VS2010 - Breakpoint generates "Illegal Instruction" exception

Bernhard_Zellner · ‎11-12-2013

I have a small test project for boost serialize.

When running the release version of the test project the program runs till the end.

When setting a breakpoint in the release version in BoostSerialize.cpp line 332 then i get

"Unhandled exception at 0x00364645 in BoostSerialize.exe: 0xC000001D: Illegal Instruction."

I am using VS2010, Intel Compiler 14.0 SP1 and boost 1.54, static linked. boost is compiled with the following settings:
using intel : 14.0 : $(intel-compiler-14)/bin/ia32/icl.exe : <compatibility>vc10 <cxxflags>"/Qstd=c++11 /Qipo /Qdiag-disable:2586 /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS" ;

The test project is attached as zip file.

The problem can be reproduced on different PC's (Win7x64 pro, i7 and Xeon)

Bernhard

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-12-2013

Please verify what Intel instruction set was selected to build the test-case. For example, It is possible that AVX instruction set was selected by default but your CPU supports SSE4.1 instruction set.

Bernhard_Zellner · ‎11-12-2013

There is no specific instructionset selected. The exception is only thrown when setting a breakpoint in line 332 of BoostSerialize.cpp.

Compile settings:

/I"C:\Libs\boost\boost_1_54_0\include" /Zi /nologo /W3 /O3 /Qipo /D "WIN32" /D "NDEBUG" /D "_CONSOLE" /D "_UNICODE" /D "UNICODE" /EHsc /GS /Zc:wchar_t /Zc:forScope /Fp"Release\BoostSerialize.pch" /Fa"Release\" /Fo"Release\" /Fd"Release\vc100.pdb" /Gd

Linker settings:

/OUT:"C:\project\spielwiese\BoostSerialize - Copy\Release\BoostSerialize.exe" /NOLOGO /LIBPATH:"C:\Libs\boost\boost_1_54_0\lib" "kernel32.lib" "user32.lib" "gdi32.lib" "winspool.lib" "comdlg32.lib" "advapi32.lib" "shell32.lib" "ole32.lib" "oleaut32.lib" "uuid.lib" "odbc32.lib" "odbccp32.lib" /MANIFEST /ManifestFile:"Release\BoostSerialize.exe.intermediate.manifest" /ALLOWISOLATION /MANIFESTUAC:"level='asInvoker' uiAccess='false'" /DEBUG /PDB:"C:\project\spielwiese\BoostSerialize - Copy\Release\BoostSerialize.pdb" /SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE /TLBID:1 /DYNAMICBASE /NXCOMPAT /MACHINE:X86

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-13-2013

When in the Debugger could you take a look at what instruction causes 0xC000001D exception?

Bernard · ‎11-14-2013

It is usually signaled by CPU as a invalid opcode exception(can be related perhaps to prefixes).Could be caused by compiler while emmiting unsupported instruction.As Sergey advised please look at assembly code.

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-14-2013

I verified project settings and detected one small issue: In Release Configuration a Linker Setting 'Generate Debug Info' is set to 'Yes' ( Actually, it is OK ). My questions are: What instruction set do you need to support? AVX2? AVX? SSE4.1? Or something else?

Bernhard_Zellner · ‎11-17-2013

Sorry for the long delay - i was some days not in the office.

When running the code on my desktop pc (Win7x64, Intel Xeon E5-1607) i got the following:

After selecting "Go to disassembly" i got the following message box:

and the assembler code:

Running the same per remote debugger on Win7x86 Embedded, Celeron Dual-Core T3100, i got the same result.

When running the program without any breakpoint everything works correct.

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-18-2013

Bernhard, Could you attach these two pictures as external files ( Not as Media files )?

