Archive for the ‘Occult Debugging’ Category
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Sometimes I accidentally use du WinDbg command (to interpret memory as Unicode) instead of da (to interpret memory as ASCII):
0:000> db 07329f28 l20
07329f28 68 69 64 70 6e 73 74 3d-26 74 78 74 74 6f 3d 26 hidpnst=&txtto=&
07329f38 74 78 74 63 63 3d 26 74-78 74 62 63 63 3d 26 74 txtcc=&txtbcc=&t
0:000> da 07329f28 l20
07329f28 "hidpnst=&txtto=&txtcc=&txtbcc=&t"
0:000> du 07329f28 l10
07329f28 "楨灤獮㵴琦瑸潴.硴捴㵣琦瑸换㵣琦"
This time I tried to get extra hidden meaning from a process dump taken after the process suffered a CPU spike by using Google translator and got this text (I put more lengthy Unicode sequence and removed some offensive words):
"Luan Xian Zhen Qi-bin 㵴 cisternae. Huasong 㵣 Qi, Qi-bin-bin for 㵣 pull 㵪 䕒 .. 䉉 Ya Hui material. Hong SHIKA King. Huajiayuyan nuts .. 䐰 〥 䅁 evil force. Rafter Hui Qi 䤫 Mi cat deterrent Junying hydrogen walk. cisternae Huzhao Man cat Wuzhou Wen Zhen Zhao Zhen Pan scene file Shan. prison Shang Tang. Jue Shi Pan. sewage knock Xi. generous Zhen. 䤫. ice. conflict. cisternae Zhao askance nuts. rafter .. On unfeigned domain knock. Kagesue Mankuo. 㜲 Ruo Yi enemy luster of gems. cisternae Yu Wei Shan scene. Tan knock Shan. tally Xia Pan Ying. rafter. Xia. luster of gems tumultuous. Jing Feng-Tou Airuo enemy luster of gems Yixian … additionally . Tu. civet eliminating the lot Shan Ying RB Thieme, Jr.-Voltage trapping Feng-潷 Man. Tan knock Ruo Yi Xian cat enemy luster of gems. rafter Shi Feng-Tou. Mu. Minli Bang domain sewage Huitangyuzhao Su-hai.-Voltage Jiumi. rafter. Qing Wei Jun. 歳 Mi hai 䤫 Panyu. Zhucuoqufang .. 䐰 〥. 䐰 〥 䥁 hydrogen walk. rafter. Mount Zao Man. .. Run-Voltage Rendering. Tang Ying Yi. Shisuqingshi Fangmaosheji Yu Zhao 䤫 Su-. tide. tatami knock Feng-generous. rafter. Min luster of gems. Que Tu Mei Shi Tang Pan Ying. Jijue-Voltage. rafter. Wei Hui Mongoose Feng-. hunting. rafter. revolves Recent-Voltage sewage 䤫. stay Jiao RB Thieme, Jr soup.潷 Han.’m setback Xun. Han Tun petty. Liaohe. 䥔 end of Tu Feng-generous. rafter Xiang Shan Li Tu. trapping the end of sleep ZHEJIANG NORMAL Feng-Tou Yu Xun Jing Wen Fang 䤫 .. 䠫 pine and methods of disease. tatami knock Feng-generous. apply Feng-evil force fell Junying Su-Ao Po .. knock .. Tan Li Shan Jie look askance alone. ㅆ Guang Tang rafter. pool just cultural and"
From the translation I see previously hidden notions of gems, disease and evil forces :-)
ASCII->Unicode->translation->ASCII
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org + TraceAnalysis.org -
Posted in Crash Dump Analysis, Fun with Crash Dumps, Occult Debugging | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 18th, 2010
OpenTask to offer first 3 volumes of Memory Dump Analysis Anthology in one set:

