Exec format error

[andrew194]

I'm using the Llinux operating system for a class, trying to use the gdb debugger to debug a program, but when I try to run the program in gdb (using the r, and s commands) I am getting an error message saying that there is an exec format error. Wrong Architecture and that my program exited with error code 1. Any help would be appriciated, thanks

[anduril462]

I've never come across that error before, but it sounds like the executable you're debugging is built for a different architecture/processor than the one you are using to debug. Since you're on Linux, use the file command:

$ file /usr/bin/gdb
/usr/bin/gdb: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.18, stripped
$ file /path/to/file/you/are/debugging

If those two commands return different results you may have problems. Are you doing embedded work? Perhaps GDB is 32-bit and the other file is 64-bit. More details would be necessary, like copy-pasting a transcript of your GDB session.