autom4te-name[@]|'`echo autom4te | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@M4[@]|/opt/local/bin/gm4|g' -e 's|@M4_DEBUGFILE[@]|--debugfile|g' -e 's|@M4_GNU[@]|--gnu|g' -e 's|@AWK[@]|gawk|g' -e 's|@RELEASE_YEAR[@]|'`sed 's/^\([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\).*/\1/;q' ../ChangeLog`'|g' -e 's|@VERSION[@]|2.64|g' -e 's|@PACKAGE_NAME[@]|GNU Autoconf|g' -e 's|@configure_input[@]|Generated from ifnames.in; do not edit by hand.|g' ${srcdir}ifnames.in >ifnames.tmp
chmod +x autoreconf.tmp
chmod a-w autoreconf.tmp
mv autoreconf.tmp autoreconf
rm -f autoscan autoscan.tmp
srcdir=''; \
	  test -f ./autoscan.in || srcdir=./; \
	  sed -e 's|@SHELL[@]|/bin/sh|g' -e 's|@PERL[@]|/opt/local/bin/perl|g' -e 's|@bindir[@]|/opt/local/bin|g' -e 's|@pkgdatadir[@]|/opt/local/share/autoconf|g' -e 's|@prefix[@]|/opt/local|g' -e 's|@autoconf-name[@]|'`echo autoconf | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autoheader-name[@]|'`echo autoheader | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autom4te-name[@]|'`echo autom4te | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@M4[@]|/opt/local/bin/gm4|g' -e 's|@M4_DEBUGFILE[@]|--debugfile|g' -e 's|@M4_GNU[@]|--gnu|g' -e 's|@AWK[@]|gawk|g' -e 's|@RELEASE_YEAR[@]|'`sed 's/^\([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\).*/\1/;q' ../ChangeLog`'|g' -e 's|@VERSION[@]|2.64|g' -e 's|@PACKAGE_NAME[@]|GNU Autoconf|g' -e 's|@configure_input[@]|Generated from autoscan.in; do not edit by hand.|g' ${srcdir}autoscan.in >autoscan.tmp
chmod +x ifnames.tmp
chmod a-w ifnames.tmp
mv ifnames.tmp ifnames
rm -f autoupdate autoupdate.tmp
srcdir=''; \
	  test -f ./autoupdate.in || srcdir=./; \
	  sed -e 's|@SHELL[@]|/bin/sh|g' -e 's|@PERL[@]|/opt/local/bin/perl|g' -e 's|@bindir[@]|/opt/local/bin|g' -e 's|@pkgdatadir[@]|/opt/local/share/autoconf|g' -e 's|@prefix[@]|/opt/local|g' -e 's|@autoconf-name[@]|'`echo autoconf | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autoheader-name[@]|'`echo autoheader | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autom4te-name[@]|'`echo autom4te | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@M4[@]|/opt/local/bin/gm4|g' -e 's|@M4_DEBUGFILE[@]|--debugfile|g' -e 's|@M4_GNU[@]|--gnu|g' -e 's|@AWK[@]|gawk|g' -e 's|@RELEASE_YEAR[@]|'`sed 's/^\([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\).*/\1/;q' ../ChangeLog`'|g' -e 's|@VERSION[@]|2.64|g' -e 's|@PACKAGE_NAME[@]|GNU Autoconf|g' -e 's|@configure_input[@]|Generated from autoupdate.in; do not edit by hand.|g' ${srcdir}autoupdate.in >autoupdate.tmp
chmod +x autoscan.tmp
chmod a-w autoscan.tmp
mv autoscan.tmp autoscan
autom4te_perllibdir='..'/lib AUTOM4TE_CFG='../lib/autom4te.cfg'         ../bin/autom4te -B '..'/lib -B '..'/lib         --language M4sh --cache '' --melt ./autoconf.as -o autoconf.in
chmod +x autoupdate.tmp
chmod a-w autoupdate.tmp
mv autoupdate.tmp autoupdate
make[2]: *** [autoconf.in] Segmentation fault
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make: *** [all] Error 2

Error: Status 1 encountered during processing.

