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I was able to reproduce this issue with a simple case (shown below). The problem in particular is that the output of compiling my main C file is a file with format data (returned by running file on the file). When the file is run, the command line gives the error cannot execute binary file: Exec format error.

The file, main.c contains the following code:

#include <stdlib.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) 
{
    return 0;
}

I am using this command to compile the code: gcc main.c -o main.

Output of gcc --version:

gcc (Ubuntu 4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04.1) 4.8.4
Copyright (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Any thoughts, comments, or ideas are appreciated.

| improve this question | |
  • I still don't know why this was happening, but I was able to compile properly from a different computer with the same (or similar) specs. – Maria Apr 18 '16 at 4:17
  • How are you running the compiled program? I'd suggest always using ./main just so that you don't pick up main from anywhere else from $PATH – Colin Ian King Apr 18 '16 at 7:47
  • Yes, that is how I run my executables on linux. The issue is that using file on an executable should give you a whole bunch of information about the bitness and the file format, but running file on main gives the output data (i.e. not an executable file). I think @gslin's answer is correct. – Maria Apr 18 '16 at 21:21
3

Your gcc might be corrupted, try to re-install gcc-4.8:

apt-get install --reinstall gcc-4.8
| improve this answer | |
  • I agree this is likely the issue. I don't have permission, but I'll let an admin know. Thanks. – Maria Apr 18 '16 at 4:32

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