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Error when attempting to configure cmake for cross compilation to android

I have been trying to build a c++ library for android using cmake cross compilation.
The library itself is a trivial test I made purely for testing the androind build process.
I have been using the cmake gui (v 3.25.0) on a windows machine.
I use a visual studio 2019 generator in cmake and specify a toolchain file.
Unfortunately, I seem to get the same error whatever I try. I tried searching for similar problems and trouble shooting, but have so far been unable to make any progress. If anyone with more experience could lend a hand, I would be very grateful!
I have attempted setting many different variables in the toolchain file in an attempt to resolve the problem, but the basic version of what I am working with is:
set(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME Android)
set(CMAKE_ANDROID_ARCH_ABI armeabi-v7a)
set(CMAKE_ANDROID_NDK C:/Microsoft/AndroidNDK64/android-ndk-r16b/)
The error I run into happens whenever I configure cmake. The outut I get from cmake looks something like this:
Android: Targeting API '27' with architecture 'arm', ABI 'armeabi-v7a', and processor 'armv7-a'
Android: Selected Clang toolchain 'arm-linux-androideabi-clang' with GCC toolchain 'arm-linux-androideabi-4.9'
The C compiler identification is Clang 5.0.300080
The CXX compiler identification is Clang 5.0.300080
Detecting C compiler ABI info
Detecting C compiler ABI info - failed
Check for working C compiler: C:/Microsoft/AndroidNDK64/android-ndk-r16b//toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/bin/clang.exe
Check for working C compiler: C:/Microsoft/AndroidNDK64/android-ndk-r16b//toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/bin/clang.exe - broken
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:70 (message):
The C compiler
"C:/Microsoft/AndroidNDK64/android-ndk-r16b//toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/windows-x86_64/bin/clang.exe"
is not able to compile a simple test program.
It fails with the following output:
Change Dir: C:/Users/username/Documents/Code Projects/Android Test/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeScratch/TryCompile-zqgcqm
Run Build Command(s):C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/MSBuild/Current/Bin/MSBuild.exe cmTC_b0f1d.vcxproj /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=x64 /p:VisualStudioVersion=16.0 /v:m && Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 16.11.2+f32259642 for .NET Framework
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
ANDROID_HOME=C:\\Microsoft\AndroidSDK\25
ANT_HOME=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\Apps\apache-ant-1.9.3
JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Eclipse Foundation\jdk-8.0.302.8-hotspot
NDK_ROOT=C:\\Microsoft\AndroidNDK64\android-ndk-r16b
testCCompiler.c
clang.exe : warning : argument unused during compilation: '-mthumb' [-Wunused-command-line-argument] [C:\Users\username\Documents\Code Projects\Android Test\build\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-zqgcqm\cmTC_b0f1d.vcxproj]
clang.exe : warning : argument unused during compilation: '-mfpu=vfpv3-d16' [-Wunused-command-line-argument] [C:\Users\username\Documents\Code Projects\Android Test\build\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-zqgcqm\cmTC_b0f1d.vcxproj]
clang.exe : warning : argument unused during compilation: '-mfloat-abi=softfp' [-Wunused-command-line-argument] [C:\Users\username\Documents\Code Projects\Android Test\build\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-zqgcqm\cmTC_b0f1d.vcxproj]
CLANGCOMPILE : error : unknown target CPU 'armv7-a' [C:\Users\username\Documents\Code Projects\Android Test\build\CMakeFiles\CMakeScratch\TryCompile-zqgcqm\cmTC_b0f1d.vcxproj]
CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
CMakeLists.txt:4 (project)
Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
I initially used used the NDK version found in the android tools for visual studio found at: "C:/Microsoft/AndroidNDK64/android-ndk-r16b/"
as an NDK version.
I have also tried directly downloading the latest version of the NDK and pointing to that with CMAKE_ANDROID_NDK in the toolchain file, though this did not seem to make any change.
I have tried directly using the toolchain.cmake files found at "NDK/build/cmake/android.toolchain.cmake"
for both the NDK versions described above. This too gave the same error.
Any ideas what could be causing this or how to fix?

