windres from WinLibs GCC 14.1.0 r2 fails when trying to compile a resource file

[luisdallos]

When I try to compile a resource file with windres utility from current WinLibs GCC 14.1.0 release (r2), the following error shows up:

windres -i test.rc -o test.o --include-dir=.
windres: bfd_set_arch_mach(aarch64): cause of error unknown

Looks like that binutils is being built with support for some extra targets as shown in windres help screen (windres --help | grep -F "supported").

• 32-bit windres:

  • Current output:

    windres.exe: supported targets: pe-i386 pe-bigobj-i386 pei-i386 elf32-i386 elf32-iamcu pdb elf32-little elf32-big pe-x86-64 pei-x86-64 pe-bigobj-x86-64 elf64-x86-64 elf64-little elf64-big pe-aarch64-little pei-aarch64-little elf64-littleaarch64 elf64-bigaarch64 elf32-littleaarch64 elf32-bigaarch64 elf32-littlearm elf32-bigarm srec symbolsrec verilog tekhex binary ihex plugin

  • Expected output (windres from WinLibs GCC 14.1.0 r1):

    windres.exe: supported targets: pe-i386 pe-bigobj-i386 pei-i386 elf32-i386 elf32-iamcu pdb elf32-little elf32-big srec symbolsrec verilog tekhex binary ihex plugin

• 64-bit windres:

  • Current output:

    windres.exe: supported targets: pe-x86-64 pei-x86-64 pe-bigobj-x86-64 elf64-x86-64 pe-i386 pei-i386 elf32-i386 elf32-iamcu pdb elf64-little elf64-big elf32-little elf32-big pe-bigobj-i386 pe-aarch64-little pei-aarch64-little elf64-littleaarch64 elf64-bigaarch64 elf32-littleaarch64 elf32-bigaarch64 elf32-littlearm elf32-bigarm srec symbolsrec verilog tekhex binary ihex plugin

  • Expected output (windres from WinLibs GCC 14.1.0 r1):

    windres.exe: supported targets: pe-x86-64 pei-x86-64 pe-bigobj-x86-64 elf64-x86-64 pe-i386 pei-i386 elf32-i386 elf32-iamcu pdb elf64-little elf64-big elf32-little elf32-big srec symbolsrec verilog tekhex binary ihex plugin

Also, in $MSYSTEM_PREFIX/$MSYSTEM_CHOST/lib/ldscripts/ folder there are some extra LD scripts, namely aarch64pe*.x*, arm64pe*.x* and i386pep*.x* (the latter set being expected in x86_64 binutils though).

This issue may be related with changes recently introduced in binutils.winlib recipe at commit 4df9c70

[luisdallos]

UPDATE: Issue already reported at #221.

[brechtsanders]

I am hoping and somewhat preparing to include Windows on ARM (aarch64) as soon as it becomes available. Hopefully GCC 15 will be the release where it is finally supported.

I can reproduce the errors (only with the 64-bit target though).

But what I don't understand is why adding the extra target support to binutils breaks it.

Did I miss some configuration parameter to make it default to the desired platform architecture?

[sisyphus]

But what I don't understand is why adding the extra target support to binutils breaks it.

Yes - that seems odd.
Assuming that "pe-x86-64" is the correct target (because it's the one mentioned first in windres --help), I had tried inserting --target=pe-x86-64 into the windres command, but the same error still occurred.

Is there some way I should be able enforce the default ?

[brechtsanders]

No idea. This looks broken. I have switched back to building binutils for one specific target only, and updated the latest the files for the latest 2 releases.

[sisyphus]

I have switched back to building binutils for one specific target only, and updated the latest the files for the latest 2 releases.

Thank you !!
This fixes my (closed) issue over at #221