4 Kernel bug reports often come with a stack dump like the one below::
6 ------------[ cut here ]------------
7 WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 28102 at kernel/module.c:1108 module_put+0x57/0x70
8 Modules linked in: dvb_usb_gp8psk(-) dvb_usb dvb_core nvidia_drm(PO) nvidia_modeset(PO) snd_hda_codec_hdmi snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep snd_hda_core snd_pcm snd_timer snd soundcore nvidia(PO) [last unloaded: rc_core]
9 CPU: 1 PID: 28102 Comm: rmmod Tainted: P WC O 4.8.4-build.1 #1
10 Hardware name: MSI MS-7309/MS-7309, BIOS V1.12 02/23/2009
11 00000000 c12ba080 00000000 00000000 c103ed6a c1616014 00000001 00006dc6
12 c1615862 00000454 c109e8a7 c109e8a7 00000009 ffffffff 00000000 f13f6a10
13 f5f5a600 c103ee33 00000009 00000000 00000000 c109e8a7 f80ca4d0 c109f617
15 [<c12ba080>] ? dump_stack+0x44/0x64
16 [<c103ed6a>] ? __warn+0xfa/0x120
17 [<c109e8a7>] ? module_put+0x57/0x70
18 [<c109e8a7>] ? module_put+0x57/0x70
19 [<c103ee33>] ? warn_slowpath_null+0x23/0x30
20 [<c109e8a7>] ? module_put+0x57/0x70
21 [<f80ca4d0>] ? gp8psk_fe_set_frontend+0x460/0x460 [dvb_usb_gp8psk]
22 [<c109f617>] ? symbol_put_addr+0x27/0x50
23 [<f80bc9ca>] ? dvb_usb_adapter_frontend_exit+0x3a/0x70 [dvb_usb]
24 [<f80bb3bf>] ? dvb_usb_exit+0x2f/0xd0 [dvb_usb]
25 [<c13d03bc>] ? usb_disable_endpoint+0x7c/0xb0
26 [<f80bb48a>] ? dvb_usb_device_exit+0x2a/0x50 [dvb_usb]
27 [<c13d2882>] ? usb_unbind_interface+0x62/0x250
28 [<c136b514>] ? __pm_runtime_idle+0x44/0x70
29 [<c13620d8>] ? __device_release_driver+0x78/0x120
30 [<c1362907>] ? driver_detach+0x87/0x90
31 [<c1361c48>] ? bus_remove_driver+0x38/0x90
32 [<c13d1c18>] ? usb_deregister+0x58/0xb0
33 [<c109fbb0>] ? SyS_delete_module+0x130/0x1f0
34 [<c1055654>] ? task_work_run+0x64/0x80
35 [<c1000fa5>] ? exit_to_usermode_loop+0x85/0x90
36 [<c10013f0>] ? do_fast_syscall_32+0x80/0x130
37 [<c1549f43>] ? sysenter_past_esp+0x40/0x6a
38 ---[ end trace 6ebc60ef3981792f ]---
40 Such stack traces provide enough information to identify the line inside the
41 Kernel's source code where the bug happened. Depending on the severity of
42 the issue, it may also contain the word **Oops**, as on this one::
44 BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at (null)
45 IP: [<c06969d4>] iret_exc+0x7d0/0xa59
46 *pdpt = 000000002258a001 *pde = 0000000000000000
47 Oops: 0002 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
50 Despite being an **Oops** or some other sort of stack trace, the offended
51 line is usually required to identify and handle the bug. Along this chapter,
52 we'll refer to "Oops" for all kinds of stack traces that need to be analized.
56 ``ksymoops`` is useless on 2.6 or upper. Please use the Oops in its original
57 format (from ``dmesg``, etc). Ignore any references in this or other docs to
58 "decoding the Oops" or "running it through ksymoops".
59 If you post an Oops from 2.6+ that has been run through ``ksymoops``,
60 people will just tell you to repost it.
