4.3.3 Installation issue

[Kai Ruottu]

Andrew Haley wrote:

> Vardhan, Sundara (GE Infra, Energy) wrote:
> 
>> configure:3238: error: C compiler cannot create executables
>> See `config.log' for more details.
>>
>> onfigure:3171: $? = 1
>> configure:3194: checking for C compiler default output file name
>> configure:3197: gcc    conftest.c  >&5
>>
>>
>> After this the installation stops. I would very much appreciate your
>> inputs and advice.
> 
> The error message is pretty clear: the C compiler on your system (whatever
> that is) cannot create executables.  We don't know why that is.

That C compiler was 'gcc' and generally GCC cannot create executables.
It can only create assembly sources from sources in some other language
like "C"... In order to create executables one needs some binutils which
include 'as' and 'ld' and some C library for the build/host/target
system. And these should work perfectly together.

> We've never seen your system, and we have no way to know why its C
 > compiler is broken.

Maybe Vardhan only installed some prebuilt 'GCC' onto the host system
and then expected it to include "everything" in order to create 
executables... As the '--prefix=/cots/gnu/build-4.3.3' hints via its
military term "COTS", the system was aimed to be made of "Commercial Off
The Shelf"-components the division commander "general Electric" had
ordered to be used :) Sometimes those much cheaper commercial components
really aren't as good as those military-grade ones :(  So one should
do some simple tests for them before taking them onto the battle
fields...

Ok, Vardhan has mentioned AIX in the earlier messages and AIX is one
of those systems which don't come with a C compiler and prebuilt ones
were downloaded from "Bull" or somewhere... Where the AIX C libraries
are and where its binutils are, whether the downloaded GCC was built
to use the native AIX binutils or the GNU binutils, all these things
cannot be read by the weak telepathic skills we have :(

My guess in the AIX case is that the installed GCC was built to use
the GNU binutils but Vardhan has only the native AIX binutils and the
'ld' in them cannot read the (in GCC build) produced 'libgcc.a' :

collect2: libgcc.a: cannot open as COFF file

Should the GNU ld give an error message like this (via 'collect') ?