Why sometimes linking with .so files give linker errors?

Question

I am too much curious about the issue that sometimes .so linking fails, but whenever I use static libs (.a) it doesn't. Do anyone have idea on that?

For example in linux I have used libcrypto.a lib which is ok every compilation time. But libcrypto.so is so much inconsistent. What is the root cause of that?

The error it shows is : ld: libcrypto.so in wrong file format

We can't guess unless you give a precise and *concrete* example. Recall that order of arguments to `gcc` (actually to the underlying `ld` linker) is important. — Basile Starynkevitch, May 03 '13 at 06:37
Then try `file -L /usr/lib/libcrypto.so` or `file -L /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so` to find out what is your `libcrypto.so`; on my Debian/Sid/x86-64 I'm getting `ELF 64-bit LSB shared object, x86-64`... You may want to re-install the package providing it (`libssl-dev` on my Debian) — Basile Starynkevitch, May 03 '13 at 06:42
ok thanks. I will remember the facts next time whenever I will tag a topic. — Naseef Chowdhury, May 03 '13 at 07:07
Actually sometimes it fails and sometimes it works. I have heard from a expert it is a common problem for .so files, he suggested me to use .a files instead. But I want to know the root cause of that. — Naseef Chowdhury, May 03 '13 at 07:08
Such issues never occurred to me. You really should improve your question with a real, self-contained, small, example (some C source code and the compiler command used to build it). — Basile Starynkevitch, May 03 '13 at 07:09
Your expert is wrong. The reason of the inconsistent behaviour may be broken hardware. Try running `memtest86` and whatever disk check utility your filesystem normally uses. — n. m. could be an AI, May 03 '13 at 07:14
thanks. Is `memetest86` app;icable for any architecture of linux? — Naseef Chowdhury, May 07 '13 at 08:21
@BasileStarynkevitch I have a project, which occurs fine with .a files of openssl but fails (Sometimes) for .so files of openssl. — Naseef Chowdhury, May 07 '13 at 08:24

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered May 16 '13 at 07:23

0

Ok. Solved it. You are right @n.m. Your comment worked for me.

Your expert is wrong. The reason of the inconsistent behaviour may be broken hardware. Try running memtest86 and whatever disk check utility your filesystem normally uses. – n.m.

Thanks.

answered May 16 '13 at 07:23

Naseef Chowdhury

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Why sometimes linking with .so files give linker errors?

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