62 Where is the Oops message is located?
63 -------------------------------------
65 Normally the Oops text is read from the kernel buffers by klogd and
66 handed to ``syslogd`` which writes it to a syslog file, typically
67 ``/var/log/messages`` (depends on ``/etc/syslog.conf``). On systems with
68 systemd, it may also be stored by the ``journald`` daemon, and accessed
69 by running ``journalctl`` command.
71 Sometimes ``klogd`` dies, in which case you can run ``dmesg > file`` to
72 read the data from the kernel buffers and save it. Or you can
73 ``cat /proc/kmsg > file``, however you have to break in to stop the transfer,
74 ``kmsg`` is a "never ending file".
76 If the machine has crashed so badly that you cannot enter commands or
77 the disk is not available then you have three options:
79 (1) Hand copy the text from the screen and type it in after the machine
80 has restarted. Messy but it is the only option if you have not
81 planned for a crash. Alternatively, you can take a picture of
82 the screen with a digital camera - not nice, but better than
83 nothing. If the messages scroll off the top of the console, you
84 may find that booting with a higher resolution (eg, ``vga=791``)
85 will allow you to read more of the text. (Caveat: This needs ``vesafb``,
86 so won't help for 'early' oopses)
88 (2) Boot with a serial console (see
89 :ref:`Documentation/admin-guide/serial-console.rst <serial_console>`),
90 run a null modem to a second machine and capture the output there
91 using your favourite communication program. Minicom works well.
93 (3) Use Kdump (see Documentation/kdump/kdump.txt),
94 extract the kernel ring buffer from old memory with using dmesg
95 gdbmacro in Documentation/kdump/gdbmacros.txt.
97 Finding the bug's location
98 --------------------------
100 Reporting a bug works best if you point the location of the bug at the
101 Kernel source file. There are two methods for doing that. Usually, using
102 ``gdb`` is easier, but the Kernel should be pre-compiled with debug info.
107 The GNU debug (``gdb``) is the best way to figure out the exact file and line
108 number of the OOPS from the ``vmlinux`` file.
110 The usage of gdb works best on a kernel compiled with ``CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO``.
111 This can be set by running::
113 $ ./scripts/config -d COMPILE_TEST -e DEBUG_KERNEL -e DEBUG_INFO
115 On a kernel compiled with ``CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO``, you can simply copy the
116 EIP value from the OOPS::
118 EIP: 0060:[<c021e50e>] Not tainted VLI
120 And use GDB to translate that to human-readable form::
125 If you don't have ``CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO`` enabled, you use the function
126 offset from the OOPS::
128 EIP is at vt_ioctl+0xda8/0x1482
130 And recompile the kernel with ``CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO`` enabled::
132 $ ./scripts/config -d COMPILE_TEST -e DEBUG_KERNEL -e DEBUG_INFO
135 (gdb) l *vt_ioctl+0xda8
136 0x1888 is in vt_ioctl (drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.c:293).
