Use the Microsoft Symbol Server to obtain debug symbol files
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311503
.reload
!analyze -v
!sym noisy
.symopt+ 0×40
.sympath SRV*f:\localsymbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Sometimes we could have a dump which does not load .pdb files even though they are present in the dump folder. The reason for the load failure is not necessarily every time a code change but could be just a rebuild of the source code. In such cases if you force load the .pdb file you should get a call stack that makes sense but you got to be good at API’s and libraries to make sure the stack makes sense. So until you get a proper .pdb file you can force load a .pdb file and work on the dump.
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Remember: Always insist on correct pdb file.
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So the command to enable this feature is: ‘.symopt’. Lists out the current symbol loading options. On my machine this is what I get…
0:000> .symopt
Symbol options are 0×30377:
0×00000001 – SYMOPT_CASE_INSENSITIVE
0×00000002 – SYMOPT_UNDNAME
0×00000004 – SYMOPT_DEFERRED_LOADS
0×00000010 – SYMOPT_LOAD_LINES
0×00000020 – SYMOPT_OMAP_FIND_NEAREST
0×00000100 – SYMOPT_NO_UNQUALIFIED_LOADS
0×00000200 – SYMOPT_FAIL_CRITICAL_ERRORS
0×00010000 – SYMOPT_AUTO_PUBLICS
0×00020000 – SYMOPT_NO_IMAGE_SEARCH
These flags determine how and what symbols will be loaded. These options also determine whether line number information should be loaded or not.
So in our debugging scenario if we want to load symbols in a loose manner, i.e., without strict mapping of .pdb with .exe we will have to enable the following option…
0×00000040 – SYMOPT_LOAD_ANYTHING
In windbg we do this via…
0:000> .symopt+ 0×40
Symbol options are 0×30377:
0×00000001 – SYMOPT_CASE_INSENSITIVE
0×00000002 – SYMOPT_UNDNAME
0×00000004 – SYMOPT_DEFERRED_LOADS
0×00000010 – SYMOPT_LOAD_LINES
0×00000020 – SYMOPT_OMAP_FIND_NEAREST
0×00000040 – SYMOPT_LOAD_ANYTHING .symopt- 0×40
Symbol options are 0×30377:
0×00000001 – SYMOPT_CASE_INSENSITIVE
0×00000002 – SYMOPT_UNDNAME
0×00000004 – SYMOPT_DEFERRED_LOADS
0×00000010 – SYMOPT_LOAD_LINES
0×00000020 – SYMOPT_OMAP_FIND_NEAREST
0×00000100 – SYMOPT_NO_UNQUALIFIED_LOADS
0×00000200 – SYMOPT_FAIL_CRITICAL_ERRORS
0×00010000 – SYMOPT_AUTO_PUBLICS
0×00020000 – SYMOPT_NO_IMAGE_SEARCH
Note the +/- in the above command. ‘+’ enables, ‘-’ disables.
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