gdb 8.3: "handler for the OSI ABI "FreeBSD" is not built into this configuration"

[Chris Nicol <nicolc@uleth.ca>]

Dear List,

My system - SunBlade 100 running FreeBSD 12.1 had a stock gdb 6.1.1
version of the debugger, which came with the FreeBSD 12.1 I am running. 
This version would not would not run against some core dumps I had from 
llvm-tblgen in the
build of llvm90. This was being built with gcc9, a gcc9 which I built
and installed on the SunBlade 100 from the /usr/ports tree. When I run
the gdb-8.3 against that llvn-tblgen.core, I get an initial message "A
handler for the OSI ABI "FreeBSD" is not built into this configuration
of GDB. Attempting to continue with the default sparc settings". The
debugger does not then provide any useful results, simply indicating
that a seg fault happened at:

#0  0000000000000000 in ?? ()

I think this is because the gdb can't figure out the arch of my
SunBlade? It is beg endian, and I think the debugger default is little 
endian in the stock 8.3 a(and 9.1) build. I read some other posts of a 
similar nature that generated this message, which I think is built into 
the test code to identify
architecture. I believe there is a simple workaround for this, but it is
beyond my ken as a mere economist dabbling in things I should leave
alone ;)

Can anyone of the list provide any advice on this, please? Thank you.

Sincerely,

Chris.