PRB: L1089 Error Caused by Incorrect Linker Version

MS-DOS                                    | OS/2

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft LINK for MS-DOS, versions 3.x, 4.x, 5.0x, 5.1x, 5.3, 5.31.009, 5.5, and 5.6
• Microsoft LINK for OS/2, versions 5.0x, 5.1, 5.11, 5.13, and 5.15

SYMPTOMS

An attempt to link an application fails and Microsoft LINK displays the following message:

   LINK : fatal error L1089: filename : cannot open response file

CAUSE

The version of Microsoft LINK in use is earlier than the linker version provided with the Microsoft language product. This can occur when the PATH environment variable lists an operating system directory that contains a copy of Microsoft LINK before the directory that contains the language product.

NOTE: With Microsoft Fortran version 5.1, this same message may be displayed if the source file does not have a ".for" extension.

RESOLUTION

To address this situation, perform one of the following two steps:

• Modify the PATH environment variable to list the directory with the correct linker before any other directories that contain a copy of Microsoft LINK.
• Change the name of other versions of Microsoft LINK to LINK.OLD to prevent them from being used accidentally while allowing the file to be recovered for use if necessary.