When passing directly to the linker only, the form is: -offload-option,mic,ld,"-z defs" If you are still unable to resolve this issue after correcting the "-z defs" syntax then please upload a reproducer that we can work with. The compiler you noted is older and there is also always...
So I probably need to change the target build architecture, but I don't see where to do that... ? As a quick aside, thank you both very much for your efforts :^] If anyone with more know-how would like to remote in on my machine to further troubleshoot, let me know ...