Bernhard_Zellner · ‎11-19-2013

This is the assembler code when running on Intel Xeon E5-1607

   325:     save_data_binary(data_container,filename.c_str());
00B5462B add         esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00B5462E lea         edx,[filename]
00B54634 cmp         dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00B5463B lea         eax,[data_container]
00B54641 db          0fh
00B54642 inc         ebx
   330:
   331:     // restore the data_container
   332:     test_data_container restored_data_container;
00B54643 xchg        eax,ebp <== Breakpoint
00B54644 pushad
00B54645 db          ffh             <== Instructionpointer
00B54646 db          ffh
00B54647 dec         dword ptr [ecx+54892404h]
00B5464D and         al,4
00B5464F call        save_data_binary (0B610E0h)
00B54654 add         esp,10h
   326:     save_data_string(data_container,filename.c_str());
00B54657 add         esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00B5465A lea         edx,[filename]
00B54660 cmp         dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00B54667 lea         eax,[data_container]
00B5466D cmovae      edx,dword ptr [filename]
00B54674 mov         dword ptr [esp],eax
00B54677 mov         dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00B5467B call        save_data_string (0B60050h)

Bernard · ‎11-19-2013

>>>00B54645 db ffh <== Instructionpointer
00B54646 db ffh >>>

This looks like not properly disassembled code.Also pay attention to this machine code line >>>00B54647 dec dword ptr [ecx+54892404h]>>> the offset looks a way to big.It seems that exception is thrown when the breakpoint is set.Do you know what breakpoint it is?I mean int 0x3 or writing to debug registers.

I suppose that compiler might have inserted two byte opcode of int 0x3 instruction.That's mean 0xCD03 instead of 0xCC.

Can you post machine code at this location?:00B54643

Bernard · ‎11-19-2013

I am thinking how to see what opcode of breakpoint was emmited by VS debugger.

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-19-2013

>>00B54646 db ffh >>> >> >>This looks like not properly disassembled code... Actually Yes and No since I had similar cases, that is, Illegal Instruction exception, on a system with Pentium 4 processor when by mistake I tried to execute an application compiled with support of AVX instructions. At the same time, Visual Studio 2008 really couldn't properly display disassembled codes since that version was released many years ago before AVX was released. Possible reason is as follows: There is an inconsistency related to codes generation between of your modules ( for example AVX ) and Boost binary modules ( located in C:\Libs\boost\boost_1_54_0\... folder, or so ), for example AVX2

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-19-2013

Also, take into account that, for example: #pragma intel optimization_parameter target_arch=AVX or #pragma intel optimization_parameter target_arch=AVX2 could be used in different source code files even if the main application is compiled with default architecture defined in a VS project as SSE or IA-32.

Bernhard_Zellner · ‎11-19-2013

I deleted all breakpoints and started the program with F10 in VS2010. Then i attach with windgb to the process. Windbg shows the following assembler code:

00c745d7 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c745da 83fa10          cmp     edx,10h
00c745dd 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c745e3 0f439560ffffff cmovae edx,dword ptr [ebp-0A0h]
00c745ea 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c745f0 890424          mov     dword ptr [esp],eax
00c745f3 89542404        mov     dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00c745f7 e8c4e30000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_text (00c829c0)
00c745fc 83c410          add     esp,10h
00c745ff 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c74602 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c74608 83bd74ffffff10 cmp     dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00c7460f 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c74615 0f439560ffffff cmovae edx,dword ptr [ebp-0A0h]
00c7461c 890424          mov     dword ptr [esp],eax
00c7461f 89542404        mov     dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00c74623 e888d00000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_xml (00c816b0)
00c74628 83c410          add     esp,10h
00c7462b 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c7462e 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c74634 83bd74ffffff10 cmp     dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00c7463b 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c74641 0f439560ffffff cmovae edx,dword ptr [ebp-0A0h]
00c74648 890424          mov     dword ptr [esp],eax
00c7464b 89542404        mov     dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00c7464f e88cca0000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_binary (00c810e0)
00c74654 83c410          add     esp,10h
00c74657 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c7465a 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c74660 83bd74ffffff10 cmp     dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00c74667 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c7466d 0f439560ffffff cmovae edx,dword ptr [ebp-0A0h]
00c74674 890424          mov     dword ptr [esp],eax
00c74677 89542404        mov     dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00c7467b e8d0b90000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_string (00c80050)

after setting the breakpoint at line 332 within VS2010 windbg shows the following assembler code:

00c745d7 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c745da 83fa10          cmp     edx,10h
00c745dd 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c745e3 0f439560ffffff cmovae edx,dword ptr [ebp-0A0h]
00c745ea 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c745f0 890424          mov     dword ptr [esp],eax
00c745f3 89542404        mov     dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00c745f7 e8c4e30000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_text (00c829c0)
00c745fc 83c410          add     esp,10h
00c745ff 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c74602 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c74608 83bd74ffffff10 cmp     dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00c7460f 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c74615 0f439560ffffff cmovae edx,dword ptr [ebp-0A0h]
00c7461c 890424          mov     dword ptr [esp],eax
00c7461f 89542404        mov     dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00c74623 e888d00000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_xml (00c816b0)
00c74628 83c410          add     esp,10h
00c7462b 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c7462e 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c74634 83bd74ffffff10 cmp     dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00c7463b 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c74641 0f43cc          cmovae ecx,esp
00c74644 60              pushad
00c74645 ff              ???
00c74646 ff              ???
00c74647 ff8904248954    dec     dword ptr [ecx+54892404h]
00c7464d 2404            and     al,4
00c7464f e88cca0000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_binary (00c810e0)
00c74654 83c410          add     esp,10h
00c74657 83c4f0          add     esp,0FFFFFFF0h
00c7465a 8d9560ffffff    lea     edx,[ebp-0A0h]
00c74660 83bd74ffffff10 cmp     dword ptr [ebp-8Ch],10h
00c74667 8d85c0fdffff    lea     eax,[ebp-240h]
00c7466d 0f439560ffffff cmovae edx,dword ptr [ebp-0A0h]
00c74674 890424          mov     dword ptr [esp],eax
00c74677 89542404        mov     dword ptr [esp+4],edx
00c7467b e8d0b90000      call    BoostSerialize!save_data_string (00c80050)

Now i see that VS2010 debugger is setting the breakpoint (int3 == 0xcc) at a complete wrong position.

But who is responsible for this behaviour? The debugger of VS2010 or the intel compiler (pdb files?) ?

@Sergey

Thanks to your hint.

I will check if #pragma intel optimization_parameter target_arch is used.

Bernhard_Zellner · ‎11-19-2013

there is no #pragma intel in my sources of boost 1.54

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-19-2013

>>...boost 1.54... Here is another tip. Let's say your test application uses some Boost DLLs. Then, I would used MS Depends to verify exact names for these DLLs and then I would investigate how they are built and what Intel architectures are used. Also, If that magic Illegal instruction is located in the executable you've built then it looks like there is an issue on your side, or If that magic Illegal instruction is located in a Boost DLL, or a Boost static library (!), then it looks like there is an issue on Boost side You need to pinpoint that exactly.

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-19-2013

>>...boost 1.54... Here is another tip. Let's say your test application uses some Boost DLLs. Then, I would used MS Depends to verify exact names for these DLLs and then I would investigate how they are built and what Intel architectures are used. Also, If that magic Illegal instruction is located in the executable you've built then it looks like there is an issue on your side, or If that magic Illegal instruction is located in a Boost DLL, or a Boost static library (!), then it looks like there is an issue on Boost side You need to pinpoint that exactly.

Bernard · ‎11-19-2013

>>>Actually Yes and No since I had similar cases, that is, Illegal Instruction exception, on a system with Pentium 4 processor when by mistake I tried to execute an application compiled with support of AVX instructions>>>

In your case it was expected because CPU did not recognize the AVX instructions encoding hence invalid instruction exception was thrown.

Bernard · ‎11-19-2013

>>>00c74645 ff ???
00c74646 ff ??? >>>

Is this a location of the breakpoint?

SergeyKostrov · ‎11-19-2013

>>...In your case it was expected because CPU did not recognize the AVX instructions... I've knew that and it was actually a tip to the user on what kind of issues to expect.

Bernard · ‎11-19-2013

>>>Now i see that VS2010 debugger is setting the breakpoint (int3 == 0xcc) at a complete wrong position.

But who is responsible for this behaviour? The debugger of VS2010 or the intel compiler (pdb files?) ?>>>

At least you verified that used breakpoint is translated to 0xCC.Usually debugging thread opens process memory space and overwrites(inserts) the code with int3 opcodes.It could be also inserted by compiler when you have hardcoded breakpoints in your code.Possibly by using inline assembly or DebugBreak() function.

Take into account also Sergey's explanation it seems very logical.