1 11:32 /Users/mike $ 

[mf2k (Frank Schima)]

wfm. Did you run selfupdate first? Did you re-install macports when you updated to snow leopard?

[mb-macports@…]

Selfupdate reported all ports up to date. And yes, I installed MacPorts 1.8.0 after installing 10.6.1

0 11:55 /Users/mike $ sudo port selfupdate
--->  Updating the ports tree
--->  Updating MacPorts base sources using rsync
MacPorts base version 1.8.0 installed,
MacPorts base version 1.8.0 downloaded.
--->  MacPorts base is already the latest version

The ports tree has been updated. To upgrade your installed ports, you should run
  port upgrade outdated

[mf2k (Frank Schima)]

Just to be certain, please clean and try again:

sudo port clean autoconf
sudo port install autoconf

[mb-macports@…]

Sure, same result:

0 12:09 /Users/mike $ sudo port clean autoconf ; sudo port install autoconf
--->  Cleaning autoconf
--->  Computing dependencies for autoconf
--->  Fetching autoconf
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for autoconf
--->  Extracting autoconf
--->  Configuring autoconf
--->  Building autoconf
Error: Target org.macports.build returned: shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_devel_autoconf/work/autoconf-2.64" && /usr/bin/make -j2 all " returned error 2
Command output: chmod a-w autoheader.tmp
mv autoheader.tmp autoheader
rm -f ifnames ifnames.tmp
srcdir=''; \
	  test -f ./ifnames.in || srcdir=./; \
	  sed -e 's|@SHELL[@]|/bin/sh|g' -e 's|@PERL[@]|/opt/local/bin/perl|g' -e 's|@bindir[@]|/opt/local/bin|g' -e 's|@pkgdatadir[@]|/opt/local/share/autoconf|g' -e 's|@prefix[@]|/opt/local|g' -e 's|@autoconf-name[@]|'`echo autoconf | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autoheader-name[@]|'`echo autoheader | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autom4te-name[@]|'`echo autom4te | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@M4[@]|/opt/local/bin/gm4|g' -e 's|@M4_DEBUGFILE[@]|--debugfile|g' -e 's|@M4_GNU[@]|--gnu|g' -e 's|@AWK[@]|gawk|g' -e 's|@RELEASE_YEAR[@]|'`sed 's/^\([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\).*/\1/;q' ../ChangeLog`'|g' -e 's|@VERSION[@]|2.64|g' -e 's|@PACKAGE_NAME[@]|GNU Autoconf|g' -e 's|@configure_input[@]|Generated from ifnames.in; do not edit by hand.|g' ${srcdir}ifnames.in >ifnames.tmp
chmod +x autoreconf.tmp
chmod a-w autoreconf.tmp
mv autoreconf.tmp autoreconf
rm -f autoscan autoscan.tmp
srcdir=''; \
	  test -f ./autoscan.in || srcdir=./; \
	  sed -e 's|@SHELL[@]|/bin/sh|g' -e 's|@PERL[@]|/opt/local/bin/perl|g' -e 's|@bindir[@]|/opt/local/bin|g' -e 's|@pkgdatadir[@]|/opt/local/share/autoconf|g' -e 's|@prefix[@]|/opt/local|g' -e 's|@autoconf-name[@]|'`echo autoconf | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autoheader-name[@]|'`echo autoheader | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autom4te-name[@]|'`echo autom4te | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@M4[@]|/opt/local/bin/gm4|g' -e 's|@M4_DEBUGFILE[@]|--debugfile|g' -e 's|@M4_GNU[@]|--gnu|g' -e 's|@AWK[@]|gawk|g' -e 's|@RELEASE_YEAR[@]|'`sed 's/^\([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\).*/\1/;q' ../ChangeLog`'|g' -e 's|@VERSION[@]|2.64|g' -e 's|@PACKAGE_NAME[@]|GNU Autoconf|g' -e 's|@configure_input[@]|Generated from autoscan.in; do not edit by hand.|g' ${srcdir}autoscan.in >autoscan.tmp
chmod +x ifnames.tmp
chmod a-w ifnames.tmp
mv ifnames.tmp ifnames
rm -f autoupdate autoupdate.tmp
srcdir=''; \
	  test -f ./autoupdate.in || srcdir=./; \
	  sed -e 's|@SHELL[@]|/bin/sh|g' -e 's|@PERL[@]|/opt/local/bin/perl|g' -e 's|@bindir[@]|/opt/local/bin|g' -e 's|@pkgdatadir[@]|/opt/local/share/autoconf|g' -e 's|@prefix[@]|/opt/local|g' -e 's|@autoconf-name[@]|'`echo autoconf | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autoheader-name[@]|'`echo autoheader | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@autom4te-name[@]|'`echo autom4te | sed 's,x,x,'`'|g' -e 's|@M4[@]|/opt/local/bin/gm4|g' -e 's|@M4_DEBUGFILE[@]|--debugfile|g' -e 's|@M4_GNU[@]|--gnu|g' -e 's|@AWK[@]|gawk|g' -e 's|@RELEASE_YEAR[@]|'`sed 's/^\([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\).*/\1/;q' ../ChangeLog`'|g' -e 's|@VERSION[@]|2.64|g' -e 's|@PACKAGE_NAME[@]|GNU Autoconf|g' -e 's|@configure_input[@]|Generated from autoupdate.in; do not edit by hand.|g' ${srcdir}autoupdate.in >autoupdate.tmp
chmod +x autoscan.tmp
chmod a-w autoscan.tmp
mv autoscan.tmp autoscan
autom4te_perllibdir='..'/lib AUTOM4TE_CFG='../lib/autom4te.cfg'         ../bin/autom4te -B '..'/lib -B '..'/lib         --language M4sh --cache '' --melt ./autoconf.as -o autoconf.in
chmod +x autoupdate.tmp
chmod a-w autoupdate.tmp
mv autoupdate.tmp autoupdate
make[2]: *** [autoconf.in] Segmentation fault
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make: *** [all] Error 2

