/bin/ld problem (too many segments)

[Dave Hammond]

In compiling a large program I am getting a /bin/ld error "too many segments".
The problem seemed to go away when I combined several library archives into
a single large archive, only to return later on. The problem can obviously
be fixed with the CC flag -SEG nn, however I feel that this may be a kludge
covering up a deeper-seated problem. So:

    1. Is there a preffered way to load many small object files than by using
       library archives (i.e. naming *each* file on the CC command line).

    2. Is there some way I can tell how many segments are being used by
       /bin/ld in composing my program? Does /bin/ld leave segements
       partially filled (or start new segments) based upon certain conditions ?

    3. The CC man page states that -SEG will take arguments from 1 to 1024.
       What is the default which was exceed here ("too many segments") ?

    4. Is use of the -SEG flag common in large programs which are composed
       of many small object files? If not, should modularity be sacrificed in
       this case?

Should more information be required, the library in question contains the
following modules:

rwsr-sr---55/50   4332 Jun  6 11:27 1988 __.SYMDEF
rw-rw-r---55/50    606 May 20 08:53 1988 emalloc.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1567 May 20 08:53 1988 blockmem.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    814 May 20 08:53 1988 path.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1245 Jun  6 10:49 1988 exec.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2814 Jun  3 09:56 1988 help.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    679 May 20 08:53 1988 gmatch.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    586 Jun  6 11:26 1988 ndate.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    659 Jun  6 09:11 1988 nextarg.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    897 May 20 08:53 1988 parse.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    603 Jun  6 10:49 1988 pipecmd.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    549 Jun  3 14:12 1988 stripwhite.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    708 May 20 08:53 1988 dumpargv.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2298 Jun  6 10:32 1988 stdmsg.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    604 Jun  6 10:50 1988 user.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1210 Jun  6 10:27 1988 termsetup.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1080 May 25 08:47 1988 box.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    568 May 25 08:47 1988 center.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   4042 Jun  2 14:58 1988 screen.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2319 Jun  3 15:14 1988 dialog.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1145 May 25 12:26 1988 sigs.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    206 May 20 08:53 1988 kbexec.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1164 May 20 08:53 1988 kbinit.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    202 May 20 08:53 1988 kbio.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   3249 Jun  6 10:42 1988 kbget.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1345 May 20 08:53 1988 kbtermio.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1003 May 20 09:48 1988 kbsyskeys.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   3311 Jun  6 10:43 1988 kbmacro.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    206 May 20 08:53 1988 kbgets.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   5340 Jun  1 16:59 1988 kbed.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    490 Jun  2 13:34 1988 Shell.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    410 May 31 14:48 1988 ChDir.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    769 Jun  3 09:33 1988 Remove.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1936 Jun  6 10:49 1988 lrmsg.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    735 Jun  3 11:21 1988 Point.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    600 Jun  3 10:10 1988 userini.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    356 Jun  3 08:19 1988 kbgetini.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    679 Jun  3 09:57 1988 Form.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1293 Jun  6 10:51 1988 Copy.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   4273 Jun  6 10:46 1988 form.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1702 Jun  6 10:47 1988 form0.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2562 Jun  3 16:36 1988 form2.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1145 Jun  1 10:34 1988 formbgnd.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1783 Jun  1 10:34 1988 formfgnd.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   4622 Jun  6 10:47 1988 formget.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   6482 Jun  6 10:57 1988 point.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2284 Jun  6 10:57 1988 point1.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   3810 Jun  3 15:31 1988 point2.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1325 Jun  1 10:37 1988 pointlist.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1546 Jun  6 10:57 1988 dirlist.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1445 Jun  3 14:13 1988 macini.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   3784 Jun  6 10:42 1988 msource.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2239 Jun  6 10:43 1988 menu.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2692 Jun  3 11:02 1988 mload.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2745 Jun  6 10:33 1988 mbase.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2491 May 26 13:12 1988 mdisplay.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1289 Jun  1 11:08 1988 mstack.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   2046 May 26 13:12 1988 mpasswd.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    581 May 26 13:12 1988 keywait.o
rw-rw-r---55/50   1190 Jun  6 09:21 1988 doexec.o
rw-rw-r---55/50    673 May 26 13:13 1988 realsrc.o

The CC command line which fails is:
    cc -Ml -F 1500 main.o -lutools -lcurses -ltermcap

The CC command line which is successful:
    cc -Ml -F 1500 -SEG 1024 main.o -lutools -lcurses -ltermcap

Dave Hammond
UUCP:   ...!marob!daveh
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