Unable to start debugging (error 216) in Visual Studio Code - vscode-debugger

Question

The libmodbus software from Github compiles in Visual Studio Code, but Run > Start Debugging generates:
ERROR: Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command "-exec-run". Error creating process c:\Users\Appa Oh\Documents\GitHub\libmodbus\src\modbus.exe, (error 216).
The program 'c:\Users\Appa Oh\Documents\GitHub\libmodbus\src\modbus.exe' has exited with code 42 (0x0000002a).
The VS Code version is 1.59.0 updated August 2021 and running under Windows 10
My other programs in VS Code debug with no problem
Disabling Avast Free Antivirus did not work
Running the program from a cmd prompt gives the message:
'cannot start or run due to incompatibility with 64-bit versions of Windows.
Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Kind regards,
Greg
*** Debugger output ***
=thread-group-added,id="i1"
GNU gdb (GDB) 10.2
Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-w64-mingw32".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word".
Warning: Debuggee TargetArchitecture not detected, assuming x86_64.
=cmd-param-changed,param="pagination",value="off"
ERROR: Unable to start debugging. Unexpected GDB output from command "-exec-run". Error creating process c:\Users\Appa Oh\Documents\GitHub\libmodbus\src\modbus.exe, (error 216).
The program 'c:\Users\Appa Oh\Documents\GitHub\libmodbus\src\modbus.exe' has exited with code 42 (0x0000002a).
*** c_cpp_properties.json file ***
{
"configurations": [
{
"name": "Win32",
"includePath": [
"${workspaceFolder}/**",
"C:\\msys64\\mingw64\\x86_64-w64-mingw32\\include"
],
"defines": [
"_DEBUG",
"UNICODE",
"_UNICODE"
],
"windowsSdkVersion": "8.1",
"compilerPath": "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\\\\VC/bin/cl.exe",
"cStandard": "c17",
"cppStandard": "c++17",
"intelliSenseMode": "windows-msvc-x64"
}
],
"version": 4
}
*** launch.json file ***
{
// Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
// Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "gcc.exe - Build and debug active file",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"program": "${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": false,
"cwd": "C:\\msys64\\mingw32\\bin",
"environment": [],
"externalConsole": false,
"MIMode": "gdb",
"miDebuggerPath": "C:\\msys64\\mingw64\\bin\\gdb.exe",
"setupCommands": [
{
"description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
"text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
"ignoreFailures": true
}
],
"preLaunchTask": "C/C++: gcc.exe build active file"
}
]
}
***** tasks.json file *****
{
"tasks": [
{
"type": "cppbuild",
"label": "C/C++: gcc.exe build active file",
"command": "C:\\msys64\\mingw64\\bin\\gcc.exe",
"args": [
"-c",
"-ggdb",
"-municode", // to use mWinMain instead of WinMain go 2021-07-31
"${file}",
"-o",
"${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe"
],
"options": {
"cwd": "${fileDirname}"
},
"problemMatcher": [
"$gcc"
],
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
"detail": "Task generated by Debugger."
}
],
"version": "2.0.0"
}