xPack GNU RISC-V Embedded GCC v13.3.0-1 released (2024)

Version 13.3.0-1 is a new release; it follows the GNU GCC release.

The xPack GNU RISC-V Embedded GCCis a standalone cross-platform binary distribution of theGNU GCC.

There are separate binaries for Windows (Intel 64-bit),macOS (Intel 64-bit)and GNU/Linux (Intel 64-bit, Arm 32/64-bit).

Note: The main targets for the GNU/Linux Armbinaries are the Raspberry Pi class devices (armv7l and aarch64;armv6 is not supported).

Download

The binary files are available from GitHub Releases.

Prerequisites

• GNU/Linux Intel 64-bit: any system with GLIBC 2.27 or higher(like Ubuntu 18 or later, Debian 10 or later, RedHat 8 later,Fedora 29 or later, etc)
• GNU/Linux Arm 32/64-bit: any system with GLIBC 2.27 or higher(like Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu 18 or later, Debian 10 or later, RedHat 8 later,Fedora 29 or later, etc)
• Intel Windows 64-bit: Windows 7 with the Universal C Runtime(UCRT),Windows 8, Windows 10
• Intel macOS 64-bit: 10.13 or later
• Apple Silicon macOS 64-bit: 11.6 or later

Install

The full details of installing thexPack GNU RISC-V Embedded GCCon various platforms are presented in the separate Install page.

Easy install

The easiest way to install GNU RISC-V Embedded GCC is withxpmby using the binary xPack, available as@xpack-dev-tools/riscv-none-elf-gccfrom the npmjs.com registry.

With the xpm tool available, installingthe latest version of the package and adding it asa development dependency for a project is quite easy:

cd my-projectxpm init # Add a package.json if not already presentxpm install @xpack-dev-tools/riscv-none-elf-gcc@latest --verbosels -l xpacks/.bin

To install this specific version, use:

xpm install @xpack-dev-tools/riscv-none-elf-gcc@13.3.0-1.1 --verbose

For xPacks aware tools, like the Eclipse Embedded C/C++ plug-ins,it is also possible to install GNU RISC-V Embedded GCC globally, in the user home folder.

xpm install --global @xpack-dev-tools/riscv-none-elf-gcc@latest --verbose

Eclipse will automaticallyidentify binaries installed withxpm and provide a convenient method to manage paths.

Uninstall

To remove the links created by xpm in the current project:

cd my-projectxpm uninstall @xpack-dev-tools/riscv-none-elf-gcc

To completely remove the package from the central xPack store:

xpm uninstall --global @xpack-dev-tools/riscv-none-elf-gcc

Compliance

The xPack GNU RISC-V Embedded GCC uses the official sources,with no functional changes:

• GCC 13.3.0
• binutils 2.42
• newlib 4.4.0
• gdb 15.1
• python 3.12.2

Supported libraries

The default architecture/ABI pair is rv32imac/ilp32.

The other supported libraries are:

