On 05/11/2021 12:09, Anssi Saari wrote:
> Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> writes:
>
>> I'm actually hoping a x86_64 emulator already exists for ARM. I guess *worst
>> case* I could build a x86_64 cross-compiler hosted on ARM.
>
> Why is that the worst case? I've done cross compilation to MIPS and ARM
> a couple of times but not recently. Cross compilation was fine, mostly
> the problems I had were some software packages using build systems like
> the common Autotools in a way that was not compatible with cross
> compilation and required some fiddling. Or even a lot of fiddling.
>
I cant understand why, if you want an x86 target, you don't just grab a
second-hand WINPC and bang Linux on it, and cross mount a source
directory and compile on it using the command line - no need even for
screen and keyboard

My Pi code was all prototyped on a fast compiling x86 machine prior to
mounting the source directory on the pi and then typing "make clean; make;"
Cross compiling works, but is a lot easier to have the right CPU and
libraries handy for a target to compile and test upon.

--
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over
the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that
authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.

Frédéric Bastiat

At Fri, 05 Nov 2021 14:09:55 +0200 Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> wrote:

>
> Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> writes:
>
> > I'm actually hoping a x86_64 emulator already exists for ARM. I guess *worst
> > case* I could build a x86_64 cross-compiler hosted on ARM.
>
> Why is that the worst case? I've done cross compilation to MIPS and ARM
> a couple of times but not recently. Cross compilation was fine, mostly
> the problems I had were some software packages using build systems like
> the common Autotools in a way that was not compatible with cross
> compilation and required some fiddling. Or even a lot of fiddling.

Cross compiling to a target *OS*, as opposed to a micro-controller (which has
no bare-metal O/S), can be "interesting", since the build environment is not
quite the same as the target. And compiling gcc/g++ cross-compiler can take a
long time (well building an embeded ARMv7 target on an ARMv7 linux host took
like 72 hours and pushed close to the 1G RAM on a Pi3). And yes, the
Autotools are fiddly when cross building (at least for a MS-Windows target).
My build infrastructure is not really cleanly set up from cross-building to a
Linux target on a Linux host -- I suspect some fiddling with the
autoconf/aclocal/automake stuff would be needed, esp. since the
cross-compiling test assumes MS-Windows target on a Linux host.

>
>

--
Robert Heller -- Cell: 413-658-7953 GV: 978-633-5364
Deepwoods Software -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services
heller@deepsoft.com -- Webhosting Services

At Fri, 5 Nov 2021 14:15:12 +0000 The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>
> On 05/11/2021 12:09, Anssi Saari wrote:
> > Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> writes:
> >
> >> I'm actually hoping a x86_64 emulator already exists for ARM. I guess *worst
> >> case* I could build a x86_64 cross-compiler hosted on ARM.
> >
> > Why is that the worst case? I've done cross compilation to MIPS and ARM
> > a couple of times but not recently. Cross compilation was fine, mostly
> > the problems I had were some software packages using build systems like
> > the common Autotools in a way that was not compatible with cross
> > compilation and required some fiddling. Or even a lot of fiddling.
> >
> I cant understand why, if you want an x86 target, you don't just grab a
> second-hand WINPC and bang Linux on it, and cross mount a source
> directory and compile on it using the command line - no need even for
> screen and keyboard

It is another piece of hardware to maintain... (I do everything from the
command line and all of my build boxen are headless.) I am also getting fed
up with Intel and AMD processors and corresponding motherboard chipsets and I
really at the end of the line with laptops.

>
> My Pi code was all prototyped on a fast compiling x86 machine prior to
> mounting the source directory on the pi and then typing "make clean; make;"
> Cross compiling works, but is a lot easier to have the right CPU and
> libraries handy for a target to compile and test upon.
>

--
Robert Heller -- Cell: 413-658-7953 GV: 978-633-5364
Deepwoods Software -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services
heller@deepsoft.com -- Webhosting Services