Binary stopped working under Windows 7

[sergeevabc]

https://github.com/braheezy/goqoa/releases/tag/v2.0.0

$ goqoa.exe Usage: goqoa [command] Use 'goqoa help' for a list of commands.

https://github.com/braheezy/goqoa/releases/tag/v2.1.0

$ goqoa.exe

[braheezy]

windows.zip

I tried to reproduce this in a Windows 7 VM but neither the 2.0 or 2.1 version seems to run for me. Could you try this new build? I appreciate the help.

[sergeevabc]

windows.zip

Does not work, alas. You have optimized the binary between 2.0 and 2.1 (from 9.71 MB to 1+ MB), perhaps something valuable was lost along the way.

[braheezy]

Yeah I did two things that dramatically cut the size:

• Removed debug symbols
• Compress with upx

I've already seen in other situations where UPX strips too much info and renders the binary unusable.

Here's a build with no UPX.

[sergeevabc]

Here's a build with no UPX

Alas, it does not work here as well.

[braheezy]

Well, that surely leaves the debug symbol stripping as the culprit. Either way, more binaries to try:

• With UPX compression, but no symbol stripping
• Just a regular Go build, no binary size optimizations at all

[sergeevabc]

Either way, more binaries to try

Alas, nothing so far.

[sergeevabc]

I compiled it myself using Go 1.21.4.

$ go.exe install github.com/braheezy/goqoa@latest
go: downloading github.com/braheezy/goqoa v1.1.0
go: downloading github.com/ebitengine/oto/v3 v3.0.0
go: downloading github.com/go-audio/audio v1.0.0
go: downloading github.com/go-audio/wav v1.1.0
go: downloading github.com/jfreymuth/oggvorbis v1.0.5
go: downloading github.com/spf13/cobra v1.7.0
go: downloading golang.org/x/sys v0.10.0
go: downloading github.com/jfreymuth/vorbis v1.0.2
go: downloading github.com/go-audio/riff v1.0.0
go: downloading github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0
go: downloading github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5

$ goqoa.exe
Usage: goqoa [command]
Use 'goqoa help' for a list of commands.

Output: goqoa.zip

[braheezy]

Installing from source will be the best route for platforms like Windows 7. The README has those instructions so this feels closed to me.

[sergeevabc]

Installation from source significantly limits the potential of the program (and hence the spread of QOA format as such), because this method is in demand only among tech-savvy people. You could ask Github to build a separate, legacy version for Windows 7, using Go ≤ 1.21.4, like @schollz did with Croc.

[braheezy]

I hear ya. I definitely want to make it easy as possible for people to try this format out!

I did another build with Go 1.21.4, which is slightly older minor version than I've been using so maybe it will help.

I reviewed the linked repository and the only real difference I could distinguish between our build processes is I build natively on a Windows machine and croc builds on an Ubuntu machine but cross-compiles, hence the use of GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64. Note those are the same flags used when making a Windows 10 binary. The Go build tools don't distinguish between Windows 7 or 10.

It seems odd that cross-compiling could beat native compilation in terms of compatibility...but IIRC, the original reasons I went with the native compilation are no longer relevant. I might explore a larger refactor of the pipeline.