$ riscv-none-elf-gcc -print-multi-lib.;rv32e/ilp32e;@march=rv32e@mabi=ilp32erv32ea/ilp32e;@march=rv32ea@mabi=ilp32erv32eac/ilp32e;@march=rv32eac@mabi=ilp32erv32ec/ilp32e;@march=rv32ec@mabi=ilp32erv32em/ilp32e;@march=rv32em@mabi=ilp32erv32ema/ilp32e;@march=rv32ema@mabi=ilp32erv32emac/ilp32e;@march=rv32emac@mabi=ilp32erv32emc/ilp32e;@march=rv32emc@mabi=ilp32erv32i/ilp32;@march=rv32i@mabi=ilp32rv32ia/ilp32;@march=rv32ia@mabi=ilp32rv32iac/ilp32;@march=rv32iac@mabi=ilp32rv32iaf_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32iaf_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32iafc_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32iafc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32iafd_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32iafd_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv32iafdc_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32iafdc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv32ic/ilp32;@march=rv32ic@mabi=ilp32rv32if_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32if_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32ifc_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32ifc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32ifd_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32ifd_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv32ifdc_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32ifdc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv32im/ilp32;@march=rv32im@mabi=ilp32rv32ima/ilp32;@march=rv32ima@mabi=ilp32rv32imaf_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32imaf_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32imafc_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32imafc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32imafd_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32imafd_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv32imafdc_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32imafdc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv32imc/ilp32;@march=rv32imc@mabi=ilp32rv32imf_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32imf_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32imfc_zicsr/ilp32f;@march=rv32imfc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32frv32imfd_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32imfd_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv32imfdc_zicsr/ilp32d;@march=rv32imfdc_zicsr@mabi=ilp32drv64i/lp64;@march=rv64i@mabi=lp64rv64ia/lp64;@march=rv64ia@mabi=lp64rv64iac/lp64;@march=rv64iac@mabi=lp64rv64iaf_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64iaf_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64iafc_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64iafc_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64iafd_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64iafd_zicsr@mabi=lp64drv64iafdc_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64iafdc_zicsr@mabi=lp64drv64ic/lp64;@march=rv64ic@mabi=lp64rv64if_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64if_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64ifc_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64ifc_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64ifd_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64ifd_zicsr@mabi=lp64drv64ifdc_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64ifdc_zicsr@mabi=lp64drv64im/lp64;@march=rv64im@mabi=lp64rv64ima/lp64;@march=rv64ima@mabi=lp64rv64imac/lp64;@march=rv64imac@mabi=lp64rv64imaf_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64imaf_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64imafc_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64imafc_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64imafd_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64imafd_zicsr@mabi=lp64drv64imafdc_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64imafdc_zicsr@mabi=lp64drv64imc/lp64;@march=rv64imc@mabi=lp64rv64imf_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64imf_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64imfc_zicsr/lp64f;@march=rv64imfc_zicsr@mabi=lp64frv64imfd_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64imfd_zicsr@mabi=lp64drv64imfdc_zicsr/lp64d;@march=rv64imfdc_zicsr@mabi=lp64d

Changes

Compared to the upstream GNU release, there are no functional changes.

risc-none-elf-gcc

For compliance reasons, starting with 11.x, the name of the toolchainwas updated to risc-none-elf-gcc.

RISC-V ISA updates

Compared to previous releases, starting from 12.x, the compilerimplements the new RISC-V ISA, which introduces an incompatibility issue,and builds might throw error messages like unrecognized opcode csrr.

The reason is that csr read/write (csrr*/csrw*)instructions and fence.i instruction were separated from the Iextension, becoming two standalone extensions: Zicsr and Zifencei.

The solution is to add _zicsr and/or _zifencei to the-march option, e.g. -march=rv32imac becomes-march=rv32imac_zicsr_zifencei.

In Eclipse, until the GUI will be updated, select the Toolchain Defaultfor Architecture andenter the new string separately as Other target flags.

newlib-nano

Support for newlib-nano is available using the--specs=nano.specs option. For better results, this option must beadded to both compile and link time.

nosys.specs

If no syscalls are needed, --specs=nosys.specs can be used at linktime to provide empty implementations for the POSIX system calls.

-mcmodel=medany

The libraries are compiled with -O2 -mcmodel=medany. The nano version iscompiled with -Os -mcmodel=medany.

Important: It is mandatory for the applications tobe compiled with-mcmodel=medany, otherwise the link might fail.

Python

Support for Python scripting was added to GDB. This distribution providesa separate binary, riscv-none-elf-gdb-py3 withsupport for Python 3.12.2.

The Python 3 run-time is included, so GDB does not need any version ofPython to be installed, and is insensitive to the presence of otherversions.

Text User Interface (TUI)

Support for TUI was added to GDB. The ncurses library was added tothe distribution.

Note: TUI is not available on Windows.

