DJGPP FAQ -- GDB would not debug unless it sees COFF output

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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. That version of GDB needs to be called with the name of un-stubbed COFF executable as its argument. To get both a .exe and a COFF file, you should make your link command line look this way:

      gcc -o foo foo.o

instead of

      gcc -o foo.exe foo.o

(the latter will only produce foo.exe, while the former produces both foo, the COFF executable which gdb needs, and foo.exe).

To produce a COFF file from a .exe program, use the EXE2COFF program which comes with DJGPP, like this:

      exe2coff foo.exe

Debuggers which come with DJGPP v2.01 can debug COFF and .exe programs alike, so upgrading to v2.01 should solve this problem.

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Copyright ⌐ 1998 by Eli Zaretskii	Updated Sep 1998

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