Compiling ICU using arm-linux-androideabi-4.4.3

Question

I would like to cross-compile ICU static libs for Android using Cygwin. So far, I have been able to configure and make the Cygwin/MSVC and Cygwin versions. I have installed the android-ndk-r7 and can see a version of gcc in the toolchains directory. Several examples suggest using host:arm-eabi - but this is not present on my machine.

I have copied mh-linux to mh-unknown in /icu/source/config and run the following:

export HOST_ICU=/cygdrive/d/__/External/SQLite/icu
export ICU_CROSS_BUILD=/cygdrive/d/__/External/SQLite/icu-cygwin
export NDK_ROOT=/cygdrive/d/__/android-ndk-r7
export CPPFLAGS="-I$NDK_ROOT/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/include/ -O3 -fno-short-wchar -DU_USING_ICU_NAMESPACE=0 -DU_GNUC_UTF16_STRING=0 -fno-short-enums -nostdlib"
export CXXFLAGS="-I$NDK_ROOT/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/include/ -O3 -fno-short-wchar -DU_USING_ICU_NAMESPACE=0 -DU_GNUC_UTF16_STRING=0 -fno-short-enums -nostdlib"
export CFLAGS="-I$NDK_ROOT/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/include/ -O3 -fno-short-wchar -DU_USING_ICU_NAMESPACE=0 -DU_GNUC_UTF16_STRING=0 -fno-short-enums -nostdlib"
export LDFLAGS="-lc -Wl,-rpath-link=$NDK_ROOT/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/lib/ -L $NDK_ROOT/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/lib/"

$HOST_ICU/source/configure --with-cross-build=$ICU_CROSS_BUILD --enable-extras=no --enable-strict=no --enable-static --enable-shared=no --enable-tests=no --enable-samples=no --enable-dyload=no --enable-tools=no --host=arm-eabi --with-data-packaging=archive

I get the following error:

checking for ICU version numbers... release 4.8.1.1, library 48.1.1, unicode version 6.0
checking build system type... i686-pc-cygwin
checking host system type... arm-unknown-eabi
checking target system type... arm-unknown-eabi
checking whether to build debug libraries... no
checking whether to build release libraries... yes
checking for arm-eabi-gcc... no
checking for gcc... gcc
checking whether the C compiler works... no
configure: error: in `/cygdrive/d/Projects/__/External/SQLite/icu-android':
configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables
See `config.log' for more details

I'm sure this is a "stupid" question, but how do I get the ICU configure script to point to the gcc under $NDK_ROOT\toolchains\arm-linux-androideabi-4.4.3\prebuilt\windows\arm-linux-androideabi\bin? Am I missing some setup or install? Should I be setting my PATH so that the first gcc found is the one in arm-linux-androiedeabi?

Update 1. I just noticed that while windows\arm-linux=androideabi\bin contains gcc, windows\bin contains arm-linux-androideabi-gcc. How do I get ICU to call this?

Update 2. On the suggestion of Steven R. Loomis, I picked up updates for config.sub and config.guess from

http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=config.git;a=blob_plain;f=config.sub;hb=HEAD http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=config.git;a=blob_plain;f=config.guess;hb=HEAD

placed android-ndk-r7/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.4.3/prebuilt/windows/bin into my path, and re-ran configure with --host=arm-linux-androideabi... this time:

checking for arm-linux-androideabi-gcc... arm-linux-androideabi-gcc
checking whether the C compiler works... no

Definitely closer. Detailed error from config.log

gcc version 4.4.3 (GCC)
configure:3125: $? = 0
configure:3114: arm-linux-androideabi-gcc -V >&5
arm-linux-androideabi-gcc.exe: '-V' option must have argument
configure:3125: $? = 1
configure:3114: arm-linux-androideabi-gcc -qversion >&5
arm-linux-androideabi-gcc.exe: unrecognized option '-qversion'
arm-linux-androideabi-gcc.exe: no input files
configure:3125: $? = 1
configure:3145: checking whether the C compiler works
configure:3167: arm-linux-androideabi-gcc -I/cygdrive/d/Projects/android-ndk-r7/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/include
/ -O3 -fno-short-wchar -DU_USING_ICU_NAMESPACE=0 -DU_GNUC_UTF16_STRING=0 -fno-short-enums -nostdlib -I/cygdrive/d/Projec
ts/android-ndk-r7/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/include/ -O3 -fno-short-wchar -DU_USING_ICU_NAMESPACE=0 -DU_GNUC_UTF1
6_STRING=0 -fno-short-enums -nostdlib -lc -Wl,-rpath-link=/cygdrive/d/Projects/android-ndk-r7/platforms/android-8/arch-a
rm/usr/lib/ -L /cygdrive/d/Projects/android-ndk-r7/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/lib/ conftest.c  >&5
D:/Projects/android-ndk-r7/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.4.3/prebuilt/windows/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-linux-androideabi/
4.4.3/../../../../arm-linux-androideabi/bin/ld.exe: cannot find -lc
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
configure:3171: $? = 1
configure:3209: result: no
configure: failed program was:
| /* confdefs.h */
| #define PACKAGE_NAME ""
| #define PACKAGE_TARNAME ""
| #define PACKAGE_VERSION ""
| #define PACKAGE_STRING ""
| #define PACKAGE_BUGREPORT ""
| #define PACKAGE_URL ""
| /* end confdefs.h.  */
|
| int
| main ()
| {
|
|   ;
|   return 0;
| }
configure:3214: error: in `/cygdrive/d/Projects/__/External/SQLITE/icu-android':
configure:3216: error: C compiler cannot create executables
See `config.log' for more details

Update 3. The changes to config.sub and config.guess worked in that we are now using the right gcc compiler. The -lc failure comes from not being able to find libc.so (which is in android-ndk-r7/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/usr/lib" even though this is in the LDFLAGS. I did have an extra space after -L in the original LDFLAGS, but removing this did not help.

