How to Debug User-Mode Drivers Using WinDbg and WinDbgRm

ID: Q133301

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article is written mainly in the context of Windows NT printer drivers, but applies to all Windows NT user-mode drivers, as the debugging process is exactly the same.

It describes the prerequisites and steps to do source-level debugging of Windows NT user-mode drivers using the WinDbg debugger and the WinDbgRm remote debugger utilities, which are included with the Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit (SDK). This information is to be used in addition to WinDbg's online help, the "Programmer's Guide" from the Microsoft Win32 DDK, and the "Tools User's Guide" from the Microsoft Win32 SDK.

The Windows NT DDK includes sample source code for an assortment of Windows NT printer drivers, display drivers, multimedia drivers, and the Build utility.

The Microsoft Visual C++ compiler (version 2.0 or greater) is required to build Windows NT drivers.


MORE INFORMATION

Requirements for Remote Debugging

Two computers are required to perform debugging of user-mode drivers. This is because WinDbg must attach to, and occasionally halt, the Client-server run-time server subsystem (CSRSS.EXE) that owns Win32 user-mode drivers. CSRSS.EXE also handles local procedure calls (LPCs), and when halted it cannot handle LPCs or input, which effectively freezes the machine being debugged. However, the target computer running WinDbgRm can communicate to the Host (running WinDbg) via network or null-modem serial communications to resume operation.

You may use either the Free or Checked build of Windows NT on the target computer, where the free build gives much faster response, and the checked build helps to locate those really nasty bugs. You should use the Free build of Windows NT on the host computer.

Configuring the Target for Remote Debugging

To allow WinDbg (on the host) to attach and debug via CSRSS.EXE on the target computer, you must run REGEDT32.EXE and modify the following flag in the registry of the target computer: 

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager

Double-click the GlobalFlag, and change it as follows: 

   NT 3.5  -- from 0x211a0000 to 0x21120000  (clear bit 0x80000)
   NT 3.51 -- from 0x00000000 to 0x00030000

This flag enables the ability to debug the affected computer's CSRSS.EXE file. Do not modify this flag on the host to prevent accidentally attaching WinDbg to the host's CSRSS.EXE file, which will cause the host computer to hang. You must shut down and reboot the target computer for this setting to take effect.

Use Print Manager in Control Panel to configure the target computer for the printer you will be using. Be sure to connect the printer to a local (not a network) port or FILE:, so that your printer driver will be used during later debugging.

Before initiating remote debugging, save any open files and exit any nonessential applications.

Debugger Configuration

Perform the following steps in the order listed to verify that both computers are configured properly for remote debugging:

On the Target:

  1. Start WinDbgRm on the target computer.


  2. On the Options menu, choose Transport DLL. Select the appropriate transport layer in the Known Transport Layers window. Select the Default Transport Layer check box to retain this setting for future sessions.


On the Host:

  1. Start WinDbg on the host computer.


  2. On the Options menu, choose Debugger DLLs, and configure the matching communications settings in the Transport Layer list.

    NOTE: If you use TLPIPES you do not need the "\\" prefix for the host or target computer name.


  3. On the Options menu, choose User DLLs. To inform WinDbg where the .DBG symbol files can be found for host system components, specify the path in the Symbol Search Path field of the User DLLs dialog box.


  4. On the Program menu, choose Save As to save a workspace that will include your communications configuration so that you can retrieve it later by choosing Open from the Program menu.


  5. On the Window menu, choose Command to pop up a Command window.


  6. At the Command window prompt, enter ".attach -1" to attach to the CSRSS.EXE process on the target. If connecting to the target computer is successful, "Module load: CSRSS.DBG (symbols loaded)" will be displayed on the host computer's WinDbg Command window. As an alternative, on the Run menu, choose Attach. Select "-1 csrss.exe" in the Process Selection Dialog box that appears. Then click the Select button. When the WinDbg Process Attach message box appears, click Yes.


  7. After the system DLLs are loaded, the WinDbg Command window on the host reports "Process attached -- stopped" and provides a prompt. Be sure that the above connection and other steps work before proceeding.

    NOTE: WinDbg and WinDbgRm cannot detach from an attached process, and therefore there is no convenient way to end a debugging session. No matter what you do to end the session, you will probably cause the target computer to hang and have to turn off the computer. On the host, you may be able to close WinDbg; if not, you should be able to terminate WinDbg by choosing End Task from the Windows NT's Task List. (Press CTRL+ESC or double-click in unused screen space to bring up the Task List.) Ordinarily, you should not have to reboot the host. WinDbg for future versions of Windows NT should be able to detach from attached processes.