Error: Status 1 encountered during processing.

1 12:09 /Users/mike $ 

[skymoo (Adam Mercer)]

From the following warning it looks like you didn't do a fresh install of MacPorts after upgrading to SL:

Warning: Skipping upgrade since ncursesw 5.7_0 >= ncursesw 5.7_0, even though installed variants "" do not match "+darwin_10". Use 'upgrade --enforce-variants' to switch to the requested variants.

See the Migration wiki page for more details.

[mb-macports@…]

Okay, so as suggested I followed the instructions on the Migration page to do a fresh install and got another segmentation fault, this time in p5-locale-gettext:

$ sudo port -f uninstall installed and \( gawk grep gsed perl5 perl5.8 perl5.10 \)
$ sudo port upgrade --force installed
...
--->  Computing dependencies for p5-locale-gettext
--->  Fetching p5-locale-gettext
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for p5-locale-gettext
--->  Extracting p5-locale-gettext
--->  Applying patches to p5-locale-gettext
--->  Configuring p5-locale-gettext
Error: Target org.macports.configure returned: configure failure: shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_perl_p5-locale-gettext/work/gettext-1.05" && /opt/local/bin/perl Makefile.PL INSTALLDIRS=vendor " returned error 139
Command output: sh: line 1:  5100 Segmentation fault      /opt/local/bin/perl Makefile.PL INSTALLDIRS=vendor

Error: Unable to upgrade port: 1

[skymoo (Adam Mercer)]

Was perl rebuilt prior to the installtion of p5-local-gettext?

