Software Diagnostics Library

I’ve always wondered why LockCount is sometimes negative in the latest OS versions since SPs for Windows Server 2003:

0:000> !locks

CritSec +319ee0 at 00319EE0
LockCount -90
RecursionCount 1
OwningThread 1198
EntryCount 0
ContentionCount 734a6
*** Locked

CritSec +202e3d0 at 0202E3D0
LockCount -2
RecursionCount 1
OwningThread 1198
EntryCount 0
ContentionCount 0
*** Locked

CritSec +1b69ad4 at 01B69AD4
LockCount -2
RecursionCount 1
OwningThread 1198
EntryCount 0
ContentionCount 0
*** Locked

Finally the post on NT Debugging Blog pointed to WinDbg Help article (the section Interpreting Critical Section Fields in Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Later):

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc267476.aspx

Be aware though that negative values could also mean Critical Section Corruption pattern:

CritSec printerA!DlgProc+53b38 at 107cddd8
WaiterWoken Yes
LockCount -69154612
RecursionCount 276618309
OwningThread 107cdd36
EntryCount 0
ContentionCount 0
*** Locked 

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Crash Dump Analysis, Debugging, WinDbg Tips and Tricks. 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.