Update 4. According to an older post in http://groups.google.com/group/android-ndk/browse_thread/thread/46295616a889bc12

"The windows ndk toolchain is (thankfully) native to windows, so it doesnt go through the cygwin translation layer which would translate /cygdrive paths."

Update 5. Swapped all instances of /cygdrive/d/ with D:/. Now C compiler works though it still doesn't make. Suspect that ICU_CROSS_BUILD has to be in the icu/source directory.

checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables...
checking whether we are cross compiling... yes
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether arm-linux-androideabi-gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for arm-linux-androideabi-gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking for arm-linux-androideabi-g++... arm-linux-androideabi-g++
checking whether we are using the GNU C++ compiler... yes
checking whether arm-linux-androideabi-g++ accepts -g... yes
checking how to run the C preprocessor... arm-linux-androideabi-gcc -E
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking for gmake... /usr/bin/gmake
configure: error: D:/Projects/__/External/SQLite/icu-cygwin/config/icucross.mk not found. Please build ICU in
 D:/Projects/__/External/SQLite/icu-cygwin first.

Update 6. I re-configured and rbuilt my Cygwin folder in icu-cygwin. Go figure, this time icucross.mk was there. Successful configuration! But...

Update 7 Make did not end up so well.

$ make
D:/Projects/__/External/SQLite/icu/source/config/mh-linux:41: *** target pattern contains no `%'.  Stop.

What?!?! It seems that now we want Cygwin paths again.. :(

Update 8. Changed my paths so that HOST_ICU and ICU_CROSS_BUILD use Cygwin paths, but NDK_ROOT is Windows path (since Android NDK ld can't handle cygwin paths).

THis time further but

arm-linux-androideabi-gcc.exe: /cygdrive/d/Projects/__/External/SQLit                                                                 e/icu/source/stubdata/stubdata.c: No such file or directory
arm-linux-androideabi-gcc.exe: no input files

Seems that what has to happen is that arm-linux-androideabi-gcc needs to be made for cygwin, or the cross-build will not work.

Update 9. It seems that arm-linux-androideabi-gcc does not support cygwin paths - though ndk_build does. However, ICU is set to call arm-linux-androideabi-gcc while "make" requires cygwin paths. Maybe time to switch to OSX or Linux to do this.

Update 10 - Still no success. Cygwin - Apparently the arm-linux-androideabi Crystax build also doesn't support cygwin paths in -L. Attempting to cross-compile under Cygwin will give the -lc error, since it cannot parse the -L/cygdrive/d/... path to the library. Changing to D:/ helps, but later causes make to fail since it is Cygwin make.

Linux - Using the normal NDK r7 build, configuration will fail with a wchar_t = 0 error. The Crystax NDK build will fix this, and make will fail complaining about uint64_t in Android's sys/type.h. See ICU library in Android NDK. You can force it to be defined and it will lead to yet another error about size mismatch.

OSX - Probably the most successful, compiling using the official build or the Crystax build, it leads directly to the uint64_t bug. If you hack around it, it will lead you to

icu/source/common/ustrenum.cpp:118: error: must #include <typeinfo> before using typeid

Help!

Solution

00. Download android ndk http://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/ndk/index.html

example install d:\android-r9b

01. Download install example d:\msys MSys http://www.mingw.org/wiki/MSYS 1.01

02. Download gcc 3.8.1 w64 http://mingw-w64.sourceforge.net/ example install d:\mingw32_64

03. Download icu versin 52.1 http://site.icu-project.org/download/52#TOC-ICU4C-Download

04. Extract icu source code to d:\icu

05. Enter msys use export PATH=/d/msys/1.0/bin:/d/ming32_64/mingw32/bin:$PATH

06. cd /d/icu;mkdir mingw;mkdir android;cd mingw

this is follow icu readme.html cross compile steps

07. cd /d/icu/ming ;../source/runConfigureICU MinGW ;make

no problem,all is working and under /d/icu/mingw/bin generate tools for cross compile later.

08. cd /d/icu/android

09. /d/android-ndk-r9b/build/tools/make-standalone-toolchain.sh --platform=android-9 --install-dir=/d/androidgcc/ -- toolchain=arm-linux-androideabi-4.8

if use window 7/8 64bit add additional options: --system=windowx86_64

10. export PATH again; export PATH=/d/msys/1.0/bin/:/d/androidgcc/bin/:/d/androidgcc/arm-linux-androideabi/bin/

the path must include the ar.exe execute for create library.

11. create shared library.

sh ../source/configure --host=armv6-google-linux --enable-shared=yes --disable-static -with-cross-build=/d/icu/mingw CC=arm-linux-androideabi-gcc CXX=arm-linux-androideabi-g++ AR=arm-linux-androideabi-ar --with-data-packaging=archive

12. make

all is successful

Comments

[William Wang]

anyway,if has error can't find langinfo.h error. you could download it from: ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/OpenBSD/src/include download langinfo.hand nl_types.h save to /d/ic/source/common

[Rohan Kandwal]

Since this is your first answer, please observe my edit to see how to answer properly. Welcome to SO and Happy Coding !!!

[Bellinghammer]

These steps were very helpful. I had to add RANLIB=arm-linux-androideabi-ranlib to step 11 to get it to build successfully however.