From: Hans-Bernhard Broeker Newsgroups: gnu.gcc.help,comp.os.msdos.djgpp Subject: Re: re: bfd for omf Date: 4 Aug 2000 16:22:08 GMT Organization: Aachen University of Technology (RWTH) Lines: 30 Message-ID: <8meqjg$jlu$1@nets3.rz.RWTH-Aachen.DE> References: <3989B798 DOT C371D54B AT vvm DOT com> NNTP-Posting-Host: acp3bf.physik.rwth-aachen.de X-Trace: nets3.rz.RWTH-Aachen.DE 965406128 20158 137.226.32.75 (4 Aug 2000 16:22:08 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse AT rwth-aachen DOT de NNTP-Posting-Date: 4 Aug 2000 16:22:08 GMT Originator: broeker@ To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com In comp.os.msdos.djgpp Karl Rasmussen wrote: > I am considering writing a bfd to read and process the 16 bit omf object > format. Basically I want to use ld (with my new bfd) to link / locate > objects from gcc and a legacy 16 bit C compiler. There's going to *lots* extra trouble to sort out, besides that BFD backend. gcc itself doesn't know how to create 8086 code (16bit), either. > First: anyone already done this? (can't find anything, myself.) I don't think so. BFD never had support for 16bit OMF format (known simply as '.obj files', by most PC programmers). > Third: Any advice or wisdom? Is there not one because it fell below the > line on the priority / resource list, or is there some issue? It's been said that binutils still has some serious design bugs concerning any target architecture that is nowhere near 'VAXish', i.e. at least vaguely equivalent to a 32bit flat-memory machine. Neither gcc nor binutils expect having to work with a segmented memory model, I think. There's also some similar issues on the 'other' end of that spectrum, i.e. with modern 64bit processsors: some things don't work if you're in a cross-compiling environment. Have you had a look at DJ Delorie's long abandoned gcc-16bit project (found on the DJGPP home page), yet? -- Hans-Bernhard Broeker (broeker AT physik DOT rwth-aachen DOT de) Even if all the snow were burnt, ashes would remain.