Matlab 7 (R14) and SPM2.

You need to make sure that your computer and operating system are compatible with Matlab 7. This information can be found at the MathWorks System Requirements page. If Matlab isn't fully compatible with your computer, then it may not run SPM properly. On Linux machines, you can type "uname -a" to find out about the operating system.

If you plan to run Matlab 7, then it is a good idea to have Service Pack 1 ("R14SP1", or "Matlab 7.0.1") or later, as it includes a number of fixes for some of the problems encountered with version 7.0.

Edit boxes in R14 have had a number of problems. This link may help. Alternatively, try "feature('JavaFigures',0)".

Specific Platforms

Linux

There is an issue with the mexglx files. When a mexglx file crashes out for some reason, it is supposed to produce an error message, and the function that is being run will crash. Matlab itself is not supposed to crash. The mexglx files that were released with SPM2 do not behave this way. If these crash, then the whole of Matlab can crash out.

One possibility for the crash would be because an incompatible compiler was used to create the mexglx files. However, recompilation using gcc 2.3.2 still results in the same behaviour on my computer. The fix that worked for me involved removing the libstdc++.* libg2c.* libgcc_s* libraries from $MATLAB/sys/os/glnx86.

I have also found other intermitant problems (strange behaviour in the Stats part of SPM), but these may be to do with the way that the mex files were compiled.

Solaris

A common problem on Solaris 9 machines is that they may lack some necessary libraries, and can not run Matlab 7. The Matlab development team is currently investigating alternate options to resolve this issue.