WinAVR, the AVR compiler package for Windows has some problems with Vista. I looked into it and think I have found the problem, which is in the GCC compiler and possibly in other parts of the GCC toolchain.
The error shows up in any compilation with avr-gcc.exe: avr-gcc: _spawnvp: No such file or directory spawnvp is trying to spawn cc1.exe, but fails because it does not know where to find it. The argument to spawnvp is 'cc1', without any path. spawnv is tried first as well. The call comes from pex_win32_exec_child (libiberty/pex-win32.c). The problem is not spawnvp but the part that creates the correct path for cc1. I'm not sure where this code is (I only debugged the binary without source code), but I suspect it is the function find_a_file (gcc.c). The problem is project wide though. What I do know is that when the possible cc1 paths are tested for existance, a call to the standard _access C function is used to test the paths. The problem is that the mode parameter is sometimes set to X_OK (system.h, equals 1). In unix like environments this tests for execute rights. However, when mingW is used to build GCC, the _access function from Microsoft's msvcrt.dll is used. This function does not allow the mode parameter to be 1. Only 0 (existance), 1 (write-only), 4 (read-only) or 6 (read-write). See: <http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1w06ktdy(VS.80).aspx>. Earlier versions of msvcrt somehow ignored the invalid parameter and succeeded anyway. Newer versions, as found in Windows Vista do check for the invalid mode parameter and the function fails. GCC does not check for errors but falsely assumes that the file passed to _access does not exist. Therefore it does not find the correct cc1 path and subsequently the spawn fails. The solution I think is to define X_OK as 0 on the MingW Windows platform. When the mode is 0 msvcrt's _access tests for existence. Which is pretty close to the execute right check. -- Summary: Call to _access has invalid parameter when linked with msvcrt Product: gcc Version: 4.1.1 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: normal Priority: P3 Component: c AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: ska-pig at gmx dot net http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=30972
