Score:0

Ubuntu

Install old libg2c i386 and amd64 on 22.04 LTS

Mathieu

1/24/24, 1:51 PM

I have been fighting for a while now with some old softwares which requires libg2c.so.0. One software requires the i386 version while the other requires the amd64 version.

I added the old-releases to my apt configuration:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/old-releases.list

deb     [trusted=yes]    http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy universe
deb-src [trusted=yes]    http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy universe

And I can now install one or the other:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gcc-3.4-base libg2c0
# OR
sudo apt install gcc-3.4-base:i386 libg2c0:i386

But no way to install both at the same time. One removes the other.

So.. what option do I have to install both since if I have 3 softwares, one that works with the i386 version installed and 2 that work with the amd64 version.

Note that this is not my software, and that recompiling it is not an option.

143

1 + 6

64-bit

apt

32-bit

Artur Meinild

1/24/24, 1:56 PM

When you have a dilemma like this that involves ancient software, the good answer is usually virtualization. Spin up a 32-bit VM for whatever purpose, and run your legacy software from that. Spin up another 64-bit VM if you need to run 64-bit legacy software. I would highly advise against installing legacy packages on anything that is **not** a VM.

steeldriver

1/24/24, 2:08 PM

... or you could consider just manually installing the required **libraries** to somewhere local (like `~/lib64` / `~/lib32`, or `/opt/name-of-old-software/lib{64,32}` for multiple users) and then using wrapper scripts to set appropriate `LD_LIBRARY_PATH`s for them

Mathieu

1/24/24, 4:03 PM

@steeldriver That second option seems very interesting, but I'm lacking a bit in knowledge. Could you post an answer based on it, with a bit of detail? Especially about this wrapper.

steeldriver

1/24/24, 5:22 PM

@Mathieu can you first confirm if either (or both) pieces of software actually run if you manage to install one of the package(s)? If not, the hardy-era libraries may simply be incompatible with current libc6 / libm etc. and the approach is doomed.

Mathieu

1/25/24, 8:54 AM

@steeldriver Oh they do work, I'm amazed by old softwares like those that still run on modern OS. But 2 of them run if the 64 bits version is installed while one run if the 32 bits version is.

Mathieu

1/30/24, 12:41 PM

@steeldriver FYI, your solution with LD_LIBRARY_PATH worked great!

Score:1

Ubuntu

Mathieu

1/30/24, 3:05 PM

To obtain the libraries gcc-3.4-base and libg2c, I added the following sources to apt:

deb     [trusted=yes]    http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy universe
deb-src [trusted=yes]    http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy universe

I then downloaded the libraries and dependency tree with

sudo apt install --download-only gcc-3.4-base libg2c

And then 'unpackaged them' in a directory e.g. /usr/local/mylib_i386 with:

ls -1 | grep [.]deb >> all_debs.txt
cat all_debs.txt | while read fn; do dpkg-deb -x $fn /usr/local/mylib_i386; done

I had 2 different folders for the i386 and amd64 old-libs that I needed. Then, the program running with the i386 lib is wrapped with a .sh file:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/mylib_i386/usr/...:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
path/to/program

With the ... in the path to the lib directory and sub-directories (LD_LIBRARY_PATH does not look into subdirectories).

There are probably other ways to do it.

+ 0

Elon Musk

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EN: Install old libg2c i386 and amd64 on 22.04 LTS

Post an answer

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