gcc - How to run manually produce an elf executable using ld?

Question

I'm trying to get my head around how the linking process works when producing an executable. To do that I'm reading Ian Taylor's blog series about it, but a lot of it is beyond me at the moment - so I'd like to see how it works in practice.

At the moment I produce some object files and link them via gcc with:

gcc -m32 -o test.o -c test.c
gcc -m32 -o main.o -c main.c
gcc -m32 -o test main.o test.o

How do I replicate the gcc -m32 -o test main.o test.o stage using ld?

I've tried a very naive: ld -A i386 ./test.o ./main.o

But that returns me these errors:

ld: i386 architecture of input file `./test.o' is incompatible with i386:x86-64 output
ld: i386 architecture of input file `./main.o' is incompatible with i386:x86-64 output
ld: warning: cannot find entry symbol _start; defaulting to 00000000004000b0
./test.o: In function `print_hello':
test.c:(.text+0xd): undefined reference to `_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_'
test.c:(.text+0x1e): undefined reference to `puts'
./main.o: In function `main':
main.c:(.text+0x15): undefined reference to `_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_

I'm most confused by _start and _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_ being missing - what additional info does gcc give to ld to add them?

Here are the files:

main.c

#include "test.h"


void main() 
{
    print_hello();
}

test.h

void print_hello();

test.c

#include <stdio.h>


void print_hello()
{
    puts("Hello, world");
}

Answer 1

@sam : I am not the best people to answer your question because I am a beginner in compilation. I know how to compile programs but I do not really understand all the details (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compilers:_Principles,_Techniques,_and_Tools) So, I decided this year to try to understand how compilation works and I tried to do, more or less, the same things as you tried a few days ago. As nobody has answered, I am going to expose what I have done but I hope an expert will supplement my answer.

Short answer : It is recommended to not use ld directly but to use gcc directly instead. Nevertheless, it is, as you write, interesting to know how the linking process works. This command works on my computer :
ld -m elf_i386 -dynamic-linker /lib/ld-linux.so.2 -o test test.o main.o /usr/lib/crt1.o /usr/lib/libc.so /usr/lib/crti.o /usr/lib/crtn.o

Very Long answer :
How did I find the command above ?
As n.m suggested, run gcc with -v option.
gcc -v -m32 -o test main.o test.o

...
/usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.8.5/collect2 ... (many options and parameters)
....

If you run ld with these options and parameters (copy and paste), it should work.
Try your command with -m elf_i386 (cf. collect2 parameters)
ld -m elf_i386 test.o main.o

ld: warning: cannot find entry symbol _start; ....

Look for symbol _start in object files used in the full ld command.
readelf -s /usr/lib/crt1.o (or objdump -t)

Symbol table '.symtab' contains 18 entries:
Num: Value Size Type Bind Vis Ndx Name
...
11: 00000000 0 FUNC GLOBAL DEFAULT 2 _start

Add this object to your ld command :
ld -m elf_i386 test.o main.o /usr/lib/crt1.o

... undefined reference to `__libc_csu_fini'...

Look for this new reference in object files. It is not so obvious to know which library/object files are used because of -L, -l options and some .so include other libraries. For example, cat /usr/lib/libc.so. But, ld with --trace option helps. Try this command
ld --trace ... (collect2 parameters)
At the end, you should find
ld -m elf_i386 -o test test.o main.o /usr/lib/crt1.o /usr/lib/libc_nonshared.a /lib/libc.so.6 /usr/lib/crti.o
or shorter (cf. cat /usr/lib/libc.so)
ld -m elf_i386 -o test test.o main.o /usr/lib/crt1.o /usr/lib/libc.so /usr/lib/crti.o
It compiles but it does not run (Try to run ./test). It needs the right -dynamic-linker option because it is a dynamically linked ELF executable. (cf collect2 parameters to find it)
ld -m elf_i386 -dynamic-linker /lib/ld-linux.so.2 -o test test.o main.o /usr/lib/crt1.o /usr/lib/libc.so /usr/lib/crti.o
But, it does not run (Segmentation fault (core dumped)) because you need the epilogue of the _init and _fini functions (https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gccint/Initialization.html). Add the ctrn.o object.
ld -m elf_i386 -dynamic-linker /lib/ld-linux.so.2 -o test test.o main.o /usr/lib/crt1.o /usr/lib/libc.so /usr/lib/crti.o /usr/lib/crtn.o
./test

Hello, world