To enter into the debugger and begin getting information from the dump, start kgdb:

# kgdb -n N

Where N is the suffix of the vmcore.N to examine. To open the most recent dump use:

# kgdb -n last

Normally, kgdb(1) should be able to locate the kernel running at the time the dump was generated. If it is not able to locate the correct kernel, pass the pathname of the kernel and dump as two arguments to kgdb:

# kgdb /boot/kernel/kernel /var/crash/vmcore.0

You can debug the crash dump using the kernel sources just like you can for any other program.

This dump is from a 5.2-BETA kernel and the crash comes from deep within the kernel. The output below has been modified to include line numbers on the left. This first trace inspects the instruction pointer and obtains a back trace. The address that is used on line 41 for the list command is the instruction pointer and can be found on line 17. Most developers will request having at least this information sent to them if you are unable to debug the problem yourself. If, however, you do solve the problem, make sure that your patch winds its way into the source tree via a problem report, mailing lists, or by being able to commit it!

 1:# cd /usr/obj/usr/src/sys/KERNCONF
 2:# kgdb kernel.debug /var/crash/vmcore.0
 3:GNU gdb 5.2.1 (FreeBSD)
 4:Copyright 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 5:GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and you are
 6:welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain conditions.
 7:Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
 8:There is absolutely no warranty for GDB.  Type "show warranty" for details.
 9:This GDB was configured as "i386-undermydesk-freebsd"...
10:panic: page fault
11:panic messages:
12:---
13:Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel mode
14:cpuid = 0; apic id = 00
15:fault virtual address   = 0x300
16:fault code:             = supervisor read, page not present
17:instruction pointer     = 0x8:0xc0713860
18:stack pointer           = 0x10:0xdc1d0b70
19:frame pointer           = 0x10:0xdc1d0b7c
20:code segment            = base 0x0, limit 0xfffff, type 0x1b
21:                        = DPL 0, pres 1, def32 1, gran 1
22:processor eflags        = resume, IOPL = 0
23:current process         = 14394 (uname)
24:trap number             = 12
25:panic: page fault
26      cpuid = 0;
27:Stack backtrace:
28
29:syncing disks, buffers remaining... 2199 2199 panic: mi_switch: switch in a critical section
30:cpuid = 0;
31:Uptime: 2h43m19s
32:Dumping 255 MB
33: 16 32 48 64 80 96 112 128 144 160 176 192 208 224 240
34:---
35:Reading symbols from /boot/kernel/snd_maestro3.ko...done.
36:Loaded symbols for /boot/kernel/snd_maestro3.ko
37:Reading symbols from /boot/kernel/snd_pcm.ko...done.
38:Loaded symbols for /boot/kernel/snd_pcm.ko
39:#0  doadump () at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c:240
40:240             dumping++;
41:(kgdb) list *0xc0713860
42:0xc0713860 is in lapic_ipi_wait (/usr/src/sys/i386/i386/local_apic.c:663).
43:658                     incr = 0;
44:659                     delay = 1;
45:660             } else
46:661                     incr = 1;
47:662             for (x = 0; x < delay; x += incr) {
48:663                     if ((lapic->icr_lo & APIC_DELSTAT_MASK) == APIC_DELSTAT_IDLE)
49:664                             return (1);
50:665                     ia32_pause();
51:666             }
52:667             return (0);
53:(kgdb) backtrace
54:#0  doadump () at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c:240
55:#1  0xc055fd9b in boot (howto=260) at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c:372
56:#2  0xc056019d in panic () at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c:550
57:#3  0xc0567ef5 in mi_switch () at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_synch.c:470
58:#4  0xc055fa87 in boot (howto=256) at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c:312
59:#5  0xc056019d in panic () at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c:550
60:#6  0xc0720c66 in trap_fatal (frame=0xdc1d0b30, eva=0)
61:    at /usr/src/sys/i386/i386/trap.c:821
62:#7  0xc07202b3 in trap (frame=
63:      {tf_fs = -1065484264, tf_es = -1065484272, tf_ds = -1065484272, tf_edi = 1, tf_esi = 0, tf_ebp = -602076292, tf_isp = -602076324, tf_ebx = 0, tf_edx = 0, tf_ecx = 1000000, tf_eax = 243, tf_trapno = 12, tf_err = 0, tf_eip = -1066321824, tf_cs = 8, tf_eflags = 65671, tf_esp = 243, tf_ss = 0})
64:    at /usr/src/sys/i386/i386/trap.c:250
65:#8  0xc070c9f8 in calltrap () at {standard input}:94
66:#9  0xc07139f3 in lapic_ipi_vectored (vector=0, dest=0)
67:    at /usr/src/sys/i386/i386/local_apic.c:733
68:#10 0xc0718b23 in ipi_selected (cpus=1, ipi=1)
69:    at /usr/src/sys/i386/i386/mp_machdep.c:1115
70:#11 0xc057473e in kseq_notify (ke=0xcc05e360, cpu=0)
71:    at /usr/src/sys/kern/sched_ule.c:520
72:#12 0xc0575cad in sched_add (td=0xcbcf5c80)
73:    at /usr/src/sys/kern/sched_ule.c:1366
74:#13 0xc05666c6 in setrunqueue (td=0xcc05e360)
75:    at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_switch.c:422
76:#14 0xc05752f4 in sched_wakeup (td=0xcbcf5c80)
77:    at /usr/src/sys/kern/sched_ule.c:999
78:#15 0xc056816c in setrunnable (td=0xcbcf5c80)
79:    at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_synch.c:570
80:#16 0xc0567d53 in wakeup (ident=0xcbcf5c80)
81:    at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_synch.c:411
82:#17 0xc05490a8 in exit1 (td=0xcbcf5b40, rv=0)
83:    at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_exit.c:509
84:#18 0xc0548011 in sys_exit () at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_exit.c:102
85:#19 0xc0720fd0 in syscall (frame=
86:      {tf_fs = 47, tf_es = 47, tf_ds = 47, tf_edi = 0, tf_esi = -1, tf_ebp = -1077940712, tf_isp = -602075788, tf_ebx = 672411944, tf_edx = 10, tf_ecx = 672411600, tf_eax = 1, tf_trapno = 12, tf_err = 2, tf_eip = 671899563, tf_cs = 31, tf_eflags = 642, tf_esp = -1077940740, tf_ss = 47})
87:    at /usr/src/sys/i386/i386/trap.c:1010
88:#20 0xc070ca4d in Xint0x80_syscall () at {standard input}:136
89:---Can't read userspace from dump, or kernel process---
90:(kgdb) quit