Not able to compile C++ program with libbgi.a on Netbeans (Cygwin)

Question

I am trying to compile an old graphics.h based animation program. I downloaded libbgi.a and its associated header files from WinBGIm and followed instructions from here (It was for Codeblocks but I tried to follow similar steps for Netbeans). When I tried to build it shows error during linking (as below).

Please tell me what's wrong?

The libbgi.a is in /lib/ folder and its associated header files are in /usr/include folder.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <graphics.h>
#include <string.h>

int main() {
    int gdriver = DETECT, gmode, errorcode;
    initgraph(&gdriver, &gmode, (char*) "");
    errorcode = graphresult();
    /* an error occurred */
    if (errorcode != grOk) {
       printf("Graphics error: %s\n", grapherrormsg(errorcode));
       printf("Press any key to halt:");
       getch();
       exit(1);
    }

    getch();
    closegraph();
    return 0;
}

Error message:

g++ -m64    -o dist/Debug/Cygwin-Windows/bouncingballbgi build/Debug/Cygwin-Windows/bouncing_ball.o /cygdrive/D/softwares/cygwin64/lib/libbgi.a -lbgi -lgdi32 -lcomdlg32 -luuid -loleaut32 -lole32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /lib/../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /lib/../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /lib/../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/../lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/libbgi.a when searching for -lbgi
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lbgi
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

Edit:

Following the below steps:

mkdir junk; cd junk
ar x /usr/lib/libbgi.a
file *.o

I got this output:

dibutil.o:   Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 4 sections, symbol offset=0x1b7c, 44 symbols
drawing.o:   Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 6 sections, symbol offset=0x5590, 126 symbols
file.o:      Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 4 sections, symbol offset=0x6fc, 30 symbols
misc.o:      Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 6 sections, symbol offset=0x1840, 83 symbols
mouse.o:     Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 4 sections, symbol offset=0x448, 21 symbols
palette.o:   Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 3 sections, symbol offset=0x116, 16 symbols
text.o:      Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 8 sections, symbol offset=0x1c0c, 85 symbols
winbgi.o:    Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 16 sections, symbol offset=0x319c, 128 symbols
winthread.o: Intel 80386 COFF object file, no line number info, not stripped, 27 sections, symbol offset=0x84fe, 130 symbols

Edit2:

On compiling the code with 32-bit mode (-m32 flag), I got these errors:

g++ -m32    -o dist/Debug/Cygwin-Windows/bouncingballbgi build/Debug/Cygwin-Windows/bouncing_ball.o /cygdrive/D/softwares/cygwin64/lib/libbgi.a -lbgi -lgdi32 -lcomdlg32 -luuid -loleaut32 -lole32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libgdi32.a when searching for -lgdi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libgdi32.a when searching for -lgdi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libgdi32.a when searching for -lgdi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgdi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libcomdlg32.a when searching for -lcomdlg32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libcomdlg32.a when searching for -lcomdlg32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libcomdlg32.a when searching for -lcomdlg32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lcomdlg32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libuuid.a when searching for -luuid
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libuuid.a when searching for -luuid
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libuuid.dll.a when searching for -luuid
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libuuid.a when searching for -luuid
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libuuid.dll.a when searching for -luuid
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -luuid
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/liboleaut32.a when searching for -loleaut32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/liboleaut32.a when searching for -loleaut32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/liboleaut32.a when searching for -loleaut32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -loleaut32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libole32.a when searching for -lole32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libole32.a when searching for -lole32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libole32.a when searching for -lole32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lole32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libstdc++.dll.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libstdc++.a when searching for -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lstdc++
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libcygwin.a when searching for -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libcygwin.a when searching for -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../libcygwin.a when searching for -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lcygwin
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libadvapi32.a when searching for -ladvapi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libadvapi32.a when searching for -ladvapi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libadvapi32.a when searching for -ladvapi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -ladvapi32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libshell32.a when searching for -lshell32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libshell32.a when searching for -lshell32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libshell32.a when searching for -lshell32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lshell32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libuser32.a when searching for -luser32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libuser32.a when searching for -luser32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libuser32.a when searching for -luser32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -luser32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libkernel32.a when searching for -lkernel32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libkernel32.a when searching for -lkernel32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/w32api/libkernel32.a when searching for -lkernel32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lkernel32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc_s.dll.a when searching for -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc_s
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0//libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: skipping incompatible /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/libgcc.a when searching for -lgcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-cygwin/6.4.0/../../../../x86_64-pc-cygwin/bin/ld: cannot find -lgcc
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

You're building a 64-bit application. Is the library pre-built as a 64-bit library? — Some programmer dude, Aug 12 '19 at 13:22
@Someprogrammerdude, how can I know whether it is built as 64-bit or 32-bit? On the website it isn't written anywhere whether the library is for 32-bit or 64-bit. — kiner_shah, Aug 12 '19 at 13:23
Running the command `file /usr/lib/libbgi.a` might give a hint. As might the description or text on the page where you found and downloaded it. — Some programmer dude, Aug 12 '19 at 13:25
@Someprogrammerdude, I have updated the question, but I don't understand much from the output! — kiner_shah, Aug 12 '19 at 13:28
"Intel 80**386** COFF object file" It's a very old 32-bit build. — Some programmer dude, Aug 12 '19 at 13:30

CristiFati · Answer 1 · 2019-08-14T14:16:02.417

Although gcc's -m32 ([GNU.GCC]: x86 Options) works well, on Cygwin there are some issues.