Ok, so I was misunderstanding a few things about cross-compiling to android.
First, if I want to be able to use the static library (e.g in android studio), I will need to generate and build a solution for more than one android ABI.
The ABI's to build for are: armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a, x86_64, x86. I then need to check for each android ABI in the CMakeLists.txt file of Android studio (e.g. elseif(ANDROID_ABI STREQUAL arm64-v8a)) and swap out the location of the library to import to the build folder of that particular ABI.
As far as I am aware, it is unfortunately not possible to generate for all these ABI's as seperate platforms within the same visual studio solution. Given that, cmake must be run 4 seperate times to different build folders, each time targeting a different ABI and generator platform. To save the hassle of doing this manually, creating a batch (.bat) script to automate the process seems the best way to go. This will involve using cmake from the command line instead of the GUI version. The script can also be made to build the generated projects to save opening each one in visual studio and building there.
The batch script I have made to generate and build cross-compilation projects for android is as follows:
#echo OFF
set BUILD_DIR=build
set ANDROID_NDK=C:\Microsoft\AndroidNDK\android-ndk-r23c
set GENERATOR="Visual Studio 17 2022"
set CMAKE_GENERATOR=-G %GENERATOR%
set CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=-DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=%ANDROID_NDK%\build\cmake\android.toolchain.cmake
set CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Android
set EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS=-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=true -DANDROID_TOOLCHAIN=clang -DANDROID_STL=c++_static
CALL :build_android armeabi-v7a ARM 16
CALL :build_android arm64-v8a ARM64 21
CALL :build_android x86_64 x64 21
CALL :build_android x86 x86 16
EXIT /B %ERRORLEVEL%
:build_android
set ABI_VERSION=%~1
set GENERATOR_PLATFORM=%~2
set MINIMUM_API_LEVEL=%~3
set CMAKE_ANDROID_ARCH_ABI=-DANDROID_ABI=%ABI_VERSION%
set ABI_BUILD_DIR=%BUILD_DIR%\%ABI_VERSION%
set CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM=-A %GENERATOR_PLATFORM%
set CMAKE_BUILD_DIR=-B %ABI_BUILD_DIR%
set CMAKE_MIN_API=-DANDROID_PLATFORM=android-%MINIMUM_API_LEVEL%
set CMAKE_ARGS=%CMAKE_BUILD_DIR% %CMAKE_ANDROID_ARCH_ABI% %CMAKE_GENERATOR% %CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM% %CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME% %CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE% %CMAKE_MIN_API%
echo building for android ABI: %ABI_VERSION%
echo cmake arguments = %CMAKE_ARGS%
echo:
cmake %CMAKE_ARGS% %EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS%
echo:
cmake --build %ABI_BUILD_DIR% --target ALL_BUILD
echo:
echo:
EXIT /B 0
This worked for my simple test library, but I guess depending on the project the arguments to the cmake commands may need to be tweaked.

Unable to get qmake to cross compile correctly

I am new to this build system, but I've spent dozens of hours trying to get qmake + clang to produce a working android binary. I would appreciate any help or advice. Here is as simple an example as I can come up with:
First, here is a working build command. It gives me a shared object that I can call from android (with Unity, using C# native interops):
C:\Users\deltav\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk2\ndk\21.3.6528147\toolchains\llvm\prebuilt\windows-x86_64\bin\clang.exe ^
-target aarch64-none-linux-android21 -shared -v ^
-DANDROID_ABI=arm64-v8a -DANDROID_ARM_MODE=arm -DANDROID ^
M:\simpleExample\simpleExample.c ^
-o M:\simpleExample\libsimpleExample.so
Here is the verbose output of running that command: https://pastebin.com/18HcnDYh
On the other hand, here is the simpleExample.pro file that is NOT giving me a good binary: https://pastebin.com/wxrx6Myc
Here is the qmake output for building in release mode: https://pastebin.com/KWavwrb7
As you will know, qmake uses a kit to execute the project. My kit: https://imgur.com/a/Ehtmgin
The specific issue that has pushed me down this debugging path is from C# trying to load my shared object like this:
[DllImport("simpleExample")]
public static extern float getSpeedY();
The error that I get is this:
"DllNotFoundException: Unable to load DLL 'simpleExample': The
specified module could not be found."
Again, this error is not an issue if I just build from the CLI without qmake. I do not beleive this is a unity or C# error, as I worked the problem from that side first.
What I have tried so far:
I have used multiple ELF & DWARF tools to compare the ABIs of the generated binaries, which all told me the binaries were identical.
I tweaked and shaved down the clang calls that qmake generated until I got a vaild build command. Unfortunately I can't just replace qmake with the complile command because there are other projects that I need to apply this fix to.
QMake version 3.1
Ironically, CMake basically works out of the box.

