How can I compile a hybrid (asm, C) source code into a 32bit program?

Question

I am using Cygwin under Win7 in a 64-bit machine.

The following program compiles in 64-bit mode without any issue.

makefile

runme: main.cpp asm.o
    g++ main.cpp asm.o -o executable

asm.o: asm.asm
    nasm -f elf64 asm.asm -o asm.o

asm.asm

section .data
section .bss
section .text
    global GetValueFromASM

GetValueFromASM:
    mov eax, 9
    ret

main.cpp

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

extern "C" int GetValueFromASM();

int main()
{
    cout<<"GetValueFromASM() returned = "<<GetValueFromASM()<<endl;

    return 0;
}

But, I want to compile it in 32-bit mode. So, I changed elf64 to elf and my new makefile looks like the following:

makefile

runme: main.cpp asm.o
    g++ main.cpp asm.o -o executable

asm.o: asm.asm
    nasm -f elf asm.asm -o asm.o

But, I am getting the following error:

$ make
nasm -f elf asm.asm -o asm.o
g++ main.cpp asm.o -o executable
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: i386 
architecture of input file `asm.o' is incompatible with i386:x86-64 output
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [makefile:4: runme] Error 1

What could be the reason?

How can I get around this issue?

Edit-1: I have added -m32 option in g++. Now, the error is as follows:

$ make
g++ -m32 main.cpp asm.o -o executable
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../libcygwin.a when searching for -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../libcygwin.a when searching for -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../libcygwin.a when searching for -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -ladvapi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lshell32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -luser32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lkernel32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/7.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [makefile:4: runme] Error 1

You need to tell g++ as well that you want 32 bit output. Add `-m32` option. — Jester, Apr 03 '19 at 14:24
64-bit MINGW does not support generating 32-bit executable files that simply. A lot of library files are missing... — Martin Rosenau, Apr 03 '19 at 14:41
If you want to get the libraries the easy way, here is my suggestion: Remove cygwin and Install msys2 from msys2.org run in msys2 shell: "pacman -S base-devel mingw-w64-i686-toolchain mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain mingw-w64-x86_64-nasm" Add the following to path: "C:\msys64\usr\bin" and depending on which you want default "C:\msys64\mingw64\bin" or "C:\msys64\mingw32\bin" Also it is easy to update, just run "pacman -Syu" from time to time. — nulleight, Apr 03 '19 at 15:21
You can search packages and libs to install with "pacman -Ss " You can also install nano editor or mc (midnight commander) if you are a linux user and have to use windows. Also when you install make, you have to call it with "mingw32-make" instead of just make. There are also alot of libraries and tools like python with both 64 and 32 bit installable side by side. — nulleight, Apr 03 '19 at 16:26
Where did you get *nasm*? What about installing *32bit* *Cygwin* as well? Check https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54206577/can-you-run-a-32-bit-cygwin-application-in-a-64-bit-installation/54216105#54216105. — CristiFati, Apr 03 '19 at 18:23
Sure, I've also checked *setup.exe* (should have done it before posting the comment). — CristiFati, Apr 03 '19 at 18:26

CristiFati · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-04T01:31:33.653

As I pointed it out in the comment, [SO]: Can you run a 32 bit Cygwin application in a 64 bit installation? (@CristiFati's answer) contains lots of useful info.

I want to start with 2 observations:

gcc 64bit needs the -m32 flag (and viceversa: gcc 32bit needs -m64), otherwise they will generate binaries that match their CPU architecture. 32bit and 64bit object (.o) files are incompatible (when passed to the linker) and it will fail
Cygwin (including gcc) uses Win executables format or PE ([Wikipedia]: Portable Executable). nasm's output formats (elf32 and elf64) generate ELFs ([Wikipedia]: Executable and Linkable Format). I don't know how this works (well obviously, somewhere a format conversion takes place, but I don't know where exactly). For rigorousity's sake, I'll be using their Win counterparts (win32 and win64) which work as well (check nasm -hf)

I too encountered the same behavior on Cygwin 32 (before you edited the question):