Just to recap, you're trying to build a 32bit application (using some 32bit built static lib) on a 64bit Cygwin.
Even if there is a series of steps that would allow you to achieve your goal, the simplest way is to install the 32bit gcc toolchain.

Example:

[cfati@cfati-5510-0:/cygdrive/e/Work/Dev/StackOverflow/q057461809]> ~/sopr.sh
*** Set shorter prompt to better fit when pasted in StackOverflow (or other) pages ***

[064bit prompt]> uname -a
CYGWIN_NT-10.0 cfati-5510-0 3.0.7(0.338/5/3) 2019-04-30 18:08 x86_64 Cygwin
[064bit prompt]>
[064bit prompt]> which g++
/usr/bin/g++
[064bit prompt]> GPPS="/usr/bin/g++ /usr/bin/x86_64-pc-cygwin-g++.exe /usr/bin/i686-pc-cygwin-g++.exe"
[064bit prompt]> echo ${GPPS}
/usr/bin/g++ /usr/bin/x86_64-pc-cygwin-g++.exe /usr/bin/i686-pc-cygwin-g++.exe
[064bit prompt]>
[064bit prompt]> for GPP in ${GPPS}; do ll ${GPP}; done
-rwxr-xr-x 4 cfati None 936467 Dec  9  2018 /usr/bin/g++
-rwxr-xr-x 4 cfati None 936467 Dec  9  2018 /usr/bin/x86_64-pc-cygwin-g++.exe
-rwxr-xr-x 2 cfati None 931347 Apr 17  2018 /usr/bin/i686-pc-cygwin-g++.exe
[064bit prompt]>
[064bit prompt]> for GPP in ${GPPS}; do md5sum ${GPP}; done
71b02af056efb46a3e66279ce80e554f */usr/bin/g++
71b02af056efb46a3e66279ce80e554f */usr/bin/x86_64-pc-cygwin-g++.exe
4642d1d76335bf5394e7c0917acf13d0 */usr/bin/i686-pc-cygwin-g++.exe
[064bit prompt]>
[064bit prompt]> for GPP in ${GPPS}; do cygcheck -f ${GPP}; done
gcc-g++-7.4.0-1
gcc-g++-7.4.0-1
cygwin32-gcc-g++-7.3.0-1

As seen, g++ and x86_64-pc-cygwin-g++ are the same (normally, the former should be a symlink to the latter), while i686-pc-cygwin-g++ is what you need.
Install its package (cygwin32-gcc-g++-*) and all its dependencies (as shown below) and use that executable when attempting to build.

As an alternative, you could install the 32bit Cygwin (the 2 variants can happily coexist on the same machine - I have them both installed on my laptop) and try to build there.

For more details on 64bit / 32bit compatibilities, check [SO]: Can you run a 32 bit Cygwin application in a 64 bit installation? (@CristiFati's answer).

Thanks for the response. I thought that it may be due to running wrong g++ version and I needed 32-bit Cygwin. Another alternative I thought was to build the library from source so that library is built using 64-bit, but that introduced compilation errors which were related to some functions of Win32 API. It seems installing 32-bit Cygwin / MinGW is the only option left. Again, thanks for such a detailed answer :-) — kiner_shah, Aug 14 '19 at 14:04
So it doesn't work when using */usr/bin/i686-pc-cygwin-g++* (instead of *g++*) to build your project? — CristiFati, Aug 14 '19 at 14:08
Strangely i686-pc-cygwin-g++ isn't there in /usr/bin! Is it some installation issue? — kiner_shah, Aug 14 '19 at 14:12
As I stated (and showed in the image - the selection) you have to install its package. — CristiFati, Aug 14 '19 at 14:15
I tried to install i686-pc-cygwin-g++, installed it but couldn't get it working after trying for hours. I finally decided to download codeblocks with MinGW32. But, the program crashed. I found out that library had some bugs in header files, and had to be built again after corrections. But, fortunately somebody had come up with the issue and had uploaded corrected files, so that saved some effort. Finally got it working. :-) — kiner_shah, Aug 15 '19 at 08:19

Not able to compile C++ program with libbgi.a on Netbeans (Cygwin)

1 Answers1