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Where to report missing system symbols?

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Yuhong Bao

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Feb 10, 2009, 6:02:01 PM2/10/09
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Where should I report missing symbols for system files like ntdll.dll,
kernel32.dll, or comctl32.dll?

pat styles [microsoft]

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Feb 11, 2009, 1:45:27 AM2/11/09
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Hello Yuhong.

Microsoft does not commit to make available symbols for all of its products.
Furthermore, it does not commit to make symbols available for all bits in
Windows. Some items are specifically held back intentionally. We do tend
to get out most symbols for major releases and the like, especially the
newer ones. This is not the case for older ones and I expect that when
debugging old releases, if the symbols are not currently available, they
probably never will be. There are also other binaries in Windows that are
produced by other teams that are not part of the the core Windows team.
These are teams such as Sustained Engineering that produce hot fixes. All
of these different teams have different policies and processes.

Because of this, I cannot recommend a contact for you to report missing
symbols. I think you need to work with what you have.

.pat styles [microsoft]

"Yuhong Bao" <yuhong...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1590F845-4987-47A3...@microsoft.com...

Yuhong Bao

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Feb 11, 2009, 7:08:01 PM2/11/09
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To be honest, I know who to contact to report missing MSXML symbols, for
example, because luckily the team responsible have a blog. In fact, the only
missing symbols I don't have a contact for reporting right now are VB6
symbols and Windows system symbols, and I am actively trying to find a
contact I can report these missing symbols to. I am considering the MSRC for
missing symbols that are part of security updates, for example.

Yuhong Bao

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Feb 11, 2009, 7:25:00 PM2/11/09
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Also, note that I searched the archives before I posted this.

yuhong

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Feb 12, 2009, 6:34:31 PM2/12/09
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In the end, I had to uninstall a NT 4 hotfix in order to get a version
of NT 4 ntoskrnl that has symbols.

Yuhong Bao

On Feb 11, 4:08 pm, Yuhong Bao <yuhongbao_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> To be honest, I know who to contact to report missing MSXML symbols, for
> example, because luckily the team responsible have a blog. In fact, the only
> missing symbols I don't have a contact for reporting right now are VB6
> symbols and Windows system symbols, and I am actively trying to find a
> contact I can report these missing symbols to. I am considering the MSRC for
> missing symbols that are part of security updates, for example.
>
> "pat styles [microsoft]" wrote:
> > Hello Yuhong.
>
> > Microsoft does not commit to make available symbols for all of its products.
> > Furthermore, it does not commit to make symbols available for all bits in
> > Windows.  Some items are specifically held back intentionally.  We do tend
> > to get out most symbols for major releases and the like, especially the
> > newer ones.  This is not the case for older ones and I expect that when
> > debugging old releases, if the symbols are not currently available, they
> > probably never will be.  There are also other binaries in Windows that are
> > produced by other teams that are not part of the the core Windows team.
> > These are teams such as Sustained Engineering that produce hot fixes.  All
> > of these different teams have different policies and processes.
>
> > Because of this, I cannot recommend a contact for you to report missing
> > symbols.  I think you need to work with what you have.
>
> > .pat styles [microsoft]
>

> > "Yuhong Bao" <yuhongbao_...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

yuhong

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Feb 12, 2009, 7:21:56 PM2/12/09
to
On Feb 10, 10:45 pm, "pat styles [microsoft]"

<pat.sty...@microsoft.com> wrote:
> Hello Yuhong.
>
> Microsoft does not commit to make available symbols for all of its products.
> Furthermore, it does not commit to make symbols available for all bits in
> Windows.  Some items are specifically held back intentionally.  We do tend
> to get out most symbols for major releases and the like, especially the
> newer ones.  This is not the case for older ones and I expect that when
> debugging old releases, if the symbols are not currently available, they
> probably never will be.  There are also other binaries in Windows that are
> produced by other teams that are not part of the the core Windows team.
> These are teams such as Sustained Engineering that produce hot fixes.  All
> of these different teams have different policies and processes.
>
> Because of this, I cannot recommend a contact for you to report missing
> symbols.  I think you need to work with what you have.

Do you mean that I am on my own when trying to find missing symbols?

pat styles [microsoft]

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Feb 12, 2009, 10:19:47 PM2/12/09
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Hello Yuhong.

In care you were not aware of this, Microsoft dropped support for NT4 a
while ago. This would include symbols.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/winntas/ntendlife.mspx?mfr=true

.pat styles [microsoft]

"yuhong" <yuhong...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b5b60637-5d50-4b08...@x9g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...

Yuhong Bao

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Feb 13, 2009, 1:06:02 AM2/13/09
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BTW, if I said, for example, that a missing symbol file came from a Windows
security update, would you be able to suggest where to report that missing
symbol file.

pat styles [microsoft]

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Feb 13, 2009, 4:41:54 PM2/13/09
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Hello Yuhong.

I am afraid I would not be able to suggest anything. I believe my previous
emails were quite detailed and explain the situation quite well.

.pat styles [microsoft]

"Yuhong Bao" <yuhong...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40D678AD-A450-4C91...@microsoft.com...

yuhong

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Feb 13, 2009, 6:22:43 PM2/13/09
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On Feb 12, 7:19 pm, "pat styles [microsoft]" <pa...@microsoft.com>
wrote:

> Hello Yuhong.
>
> In care you were not aware of this, Microsoft dropped support for NT4 a
> while ago.  This would include symbols.

Yep, the missing symbols are I think from one of the last security
updates that was released before MS dropped support.

Nathan Mates

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Feb 13, 2009, 6:33:25 PM2/13/09
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In article <b0a3a9ae-7f14-4653...@v5g2000prm.googlegroups.com>,

yuhong <yuhong...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> In care you were not aware of this, Microsoft dropped support for NT4 a
>> while ago. =A0This would include symbols.

>Yep, the missing symbols are I think from one of the last security
>updates that was released before MS dropped support.

You've never really answered this question: why is it so critically
important that you get symbols for such things? For an OS where
support was dropped *years* ago? Why is it suddenly so important, now?

Nathan Mates
--
<*> Nathan Mates - personal webpage http://www.visi.com/~nathan/
# Programmer at Pandemic Studios -- http://www.pandemicstudios.com/
# NOT speaking for Pandemic Studios. "Care not what the neighbors
# think. What are the facts, and to how many decimal places?" -R.A. Heinlein

yuhong

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Feb 15, 2009, 7:45:17 PM2/15/09
to
On Feb 13, 3:33 pm, nat...@visi.com (Nathan Mates) wrote:
> In article <b0a3a9ae-7f14-4653-86ec-650cbb91a...@v5g2000prm.googlegroups.com>,

>
> yuhong  <yuhongbao_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> In care you were not aware of this, Microsoft dropped support for NT4 a
> >> while ago. =A0This would include symbols.
> >Yep, the missing symbols are I think from one of the last security
> >updates that was released before MS dropped support.
>
>    You've never really answered this question: why is it so critically
> important that you get symbols for such things? For an OS where
> support was dropped *years* ago? Why is it suddenly so important, now?
>
> Nathan Mates
> --
> <*> Nathan Mates - personal webpagehttp://www.visi.com/~nathan/ 
> # Programmer at Pandemic Studios --http://www.pandemicstudios.com/

> # NOT speaking for Pandemic Studios. "Care not what the neighbors
> # think. What are the facts, and to how many decimal places?" -R.A. Heinlein

Anyway, I deleted the NT4 VM, so too late anyway.

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