cmake error showing nonexistent folder on running in cygwin terminal - c++

Question

I am trying to compile a c++ library g2o in cygwin(in windows 8) using cmake . I created a build folder and when I try to do cmake in that folder it fails with the following error
$ cmake ../
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 4.8.3
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 4.8.3
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- broken
CMake Error at /usr/share/cmake-2.8.11.2/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:61 (message):
The C compiler "/usr/bin/cc" is not able to compile a simple test program.
It fails with the following output:
Change Dir: /cygdrive/b/g2o/trunk/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp
Run Build Command:/cygdrive/c/Program\
Files/MATLAB/R2009a/bin/win64/gmake.exe "cmTryCompileExec3795381385/fast"
C:/Program Files/MATLAB/R2009a/bin/win64/gmake -f
CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec3795381385.dir/build.make
CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec3795381385.dir/build
gmake[1]: Entering directory `B:/g2o/trunk/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
/usr/bin/cmake.exe -E cmake_progress_report "/cygdrive/b/g2o/trunk/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp/CMakeFiles" 1
Building C object
CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec3795381385.dir/testCCompiler.c.o
/usr/bin/cc -o CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec3795381385.dir/testCCompiler.c.o
-c "/cygdrive/b/g2o/trunk/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp/testCCompiler.c"
Linking C executable cmTryCompileExec3795381385.exe
/usr/bin/cmake.exe -E cmake_link_script
CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec3795381385.dir/link.txt --verbose=1
gmake[1]: Leaving directory `B:/g2o/trunk/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
process_begin: CreateProcess(NULL, /usr/bin/cmake.exe -E cmake_link_script
CMakeFiles/cmTryCompileExec3795381385.dir/link.txt --verbose=1, ...)
failed.
make (e=2): The system cannot find the file specified.
gmake[1]: *** [cmTryCompileExec3795381385.exe] Error 2
gmake: *** [cmTryCompileExec3795381385/fast] Error 2
CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
CMakeLists.txt:4 (PROJECT)
-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
The interesting thing here is I have cmake 3.0 installed in my machine and the error says cmake 2.8.11.2. I did a search in the pc and cannot find any folder by that name. The system path variable contains the path to correct cmake bin folder also.
I cannot figure out what could be the reason behind this error. Can it be an issue with the cygwin itself? What can I do to avoid this error?

Answer 1

One thing to note, Cygwin has its own copy of CMake, which is what your seeing as 2.8.11.2. That version has nothing to do with the one you have on your Windows machine. Have you tried to use the Windows installed version and not Cygwin?
I think the problem comes from not having all required compiler libraries installed in Cygwin. You could try creating a simple C++ file and try compiling it with gcc directly. If that fails, you've now found out why CMake is failing.
Unless there is a good reason to do so, you should probably consider NOT using Cygwin to run CMake inside Windows. CMake is very capable of producing Visual Studio project files.

Answer 2

The issue, at least for me, was the c compiler not accepting unix style paths.
The solution was to install gcc via cygwin. The packages I installed is gcc-base and gcc-cpp I believe.