Building GCC for a.out executables
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:18 pm
Before I say anything, I'd like to say that I know exactly why I shouldn't build an operating system around a.out executables, but ELF doesn't fit with my needs so I'm avoiding it. I'm going to be ignoring anyone who says "Why don't you just use X format instead?" because that doesn't answer my question. Also, I'll just say it here: I haven't tried all the options I could. I know. I have an extremely old and slow computer and it takes me forever to compile anything, so I'd rather try to find the solution BEFORE trial and error.
Currently, I'm trying to build a GCC Cross-Compiler. I've done this before with other toolchains so I'm fairly confident the problem isn't in my host compiler. I'm trying to compile it all with my target as i386-aout, which it automatically turns into i386-pc-aout. It gets through binutils fine up to ld, at which point it fails, informing me that:
Well, I checked configure.tgt and found the only reference to i386 and aout is here:
Which (I think, from my guessing how tgt works) indicates that I should be using i386-msdos-aout instead of i386-pc-aout. I'm at a point here where I could figure out more on my own but I'm having a hard time finding documentation on GCC for aout so I figured I'd just ask to see if anyone else can help me. Should I use i386-msdos-aout instead, or would that give me some other trouble?
Currently, I'm trying to build a GCC Cross-Compiler. I've done this before with other toolchains so I'm fairly confident the problem isn't in my host compiler. I'm trying to compile it all with my target as i386-aout, which it automatically turns into i386-pc-aout. It gets through binutils fine up to ld, at which point it fails, informing me that:
Code: Select all
*** ld does not support target i386-pc-aout
*** see ld/configure.tgt for supported targets
Code: Select all
i[3-7]86-*-msdos*) targ_emul=i386msdos targ_extra_emuls=i386aout targ_extra_ofiles= ;;