From e4f6a09071847e0f23e1247ca389eb978736f28e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: James Salter Date: Wed, 18 May 2022 17:04:19 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Created Getting a crash log out of Element Desktop (markdown) --- Getting-a-crash-log-out-of-Element-Desktop.md | 38 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 38 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Getting-a-crash-log-out-of-Element-Desktop.md diff --git a/Getting-a-crash-log-out-of-Element-Desktop.md b/Getting-a-crash-log-out-of-Element-Desktop.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..807f6d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/Getting-a-crash-log-out-of-Element-Desktop.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +Sometimes, Element Desktop crashes. + +## Crashes + +A crash manifests itself in two ways: + +1. The entire app crashes, causing it to disappear. This means the main Electron process has crashed. +2. The app's screen goes entirely white. This means the render process of Electron has crashed. + +If you instead experience JS errors, spinners that don't go away, or some other breakage - that's not technically a crash, and you should instead report the problem via submitting debug logs (top right menu -> Feedback -> Debug logs). This article is strictly for when you experience a crash of the Electron process. + +## Getting a crash log + +In order for anyone to work on your issue, you'll need to create a crash log. How difficult this is depends on your system. + +### OS X + +Open Console.app (in Applications -> Utilities) and go to Crash Reports. You should be able to see an entry that corresponds to Element crashing. Copy and paste the contents of that report into a comment on the defect issue that you've created. + +### Linux + +It depends on your system. The overall idea is + +1. Configure your system to produce a "core dump" when Element crashes +2. Open the core dump in `gdb`, run `bt`, and copy and paste the results. + +- Arch: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Core_dump#Examining_a_core_dump +- Ubuntu: https://askubuntu.com/questions/966407/where-do-i-find-the-core-dump-in-ubuntu-16-04lts#:~:text=In%20Ubuntu%20the%20core%20dumps,or%20sudo%20service%20apport%20start%20. + +#### Debug builds + +On most Linux builds, Element doesn't include debug symbols, which means it's still quite hard to tell what's going on - the crash dump won't contain the names of functions that the program is in, just which libraries are being used. + +It's possible to make an unstripped build which includes those symbols; how to do this varies according to which package you're using. See [here](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/20926#issuecomment-1040125668) for some suggestions on how to accomplish this on Arch Linux. + + + +