The set is available exclusively from OpenTask e-Commerce web site starting from June. Individual volumes are also available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores worldwide.
Product information:
- Title: Modern Memory Dump and Software Trace Analysis: Volumes 1-3
- Author: Dmitry Vostokov
- Language: English
- Product Dimensions: 22.86 x 15.24
- Paperback: 1600 pages
- Publisher: Opentask (31 May 2010)
- ISBN-13: 978-1-906717-99-5
Information about individual volumes:
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org + TraceAnalysis.org -
Posted in .NET Debugging, Aesthetics of Memory Dumps, Announcements, AntiPatterns, Art, Assembly Language, Books, Bugchecks Depicted, C and C++, CDA Pattern Classification, CDF Analysis Tips and Tricks, Categorical Debugging, Certification, Citrix, Code Reading, Common Mistakes, Computational Ghosts and Bug Hauntings, Computer Science, Countefactual Debugging, Crash Analysis Report Environment (CARE), Crash Dump Analysis, Crash Dump Patterns, Crash Dumps for Dummies, Data Recovery, DebugWare Patterns, Debugging, Debugging Methodology, Debugging Slang, Deep Down C++, Dictionary of Debugging, Dr. Watson, Education and Research, Escalation Engineering, Fun with Crash Dumps, Futuristic Memory Dump Analysis, GDB for WinDbg Users, Hardware, History, Horrors of Computation, Hyper-V, Intelligent Memory Movement, Kernel Development, Laws of Troubleshooting and Debugging, Mathematics of Debugging, Memiotics (Memory Semiotics), Memoidealism, Memoretics, Memory Analysis Culture, Memory Analysis Forensics and Intelligence, Memory Auralization, Memory Dump Analysis Jobs, Memory Religion (Memorianity), Memory Space Art, Memory Space Music, Memory Systems Language, Memory Visualization, Memuonics, Minidump Analysis, Multithreading, Music for Debugging, Music of Computation, New Acronyms, New Words, Occult Debugging, Philosophy, Psi-computation, Publishing, Science of Memory Dump Analysis, Science of Software Tracing, Security, Software Architecture, Software Defect Construction, Software Engineering, Software Generalist, Software Maintenance Institute, Software Narratology, Software Technical Support, Software Trace Analysis, Software Trace Visualization, Software Tracing for Dummies, Software Victimology, Stack Trace Collection, Testing, Tools, Trace Analysis Patterns, Training and Seminars, Troubleshooting Methodology, Victimware, Virtualization, Vista, Visual Dump Analysis, WinDbg Scripts, WinDbg Tips and Tricks, WinDbg for GDB Users, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows System Administration | No Comments »
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
I already had an experience with The Mystical One and a few weeks ago I finally grasped yet another parallel between The Year of Dump Analysis (0x7DA or 0n2010) and the fact that I started doing computer memory dump analysis 7 years ago! The emphasis here is on “computer“; before that I’d been doing general memory dump analysis for decades.
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org + TraceAnalysis.org -
Posted in Announcements, Crash Dump Analysis, Debugging, Fun with Crash Dumps, History, Occult Debugging | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Highly recommended to listen during analysis of a complete memory dump from an isolated dead system to build tension resulting in a problem resolution in 21 minutes:
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances & the Isle of the Dead


- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -
Posted in Computational Ghosts and Bug Hauntings, Crash Dump Analysis, Debugging, Horrors of Computation, Music for Debugging, Occult Debugging | No Comments »
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
This is a revised, edited, cross-referenced and thematically organized volume of selected DumpAnalysis.org blog posts about crash dump analysis and debugging written in October 2008 - June 2009 for software engineers developing and maintaining products on Windows platforms, quality assurance engineers testing software on Windows platforms and technical support and escalation engineers dealing with complex software issues. The third volume features:
- 15 new crash dump analysis patterns
- 29 new pattern interaction case studies
- Trace analysis patterns
- Updated checklist
- Fully cross-referenced with Volume 1 and Volume 2
- New appendixes
Product information:
- Title: Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 3
- Author: Dmitry Vostokov
- Language: English
- Product Dimensions: 22.86 x 15.24
- Paperback: 404 pages
- Publisher: Opentask (20 December 2009)
- ISBN-13: 978-1-906717-43-8
- Hardcover: 404 pages
- Publisher: Opentask (30 January 2010)
- ISBN-13: 978-1-906717-44-5

Back cover features 3D computer memory visualization image.
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -
Posted in Announcements, AntiPatterns, Art, Assembly Language, Books, C and C++, CDF Analysis Tips and Tricks, Certification, Citrix, Code Reading, Common Mistakes, Computational Ghosts and Bug Hauntings, Computer Science, Countefactual Debugging, Crash Dump Analysis, Crash Dump Patterns, Crash Dumps for Dummies, DebugWare Patterns, Debugging, Debugging Slang, Deep Down C++, Education and Research, Escalation Engineering, Fun with Crash Dumps, Futuristic Memory Dump Analysis, Games for Debugging, Hardware, Horrors of Computation, Hyper-V, Intelligent Memory Movement, Kernel Development, Mathematics of Debugging, Memiotics (Memory Semiotics), Memoidealism, Memoretics, Memory Analysis Culture, Memory Analysis Forensics and Intelligence, Memory Dreams, Memory Dump Analysis Jobs, Memory Space Music, Memory Visualization, Memuonics, Minidump Analysis, Multithreading, Music for Debugging, New Acronyms, New Words, Occult Debugging, Philosophy, Poetry, Psi-computation, Publishing, Science of Memory Dump Analysis, Science of Software Tracing, Security, Software Architecture, Software Defect Construction, Software Engineering, Software Generalist, Software Narratology, Software Technical Support, Software Trace Analysis, Software Tracing for Dummies, Testing, Tools, Trace Analysis Patterns, Training and Seminars, Troubleshooting Methodology, Virtualization, Vista, Visual Dump Analysis, WinDbg Scripts, WinDbg Tips and Tricks, WinDbg for GDB Users, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows System Administration | No Comments »
Monday, December 15th, 2008
Once upon a time I was analyzing a memory dump and in the process become upset. I realized that the dump was vacuous and afterwards learnt that the customer forced the dump of a normal system with steady-state computational activities inside. At the same time computational precognition, the ability to see in advance what would happen with the system, always fascinated me from the very beginning of my memory dump analysis work. In computational precognition phrase, the word “computational” refers to computers and “precognition” refers to humans but this should not be the problem as the boundary between these two categories is not sharp and can be shifted in either direction. This is an opening of the new post series about investigation of occult, paranormal and supernatural in the realm of computable. In short, about psi-computation.
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -
Posted in Fun with Crash Dumps, New Words, Occult Debugging, Psi-computation | No Comments »