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From: aryeh@eddie.mit.edu (Aryeh M. Weiss)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix.sco
Subject: Re: Trouble with TeX3.0 and ranlib.
Keywords: ranlib, empty archives
Message-ID: <1991Jan29.174338.5253@eddie.mit.edu>
Date: 29 Jan 91 17:43:38 GMT
References: <4919@vela.acs.oakland.edu>
Sender: news@eddie.mit.edu (Usenet News)
Organization: MIT EE/CS Computer Facilities, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 18

In article <4919@vela.acs.oakland.edu> srodawa@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Ron Srodawa) writes:
>I have been trying to install TeX3.0 into Xenix '386 2.3.2.  Finally,
...
>The problem was with TeX3.0/mf/MFwindows/windows.a (if memory serves me
>correctly).  Using the xenix ranlib, ld claims this isn't a valid archive.
>Using the ranlib distributed by Steve and Ron at RoboBar, the ranlib dumps
>core.
>___
>Any suggestions, anyone?

There is no explicit MetaFont display support for SCO (unless you have
X Windows).  As a result, the source code for MF.../windows.a is all
#ifdef'ed out of existence and thus there are NO SYMBOLS in the
archive!  Ranlib can't handle this.  (And even if it could, ld would
probably get confused.)  The easy out is to edit MF/Makefile and
remove the reference to windows.a.

Hope this helps.