[Bug target/46072] AIX linker chokes on debug info for uninitialized static variables

["ppryor63 at gmail dot com" <gcc-bugzilla@gcc.gnu.org>]

http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=46072

--- Comment #22 from Paul Pryor <ppryor63 at gmail dot com> 2011-04-08 19:56:15 UTC ---
I found an workaround. When I realized that /usr/bin/as was the culprit (from
looking at IZ98134), I tried using as from other AIX box at TL4, and it worked
out just fine. Here is what I did:

Somehow find a copy of /usr/bin/as from older AIX box. Put in your home
directory or anywhere you want. I would not recommend replacing /usr/bin/as
with older copy because AIX may need new as features somewhere.

Dump the specs for gcc to a file as follows:

gcc –dump-specs > myspecs

Edit the myspecs file to force gcc to use your copy of as. Here is an example:

…
*invoke_as:
%{!S:-o %|.s |
  /home/ppryor/bin/as %(asm_options) %m.s %A }
…

Then compile your code using this syntax:

gcc –specs=$HOME/myspecs –g –c file.c -o file

I believe it is very safe alternative. Gcc does not make use of any new
features in /usr/bin/as that I know of. And AIX's as is stand alone with no
dependencies.