[GHC] #13431: Linker error related to atan and ntdll on 32-bit Windows

16 Mar 2017

      #13431: Linker error related to atan and ntdll on 32-bit Windows
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
           Reporter:  RyanGlScott    |             Owner:  (none)
               Type:  bug            |            Status:  new
           Priority:  normal         |         Milestone:
          Component:  Compiler       |           Version:  8.0.1
           Keywords:                 |  Operating System:  Windows
       Architecture:  x86            |   Type of failure:  GHC rejects
                                     |  valid program
          Test Case:                 |        Blocked By:
           Blocking:                 |   Related Tickets:
Differential Rev(s):                 |         Wiki Page:
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
 That's a somewhat confusing title, so let me explain in more detail what I
 mean.

 I first noticed this issue when someone [https://github.com/idris-lang
 /Idris-dev/pull/3684 couldn't build Idris] on 32-bit Windows (using GHC
 7.8, 7.10, or 8.0). Trying to link the Idris executable resulted in this
 cryptic linker error:

 {{{
 Preprocessing executable 'idris' for idris-0.99.1...
 [1 of 1] Compiling Main             ( main\Main.hs, dist\build\idris
 \idris-tmp\Main.o )
 Linking dist\build\idris\idris.exe ...
 C:/Users/RyanGlScott/Software/ghc-8.0.1-x86/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-w64-mingw32/5.2.0/../../../../i686-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/libmsvcrt.a(dohds01059.o):(.idata$5+0x0):
 multiple definition of `_imp__atan'
 C:/Users/RyanGlScott/Software/ghc-8.0.1-x86/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-w64-mingw32/5.2.0/../../../../i686-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/libntdll.a(dgjjs01967.o):(.idata$5+0x0):
 first defined here
 collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
 `gcc.exe' failed in phase `Linker'. (Exit code: 1)
 }}}

 The culprit was apparently Idris's dependency on the `mintty` package. The
 important bit was that `mintty` lists `ntdll` as in the `extra-libraries`
 stanza of its `.cabal` file. As it turns out, you can also reproduce this
 with a more recent version of `Win32`, which also depends on `ntdll`.
 First, run these steps:

 {{{
 $ cabal get Win32
 $ cd Win32-2.5.2.0/
 $ cabal sandbox init
 $ cabal install . -w $(pwd)/../../../../Software/ghc-8.0.1-x86/bin/ghc
 }}}

 This will install the recent `Win32-2.5.2.0` in a sandbox (NB: I'm using
 32-bit Windows GHC 8.0.1 here). Now create this file (which I named
 `Bug.hs`):

 {{{
 module Main (main) where

 main :: IO ()
 main = print (atan 0.5 :: Double)
 }}}

 And you can reproduce the linker error like so:

 {{{
 $ ../../../../Software/ghc-8.0.1-x86/bin/ghc Bug.hs -package-db .cabal-
 sandbox/i386-windows-ghc-8.0.1-packages.conf.d/ -package Win32 -fforce-
 recomp
 [1 of 1] Compiling Main             ( Bug.hs, Bug.o )
 Linking Bug.exe ...
 C:/Users/RyanGlScott/Software/ghc-8.0.1-x86/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-w64-mingw32/5.2.0/../../../../i686-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/libmsvcrt.a(dohds01059.o):(.idata$5+0x0):
 multiple definition of `_imp__atan'
 C:/Users/RyanGlScott/Software/ghc-8.0.1-x86/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/i686-w64-mingw32/5.2.0/../../../../i686-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/libntdll.a(dgjjs01967.o):(.idata$5+0x0):
 first defined here
 collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
 `gcc.exe' failed in phase `Linker'. (Exit code: 1)
 }}}

 It's important to use 32-bit Windows GHC here, since I am unable to
 reproduce this with 64-bit Windows GHC.

--
Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/13431
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