[mb-macports@…]

Yes, according to the log it looks like both perl 5.8.9_0 and 5.8.9_3 were rebuilt immediately before p5-locale-gettext:

--->  Installing xorg-util-macros @1.2.2_0
--->  Activating xorg-util-macros @1.2.2_0
--->  Cleaning xorg-util-macros
--->  Computing dependencies for perl5.8
--->  Fetching perl5.8
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for perl5.8
--->  Extracting perl5.8
--->  Applying patches to perl5.8
--->  Configuring perl5.8
--->  Building perl5.8
--->  Staging perl5.8 into destroot
--->  Installing perl5.8 @5.8.9_3
--->  Activating perl5.8 @5.8.9_3
--->  Cleaning perl5.8
--->  Computing dependencies for perl5
--->  Fetching perl5
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for perl5
--->  Extracting perl5
--->  Configuring perl5
--->  Building perl5
--->  Staging perl5 into destroot
--->  Installing perl5 @5.8.9_0
--->  Activating perl5 @5.8.9_0
--->  Cleaning perl5
--->  Computing dependencies for p5-locale-gettext
--->  Fetching p5-locale-gettext
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for p5-locale-gettext
--->  Extracting p5-locale-gettext
--->  Applying patches to p5-locale-gettext
--->  Configuring p5-locale-gettext
Error: Target org.macports.configure returned: configure failure: shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_perl_p5-locale-gettext/work/gettext-1.05" && /opt/local/bin/perl Makefile.PL INSTALLDIRS=vendor " returned error 139
Command output: sh: line 1:  5100 Segmentation fault      /opt/local/bin/perl Makefile.PL INSTALLDIRS=vendor

[skymoo (Adam Mercer)]

Then I imagine you need to do the manual migration.

[mb-macports@…]

Okay, so I now followed the instructions in the Migration wiki for a manual migration and still ran into a problem with autoconf/automake:

