Re: how do I debug core files?

Simon Tatham (sgt20@cam.ac.uk)
Sun, 5 May 1996 11:22:56 +0100

leisner@sdsp.mc.xerox.com wrote:
>How do I examine core files?
[snip]
>Couldn't fetch registers from core file: File in wrong format
>Couldn't fetch registers from core file: File in wrong format
>#0 0x0 in ?? ()
>(gdb)

I'm getting this too. The problem here seems to be that gdb wants
core files to be a.out. It can perfectly well cope with ELF
*programs*, but can't read ELF cores.

Is there a build time configuration for gdb that will make this
work? I've tried "./configure i486-linux-elf" but it says it can't
compile for that host. Trying "./configure i486-linux --target
i486-linux-elf" made the thing build, but then it wouldn't do
anything remotely useful for me once it had.

Am I going to have to crawl into the murky depths of gdb's
configuration scripts? Or is there a nice, simple, easy way to do
this that I've missed?

If there isn't, it occurs to me that gdb becomes a lot less
useful...

/ o Simon Tatham E-mail to: sgt20@cam.ac.uk
\ I /\/\ O /\/ http://callisto.girton.cam.ac.uk/users/sgt20
/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trinity College, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ, England