Answer: Looking at the clang linking call, you can see QMake 3.1 was adding "libc++shared" as a dependency. I'm not sure why, as this was a C project.
The equivalent CMake project did not do this.
Packaging libc++shared with my binary fixed the issue.

Checking preprocessor directives with Android Studio Gradle Build, NDK and CMake

I'm passing in preprocessor directives via CMakeLists.txt for the build of a native android library using android NDK.
add_definitions(-DMY_DIRECTIVE=1)
It would be great to double check that those preprocessor directives are actually finding their way into the calls to the compiler (llvm ?)
But the gradle build output doesn't seem to include the calls to the compiler, I just get:
Building C object CMakeFiles/my_project.dir/home/me/projects/my_proj/src/my_native.c.o
Is there a means to make the gradle output more verbose such that I can see the actual compiler calls and check those preprocessor directives are present?

The answer is to understand that Gradle utilises CMake to build the android NDK component (shared library) of an android project, and CMake utilises Ninja as a build system to handle the calls to the compiler. The compiler used by android NDK now defaults to LLVM->Clang.
So in order to actually see the Clang calls you have to find the build.ninja files for each target of your android project.
In my case I am only building for an armeabi-v7a target architecture. Therefore the relevant build.ninja files are found in:
/home/me/projects/my_proj/app/.externalNativeBuild/cmake/debug/armeabi-v7a
/home/me/projects/my_proj/app/.externalNativeBuild/cmake/release/armeabi-v7a
cd to either directory and run:
ninja -v
i.e. the -v option is the key to see all the calls to the clang compiler that the native build (android NDK) part of your android project generates.
Note if you have installed CMake via the android package manager, you may find that ninja is not installed in a location that is on your PATH. For me the ninja binary is located as follows:
~/Android/Sdk/cmake/3.6.3155560/bin/ninja
(same directory as cmake binary)
Therefore for me to see all the clang compiler calls for my android project's debug armeabi-v7a build I have to run:
cd /home/me/projects/my_proj/app/.externalNativeBuild/cmake/debug/armeabi-v7a
~/Android/Sdk/cmake/3.6.3155560/bin/ninja -v
Note if ninja tells you ninja: no work to do.
Then run:
~/Android/Sdk/cmake/3.6.3155560/bin/ninja clean
Relevant ninja documentation is -> https://ninja-build.org/manual.html#_extra_tools

PowerVR Android sample: makefile not working

I'm having a hard time setting up PowerVR SDK for Android on Windows 8 64, assuming I met all requirements:
Android SDK (fresh Eclipse)
Android NDK
Cygwin (with make)
PowerVR Android SDK 3.0
I can perfectly make and run an Android NDK sample. However, the same process fails for building any PowerVR sample (from the SDK). Here's the output when I try to run the makefile:
$ ndk
Compile++ thumb : OGLES2Texturing <= OGLES2Texturing.cpp
arm-linux-androideabi-g++.exe: error: C:/cygwin///cygdrive/c/Users/stfn/workspaces/android/03_Texturing/jni/OGLES2Texturing.cpp: No such file or directory
arm-linux-androideabi-g++.exe: fatal error: no input files
compilation terminated.
/cygdrive/c/android-ndk-r8d/build/core/build-binary.mk:269: recipe for target `obj/local/armeabi/objs/OGLES2Texturing//cygdrive/c/Users/stfn/workspaces/android/03_Texturing/jni/OGLES2Texturing.o' failed
make: * [obj/local/armeabi/objs/OGLES2Texturing//cygdrive/c/Users/stfn/workspaces/android/03_Texturing/jni/OGLES2Texturing.o] Error 1
I suppose the error should be related to a wrong path given to the compiler. To me it looks like a mixture of standard Windows and Cygwin/Unix paths: * C:/cygwin///cygdrive/c/Users/stfn/...*
If been through so many makefiles now trying to resolve this issue but I just don't know where else to look. This is the first time I tried messing with the NDK. I'm afraid this could be my last.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

1.in the Android.mk file, for the PVRSDKDIR, set the path of your project folder in your workspace.
2.Copy the build, tools, and shell folders from the powervr sdk folder to your project folder

Compiling against C++ standard libraries on the android toolchain

I have a really simple helloworld.cpp program
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
cout << "Hello World!";
return 0;
}
And I'm trying to compile it for android x86 with the cross-compiler from the toolchain:
/Users/me/android-ndk-r8/toolchains/x86-4.4.3/prebuilt/darwin-x86/bin/i686-android-linux-g++ helloworld.cpp -L "/Users/me/android-ndk-r8/sources/cxx-stl/stlport/libs/x86/" -lstlport_static
However, I get errors:
helloworld.cpp:2:20: error: iostream: No such file or directory
Any idea why?

