Using Microsoft WinDbg to capture crash dumps when one is not automatically saved

[Noel Borthwick]

Crash dumps are invaluable to developers to pinpoint the source of crashes. Even when a crash isn't specifically DAW related, the dump file can sometimes provide information on the nature of the problem for further investigation.

Cakewalk products automatically intercept crashes and capture a minidump file whenever possible. However, in certain rare circumstances, a dump may not be saved if the crash happened very early in the startup process.

If asked by support or development, you can manually capture a crash dump using the Microsoft WinDebug tool using the steps below.

1. Install Windbg from the Windows Store. https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PGJGD53TN86
    
2. Find the location of your desktop in File explorer and copy the full path to the desktop from file explorer. (you will need this path below). We'll call this path <desktop-path>
   
   You can right click on the word "Desktop" and choose "Copy Address" to get the full path to the desktop.
   It should look something like this "C:\Users\yourname\Desktop"
    
3. Open Windbg and choose File | Start Debugging | Launch Executable.
    
4. Navigate to the Sonar exe file and open it. This will load the executable into the Windows debugger. You will typically see a window like this:
   
   
    
5.  In Windbg, now  press F5 to run Sonar once it has loaded or press the Go button.
   If it starts running successfully, you will see something like this. 
    
   
   
   After Sonar starts executing you may now perform the steps needed to reproduce your crash (or hang)
    
6. If the application crashes in WinDbg before the UI opens, then the crash is caused early during startup.
    
7. If WinDbg intercepts the crash, you will see a message in the WinDbg Command Window indicating the crash. If the app is hung then proceed directly to the next step.
    
8. Find the command prompt of Windbg at the bottom of the Command window and type this in the command prompt.
   .dump /ma "<desktop-path>\sonar.dmp"
   
   Replace desktop-path with the path you saved in step 2 above. Note the period before the dump command and also the quotes around the path. Press Enter when you are ready.
   
   See example below
9. If you entered the command correctly, WinDbg will save a dump file to the specified file on your desktop.

 

Finally, you may now zip the minidump file and send it to Cakewalk