MinGW C compiler "not able to compile a simple test program"

Question

I want to run MinGW as a C compiler. MinGW has been installed from Chocolatey. Invocation is from gitlab-runner through CMake. This fails with

$ cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -DLIB_MAN=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=C:\opt\x64 -B. ..
-- The C compiler identification is unknown
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/ProgramData/chocolatey/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/ProgramData/chocolatey/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe -- broken
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.16/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:60 (message):
  The C compiler

    "C:/ProgramData/chocolatey/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe"

  is not able to compile a simple test program.

  It fails with the following output:

    Change Dir: C:/gitlab-runner/builds/zjE1Mkfg/0/mlz/kww/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp

    Run Build Command(s):C:/ProgramData/chocolatey/bin/mingw32-make.exe cmTC_ffa53/fast && C:/ProgramData/chocolatey/lib/mingw/tools/install/mingw64/bin/mingw32-make -f CMakeFiles\cmTC_ffa53.dir\build.make CMakeFiles/cmTC_ffa53.dir/build
    mingw32-make[1]: Entering directory 'C:/gitlab-runner/builds/zjE1Mkfg/0/mlz/kww/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
    Building C object CMakeFiles/cmTC_ffa53.dir/testCCompiler.c.obj
    C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe    -o CMakeFiles\cmTC_ffa53.dir\testCCompiler.c.obj   -c C:\gitlab-runner\builds\zjE1Mkfg\0\mlz\kww\build\CMakeFiles\CMakeTmp\testCCompiler.c
    mingw32-make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles\cmTC_ffa53.dir\build.make:65: CMakeFiles/cmTC_ffa53.dir/testCCompiler.c.obj] Error 1
    mingw32-make[1]: Leaving directory 'C:/gitlab-runner/builds/zjE1Mkfg/0/mlz/kww/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
    mingw32-make: *** [Makefile:120: cmTC_ffa53/fast] Error 2





  CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:6 (project)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "C:/gitlab-runner/builds/zjE1Mkfg/0/mlz/kww/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".
See also "C:/gitlab-runner/builds/zjE1Mkfg/0/mlz/kww/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeError.log".


ERROR: Job failed: exit status 1

From various web sources I understand that MinGW is bound to fail if sh.exe is present on the system [1]. However, sh.exe comes with several applications, among them Git and Visual Studio, which I cannot remove. Somewhere it's suggested to add -DCMAKE_SH="CMAKE_SH-NOTFOUND", which, however, has no effect.

I've seen a related question from 2015 [2], which however involves CLion. The only upvoted answer contains several broken links - altogether, that thread isn't helpful.

How to proceed? Is there a chance to work around the sh.exe problem?

Other advice on the web suggests to use -G "MSYS Makefiles". However, the CMake documentation [3] seems to rule this out: "not compatible with a Windows command prompt. To build under a Windows command prompt, use the MinGW Makefiles generator."

[1] https://stackoverflow.com/a/7411982/1017348
[2] CLion: Error:The C compiler "C:/MinGW/bin/gcc.exe" is not able to compile a simple test program
[3] https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/generator/MSYS%20Makefiles.html#generator:MSYS%20Makefiles per CMake 3.16.1

Answer 1

After long experimentation, I conclude that the problem comes from Chocolatey's packaging of MinGW. The problem is gone after I

• uninstalled the MinGW package from Chocolatey,
• reinstalled MinGW using the original MinGW installer,
• installed the Ninja Chocolatey package,
• inserted C:\MinGW\bin on top of PATH.

$ cmake -G "Ninja" -DLIB_MAN=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=C:\opt\x64 -B. ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 8.2.0
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/MinGW/bin/gcc.exe
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/MinGW/bin/gcc.exe -- works

Also note:

• There is no need for -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=...
• I did not try hard to get -G "MinGW Makefile" working; -G Ninja works just fine.