mast/meme-chip: inexplicable error message!!

[CharlesEGrant]

Originally posted by malcook June 08 2011

-

Mast, in my hands, as called by the new meme-chip pipeline, is producing an error, which I need help making sense of: 

Code:

FATAL: No input motifs pass the E-value (-mev) threshold inf.

The mast command that meme-chip ran was: 

Code:

mast -oc meme-chip/XL6_merged/meme_mast_out meme-chip/XL6_merged/meme_out/meme.txt peak.ES/XL6_merged.fa -ev 5786

Note: there is no -mev threshold provided on the command line. So apparently it default to 'inf'. I get the same results if I run the mast command and set -mev to any of 0, .00001, 9999999, 'inf'. Nothing seems to get work. 

How can this be? 

Indeed, MEME found motifs. 

Further, if I re-run mast by hand and provide `-m 1`, I do get mast output for the first motif. 

Note: This does NOT happen on all meme-chip/mast runs. It appears to be dependent on data somehow, I just don't know how... 

Any insight from fellow travelers? 

I am running meme 4.6.1 with meme_4.6.1.patch_1 

Thanks! 

Malcolm Cook 
Stowers Institute for Medical Research 
Kansas City