Hi, It's been a while since I've built a cross-gcc, and I haven't yet tried it with the latest mspgcc4. If I get time, then I too will try it. But in the meantime, let me make a few general points that might be of interest or help.
There is no doubt that it is easier to build a cross-gcc using cygwin rather than mingw. This is because cygwin has a very thick interface layer between the programs and the underlying Windows API, so that cygwin programs see a very Linux-like environment. For example, programs can use fork, filesystem links, etc., which non-cygwin programs cannot do on windows. Thus there are also far more Linux-style utilities for cygwin. There is no doubt that it is easier and faster to /use/ software built with mingw. This is because mingw does not have the cygwin layer - programs feel more "native" on windows, and run faster. One of the biggest issues with cygwin is the dreaded cygwin1.dll problem. Cygwin-generated tools require a number of dlls, and these come in many different versions. It's not too bad for programs that run for a bit then stop, but if you've got long-running cygwin programs (such as an rsync daemon, or a ssh client), it can be a real problem. It used to be particularly difficult to build a cross gcc with mingw, but it is a lot easier these days - standard gcc has full support for mingw as a host (and target). Most of the remaining issues were figured out by the avr-gcc developers a few years ago, and their patches were integrated into the mainline gcc. Virtually all windows versions of cross gcc toolchains are now mingw, whereas five years ago many were cygwin. One thing that will always cause trouble with mingw is documentation - makeinfo and friends. It is not worth the effort trying to get that to work correctly, as it is independent of the host. The documentation can be built with cygwin or on Linux, and copied over. In short, if you are building a windows toolchain for your own use, cygwin is the easiest method. But if you want other people to use it, or you want to use it on different machines or more efficiently, then build it with mingw. And if you want maximum geek points, try a Canadian Cross - use 64-bit Linux to build a 32-bit mingw-hosted compiler for the 16-bit msp430 :-) mvh., David On 22/02/2011 08:07, Matthias Hartmann wrote: > Mike, > yesterday, i build the 20110213 release successfully with MinGW. > Just makeinfo did not work for any reason. I will take a deeper look at > this. > > Points I had to fix: > - create a Minw/Msys environment with the needed modules > - create statically linked exe files insted linking against some dlls > from mingw ( just deleted *.dll.* from /mingw/lib and subdirs ) > - fix mpfr/Makefile for a \".libs/\\" problem ( > /-DLT_OBJDIR=\\"\.libs\/\\"/ ) > - bypass makeinfo problem ( i hope, I find a solution for that ) > - wrong lineendings if using git on windows with default settings, fixed > by git config --global core.autocrlf input > > Now i will test the build if it works with my devices and eclipse, gdbproxy. > > If you like, I may share more details. > > Best, Matthias > > Am 22.02.2011 07:26, schrieb Dan Bloomquist: >> Mike Van Emmerik wrote: >>> On 20 February 2011 23:22, Mike Van Emmerik<emme...@gmail.com >>> <mailto:emme...@gmail.com>> wrote: >>> >>> >>> I'm attempting to build the 20110213 release for MinGW/Windows. >>> >>> ... >>> No doubt there will be more problems. >>> >>> >>> Never a truer word was said. >> Mike, >> May I, from my experiences, you forget MinGW. It was nothing but junk >> when I took it around the block. Cygwin is first class, works without a >> thought. I'm thinking better than MS, which is what I use for my day job. >> >> Don't fence with windmills. Dump it and install cygwin. IMHO; it takes >> little time compared to what you are going through. >> >> Best, Dan. >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Index, Search & Analyze Logs and other IT data in Real-Time with Splunk Collect, index and harness all the fast moving IT data generated by your applications, servers and devices whether physical, virtual or in the cloud. Deliver compliance at lower cost and gain new business insights. Free Software Download: http://p.sf.net/sfu/splunk-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Mspgcc-users mailing list Mspgcc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mspgcc-users