    Further information on the configuration of the two computers can be found in WinDbg's Help menu, the "Programmer's Guide," and the "Tools User's Guide."


Loading a Checked Driver

  1. Follow the "Programmer's Guide" for building a checked version of your driver.


  2. On both the host and target, change to the directory containing the existing driver such as \%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\SPOOL\DRIVERS\W32X86\1 for the x86 PostScript driver PSCRIPT.DLL.


  3. Save the original driver.


  4. Copy the newly built checked driver from %DDK%\lib\*\checked into the appropriate directory on both the target and host. The copy on the target will be run during debugging; the copy on the host will be used by WinDbg for getting debugging information. (A future version of WinDbg may allow communicating symbolic information from the target to the host.) More sophisticated methods of installing the driver are possible, but are not covered in this article.

    NOTE: If you have not printed since booting up, you can move, delete, or rename the printer driver; otherwise, you can use "net stop spooler" from the command line to unload the spooler and your driver. Then remove the original printer driver. Use "net start spooler" to reload the spooler and your new driver.

    NOTE: When testing and replacing your printer driver via the "net stop/start" commands, if your driver fails to unload properly this command may not work. This is because there may still be a handle to your (now corrupt) driver in memory, which can be seen with the PVIEW utility (included with the Win32 SDK) for the CSRSS.EXE process on the target. You should then shut down and reboot the machine.


Debugging

Keep in mind that you will be running a checked driver and a test application on the target computer running WinDbgRm. The host computer, running WinDbg, is for debugging purposes.

  1. Attach the host to the target as noted above if not already connected.


  2. On the host, choose Debug from the Options menu, and fill in your Source Search Paths in the Debugger Options dialog box to inform WinDbg where the source code is located.

    NOTE: the source code should not be located on the target machine.


  3. On the host, choose Open from the File menu to open your source code in a window. Scroll to the desired line(s) in your code and choose Breakpoints from the Debug menu, or select the Breakpoint icon (stop hand) on the toolbar. The line will then be selected. NOTE: breakpoints can be set or cleared only when the target is halted. If the target is running, click the Halt (square) icon on the toolbar. If the target is not running, the Halt icon will be disabled.

    NOTE: There is currently no way to step into the DrvEnableDriver function for user-mode drivers such as display drivers and some multimedia drivers that are started at boot-time. This is because the driver is already loaded in the system before you can run WinDbgRm. You cannot break into this function using kernel-mode debugging either. The current method is to use debug print statements in this function while starting up the target in kernel-debugger mode. See the "Programmer's Guide" for enabling kernel debugging on the target.


  4. Save your workspace as noted above.


  5. Enter "g" in WinDbg's Command window on the host, or click the Go icon (arrow) on the toolbar to continue.


  6. On the target, run a test application such as Notepad and print. This assumes the correct printer driver is already installed, selected, and connected to a local port or to FILE:. Before printing starts, WinDbg's Command window on the host should show that the driver and its symbols are loaded.

    NOTE: if you get an Unresolved Breakpoint dialog box in WinDbg on the host, choose the Quiet Defer button.


  7. WinDbg on the host may break several times for exceptions; to continue, enter "gn" in the Command window to ignore the (typically harmless) exceptions.

    To automate this, choose Exceptions from the Options menu. Add the exception number and name in the appropriate fields. Choose Enable from the Action list. Enter "gn" in the First and Second Chance Command entries. Windows NT exceptions are defined in %DDK%\src\inc\ntstatus.h.

    NOTE: An exception commonly found in the sample PostScript printer driver is 0xC0000037, STATUS_PORT_DISCONNECTED. This is because the PostScript sample uses kernel-mode debug print statements. When you are debugging in user-mode, the kernel-mode print statements (to the debug port) cause this (harmless) exception. However, if the checked build PostScript driver is run without the debugger attached, the test application will generate the exception and terminate. The kernel-mode debug print statements are stripped out in a free build.

    The choice of kernel-mode debug print statements in combination with (or instead of) user-mode debug print statements is clearly a personal choice, as long as you understand their use. Debug print statements are detailed in the "Programmer's Guide."


  8. When a breakpoint is hit, source level debugging of your user-mode driver proceeds in a manner similar to that used in local source code debugging of applications or DLLs, but interacts with the debuggee on the target instead of on the host.


NOTE: if you missed the breakpoint, check to ensure that your Source Search Paths and your Symbol Search Paths are correct, and that your symbols match on the target and host.

Additional query words: 3.50 3.51 


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Last Reviewed: March 2, 1999