Cross-compiling Node for Mips32/OpenWRT fails with "assembler.cc:(.text._ZN2v88internalL23f32_nearest_int_wrapperEPf+0x18): undefined reference to `nearbyintf'"

[kmandov]

I am trying to cross-compile Node for Mips32 using the OpenWRT toolchain. The target architecture is ar71xx with NAND. I am following the instructions here.

I am using the following config:

./configure --without-snapshot --without-npm --without-intl --dest-cpu=mips --dest-os=linux

I get the following error:

...
/root/openwrt/staging_dir/toolchain-mips_34kc_gcc-4.8-linaro_uClibc-0.9.33.2/lib/gcc/mips-openwrt-linux-uclibc/4.8.3/../../../../mips-openwrt-linux-uclibc/bin/ld: Warning: /root/node/out/Release/node uses -msoft-float (set by /root/openwrt/staging_dir/toolchain-mips_34kc_gcc-4.8-linaro_uClibc-0.9.33.2/lib/gcc/mips-openwrt-linux-uclibc/4.8.3/crtbegin.o), /root/node/out/Release/obj.target/deps/v8/tools/gyp/libv8_nosnapshot.a(experimental-extras-libraries.o) uses -mhard-float
/root/openwrt/staging_dir/toolchain-mips_34kc_gcc-4.8-linaro_uClibc-0.9.33.2/lib/gcc/mips-openwrt-linux-uclibc/4.8.3/../../../../mips-openwrt-linux-uclibc/bin/ld: Warning: /root/node/out/Release/node uses -msoft-float (set by /root/openwrt/staging_dir/toolchain-mips_34kc_gcc-4.8-linaro_uClibc-0.9.33.2/lib/gcc/mips-openwrt-linux-uclibc/4.8.3/crtbegin.o), /root/node/out/Release/obj.target/deps/v8/tools/gyp/libv8_nosnapshot.a(snapshot-empty.o) uses -mhard-float
/root/node/out/Release/obj.target/deps/v8/tools/gyp/libv8_base.a(assembler.o): In function v8::internal::f32_nearest_int_wrapper(float*)': assembler.cc:(.text._ZN2v88internalL23f32_nearest_int_wrapperEPf+0x18): undefined reference tonearbyintf'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
node.target.mk:206: recipe for target '/root/node/out/Release/node' failed
make[1]: *** [/root/node/out/Release/node] Error 1
rm _root_node_deps_v8_inspector_platform_inspector_protocol_protocol_gyp_protocol_sources_target_generateInspectorProtocolBackendSources.intermediate
make[1]: Leaving directory '/root/node/out'
Makefile:66: recipe for target 'node' failed
make: *** [node] Error 2

Here are the contents of config.gypi:

{ 'target_defaults': { 'cflags': [],
'default_configuration': 'Release',
'defines': [],
'include_dirs': [],
'libraries': []},
'variables': { 'asan': 0,
'gas_version': '2.24',
'host_arch': 'mips',
'icu_small': 'false',
'mips_arch_variant': 'r2',
'mips_fpu_mode': 'fp32',
'node_byteorder': 'little',
'node_enable_v8_vtunejit': 'false',
'node_install_npm': 'false',
'node_no_browser_globals': 'false',
'node_prefix': '/usr/local',
'node_release_urlbase': '',
'node_shared_cares': 'false',
'node_shared_http_parser': 'false',
'node_shared_libuv': 'false',
'node_shared_openssl': 'false',
'node_shared_zlib': 'false',
'node_tag': '',
'node_use_dtrace': 'false',
'node_use_etw': 'false',
'node_use_lttng': 'false',
'node_use_openssl': 'true',
'node_use_perfctr': 'false',
'openssl_fips': '',
'openssl_no_asm': 0,
'target_arch': 'mips',
'uv_parent_path': '/deps/uv/',
'uv_use_dtrace': 'false',
'v8_can_use_fpu_instructions': 'true',
'v8_enable_gdbjit': 0,
'v8_enable_i18n_support': 0,
'v8_inspector': 'true',
'v8_no_strict_aliasing': 1,
'v8_optimized_debug': 0,
'v8_random_seed': 0,
'v8_use_mips_abi_hardfloat': 'true',
'v8_use_snapshot': 'false',
'want_separate_host_toolset': 0}}

Is this a known issue or I am doing something wrong?
Thanks in advance!

[mscdex]

It looks like uclibc (or at least the version you are linking against) does not support nearbyintf(). Have you considered using something like musl instead?

[mscdex]

FWIW it looks like there may be a patch to fix this in uclibc.

[kmandov]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try patching uclibc.

[mitsos1os]

Hi @mscdex ! Did you actually find a solution for this? Because I am in the exact same procedure! Thanks!

[mscdex]

@mitsos1os I've never used uclibc, just musl. If you want to continue using uclibc, then you need to upgrade your copy or at least patch your copy of uclibc using the link I gave.

[mitsos1os]

Ooops I actually wanted to mention @kmandov if he actually solved his problem! But @mscdex could give me a small hint on how to integrate musl to the OpenWRT toolchain? or if you propose an other toolchain to cross compile NodeJS on MIPS???

[mscdex]

@mitsos1os The extent of my use of musl is building node fully statically (for the original Chromecast) so that I didn't have to worry about dependencies and needing other shared libraries -- it made things simpler. However the drawback with that approach is that you can't load node addons, but I didn't care about that.

If you want to continue down the musl path, you can try following the steps here. I should note that I believe part 3 of step 3 (editing config.sh) is the only thing necessary in that particular step now, since the patches and other changes have been merged/fixed since I wrote that comment. Alternatively, you can download older pre-compiled musl cross-compilers (up to musl 1.1.12 as of this writing) here if you want to skip to step 5. Also, musl 1.1.15 is the current version as of this writing, so you could try building a cross-compiler from that version if you need a feature/fix/etc. from a newer musl version (this should just be a matter of setting MUSL_DEFAULT_VERSION=1.1.15 in defs.sh).

[mitsos1os]

@mscdex Thank you for your support and guidance. I will give it a try when I can

[bnoordhuis]

Closing due to inactivity. For people who have the same issue, try switching to uclibc-ng or musl.

[elimisteve]

@mitsos1os Hi, I'm apparently in a very similar situation as you: trying to compile Node for a big endian 32-bit MIPS device with no hardware nor software FPU. Did you ever get this working?

I've gathered that running a modern version of Node on a MIPS (or ARM) device with no FPU is very hard: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/34871072/how-to-compile-node-v4-2-4-with-armv7-without-fpu

At that same link and a couple others, it sounds like using Node v0.10.x does work well on our target devices (SSL and all), and that perhaps the most promising way to go about building it is specified at http://wiki.linino.org/doku.php?id=wiki:nodepackage, which has you start with building Node for OpenWRT via the instructions at http://wiki.linino.org/doku.php?id=wiki:nodejsbuild.

Have you found a more effective way to solve this problem? If the Linino instructions fail for me, I'll probably try compiling a custom kernel that does have soft FPU support, then try something like what you did above -- try using a modern version of Node.

Thanks!

[mitsos1os]

Hi @elimisteve, unfortunately I haven't successfully compiled latest node versions (>4) without fpu. These versions require at least a kernel with software FPU emulation.
So what I did which I found the easiest, if you are able to use OPENWRT or LEDE on your device, use the very good packages found here: https://github.com/nxhack/openwrt-node-packages and it will be automatically compiled for your device. This is the latest version. LEDE (and probably Openwrt as well) include by default the 4 version, so you do not need the extra package setup if you are OK with 4 version of Node.
Just remember to use FPU EMULATION in your kernel setup