fix(R): detect x64 R on Windows ARM via exit codes

news/changelog-1.9.md

@@ -94,3 +94,4 @@ All changes included in 1.9:
 - ([#13528](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/pull/13528)): Adds support for table specification using nested lists and the `list-table` class.
 - ([#13575](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/pull/13575)): Improve CPU architecture detection/reporting in macOS to allow quarto to run in virtualized environments such as OpenAI's `codex`.
 - ([#13656](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/13656)): Fix R code cells with empty `lang: ""` option producing invalid markdown class attributes.
+- ([#8730](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/8730)): Detect x64 R crashes on Windows ARM and provide helpful error message directing users to install native ARM64 R instead of showing generic "check your R installation" error.

src/core/knitr.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { rBinaryPath, resourcePath } from "./resources.ts";
 import { readYamlFromString } from "./yaml.ts";
 import { coerce, satisfies } from "semver/mod.ts";
 import { debug } from "../deno_ral/log.ts";
+import { errorOnce } from "./log.ts";
 
 export interface KnitrCapabilities {
   versionMajor: number;
@@ -68,6 +69,36 @@ export async function checkRBinary() {
   }
 }
 
+export class WindowsArmX64RError extends Error {
+  constructor(msg: string) {
+    super(msg);
+  }
+}
+
+// Check for x64 R crashes on ARM Windows
+// These specific error codes only occur when x64 R crashes on ARM Windows
+// See: https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/8730
+//      https://github.com/cderv/quarto-windows-arm
+function throwIfX64ROnArm(exitCode: number): void {
+  const isX64RCrashOnArm =
+    exitCode === -1073741569 ||  // STATUS_NOT_SUPPORTED (native ARM hardware)
+    exitCode === -1073741819;    // STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION (Windows ARM VM on Mac)
+
+  if (isX64RCrashOnArm) {
+    throw new WindowsArmX64RError(
+      `R process crashed with known error code (${exitCode}).\n\n` +
+        "This typically indicates x64 R running on Windows 11 ARM.\n" +
+        "x64 R runs under emulation and is not reliable for Quarto.\n\n" +
+        "To fix this issue:\n" +
+        "1. Check your R version with: Rscript -e \"R.version$platform\"\n" +
+        "2. If it shows 'x86_64-w64-mingw32', you need ARM64 R\n" +
+        "3. Install native ARM64 R: https://blog.r-project.org/2024/04/23/r-on-64-bit-arm-windows/\n" +
+        "4. If needed, set QUARTO_R environment variable to point to ARM64 Rscript\n\n" +
+        "More context on this issue: https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/8730",
+    );
+  }
+}
+
 export async function knitrCapabilities(rBin: string | undefined) {
   if (!rBin) return undefined;
   try {
@@ -115,9 +146,17 @@ export async function knitrCapabilities(rBin: string | undefined) {
       if (result.stderr) {
         debug(`    with stderr from R:\n${result.stderr}`);
       }
+
+      throwIfX64ROnArm(result.code);
+
+      return undefined;
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    // Log x64-on-ARM errors once, then return undefined like other errors
+    if (e instanceof WindowsArmX64RError) {
+      errorOnce(e.message);
       return undefined;
     }
-  } catch {
     debug(
       `\n++ Error while running 'capabilities/knitr.R' ${
         rBin ? "with " + rBin : ""