Check the documentation.html file included with the NDK, under "Standalone Toolchain". It says that if you invoke the compiler in this way you won't be able to "use any C++ STL". However it is possible, as the documentation explains, if you first create a "customized" toolchain installation, using something like the following command:
$NDK/build/tools/make-standalone-toolchain.sh --platform=android-8 --install-dir=/tmp/my-android-toolchain --arch=x86
where $NDK is the path to your NDK directory. Note the --arch=x86 which means that the toolchain is prepared specifically for the x86 Android. This prepares what you need in one directory, including the STL headers and folders. You should then be able to use -lstdc++ to link against the STL (static version), i.e. something like:
/tmp/my-android-toolchain/bin/i686-android-linux-g++ helloworld.cpp -lstdc++
For a more complete explanation, please see the NDK documentation.

The NDK documentation is not entirely accurate, at least not currently. In fact, it states when using the prebuilt toolchain "You won't be able to use any C++ STL (either STLport or the GNU libstdc++) with it.", but this is out of date. I created a small hello world program using the include with the same error. It can be solved without creating your own toolchain though, which is nice if you don't want to have to add one more step to your configuration process and allows you to always use the latest SDK platform without creating a new toolchain every time.
The NDK ships with the source code for several versions of standard C++ libraries: GAbi++, STLport, and GNU STL. Each flavor comes with prebuilt shared and static libs as well. My example below will use stlport.
To use the stand-alone toolchain at its installed location, you can do something like this:
export CXX='$NDK_ROOT/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.8/prebuilt/darwin-x86_64/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-g++ --sysroot="$NDK_ROOT/platforms/android-19/arch-arm"'
This, for example, would set your CXX compiler to compile ARM on the OS X system using SDK platform level 19. This much you probably already knew. Also, you would want to export your CC, CPP, LD, AR, and RANLIB if you use it. I also personally create an envar for READELF.
To add support for C++ libs, you could do something like follows:
$CXX helloworld.cpp -I$NDK_ROOT/sources/cxx-stl/stlport/stlport -L$NDK_ROOT/sources/cxx-stl/stlport/libs/armeabi -lstlport_shared
Note that this will link the libstlport_shared.so which will now be required at runtime, so you may need to add a relative path to the command above to support that, depending on your APK structure. If you want to just test this simple case, you can just run this on the emulator as follows:
adb push a.out /data
adb push $NDK_ROOT/sources/cxx-stl/stlport/libs/armeabi/libstlport_shared.so /data
adb shell
# su
# cd /data
# chmod 777 a.out
# ./a.out
To get rid of the headache of dealing with shared library paths, you can also statically link the C++ library in by changing "-lstlport_shared" to "-lstlport_static". There are some consequences of doing this, as explained in the NDK Dev Guide. The biggest issue is due to having the static library linked in multiple places, causing:
- memory allocated in one library, and freed in the other would leak or even corrupt the heap.
- exceptions raised in libfoo.so cannot be caught in libbar.so (and may simply crash the program).
- the buffering of std::cout not working properly
A useful tool is also included to see what dependencies your program has, the readelf tool.
To see what other shared libraries your program requires, you can run the following:
$NDK_ROOT/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.8/prebuilt/darwin-x86_64/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-readelf -a a.out | grep NEEDED
Other cool standard tools:
addr2line - convert a stack trace address to a line of code
nm - Displays the symbol table
objdump - displays info on an object

i call one of the functions from gnustl after it runs fine from prebuilt aosp arm-linux-androideabi-gcc --std=c++11 and after crashing error i cant get a backtrace from logs or reason, my hope is turning to crossbuilt qemu-linux-user to run host compiled i686 binary on the arm, difficulty is interacting with crosshost libs aapt from adt always crashes on any other than platform specific libs, unless kernel module packaged update is possible...