mprime on FC4 on x86_64 : "cannot execute binary file"

[T.Rex]

Hum, I'm lost with all these versions.
I've just download the Linux [ms]prime2414.tar.gz files from freesoft.htm .

On a FedoraCore4 version for x86_64 running kernel 2.6.13 , I get the following message when launching mprime or sprime 24.14: "cannot execute binary file".

mprime-24.6 worked perfectly on the same machine but with a FedoraCore4 version for ia32. it also provides the same message with new FC4 for x86_64 .

What am I missing ?
Does it mean there is no Linux version available for x86_64 architecture ?

Thanks,
Tony

[Prime95]

Originally Posted by T.Rex

Does it mean there is no Linux version available for x86_64 architecture ?

Yes. Binutils cannot covert the COFF-64 object files to ELF-64 format.

[T.Rex]

Originally Posted by Prime95

Yes. Binutils cannot convert the COFF-64 object files to ELF-64 format.

Arghh. Are there plans for providing mprime on such an environment ?
Tony

[Prime95]

Originally Posted by T.Rex

Are there plans for providing mprime on such an environment ?

Only when binutils is updated. The onlt other alternative is rewriting all the asm code in a format a Linux assembler likes - ugh.

[Peter Nelson]

George,

I know this has come up before, but I was under the impression that recent versions of binutils might include this capability.

Within binutils, it is specifically the OBJCOPY that needs to support coff-64 to elf-64 translation.

From www.kernel.org/pub/linux/devel/binutils,

The latest binutils (22 August) looks like version

2.16.91.0.3-1

Even if you have not tried this version,

please could you tell us what binutils version you have on the machine where your compilation failed (are you still using FC3?)

Also are you able to post your (non-translated) coff-64 file(s) for us to have a go at?

[Prime95]

It's been a while since I last tried to run objcopy so the exact details are sketchy.

Here is a small sample obj file. Try ftp://mersenne.org/gimps/gianthlp.obj

[Peter Nelson]

Thanks for posting this George.

I can confirm I can successfully disassemble both the 64 bit object file (and its 32 bit equivalent in the source code archive) in COFF format using recent version of Microsoft tools.

Also I am investingating elf32 and elf64 formats. Of course these have different "magic number" at the start to identify.

If I can get either some binutils build to convert the coff64 to elf64 OR write myself a little conversion utility for such purpose I will report back.

I assume once the elf64 object files are available that the rest of the build process on linux will go smoothly.

[T.Rex]

Originally Posted by Prime95

Yes. Binutils cannot convert the COFF-64 object files to ELF-64 format.

If you recompile your Linux kernel after enabling the following option on a x86_64 machine (at least with 2.6.17 kernel, don't know before):
make menuconfig
Executbale file formats / Emulations
* IA32 Emulation
* IA32 a.out support
Then Prime95 works perfectly !!

T.

[TheJudger]

Tony:
x86 [ms]prime should work on nearly every x86_64 Linux distribution.
Some distributions don't install "x86 compatibility libs" by default.

SUSE 9.x / 10.x / SLES 9/10: yes, by default
Debian: no (at least not with minimal package selection)
RedHat-clones (CentOS, Scientific Linux): yes IIRC
RedHat (Fedora 3/4, RHEL 3/4): I'm pretty sure that I was able to run it without recompilation of the kernel.

[T.Rex]

Originally Posted by TheJudger

Tony:
x86 [ms]prime should work on nearly every x86_64 Linux distribution.

I forgot to say that we are using fresh kernels and that we have to recompile them, after recreating the .config file from scratch. So we missed that option on this (very) modified FC4. And I never used an un-modified FC4 on x86_64 previously.
Thanks for your information !
T.