From: Dave Bird <dave AT xemu DOT demon DOT co DOT uk>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: GDB to debug Masm/Nasn output?
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 02:11:25 +0000
Organization: very little
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 <36cf4632 DOT 80880437 AT news DOT cso DOT uiuc DOT edu>
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In article <36cf4632 DOT 80880437 AT news DOT cso DOT uiuc DOT edu>, Peter Johnson writes:
>Dave Bird wrote:
>>
>>  Can I debug MASM (or NASM) output with GDB or similar?  I can't use
>>  CodeView because it will reset large segment limits back to 64K or
>>  TubboDebug because it won't let me allocate loads of memory;
>>  apparently if I use masm's LINK /CO then I am producing COFF output.
>>  However, GDB says "wrong file format" -- even though according to
>>  the FAQ it should run EXE as well as COFF --
>
>The problem is that specifying the /CO option to MASM does produce
>COFF object files, 

 erm, that's "to LINK" (LINK /CO).

>but they don't contain sections named ".text",
>".data", etc.  Also, you won't be able to debug programs unless they
>were linked with ld (the DJGPP/GNU linker).  I have been able to get
>MASM-assembled code to link successfully with ld by hexediting the
>section names in the object file.  However, in general, I think you'll
>have more success with NASM, as long as you link with ld!

 OK, I'll get NASM, as that seems a fairly straightforward solution.

 It might be worth a note in the FAQ -- eventually -- though, fair do's,
 what I am trying is a bit non-standard and not all that frequent. 

>>BEGIN FAQ QUOTE=======================================================[
>>
>>12.4 GDB would not debug unless it sees COFF output 
>>
>>Q: I try invoking GDB on my program, but it says: "not in executable
>>format: File format not recognized." Huh? 
>>+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
>>A: Most probably, you've invoked GDB from DJGPP v2.0 on a .exe program.
>>Debuggers which come with DJGPP v2.01 can debug COFF and .exe programs
>>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>alike, so upgrading to v2.01 should solve this problem. 

  INSERT: (though probably not for files produced by MASM and LINK
  or even LINK /CO -- you would need to use NASM and LD instead).

>>========================================================]END FAQ QUOTE.

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