MinGWx86-x64 Rant

[3hM2Nwbp]

After 2 weeks of fiddling with this junk, I've yet to be able to use the mingw port to build 32 bit applications. I've downloaded a grand total of around 4GB of attempted installations / hacks / workarounds with absolutely no success. The instructions simply say, to produce 32 bit executables, simply pass the compiler the -m32 flag. Upon passing the flag, something breaks. Google has turned up absolutely no hits as to how to fix it.

Guess I'll stick with Microsoft. Their product works.

</rant>

[Peter87]

If you want 32 bits, why not use the normal MinGW? It should be much more stable.

[3hM2Nwbp]

I'm trying to set up a build environment for 32 & 64 bit compilations, eventually for multiple operating systems. The job that I'm currently working on involves interacting with a JVM, and that requires builds that suit the various versions of VMs that the clients run.

I'd like to have it where I can just flip a switch and generate the desired build rather than having to reconfigure my toolchain. I really like what the GCC crew is doing with the new standard, but the distribution seems so unintuitive to me. :(

[chrisname]

Have you tried it with Cygwin or does it have to be with MinGW? Cygwin is a lot better IMO.

[3hM2Nwbp]

This is all so stupid. I give up on GNU products.

[chrisname]

That's silly, especially considering that MinGW is not a GNU "product".

[3hM2Nwbp]

I appreciate the help offered, but right now it all looks the same to me. Just another download that won't compile code. I apologize for my lack of insight on the open-source world, but at the moment, I'm very aggravated at the whole mess. I'll be a week clearing out C:\failed_installations at this point.

[Texan40]

Download the lastest mingw-get-inst. Run it and it will install (will even pull the "latest" versions of gcc and components over the network as it installs if you wish). This will get you the 32-bit version. The 64-bit version doesn't have the same accessibility yet but you can just download the entire binary installation (be sure it has it's own root folder as x86 and x64 don't play well together in the same root folder) I've been using mingw and Code::Blocks for a few years now with great results.

EDIT: You can also tell it to install MSYS as well which is a *nix-esque command line interface.
There are lots of howtos and faqs out there for exactly what you want to do.

[1yR4jE8b]

http://tdm-gcc.tdragon.net/download

You're welcome.

[xander333]

I use TDM-GCC aswell, works like a charm.

[3hM2Nwbp]

Well, I installed TDM-GCC...thanks for the link! And now ld.exe experiences an appcrash whenever I attempt to build my project. I'm really getting no-where with this. :-\

[1yR4jE8b]

maybe it's a path issue?

[chrisname]

Does ld print anything on the terminal before it crashes?

[3hM2Nwbp]

I just went out and bought another box and installed Linux on it. I've given up on getting it to work on Windows. Thanks everyone for the help though.

[1yR4jE8b]

If you couldn't get TDM to work, then it is most definitely PEBKAC.

[Catfish]

Guess I'll stick with Microsoft. Their product works.

. . .

I'm trying to set up a build environment for 32 & 64 bit compilations, eventually for multiple operating systems.

Does not compute.

Use a Linux instead (MinGW will still be available) or
Use the automated downloading installer. This isn't DJGPP, for which you download the parts by hand.

[1yR4jE8b]

Also, if you're compiling from Linux you can use MinGW on Linux to cross compile windows binaries. You can also test them against Wine this way.