Ubuntu error: "filename" cannot execute binary file - matlab

Question

I am working on matlab R2013a on Ubuntu. I am referring this code:
sift_bin = fullfile('lib/sift/bin/siftfeat');
[pf,nf,ef] = fileparts(filename);
desc_file = [fullfile(pf,nf) '.txt'];
im1=imread(filename);
if (size(im1,1)<=1000 && size(im1,2)<=1000)
status1 = system([sift_bin ' -x -o ' desc_file ' ' filename]);
else
status1 = system([sift_bin ' -d -x -o ' desc_file ' ' filename]);
end
But it gives an error:
lib/sift/bin/siftfeat cannot execute binary file
Is there anything wrong with system call?
lib/sift/bin/siftfeat is a path of sift library.

Answer 1

Use file utility to make sure that file is an executable and see its architecture
system('file /bin/ls')
/bin/ls: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked
(uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.24,
BuildID[sha1]=0xf31e99218b4d7034cf8257055686bca22f5a3c01, stripped
ans = 0
Then uname -a shows architecture of your system
system('uname -a')
Linux optiPlex7010 3.8.0-35-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Tue Dec 3 01:24:59 UTC 2013
x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
ans = 0
As one can see I have 64-bit Linux and executable is also 64-bit. However, when it comes to 32-bit systems and executable support is backward compatible. That means 64-bit system may execute both 32-bit and 64-bit executables, but 32-bit system can execute only 32-bit executables.
From your comments I see that you are trying to launch 64-bit executable in 32-bit system, which is not capable of doing that. You should find 32-bit version of siftfeat or change your OS to 64-bit, if that is possible.