Software Diagnostics Library

In part 1 we discussed the common mistake of not looking at full stack traces. In this part we discuss the common mistake of not looking at all stack traces. This is important when the dump is partially truncated or inconsistent. For example, in one complete memory dump from one hang system WinDbg !locks command is not able to traverse them at all due to truncated dump:

3: kd> !locks
**** DUMP OF ALL RESOURCE OBJECTS ****
KD: Scanning for held locks.......Error 1 in reading nt!_ERESOURCE.SystemResourcesList.Flink @ f71612a0

The common response, especially from beginners, would be to dismiss this dump and request the new one after increasing page file size. However, dumping all thread stacks reveals the resource contention around ERESOURCE objects similar to what was discussed in a mixed object deadlock example in kernel space: 

3: kd> !stacks
Proc.Thread  .Thread  Ticks   ThreadState Blocker
[...]
                            [85973590 csrss.exe]
4138.0051e0  85961db0 00cb222 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
4138.0048c8  85d1d240 000006d Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
4138.0054cc  85c8a840 00c0d50 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
4138.00227c  859be330 00c0d53 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
4138.0053d8  8590f458 00000df Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
4138.003bb4  85b61020 00000e1 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
4138.002a08  85d1edb0 00000e1 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
4138.005e6c  85943020 00cc9cc Blocked    driverA+0xec08
4138.00575c  858eeb40 00c0d4e Blocked    driverA+0xec08
4138.003880  858ee5f8 00c0d51 Blocked    driverA+0xec08

                            [85bb9b18 winlogon.exe]
50e0.0054d4  85a8cb30 00c0d53 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
50e0.004b90  85b6c7b8 000001a Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.0032cc  85a1f850 0000084 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.005450  85c43db0 0000014 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.005648  85a1f5e0 0000015 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.004a80  85a7abd8 000001b Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.0036d8  85d886a8 000001b Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.0055b0  85d88438 0000014 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.004380  85962020 00c0d53 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
50e0.005744  85a22db0 0000015 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.005dd4  8584c7a0 0000015 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.005e30  858902f0 0000018 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
50e0.005ce8  857bbdb0 00c0d53 Blocked    driverA+0xec08

                            [85914868 explorer.exe]
5fd8.005fdc  85911020 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5fd8.005fec  8579d020 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.005ff8  857ce020 0000014 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5fd8.003678  857ce8d0 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.00556c  857ce3f0 00b85d9 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.005564  857e4db0 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.005548  86529380 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.006fd8  856095c8 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.001844  85d50020 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.0069cc  85ab8db0 000001a Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5fd8.0057c4  85fea2b0 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.00394c  85a475b8 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.004a8c  86090020 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5fd8.00583c  85990db0 00bc253 Blocked    driverA+0xec08

                            [858634a0 ApplicationA.EXE]
5b7c.005ad8  8597ddb0 0078325 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5b7c.0058b4  85735020 00b6852 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5b7c.00598c  8597db40 000001a Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.0059dc  85746a18 000001a Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.005b3c  85733ae8 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.005934  85733878 0000018 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.002b68  85bb8a40 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.0016dc  85747438 0000018 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.003fc0  8577ea60 00b6852 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5b7c.0066a4  8595c2f8 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.006b50  893d5660 0000018 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.0066f4  8605f530 00b6852 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5b7c.001554  85930cf0 00b6852 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5b7c.006f28  86132db0 00b6852 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5b7c.004448  85aa6890 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5b7c.000fa8  859073c8 00b6852 Blocked    driverA+0xec08

                            [8595c928 ApplicationB.exe]
5990.0059a0  857c5508 000001a Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.005950  85ce7548 00b3b52 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5990.005c10  856dc910 00b3b52 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5990.005bd4  85767b40 00b3b52 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5990.005e38  859b6a18 000001a Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.005f14  85a747a0 0000015 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.005e68  85989020 0000015 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.005f10  859f42d8 0000015 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.005f0c  856ec5e8 00b3b52 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5990.0045d0  856ec9a8 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.004584  85728020 0000018 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.004754  8572d818 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.004b94  856cf020 00b3b52 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5990.003374  85722db0 0000016 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5990.000b1c  8647ddb0 00b3b52 Blocked    driverA+0xec08
5990.003bdc  85f812f0 00b3b52 Blocked    driverA+0xec08

                            [859bd598 dllhost.exe]
5e3c.00591c  8593e2f0 000001a Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5e3c.005e60  85777db0 000006e Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5e3c.005e64  85978b40 0000018 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19
5e3c.0055c8  85903358 0000018 Blocked    nt!ExEnterCriticalRegionAndAcquireResourceExclusive+0×19

[...]

Threads Processed: 1500

Different methods to list all thread stacks are listed in Stack Trace Collection pattern. 

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 8:02 pm and is filed under Common Mistakes, Crash Dump Analysis, Debugging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.