Linking examples fails with empty_file.c.obj not found.

[Tage Korsdal Nielsen]

Completed manual*) install of nRF Connect SDK 2.2.0, zephyr-sdk-0.15.1. 

The project is placed in C:\dev\peripheral_nfc_pairing

The SDK in: C:\dev\ncs

Build output:

[244/255] Linking C static library zephyr\kernel\libkernel.a
[245/255] Linking C executable zephyr\zephyr_pre0.elf
FAILED: zephyr/zephyr_pre0.elf zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map C:/dev/peripheral_nfc_pairing/build/zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map
cmd.exe /C "cd . && C:\Users\tnielsen\zephyr-sdk-0.15.1\arm-zephyr-eabi\bin\arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc.exe -gdwarf-4 @CMakeFiles\zephyr_pre0.rsp -o zephyr\zephyr_pre0.elf && cmd.exe /C "cd /D C:\dev\peripheral_nfc_pairing\build\zephyr && "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" -E echo ""
c:/users/tnielsen/zephyr-sdk-0.15.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-zephyr-eabi/12.1.0/../../../../arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/ld.exe: cannot find zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr_pre0.dir/misc/empty_file.c.obj: No such file or directory
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.

The empty_file.c really is a empty source file - apparently not generating an empty object file.

*) The tool manager would not detect SDK versions above 1.9.1, and found this as an unresolved issue on dev zone, so went with the manual install.

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Hi,

Can you try to build the Zephyr Hello World sample, and see if you get the same error?

It is located at ncs/zephyr/samples/hello_world

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[Tage Korsdal Nielsen]

ncs/zephyr/samples/hello_worlds builds ok.

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Hi,

That is interesting.

Do other samples in the nRF Connect SDK also build?
Which work and which builds and which don't?

What is the contents of your peripheral_nfc_pairing/build folder?

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[Tage Korsdal Nielsen]

I tried building the examples inside ncs instead - result is the same:

[246/256] Linking C executable zephyr\zephyr_pre0.elf
FAILED: zephyr/zephyr_pre0.elf zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map C:/dev/ncs/nrf/samples/bluetooth/peripheral_nfc_pairing/build/zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map
cmd.exe /C "cd . && C:\Users\tnielsen\zephyr-sdk-0.15.1\arm-zephyr-eabi\bin\arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc.exe -gdwarf-4 @CMakeFiles\zephyr_pre0.rsp -o zephyr\zephyr_pre0.elf && cmd.exe /C "cd /D C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_nfc_pairing\build\zephyr && "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" -E echo ""
c:/users/tnielsen/zephyr-sdk-0.15.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-zephyr-eabi/12.1.0/../../../../arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/ld.exe: cannot find zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr_pre0.dir/misc/empty_file.c.obj: No such file or directory

6505.build.zip

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

I can find "empty_file.c.obj" in the build folder, so the main suspect is the windows max path length here.

Try the following three things:

1. build the peripheral_lbs sample
2. Install zephyr-sdk-0.15.1 to a shorter path, for example "C:/zephyr-sdk-0.15.1
3. Install the nRF Connect SDK to a shorter path, for example C:/ncs

At a glance, it seems like your paths should be short enough, but it is worth to try to fix this.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[Tage Korsdal Nielsen]

Hi Sigurd, 

I have moved the Zephyr SDK as you suggested, and tried to build peripheral_lbs. Same result.

I tried to build from the command line, and it yielded the following interesting result:

C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_lbs>west build -b nrf52dk_nrf52832
[1/11] Linking C executable zephyr\zephyr_pre0.elf
FAILED: zephyr/zephyr_pre0.elf zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map C:/dev/ncs/nrf/samples/bluetooth/peripheral_lbs/build/zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map
cmd.exe /C "cd . && C:\zephyr-sdk-0.15.1\arm-zephyr-eabi\bin\arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc.exe -gdwarf-4 @CMakeFiles\zephyr_pre0.rsp -o zephyr\zephyr_pre0.elf && cmd.exe /C "cd /D C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_lbs\build\zephyr && "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" -E echo ""
c:/zephyr-sdk-0.15.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-zephyr-eabi/12.1.0/../../../../arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/ld.exe: cannot find ´╗┐zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr_pre0.dir/misc/empty_file.c.obj: No such file or directory
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.

So it looks like cmake or some other build generation tool inserts garbage in the search path.

I took the tools dtc, git and gperf from Cygwin - can that be the cause? Do you or zephyr have an official download of these support tools for windows, that you use in your test?

Ninja was installed from a previous automated nRF Connect install.

My support tools are:

C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_lbs>ninja --version
1.10.0

C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_lbs>gperf --version
GNU gperf 3.1
Copyright (C) 1989-2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <gnu.org/.../gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Written by Douglas C. Schmidt and Bruno Haible.

C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_lbs>dtc --version
Version: DTC 1.6.1-g2cd89f86-dirty

C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_lbs>git --version
git version 2.39.0

C:\dev\ncs\nrf\samples\bluetooth\peripheral_lbs>cmake --version
cmake version 3.25.1

CMake suite maintained and supported by Kitware (kitware.com/cmake).

rgds Tage

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Hi,

I do not know of such a list.
But I will ask around a bit and see what I can find.

If you use the Automatic Install with our Toolchain Manager app, the Toolchain Manager will download all the tools as well, and run the nRF Connect SDK in an environment with the tools.
Could this be an alternative for you?

If I do not find a public list, I will go through all the tools I have installed myself, and provide you the versions manually.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[Tage Korsdal Nielsen]

Hi

I could, but my initial problem is that Toolchain Manager does not show SDK version beyond 1.9.1:

Also, I would prefer to have a revision neutral path for ncs, and control revision with git.

rgds Tage