Memory Dump
A snapshot of memory. Can be sequential (cell by cell) or selective.
References: Memory Dump - A Mathematical Definition
Synonyms: crash dump, core dump.
Antonyms:
Also: user dump, kernel dump, complete dump, full dump, minidump.
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -
Posted in Crash Dump Analysis, Debugging, Dictionary of Debugging, M | 3 Comments »
This small case study continues where Not using checklists common mistake case study left, after identifying the blocked LPC thread in ServiceA process. We know that ServiceA always asks (coupled with) ServiceB and, indeed, when looking at the latter stack trace collection we see a GUI thread showing a dialog box:
0:000> ~13kc
ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet
USER32!NtUserWaitMessage
USER32!InternalDialogBox
USER32!DialogBoxIndirectParamAorW
USER32!DialogBoxIndirectParamW
comdlg32!NewGetFileName
comdlg32!NewGetSaveFileName
comdlg32!GetFileName
comdlg32!GetSaveFileNameW
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
DllA!DllEntryPoint
ServiceB!Initialize
[…]
ServiceB!ServiceThread
kernel32!BaseThreadStart
From function names we can infer that the thread was displaying a “Save File As” common dialog box but the service was not allowed to interact with a desktop. This made the service blocked and, in return, made ServiceA blocked too. The suggestion was to enable ServiceB to interact with the desktop and keep an eye on DllA.
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -
Posted in Crash Dump Analysis, Crash Dump Patterns | No Comments »
Got it in the post yesterday shipped via courier from Amazon:
Windows® Internals: Including Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista, Fifth Edition (PRO-Developer)
I originally expected it to be a paperback book but as a publisher myself I welcome the final MS Press decision to make it a hardcover. It is more solid. I plan to read it from cover to cover again, starting from tomorrow. I would like to thank authors for including the reference to www.dumpanalysis.org in the conclusion part of the last chapter 14 dedicated to crash dump analysis. This came as a nice surprise for me and I’m going to install a special plaque in the office and put its picture later on my blog.
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -
Posted in Announcements, Books, Certification, Crash Dump Analysis, Debugging, Software Architecture, Software Technical Support, Tools, Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows System Administration | 4 Comments »
Supportability is similar to serviceability and while working on DebugWare book I realized that writing support tools needs its own buzz word like model-driven software design. Hence SDSD acronym was born a few days ago:
SDSD
Supportability-Driven Software Design
or
Support-Driven Software Design
or
Serviceability-Driven Software Design
Thinking about where to insert requirements, architecture and design led me to another acronym:
RADII
Requirements, Architecture, Design, Implementation and Improvement
The plural form of radius signifies the fact that there is a plurality of ways how SDLC can be implemented. Improvement is similar to Maintenance.
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -
Posted in DebugWare Patterns, New Acronyms, Software Architecture, Software Engineering, Software Technical Support, Tools | 1 Comment »
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