$ sudo port clean installed
$ sudo port -f uninstall installed
$ sudo port install postgis @1.3.3 bzip2 curl ImageMagick maven2 mercurial wget xtail
--->  Computing dependencies for postgis
--->  Cleaning postgis
--->  Computing dependencies for bzip2
--->  Fetching bzip2
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for bzip2
--->  Extracting bzip2
--->  Applying patches to bzip2
--->  Configuring bzip2
--->  Building bzip2
--->  Staging bzip2 into destroot
--->  Installing bzip2 @1.0.5_2+darwin
--->  Activating bzip2 @1.0.5_2+darwin
--->  Cleaning bzip2
--->  Computing dependencies for curl
--->  Fetching pkgconfig
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for pkgconfig
--->  Extracting pkgconfig
--->  Configuring pkgconfig
--->  Building pkgconfig
--->  Staging pkgconfig into destroot
--->  Installing pkgconfig @0.23_1
--->  Activating pkgconfig @0.23_1
--->  Cleaning pkgconfig
--->  Fetching curl
--->  Attempting to fetch curl-7.19.6.tar.bz2 from http://distfiles.macports.org/curl
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for curl
--->  Extracting curl
--->  Configuring curl
--->  Building curl
--->  Staging curl into destroot
--->  Installing curl @7.19.6_0
--->  Activating curl @7.19.6_0
--->  Cleaning curl
--->  Computing dependencies for ImageMagick
--->  Fetching freetype
--->  Attempting to fetch freetype-2.3.9.tar.bz2 from http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/freetype
--->  Attempting to fetch freetype-doc-2.3.9.tar.bz2 from http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/freetype
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for freetype
--->  Extracting freetype
--->  Applying patches to freetype
--->  Configuring freetype
--->  Building freetype
--->  Staging freetype into destroot
--->  Installing freetype @2.3.9_1+macosx
--->  Activating freetype @2.3.9_1+macosx
--->  Cleaning freetype
--->  Fetching fontconfig
--->  Attempting to fetch fontconfig-2.7.3.tar.gz from http://distfiles.macports.org/fontconfig
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for fontconfig
--->  Extracting fontconfig
--->  Applying patches to fontconfig
--->  Configuring fontconfig
--->  Building fontconfig
--->  Staging fontconfig into destroot
--->  Installing fontconfig @2.7.3_0+macosx
--->  Activating fontconfig @2.7.3_0+macosx
--->  Cleaning fontconfig
--->  Fetching jpeg
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for jpeg
--->  Extracting jpeg
--->  Applying patches to jpeg
--->  Configuring jpeg
--->  Building jpeg
--->  Staging jpeg into destroot
--->  Installing jpeg @6b_3
--->  Activating jpeg @6b_3
--->  Cleaning jpeg
--->  Fetching libpng
--->  Attempting to fetch libpng-1.2.38.tar.bz2 from http://voxel.dl.sourceforge.net/libpng
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for libpng
--->  Extracting libpng
--->  Configuring libpng
--->  Building libpng
--->  Staging libpng into destroot
--->  Installing libpng @1.2.38_0
--->  Activating libpng @1.2.38_0
--->  Cleaning libpng
--->  Fetching tiff
--->  Attempting to fetch tiff-3.9.1.tar.gz from ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/distfiles/
--->  Attempting to fetch tiff-3.9.1.tar.gz from ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/local-distfiles/
--->  Attempting to fetch tiff-3.9.1.tar.gz from http://distfiles.macports.org/tiff
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for tiff
--->  Extracting tiff
--->  Applying patches to tiff
--->  Configuring tiff
--->  Building tiff
--->  Staging tiff into destroot
--->  Installing tiff @3.9.1_0+macosx
--->  Activating tiff @3.9.1_0+macosx
--->  Cleaning tiff
--->  Fetching perl5.8
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for perl5.8
--->  Extracting perl5.8
--->  Applying patches to perl5.8
--->  Configuring perl5.8
--->  Building perl5.8
--->  Staging perl5.8 into destroot
--->  Installing perl5.8 @5.8.9_3
--->  Activating perl5.8 @5.8.9_3
--->  Cleaning perl5.8
--->  Fetching perl5
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for perl5
--->  Extracting perl5
--->  Configuring perl5
--->  Building perl5
--->  Staging perl5 into destroot
--->  Installing perl5 @5.8.9_0
--->  Activating perl5 @5.8.9_0
--->  Cleaning perl5
--->  Fetching p5-locale-gettext
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for p5-locale-gettext
--->  Extracting p5-locale-gettext
--->  Applying patches to p5-locale-gettext
--->  Configuring p5-locale-gettext
--->  Building p5-locale-gettext
--->  Staging p5-locale-gettext into destroot
--->  Installing p5-locale-gettext @1.05_0
--->  Activating p5-locale-gettext @1.05_0
--->  Cleaning p5-locale-gettext
--->  Fetching help2man
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for help2man
--->  Extracting help2man
--->  Applying patches to help2man
--->  Configuring help2man
--->  Building help2man
--->  Staging help2man into destroot
--->  Installing help2man @1.36.4_1
--->  Activating help2man @1.36.4_1
--->  Cleaning help2man
--->  Building autoconf
--->  Staging autoconf into destroot
--->  Installing autoconf @2.64_2
--->  Activating autoconf @2.64_2
--->  Cleaning autoconf
--->  Fetching automake
--->  Attempting to fetch automake-1.11.tar.bz2 from http://distfiles.macports.org/automake
--->  Verifying checksum(s) for automake
--->  Extracting automake
--->  Configuring automake
Error: Target org.macports.configure returned: configure failure: shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_ports_devel_automake/work/automake-1.11" && ./configure --prefix=/opt/local --infodir=/opt/local/share/info " returned error 1
Command output: checking build system type... i386-apple-darwin10.0.0
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... lib/install-sh -c -d
checking for gawk... no
checking for mawk... no
checking for nawk... no
checking for awk... awk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for perl... /opt/local/bin/perl
checking whether /opt/local/bin/perl supports ithreads... no
checking for tex... no
checking whether autoconf is installed... yes
checking whether autoconf works... yes
checking whether autoconf is recent enough... no
configure: error: Autoconf 2.61a-341 or better is required.

