Hi,

It used to be possible to write to registers before starting the program 
(on a simulator or other target that has registers that early). This is 
useful to start a program from a non-standard point, or else, with a 
target which retains it state between runs, reset the target to a usable 
state.

E.g:

(gdb) target sim
(gdb) load
(gdb) set $pc = 0x100

However, this now results in the message 'Value being assigned to is no 
longer active.'.

I have tracked this to a patch here: 
http://sourceware.org/ml/gdb-patches/2004-11/msg00317.html

Reverting the valops.c portion of this patch solves the problem for me. 
I have tested it and it produced no regressions.

Ok to apply the attached reversion?

Andrew