138 289 struct vc_data *vc = NULL;
142 293 if (VT_BUSY(vc_num))
145 296 vc = vc_deallocate(vc_num);
146 297 console_unlock();
148 or, if you want to be more verbose::
151 $1 = {int (struct tty_struct *, unsigned int, unsigned long)} 0xae0 <vt_ioctl>
154 You could, instead, use the object file::
157 $ gdb drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.o
158 (gdb) l *vt_ioctl+0xda8
160 If you have a call trace, such as::
163 [<ffffffff8802c8e9>] :jbd:log_wait_commit+0xa3/0xf5
164 [<ffffffff810482d9>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
165 [<ffffffff8802770b>] :jbd:journal_stop+0x1be/0x1ee
168 this shows the problem likely in the :jbd: module. You can load that module
169 in gdb and list the relevant code::
172 (gdb) l *log_wait_commit+0xa3
176 You can also do the same for any function call at the stack trace,
179 [<f80bc9ca>] ? dvb_usb_adapter_frontend_exit+0x3a/0x70 [dvb_usb]
181 The position where the above call happened can be seen with::
183 $ gdb drivers/media/usb/dvb-usb/dvb-usb.o
184 (gdb) l *dvb_usb_adapter_frontend_exit+0x3a
189 To debug a kernel, use objdump and look for the hex offset from the crash
190 output to find the valid line of code/assembler. Without debug symbols, you
191 will see the assembler code for the routine shown, but if your kernel has
192 debug symbols the C code will also be available. (Debug symbols can be enabled
193 in the kernel hacking menu of the menu configuration.) For example::
195 $ objdump -r -S -l --disassemble net/dccp/ipv4.o
199 You need to be at the top level of the kernel tree for this to pick up
202 If you don't have access to the code you can also debug on some crash dumps
203 e.g. crash dump output as shown by Dave Miller::
205 EIP is at +0x14/0x4c0
207 Code: 44 24 04 e8 6f 05 00 00 e9 e8 fe ff ff 8d 76 00 8d bc 27 00 00
208 00 00 55 57 56 53 81 ec bc 00 00 00 8b ac 24 d0 00 00 00 8b 5d 08
209 <8b> 83 3c 01 00 00 89 44 24 14 8b 45 28 85 c0 89 44 24 18 0f 85
211 Put the bytes into a "foo.s" file like this:
216 .byte .... /* bytes from Code: part of OOPS dump */
218 Compile it with "gcc -c -o foo.o foo.s" then look at the output of
219 "objdump --disassemble foo.o".
229 mov 0xd0(%esp), %ebp ! %ebp = arg0 (skb)
230 mov 0x8(%ebp), %ebx ! %ebx = skb->sk
231 mov 0x13c(%ebx), %eax ! %eax = inet_sk(sk)->opt
236 Once you find where the bug happened, by inspecting its location,
237 you could either try to fix it yourself or report it upstream.
239 In order to report it upstream, you should identify the mailing list
240 used for the development of the affected code. This can be done by using
241 the ``get_maintainer.pl`` script.
243 For example, if you find a bug at the gspca's conex.c file, you can get
244 their maintainers with::
246 $ ./scripts/get_maintainer.pl -f drivers/media/usb/gspca/sonixj.c
247 Hans Verkuil <hverkuil@xs4all.nl> (odd fixer:GSPCA USB WEBCAM DRIVER,commit_signer:1/1=100%)
248 Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@kernel.org> (maintainer:MEDIA INPUT INFRASTRUCTURE (V4L/DVB),commit_signer:1/1=100%)
249 Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org> (commit_signer:1/1=100%)
250 Bhaktipriya Shridhar <bhaktipriya96@gmail.com> (commit_signer:1/1=100%,authored:1/1=100%,added_lines:4/4=100%,removed_lines:9/9=100%)
251 linux-media@vger.kernel.org (open list:GSPCA USB WEBCAM DRIVER)
252 linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org (open list)
254 Please notice that it will point to:
256 - The last developers that touched on the source code. On the above example,
257 Tejun and Bhaktipriya (in this specific case, none really envolved on the
258 development of this file);
259 - The driver maintainer (Hans Verkuil);
260 - The subsystem maintainer (Mauro Carvalho Chehab)
261 - The driver and/or subsystem mailing list (linux-media@vger.kernel.org);
262 - the Linux Kernel mailing list (linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org).
264 Usually, the fastest way to have your bug fixed is to report it to mailing
265 list used for the development of the code (linux-media ML) copying the driver maintainer (Hans).
267 If you are totally stumped as to whom to send the report, and
268 ``get_maintainer.pl`` didn't provide you anything useful, send it to
269 linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org.