Error: The following dependencies failed to build: xorg-libXext xorg-libX11 automake libtool xorg-bigreqsproto xorg-inputproto xorg-kbproto xorg-libXau xorg-xproto xorg-libXdmcp xorg-util-macros xorg-xcmiscproto xorg-xextproto xorg-xf86bigfontproto xorg-xtrans xorg-libXt xorg-libsm xorg-libice
Error: Status 1 encountered during processing.

[skymoo (Adam Mercer)]

I cannot reproduce this, you clearly have autoconf-2.64 installed. Can you generate the full debug output and attach it to this ticket:

sudo port clean automake
sudo port -d install automake | tee automake-debug.log

Also attaching `port dir automake`/work/automake-1.11/config.log would help.

[mb-macports@…]

output from "sudo port clean automake; sudo port -d install automake "

[mb-macports@…]

Sure, thank you for the assistance. It's attached as ​http://trac.macports.org/attachment/ticket/21327/autoconf-clean-install.txt

[mb-macports@…]

automake config.log

[skymoo (Adam Mercer)]

is autoconf active?

[mb-macports@…]

Sorry, produced that last comment too hastily. The installation log i uploaded is named improperly, it should be named "automake-clean-install.txt" or some such. I've also attached the automake config.log as well.

And yes, port reports that autoconf is active: autoconf @2.64_2 (active)

[skymoo (Adam Mercer)]

Looks like configure is picking up the system autoconf:

configure:2500: checking whether autoconf is installed
configure:2505: eval autoconf --version
autoconf (GNU Autoconf) 2.61
Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software.  You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Written by David J. MacKenzie and Akim Demaille.

whats the output of

port contents autoconf | grep bin

[mb-macports@…]

That was something I'd noticed as well, so I looked in the autoconf package and there is no bin directory. It's not terribly long, here's its contents:

1 13:47 /Users/mike $ port contents autoconf 
Port autoconf contains:
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoconf.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoconf.m4f
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoheader.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoscan.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/autotest.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoupdate.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/c.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/erlang.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/fortran.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/functions.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/general.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/headers.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/lang.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/libs.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/oldnames.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/programs.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/specific.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/status.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoconf/types.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/C4che.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/ChannelDefs.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/Channels.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/Configure_ac.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/FileUtils.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/General.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/Request.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/Struct.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/Autom4te/XFile.pm
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autom4te.cfg
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autoscan/autoscan.list
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autotest/autotest.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autotest/autotest.m4f
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/autotest/general.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/INSTALL
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/m4sugar/foreach.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/m4sugar/m4sh.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/m4sugar/m4sh.m4f
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/m4sugar/m4sugar.m4
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/m4sugar/m4sugar.m4f
  /opt/local/share/autoconf/m4sugar/version.m4
  /opt/local/share/emacs/site-lisp/autoconf-mode.el
  /opt/local/share/emacs/site-lisp/autoconf-mode.elc
  /opt/local/share/emacs/site-lisp/autotest-mode.el
  /opt/local/share/emacs/site-lisp/autotest-mode.elc
  /opt/local/share/info/autoconf.info
  /opt/local/share/info/standards.info
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/autoconf.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/autoheader.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/autom4te.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/autoreconf.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/autoscan.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/autoupdate.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/config.guess.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/config.sub.1.gz
  /opt/local/share/man/man1/ifnames.1.gz

So I uninstalled and cleaned autoconf and reinstalled it, and now it looks like it installed a few files to /opt/local/bin. Re-running the automake installation seems to now work as well, too.

Any idea what went wrong with autoconf installation from a clean install?

[skymoo (Adam Mercer)]

No idea, that's strange.