"Error:The C compiler "gcc.exe" is not able to compile a simple test program."
Hi all, I don't use CMake for my project, and we have a custom build system (MSVC/GCC on Windows/Linux), so I just want to use CLion as my IDE but not my build tool.
I downloaded the latest CLion build (138.2344.15), as well as a fresh copy of MinGW (installed on my D drive, as I don't have full write access to my C drive). I then started CLion, added all my source files (~30k C++ files) but then got the following error in the CMake pane at the bottom of the screen:
Error:The C compiler "D:/mingw/bin/gcc.exe" is not able to compile a simple test program.
It fails with the following output:
Change Dir: C:/Users/aludwin/.clion10/system/cmake/generated/a5af3c4a/a5af3c4a/__default__/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp
Run Build Command:D:/mingw/bin/mingw32-make.exe "cmTryCompileExec2576536829/fast"
D:/mingw/bin/mingw32-make.exe -f CMakeFiles\cmTryCompileExec2576536829.dir\build.make CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec2576536829.dir/build
mingw32-make.exe[1]: Entering directory 'C:/Users/aludwin/.clion10/system/cmake/generated/a5af3c4a/a5af3c4a/__default__/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
"D:\JetBrains\CLion 138.2344.15\bin\cmake\bin\cmake.exe" -E cmake_progress_report C:\Users\aludwin\.clion10\system\cmake\generated\a5af3c4a\a5af3c4a\__default__\CMakeFiles\CMakeTmp\CMakeFiles 1
Building C object CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec2576536829.dir/testCCompiler.c.obj
D:\mingw\bin\gcc.exe -o CMakeFiles\cmTryCompileExec2576536829.dir\testCCompiler.c.obj -c C:\Users\aludwin\.clion10\system\cmake\generated\a5af3c4a\a5af3c4a\__default__\CMakeFiles\CMakeTmp\testCCompiler.c
CMakeFiles\cmTryCompileExec2576536829.dir\build.make:56: recipe for target 'CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec2576536829.dir/testCCompiler.c.obj' failed
mingw32-make.exe[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec2576536829.dir/testCCompiler.c.obj] Error 1
mingw32-make.exe[1]: Leaving directory 'C:/Users/aludwin/.clion10/system/cmake/generated/a5af3c4a/a5af3c4a/__default__/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
Makefile:113: recipe for target 'cmTryCompileExec2576536829/fast' failed
mingw32-make.exe: *** [cmTryCompileExec2576536829/fast] Error 2
CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
CLion then proceeded to index my project for a minute or two, but only appears to have indexed the (very few) Javascript files located in our source tree. None of the C++ files were indexed.
I had a look inside my c:\users\<whoami>\.clion\...\CMakeError.log but it wasn't terribly illuminating:
Compiling the C compiler identification source file "CMakeCCompilerId.c" failed.
Compiler: D:/mingw/bin/gcc.exe
Build flags:
Id flags:
The output was:
1
Compiling the C compiler identification source file "CMakeCCompilerId.c" failed.
Compiler: D:/mingw/bin/gcc.exe
Build flags:
Id flags: -c
The output was:
1
Compiling the C compiler identification source file "CMakeCCompilerId.c" failed.
Compiler: D:/mingw/bin/gcc.exe
Build flags:
Id flags: -Aa
The output was:
1
<command-line>:0:1: error: missing '(' after predicate
So two questions:
- Is it necessary to resolve the problem shown above to get CLion to index my source files?
- If so, what might I be doing wrong?
I'd appreciate any help on this!
Thanks,
Adrian
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Note that this appears to be the same as https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/CPP-785#u=1409812883584. However, the latest update seemed to be that they expected the latest MinGW (4.8) to work.
I tried downgrading GCC from 4.8 to 4.7, but no luck.
Have you added the Mingw /bin-path to your PATH variable in windows?
Just tried that but no change. I also deleted <user>/.clion10 and the .idea folder in my project before restartin clion, and verified the change by saying "echo %path%" from within the terminal inside clion.
Adrian, could you please check 'Toolchains' page in 'Settings' the latest EAP build, is there any problem reported?
Nope, everything looks ok.

I'd be willing to do a live debug via Webex if you want, but not this week.
Does the same problem happen with a newly created project (File | New Project)?
If so, please to the following:
* clean ~/.clion10/system/cmake folder
* open newly created project
* when the problem happens, zip '~/.clion10/system/cmake' and send the content to clion-support email.