[lug] configure question

Tom Tromey tromey at cygnus.com
Wed Jul 5 10:39:13 MDT 2000


>>>>> "Steven" == Steven  <sitUboo at randall.peakpeak.com> writes:

Steven> I am getting this error when I use the configure command...
Steven> error: can not guess host type; you must specify one

Steven> How do I specify my host type when I issue this command and
Steven> perhaps as important, what is my host type?

Some instances of configure will run a program called "config.guess"
to guess the canonical host type of your system.  If it can't guess
your system type, then you lose.

Typically, config.guess failures are due to:

1. A misconfigured system.  On some boxes config.guess has to do
something weird like run a compiler or something to guess the system
type.  If it can't do what it wants, it guesses wrong.

2. A system never before seen.  This can include a new version of an
existing system in some situations.

One approach would be for you to find a newer version of config.guess
and try that.  You can get one from the gcc repository, or the
canonical config.* repository on subversions.gnu.org (there is a web
page there that might (eventually) lead you to the actual source).

If that doesn't work it would be best if you fixed config.guess to
recognize your system.  Then send the patch to config-patches at gnu.org.

If you don't care about helping other people who have the same system
as you, you might be able to work around the problem more immediately
by specifying a canonical triple on the command line.  eg:

    ./configure mips-sgi-irix6.2

Tom




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