Debugging a crash dump

[JY]

Hi,

I'm trying to debug a crash dump for a Word addin plugin. I've downloaded
the crash dump from the Windows Error Reporting (winqual) site. I have the
dump file and .pdb corresponding to our plugin binaries.

Question is, how do I debug the dump and get the call stack? I've already
tried the following:

1. Open the dump file in VS 2005 and press F10 after that. It starts
debugging it, but I don't get the call stack, because the dump file and the
..pdb(s) are not not copied in the source code path. Since it is a plug-in
with many DLLs involved and no EXE (WINWORD is the EXE concerned), where can
I copy the dump and .pdb files?

2. Open the dump file in WinDebug and give the following command:
!analyze -v
Again, I don't get the call stack.

Not sure how to handle this, apprecaite any help.

TIA,
JY

 

[Alessandro Vergani]

1. Open the dump file in VS 2005 and press F10 after that. It starts

debugging it, but I don't get the call stack, because the dump file and
the
.pdb(s) are not not copied in the source code path. Since it is a plug-in
with many DLLs involved and no EXE (WINWORD is the EXE concerned), where
can
I copy the dump and .pdb files?

You can copy dump and pdb in a folder of choice, as long as they are in the
same folder (you can also place them in different folder but you have to set
the path to pdb files in VS options or you have to load the pdb manually)

When you start the debugging, open the module window and verify that the pdb
is loaded.

Alessandro

 

[JY]

1. Open the dump file in VS 2005 and press F10 after that. It starts

You can copy dump and pdb in a folder of choice, as long as they are in the
same folder (you can also place them in different folder but you have to set
the path to pdb files in VS options or you have to load the pdb manually)

When you start the debugging, open the module window and verify that the pdb
is loaded.

I don't see the module window - how do I get that in VS 2005?

Also, I get a message saying "There is no source code available for the
current location", and so I don't get the call stack.

 

[Alessandro Vergani]

I don't see the module window - how do I get that in VS 2005?

It's under the debug menu

Also, I get a message saying "There is no source code available for the
current location", and so I don't get the call stack.

Probably because the pdb doesn't load successfully (btw, you need the dll
too, otherwise the pdb can't load)

Alessandro

 

[JY]

It's under the debug menu


Probably because the pdb doesn't load successfully (btw, you need the dll
too, otherwise the pdb can't load)

OK, I got to the point where the DLLs and the pdbs load. But I still get the
message "There is no source code available for the current location". Also,
the call stack shows only some ATL methods being called, but not the
application specific calls. So, I'm still not able to trace it.

 

[Joseph M. Newcomer]

Note that there may not be source code at that point.'

For example, if you send a bogus address to a low-level API in some way, and as a
consequence it crashes in NTDLL.DLL or someplace like that, there will be no source code.

If you manage to send something really bad to some Word component, and instead of
gracefully returning an error code it crashes, there will be no source code.

Source code and call stack do not correlate when debugging crash dumps. I don't do VBA,
but other application crashes have a call stack but my DLL might be eight levels down in
the stack.

If, on the other hand, you have written a DLL that manages to clobber the stack, all bets
are off. There may be no source code, but the integrity of the stack is *also*
compromised, so you can't get a stack trace either.
joe

OK, I got to the point where the DLLs and the pdbs load. But I still get the
message "There is no source code available for the current location". Also,
the call stack shows only some ATL methods being called, but not the
application specific calls. So, I'm still not able to trace it.

Joseph M. Newcomer [MVP]
email: (e-mail address removed)
Web: http://www.flounder.com
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