If xmkmf and/or make succeeded without errors, you may proceed to the next section. However, in "real life", few things work right the first time. This is when your resourcefulness is put to the test. .:: management.ju.edu.jo ::.
Link error: -lX11: No such
file or directory, even after xmkmf has been invoked. This may mean
that the Imake file was not set up properly. Check the first
part of the [Natural language processing Repositories] Makefile for lines such as:
LIB= -L/usr/X11/lib
INCLUDE= -I/usr/X11/include/X11
LIBS= -lX11 -lc -lm
-L and -I switches tell the compiler and linker
where to look for the library and include files,
respectively. In this example, the X11 libraries should be in
the /usr/X11/lib directory, and the X11 include files
should be in the /usr/X11/include/X11 directory. If this is
incorrect for your machine, make the necessary changes to the
Makefile and try the make again.
/tmp/cca011551.o(.text+0x11): undefined reference to `cos'
math library,
by adding an -lm to the LIB or LIBS flags in
the Makefile (see previous example).
make -DUseInstalled -I/usr/X386/lib/X11/config
Makefiles use unrecognized aliases for libraries
present in your system. For example, the build may require
libX11.so.6, but there exists no such file or link in
/usr/X11R6/lib. Yet, there is a libX11.so.6.1. The
solution is to do a ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6.1
/usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6, as root. This may need to be followed
by a ldconfig.
R5 libs are named libX11.so.3.1.0,
libXaw.so.3.1.0, and libXt.so.3.1.0. You generally
need links, such as libX11.so.3 -> libX11.so.3.1.0. Possibly
the software will also need a link of the form libX11.so ->
libX11.so.3.1.0. Of course, to create a "missing" link, use the
command ln -s libX11.so.3.1.0 libX11.so, as root.
libc
version 5.4.4 or greater. Even the more recent StarOffice 5.0
will not run after installation with the new glibc 2.1 libs.
Fortunately, the newer StarOffice 5.1 solves these problems.
If running an older version of StarOffice you would, as
root, need to copy one or more libraries to the appropriate
directories, remove the old libraries, then reset the symbolic links
(check the latest version of the StarOffice miniHOWTO for more
information on this).
Caution: Exercise extreme care in this, as you can render your
system nonfunctional if you screw up. [ArXiv: XML Analysis]
You can usually find the latest updated libraries at
Sunsite.
No such
file or directory error message. In this case, check the file
permissions to make sure the file is executable and check the file
header to ascertain whether the shell or program invoked by the script
is in the place specified.
For example, the scrip may begin with:
#!/usr/local/bin/perl
/usr/bin
directory instead of the /usr/local/bin one, then the script
will not run. There are two methods of correcting this. The
script file header may be changed to #!/usr/bin/perl, or
a symbolic link to the correct directory may be added, ln -s
/usr/bin/perl /usr/local/bin/perl.
undefined reference
errors). The libraries may be expensive proprietary ones or difficult
to find for sone other reason. In that case, obtaining a statically
linked binary either from the author of the package or from a Linux
user group may be the easiest to implement fix.
libc 6 / glibc
2 libraries from the older libc 5. Precompiled binaries
that worked with the older library may bomb if you have upgraded your
library. The solution is to either recompile the applications from the
source or to obtain newer precompiled binaries. If you are in the process
of upgrading your system to .:: jobs.nefeshinternational.org ::. libc 6 and are experiencing problems,
refer to Eric Green's Glibc 2 HOWTO.
glibc
versions, so a binary built with glibc 2.1 may not work with
glibc 2.0, and vice versa.
Makefile. This enables gcc's extra, non-ANSI features,
and allows building packages that require these extensions. (Thanks to Sebastien
Blondeel for pointing this out.)
Warning: A program with setuid as root may pose a security risk to your system. The program runs with root privileges and thus has the potential for doing significant damage. Make certain that you know what the program does, by looking at the source if possible, before setting the setuid bit.
You may wish to examine the Makefile to make certain that
the best compilation options for your system are invoked. For example,
setting the -O2 flag chooses the highest level of optimization
and the -fomit-frame-pointer flag results in a smaller binary
(though debugging will then be disabled). Do not play around with
this unless you know what you are doing, and in any case, not until
after a trial build works.
In my experience, perhaps 25% of applications build "right out
of the box". Another 50% or so can be "persuaded" to build with
an effort ranging from trivial to herculean. That still means a
significant number of packages will not build no matter what. Even
then, the Intel ELF and/or a.out binaries for
these might possibly be found at
Sunsite or the
TSX-11 archive.
Red Hat and
Debian have extensive archives of
prepackaged binaries of most of the popular Linux software. Perhaps
the author of the software can supply the binaries compiled for your
particular flavor of machine.
Note that if you obtain precompiled binaries, you will need to check
for compatibility with your system:
The binaries must run on your hardware (i.e., Intel
x86).The binaries must be compatible with your kernel (i.e., a.out or
ELF).Your libraries must be up to date.Your system must have the appropriate installation utility (rpm or
deb).If all else fails, you may find help in the appropriate newsgroups, such as comp.os.linux.x or comp.os.linux.development.
If nothing at all works, at least you gave it your best effort, and you learned a lot.