[cfati@cfati-5510-0:/cygdrive/e/Work/Dev/StackOverflow/q055497459]> ~/sopr.sh
*** Set shorter prompt to better fit when pasted in StackOverflow (or other) pages ***

[prompt]> uname -a
CYGWIN_NT-10.0-WOW cfati-5510-0 2.11.2(0.329/5/3) 2018-11-08 14:30 i686 Cygwin
[prompt]>
[prompt]> ls
asm.asm  asm.o  builds  main.cpp  Makefile
[prompt]> make
MAKE Version 5.2  Copyright (c) 1987, 1998 Inprise Corp.
        g++  -o main.o -c  main.cpp
        g++   -o executable main.o asm.o -lstdc++
main.o:main.cpp:(.text+0x5a): undefined reference to `GetValueFromASM'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

** error 1 ** deleting executable

I must mention that I don't have nasm installed here, so I've built (the 32bit) asm.o on Cygwin 64. Since switching between terminals is annoying, I completely switched to Cygwin 64, where I have the 32bit gcc (i686-pc-cygwin-gcc) installed.

I've also modified 2 of your files (Makefile can be improved a lot, but that's not the main focus now).

main.cpp:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

extern "C" int GetValueFromASM();


int main() {
    cout << "sizeof(void*): " << sizeof(void*) << endl;
    cout << "GetValueFromASM() returned: " << GetValueFromASM() << endl;

    return 0;
}

Makefile:

.PHONY: all clean executable

objects = main.o asm.o
cpp = g++
cpp = i686-pc-cygwin-gcc
#m32_flag = -m32
asm_out_format = win32
#link_verbose_flag = -v

all: executable

clean:
    rm -f $(objects) executable

executable: $(objects)
    $(cpp) $(link_verbose_flag) $(m32_flag) -o $@ $(objects) -lstdc++

asm.o: asm.asm
    nasm -f $(asm_out_format) -o $@ $?

main.o: main.cpp
    $(cpp) $(m32_flag) -o $@ -c $?

After a few attempts, I identified the cause of the problem:

[cfati@cfati-5510-0:/cygdrive/e/Work/Dev/StackOverflow/q055497459]> ~/sopr.sh
*** Set shorter prompt to better fit when pasted in StackOverflow (or other) pages ***

[prompt]> uname -a
CYGWIN_NT-10.0 cfati-5510-0 3.0.5(0.338/5/3) 2019-03-31 11:17 x86_64 Cygwin
[prompt]>
[prompt]> ls
asm.asm  builds  main.cpp  Makefile
[prompt]> make
i686-pc-cygwin-gcc  -o main.o -c main.cpp
nasm -f win32 -o asm.o asm.asm
i686-pc-cygwin-gcc   -o executable main.o asm.o -lstdc++
main.o:main.cpp:(.text+0x5a): undefined reference to `GetValueFromASM'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [Makefile:17: executable] Error 1
[prompt]>
[prompt]> nm -S asm.o | grep GetValueFromASM
00000000 T GetValueFromASM
[prompt]>
[prompt]> nm -S main.o | grep GetValueFromASM
         U _GetValueFromASM

So (notice the GetValueFromASM vs. _GetValueFromASM mismatch), it's a matter of name mangling (although the error message is not very helpful) that happens on Win (32bit only).
[SO]: Adding leading underscores to assembly symbols with GCC on Win32? (@ephemient's answer) did the trick (there are other solutions, but they don't look very nice). All you need to do is changing GetValueFromASM's declaration to:

extern "C" int GetValueFromASM() asm ("GetValueFromASM");

and after building (on Cygwin 64):

[prompt]> uname -a
CYGWIN_NT-10.0-WOW cfati-5510-0 2.11.2(0.329/5/3) 2018-11-08 14:30 i686 Cygwin
[prompt]>
[prompt]> file executable.exe
executable.exe: PE32 executable (console) Intel 80386, for MS Windows
[prompt]> ./executable.exe
sizeof(void*): 4
GetValueFromASM() returned: 9

How can I compile a hybrid (asm, C) source code into a 32bit program?

makefile

asm.asm

main.cpp

makefile

1 Answers1

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