Debugging MiniDump

Question

I have compiled a Debug-Version of my application in one folder. There are now all dll's, pdb's and the exe with the pdb. I have now created a MiniDump of my running application started out of this path with Taskmanager. Now, I can open this dmp-File in Visual Studio 2010. But when I try to debug, there will be a message, that the symbols could not be found. I have added the path to my symbols (pdb) to the symbol-paths in visual studio - but with no success. I have also try to load the symbols over the ContextMenu of the modules. It is searching there for MyApp.pdb and I have selected the correct pdb. But I get the message A matching symbol file was not found in this folder.

What can I do to make post mortem debug of my MiniDump with Visual Studio 2010 (so it will find my symbols)?

Answer 1

1. Do your pdb's and dll's have the same timestamp? Are they both recreated when you rebuild?

2. Try using chkmatch to ensure your dll and pdb match.

Use chkmatch this way: chkmatch -c MyApp.exe MyApp.dll

The output should look something like this

Debug information file:
Format: PDB 7.00
Signature: {ef4bc52f-0161-4e0a-8654-cc1368d7a8a6} Age: 1

Result: Matched

You shouldnt need to set the symbol path if your pdb's are in the same location as the exe you are dumping.

Are you on .NET 4?