# Warning that something went wrong while reading the Emissions Control Namelist

**URL:** <https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/warning-that-something-went-wrong-while-reading-the-emissions-control-namelist/1890>\
**Category:** Run Time Errors and Issues\
**Created:** [November 5, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/warning-that-something-went-wrong-while-reading-the-emissions-control-namelist/1890 "2020-11-05T15:55:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![skunwar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@skunwar](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/skunwar)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/warning-that-something-went-wrong-while-reading-the-emissions-control-namelist/1890/1 "2020-11-05T15:55:39Z")

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I am curious how concerning this warning in my CMAQ log file is:

```
 "DUST_LU_1" opened as OLD:READ-ONLY
 File name "/nas/home/cmaq_run_2nov2020/cmaq_in/surface/beld3_12US1_396X246_output_a_20oct2020.ncf"
 File type GRDDED3
 Execution ID "????????????????"
 Grid name "12US2"
 Dimensions: 246 rows, 396 cols, 1 lays, 120 vbles
 NetCDF ID: 2293760 opened as READONLY
 Time-independent data.
 Warning! Something went wrong while reading the
 GeneralSpecs section of the Emissions Control
 Namelist. Default values for this section will be
 assumed.
 Warning! Something went wrong while reading the
 ChemicalFamilies section of the Emissions Control
 Namelist. Default values for this section will be
 assumed.
 Warning! Something went wrong while reading the
 StreamFamilies section of the Emissions Control
 Namelist. Default values for this section will be
 assumed.
 Warning! Something went wrong while reading the
 RegionFamilies section of the Emissions Control
 Namelist. Default values for this section will be
 assumed.

```

For context, I looked at the default EmissCtrl file I am using and I do not see the GeneralSpecs section there, while ChemicalFamilies, StreamFamilies and RegionFamilies sections are all commented out by an exclamation sign !.

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**Author:** ![cjcoats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac8455/32.png) [@cjcoats](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/cjcoats)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/warning-that-something-went-wrong-while-reading-the-emissions-control-namelist/1890/2 "2020-11-05T16:10:00Z")

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It would be much easier to diagnose this if this code had conformed to the project’s coding standard, and had written the `IOSTAT` associated with this failure to the log.

Note that errors in reading `NAMELIST`s are quite tricky and can be (particularly for older compilers) very difficult to diagnose. In any case, the `IOSTAT` values are compiler dependent, so that you need to know the compiler (and its version) in order to interpret them.

You might want to edit _centralized\_io\_module.F_ lines 3681-38216 to write out this IOSTAT to the log, and then submit the resulting log (together with your compiler and its version).

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**Author:** ![skunwar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@skunwar](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/skunwar)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/warning-that-something-went-wrong-while-reading-the-emissions-control-namelist/1890/3 "2020-11-10T15:48:08Z")

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Thanks @cjcoats! Just to make sure I understand, I should edit _centralized\_io\_module.F_ and recompile CMAQ in order for the IOSTAT command to write CPU utilization and I/O (input /output) statistics to the CCTM\_LOG\_\* files?

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**Author:** ![cjcoats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac8455/32.png) [@cjcoats](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/cjcoats)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/warning-that-something-went-wrong-while-reading-the-emissions-control-namelist/1890/4 "2020-11-10T16:30:20Z")

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Yes, that’s the way to do it.

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**Author:** ![Ben\_Murphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Ben\_Murphy](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/Ben_Murphy)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/warning-that-something-went-wrong-while-reading-the-emissions-control-namelist/1890/5 "2020-11-21T12:51:27Z")

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In the case of these particular warnings, you won’t gain much insight from looking at the IOSTAT variable. These warnings are simply indicating that no values were found for these sections on the Emission Control Interface. The logfile then correctly alerts you that default values are being assumed for these sections. These warnings go away if you specify values for these sections in the interface.

Note that the GeneralSpecs section has been deprecated and will be absent in future releases. We are also focusing on improved logfile outputs to better communicate potential issues with the Emission Control Interface.