Errors when compiling older version **samtools**

Question

[Zhitian Wu]

I have downloaded bcf file from this website ricevarmap. In order to "view" this old bcf format and convert it to a newer one, it's said that I have to install samtools-0.1.17, which has a older version bcftools in it.

When I make source code, it pops out two errors as follows.

ar -csru libbcf.a bcf.o vcf.o bcfutils.o prob1.o em.o kfunc.o kmin.o index.o fet.o mut.o bcf2qcall.o
make[1]: ar: No such file or directory
make[1]: *** [Makefile:31: libbcf.a] Error 127
make[1]: Leaving directory '~/rice/samtools/samtools-0.1.17/bcftools'
make: *** [Makefile:17: all-recur] Error 1

I am using windows subsystem for linux. Do anyone know how I can fix these errors?

[Michael]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar_(Unix)

Best bet: install this tool

[Zhitian Wu]

Thanks. That's the case.

conda install binutils

(though there are still more libraries problems to be solved, now I know how to...)

[Michael]

could you simply try this: conda create -n oldsamtools samtools=0.1.17

[jkbonfield]

They're using WSL and compiling from source. There's absolutely no point in using conda.

Just "sudo apt-get install binutils" and any other package you need. It's a linux distro in which you'll have root access (VM or VM-alike), so no need to reinvent the wheel here. Especially not to be square. :-)

[Zhitian Wu]

I'd use conda because I am using gcc installed by conda.

of course, I can run the command "sudo apt-get install binutils". In this way, it is installed in "/usr/include/", where locates all "C libraries". I guess I need to specify "/usr/include/" when using "conda::gcc" so that gcc can find these libraries.

But if you simply use conda install binutils, it is installed in the place where "conda::gcc" can find.