Bug fixes

• none

Enhancements

• none

Known problems

• due to the large number of libraries, the archive is >500 MB.

On all platforms the packages are standalone, and expect only the standardruntime to be present on the host.

All dependencies that are build as shared libraries are copied locallyin the libexec folder (or in the same folder as the executable for Windows).

DT_RPATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH

On GNU/Linux the binaries are adjusted to use a relative path:

$ readelf -d library.so | grep runpath 0x000000000000001d (RPATH) Library rpath: [$ORIGIN]

In the GNU ld.so search strategy, the DT_RPATH hasthe highest priority, higher than LD_LIBRARY_PATH, so if this later oneis set in the environment, it should not interfere with the xPack binaries.

Please note that previous versions, up to mid-2020, used DT_RUNPATH, whichhas a priority lower than LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and does not tolerate settingit in the environment.

@rpath and @loader_path

Similarly, on macOS, the binaries are adjusted with install_name_tool to use arelative path.

Documentation

The original GNU GCC documentation is availableonline.

Build

The binaries for all supported platforms(Windows, macOS and GNU/Linux) were built using thexPack Build Box (XBB), a setof build environments based on slightly older distributions, that should becompatible with most recent systems.

For the prerequisites and more details on the build procedure, please see theHow to build page.

CI tests

Before publishing, a set of simple tests were performed on an exhaustiveset of platforms. The results are available from:

• GitHub Actions
• Travis CI

Tests

The binaries were tested on a variety of platforms,but mainly to check the integrity of thebuild, not the compiler functionality.

Checksums

The SHA-256 hashes for the files are:

b4616e83cc03db32de961ce6bd7703c4bc3ed4f71c1acd4143d25f6d8fb23edaxpack-riscv-none-elf-gcc-13.3.0-1-darwin-arm64.tar.gz050c7e22dc9651ce5f82f082554ec190b59223708ca0c03d4fecca93d8e7afc0xpack-riscv-none-elf-gcc-13.3.0-1-darwin-x64.tar.gzef742938c406b315d5d167f73e90b285d065869690166baa0f89955928b8f36dxpack-riscv-none-elf-gcc-13.3.0-1-linux-arm.tar.gz29cdee7d06abc0ad57f4ec74059aca6349042f2a8a98ba4501c186990210590cxpack-riscv-none-elf-gcc-13.3.0-1-linux-arm64.tar.gz5386d1a7b261d37a6c34e644fc01ed2562132a9fae3e314083f64ad5e8cceb16xpack-riscv-none-elf-gcc-13.3.0-1-linux-x64.tar.gz6e8549a9340c7722a7031959c9ff63bab353e1860b42c433ed05a0b55189a72bxpack-riscv-none-elf-gcc-13.3.0-1-win32-x64.zip

Deprecation notices

Linux minimum requirements

The minimum requirement is GLIBC 2.27, available startingwith Ubuntu 18, Debian 10 and RedHat 8.Support for RedHat 7 was dropped in 2022.

32-bit support

Support for 32-bit Intel Linux and Intel Windows wasdropped in 2022.

Pre-deprecation notice for 32-bit Arm Linux

Due to the large user base of 32-bit Raspberry Pi systems,support for 32-bit Arm Linux (armv7l) will be preservedfor a little while, but expect it to be dropped by 2025,so it is recommended to consider an upgrade to a RPi 4 or 5 withat least 4 GB (preferably 8 GB) of RAM.

Pre-deprecation notice for Ubuntu 18.04

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Bionic Beaver reached the end of the standard five-yearmaintenance window for Long-Term Support (LTS) release on 31 May 2023.

As a courtesy, the xPack GNU/Linux releases will continue to be based onUbuntu 18.04 for another year.

From 2025 onwards, the GNU/Linux binaries will be built on Debian 10,(GLIBC 2.28), and are also expected to run on RedHat 8.

Users are urged to update their build and test infrastructure toensure a smooth transition to the next xPack releases.

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