Syslinux - Dec 2007 - SYSLINUX doesn't build on RedHat 4

I grabbed the new SYSLINUX 3.54, but it refuses to build on my RedHat RHEL4
system:

# make
set -e ; for i in mbr  ; do make DATE=0x47606c42 HEXDATE=0x47606c42 -C $i all ;
done
make[1]: Entering directory `/scratch/syslinux-3.54/mbr'
gcc -m32 -ffreestanding  -march=i386 -Wa,-a=mbr.lst -c -o mbr.o mbr.S
as: option `-alternate' doesn't allow an argument
make[1]: *** [mbr.o] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/scratch/syslinux-3.54/mbr'
make: *** [all] Error 2

RHEL4 has this GCC compiler:
# gcc --version
gcc (GCC) 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-8)

Is there any fix or workaround ?

-- 
Ole Holm Nielsen
Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark,

Op 14-12-2007 om 09:36 schreef Ole Holm Nielsen:
> I grabbed the new SYSLINUX 3.54, but it refuses to build on my RedHat RHEL4
> system:
> 
> # make
> set -e ; for i in mbr  ; do make DATE=0x47606c42 HEXDATE=0x47606c42 -C $i
all ; done
> make[1]: Entering directory `/scratch/syslinux-3.54/mbr'
> gcc -m32 -ffreestanding  -march=i386 -Wa,-a=mbr.lst -c -o mbr.o mbr.S
> as: option `-alternate' doesn't allow an argument
> make[1]: *** [mbr.o] Error 1
> make[1]: Leaving directory `/scratch/syslinux-3.54/mbr'
> make: *** [all] Error 2
> 
> RHEL4 has this GCC compiler:
> # gcc --version
> gcc (GCC) 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-8)
> 
> Is there any fix or workaround ?
gcc version four piont something (4.x) ?


Geert Stappers
( not aware of which version of gcc is shipped with RH4 )

Ole Holm Nielsen wrote:
> I grabbed the new SYSLINUX 3.54, but it refuses to build on my RedHat RHEL4
> system:
> 
> # make
> set -e ; for i in mbr  ; do make DATE=0x47606c42 HEXDATE=0x47606c42 -C $i
all ; done
> make[1]: Entering directory `/scratch/syslinux-3.54/mbr'
> gcc -m32 -ffreestanding  -march=i386 -Wa,-a=mbr.lst -c -o mbr.o mbr.S
> as: option `-alternate' doesn't allow an argument
> make[1]: *** [mbr.o] Error 1
> make[1]: Leaving directory `/scratch/syslinux-3.54/mbr'
> make: *** [all] Error 2
> 
> RHEL4 has this GCC compiler:
> # gcc --version
> gcc (GCC) 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-8)
> 
> Is there any fix or workaround ?
> 
It's an issue with gas, not with gcc.

If you remove the -Wa,-a... argument from mbr/Makefile you can probably 
get it to build.  -a is supposed to be list file, not "-alternate".

	-hpa

> H. Peter Anvin wrote:
>> > Ole Holm Nielsen wrote:
>>> >> I grabbed the new SYSLINUX 3.54, but it refuses to build
on my RedHat RHEL4
>>> >> system:
...
>> > It's an issue with gas, not with gcc.
>> > 
>> > If you remove the -Wa,-a... argument from mbr/Makefile you can
probably
>> > get it to build.  -a is supposed to be list file, not
"-alternate".
Yes, that fixes "make" on RedHat RHEL4.  Thanks a lot.
> Anyway... the obvious workaround is to use "make installer" (see 
> distrib.doc).  You shouldn't need to rebuild the distributed binaries
on
> an old system.
Thanks.  I just needed a few SYSLINUX binaries for PXE booting and I didn't
realize that distrib.doc contained information relevant for me.  Turns out
that I probably don't need to "make" at all !  I'm trying to
document
the use of PXELINUX for administrators of Linux clusters, see
https://wiki.fysik.dtu.dk/niflheim/PXE-booting  (comments welcomed :-).

/Ole