271 Thanks for your help in making Linux as stable as humanly possible.
276 If you know programming, you could help us by not only reporting the bug,
277 but also providing us with a solution. After all open source is about
278 sharing what you do and don't you want to be recognised for your genius?
280 If you decide to take this way, once you have worked out a fix please submit
284 ref:`Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst <submittingpatches>` though
285 to help your code get accepted.
288 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
290 Notes on Oops tracing with ``klogd``
291 ------------------------------------
293 In order to help Linus and the other kernel developers there has been
294 substantial support incorporated into ``klogd`` for processing protection
295 faults. In order to have full support for address resolution at least
296 version 1.3-pl3 of the ``sysklogd`` package should be used.
298 When a protection fault occurs the ``klogd`` daemon automatically
299 translates important addresses in the kernel log messages to their
300 symbolic equivalents. This translated kernel message is then
301 forwarded through whatever reporting mechanism ``klogd`` is using. The
302 protection fault message can be simply cut out of the message files
303 and forwarded to the kernel developers.
305 Two types of address resolution are performed by ``klogd``. The first is
306 static translation and the second is dynamic translation. Static
307 translation uses the System.map file in much the same manner that
308 ksymoops does. In order to do static translation the ``klogd`` daemon
309 must be able to find a system map file at daemon initialization time.
310 See the klogd man page for information on how ``klogd`` searches for map
313 Dynamic address translation is important when kernel loadable modules
314 are being used. Since memory for kernel modules is allocated from the
315 kernel's dynamic memory pools there are no fixed locations for either
316 the start of the module or for functions and symbols in the module.
318 The kernel supports system calls which allow a program to determine
319 which modules are loaded and their location in memory. Using these
320 system calls the klogd daemon builds a symbol table which can be used
321 to debug a protection fault which occurs in a loadable kernel module.
323 At the very minimum klogd will provide the name of the module which
324 generated the protection fault. There may be additional symbolic
325 information available if the developer of the loadable module chose to
326 export symbol information from the module.
328 Since the kernel module environment can be dynamic there must be a
329 mechanism for notifying the ``klogd`` daemon when a change in module
330 environment occurs. There are command line options available which
331 allow klogd to signal the currently executing daemon that symbol
332 information should be refreshed. See the ``klogd`` manual page for more
335 A patch is included with the sysklogd distribution which modifies the
336 ``modules-2.0.0`` package to automatically signal klogd whenever a module
337 is loaded or unloaded. Applying this patch provides essentially
338 seamless support for debugging protection faults which occur with
339 kernel loadable modules.
341 The following is an example of a protection fault in a loadable module
342 processed by ``klogd``::
344 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address f15e97cc
345 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: current->tss.cr3 = 0062d000, %cr3 = 0062d000
346 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: *pde = 00000000
347 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: Oops: 0002
348 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: CPU: 0
349 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: EIP: 0010:[oops:_oops+16/3868]
350 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: EFLAGS: 00010212
351 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: eax: 315e97cc ebx: 003a6f80 ecx: 001be77b edx: 00237c0c
352 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: esi: 00000000 edi: bffffdb3 ebp: 00589f90 esp: 00589f8c
353 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: ds: 0018 es: 0018 fs: 002b gs: 002b ss: 0018
354 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: Process oops_test (pid: 3374, process nr: 21, stackpage=00589000)
355 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: Stack: 315e97cc 00589f98 0100b0b4 bffffed4 0012e38e 00240c64 003a6f80 00000001
356 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: 00000000 00237810 bfffff00 0010a7fa 00000003 00000001 00000000 bfffff00
357 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: bffffdb3 bffffed4 ffffffda 0000002b 0007002b 0000002b 0000002b 00000036
358 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: Call Trace: [oops:_oops_ioctl+48/80] [_sys_ioctl+254/272] [_system_call+82/128]
359 Aug 29 09:51:01 blizard kernel: Code: c7 00 05 00 00 00 eb 08 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 89 ec 5d c3
361 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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