Subject: Is the NetBSD.ns32k bfd backend in binutils-2.5.1 ...
To: None <cagney@highland.com.au>
From: Ian Dall <dall@HFRD.DSTO.GOV.AU>
List: port-pc532
Date: 10/27/1994 15:01:50
Andrew Cagney <cagney@highland.com.au> writes:

  > Hello NS32k's, (I'm not subscribed to this list so could you
  > please rember to leave me on any replies :-)

  > Binutils-2.5.1 includes a backend for NetBSD.ns32k (nee pc532).
  > Looking at this backend, I've concluded that it lacks the
  > necessary support to do any thing beyond correctly reading an
  > ns32k object file (as per gdb).

I did the ns32k support for bfd. Everything worked, (gas, binutils,
ld) *but* they managed to break things by "cleaning" it up.

I built it earlier this week and it currently works. I am just trying
to tidy up and I will feed the changes back to Cygnus this weekend (or
maybe even tomorrow) I will also make some patches available.

Essentially most all the support routines get compiled and linked, but
when the target bfd vector gets created, it has pointers to the wrong
functions in it (ie to standard a.out functions instead of ns32k
specific functions).

There are a number of smaller issues like the netbsd support doesn't
create magic in the right format (I also fixed that but it got lost as
well).  I *hate* fixing the same bugs over again!

I should have built the pre-release snapshot and got this fixed then, but
I got sick of reporting the same thing because the last changes hadn't been
merged yet.

  > While on this, and assuming that I'm on the right track, is there
  > an NS32k person interested in integrating full NetBSD.ns32k
  > support into binutils?

It's been done. All that is really missing is support for PIC (and
shared libraries). This is largely lacking from bfd in general though.

I am kind of hoping that now I have got things this far, someone else
who understands how dynamic linking works will do that bit.

Ian