I get a segfault when trying to memset an array of chars that was allocated statically, but not for an array of the same length that was allocated using malloc. variable definitions: //static char inBuff[IN_BUFF_LEN]; //dynamic char * inBuffD; function call: //static, cast used because char** != char (*) [n] serverInit(portNum, (char**) &inBuff, &serv_addr, &sockfd) //dynamic serverInit(portNum, &inBuffD, &serv_addr, &sockfd) use within the function: memset(*inBuffAdr, 0, IN_BUFF_LEN); I suspect that my problem is in the difference of the function calls, or to be more precise, my incomplete understanding of the "char** != char (*) [n]" situation. But I have been banging at this for too long and can't see the forest from the trees so any hints and advice would be very appreciated.