Things keep moving and after some discussion (here and here I already expressed my view on the matter), the first KB article with a “Fix it” button to directly download the relevant hotfix has gone live a couple of days ago, check it out: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945402/en-us. Carlo Quote of the day: Committee–a group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be done. – Fred Allen
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Troubles downloading public symbols?
Imagine you are debugging your dump, are already looking forward for the output of the command you just typed (say a kpn to get the stack of a thread) and you get this message instead: *** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found. Defaulted to export symbols for mscorwks.dll WARNING: Frame IP not in any known module. Following frames may be wrong. As you can understand, not having the symbols for mscorwks in a .NET dump can make your analysis harder and above all without matching symbols you cannot really trust what you see in your debugger (despite the title of my blog! ?) and ultimately it can make the dump almost useless. I actually talked with a customer a few days ago whom got this exact situation and he was quite frustrated and upset with Microsoft for not hiving the symbol for the core .NET dll on the public symbol server. Anyway, without losing his temper that developer used the !sym noisy command to have a look at the symbol loading output, here is what he got: SYMSRV: The operation timed out SYMSRV: d:\symbols\mscorwks.pdb\62286AFFFC674D5198883B98518936FF2\mscorwks.pdb not found SYMSRV: http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols/mscorwks.pdb/62286AFFFC674D5198883B98518936FF2/mscorwks.pdb not found The pdb was actually on the server, but for…
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Invalid length for a Base-64 char array
There are various causes for this error, this is one we had some time ago when paginating through a DataGrid (for this case we’re talking about ASP.NET 1.1); the error appeared systematically under a specific user pattern: Invalid length for a Base-64 char array. Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. Exception Details: System.FormatException: Invalid length for a Base-64 char array. Source Error: An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. Stack Trace: [FormatException: Invalid length for a Base-64 char array.] System.Convert.FromBase64String(String s) +0 System.Web.UI.LosFormatter.Deserialize(String input) +25 System.Web.UI.Page.LoadPageStateFromPersistenceMedium() +101 [HttpException (0x80004005): Invalid_Viewstate Client IP: 213.199.128.155 Port: 24949 User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; InfoPath.2; MS-RTC LM 8) ViewState: dDw2Mjg2Njc3OTM7dDw7bDxpPDA+Oz47bDx0PDtsPGk8MT47aTwzPjs+O2w8dDxwPHA8bDxUZXh0Oz47bDxcZTs+Pjs+Ozs+O3Q8QDA8cDxwP Gw8V2ViR3JpZF9Tb3J0RXhwcmVzc2lvbjtTaG93Rm9vdGVyO1Zpc2libGU7XyFTQjtQYWdlQ291bnQ7UGFnZVNpemU7V2ViR3JpZF9MYWJlbHM7 V2ViR3JpZF9Dc3NDbGFzc0J1dHRvbnM7Q3NzQ2xhc3M7XyFJdGVtQ291bnQ7XyFEYXRhU291cmNlSXRlbUNvdW50O1dlYkdyaWRfU29ydFR5cGU7 V2ViR3JpZF9Dc3NDbGFzcztEYXRhS2V5czs+O2w8TnVtZXJvO288Zj47bzx0PjtpPDI+O2k8MT47aTwxMD47YjxBQUVBQUFELy8vLy9BUUFBQUFBQ UFBQU1BZ0FBQUU1SmJuWmhMbGRsWWtOdmJuUnliMnh6TENCV1pYSnphVzl1UFRFdU1DNHlORGMzTGpFMk16UTVMQ0JEZFd4MGRYSmxQVzV sZFhSeVlXd3NJRkIxWW14cFkwdGxlVlJ2YTJWdVBXNTFiR3dGQVFBQUFCNUpiblpoTGxkbFlrTnZiblJ5YjJ4ekxsZGxZa2R5YVdSTVlXSmxiSE1UQUF BQUIxSnZkMFZrYVhRSlVtOTNTVzV6WlhKMENWSnZkMVZ3WkdGMFpRbFNiM2RFWld4bGRHVUpVbTkzUTJGdVkyVnNFVkp2ZDBSbGJHVjBaVkY xWlhOMGFXOXVDMUp2ZDFSbGVIUkdiM0p0Q1ZKdmQxUmxlSFJVYnc1U2IzZFVaWGgwVUdWeVVHRm5aUTlRWVdkbFZHVjRkRU4xY25KbGJuUU tVR0ZuWlZSbGVIUlBaZzVTYjNkVFpXeGxZM1JsWkZScGNBNVNiM2RVYjFObGJHVmpkRlJwY0F4UVlXZGxSbWx5YzNSVWFYQUxVR0ZuWlZCeVpY WlVhWEFMVUdGblpVNWxlSFJVYVhBTFVHRm5aVXhoYzNSVWFYQUlVR0ZuWlVkdlZHOExVR0ZuWlVkdlZHOVVhWEFCQVFFQkFRRUJBUUVCQVFF QkFRRUJBUUVCQWdBQUFBWURBQUFBQ0UxdlpHbG1hV05oQmdRQUFBQUZUblZ2ZG04R0JRQUFBQVZUWVd4MllRWUdBQUFBQjBWc2FXMXBi bUVHQndBQUFBZEJibTUxYkd4aEJnZ0FBQUF4UTI5dVptVnliV2tnYkdFZ1kyRnVZMlZzYkdGNmFXOXVaU0JrWld4c1lTQnlhV2RoSUhObGJHVjZhV zl1WVhSaFB3WUpBQUFBQmxKcFoyaGxPZ1lLQUFBQUFtUnBCZ3NBQUFBUVVtbG5hR1VnY0dWeUlIQmhaMmx1WVFZTUFBQUFCMUJoWjJsdVlU b0pDZ0FBQUFZT0FBQUFFRkpwWjJFZ2MyVnNaWHBwYjI1aGRHRUdEd0FBQUJWVFpXeGxlbWx2Ym1FZ2NYVmxjM1JoSUhKcFoyRUdFQUFBQUF 4UWNtbHRZU0J3WVdkcGJtRUdFUUFBQUJGUVlXZHBibUVnY0hKbFkyVmtaVzUwWlFZU0FBQUFFVkJoWjJsdVlTQnpkV05qWlhOemFYWmhCaE 1BQUFBTlZXeDBhVzFoSUhCaFoybHVZUVlVQUFBQUExWmhhUVlWQUFBQUQxWmhhU0JoYkd4aElIQmhaMmx1WVFzPT47V2ViR3JpZEdyaWRC dXR0b247V2ViR3JpZDtpPDEwPjtpPDEwPjtJbnZhLldlYkNvbnRyb2xzLldlYkdyaWQrZVNvcnRUeXBlLCBJbnZhLldlYkNvbnRyb2xzLCBWZXJzaW9 uPTEuMC4yNDc3LjE2MzQ5LCBDdWx0dXJlPW5ldXRyYWwsIFB1YmxpY0tleVRva2VuPW51bGw8QXNjZW5kaW5nPjtXZWJHcmlkO2w8aTwxPjtpP DI+O2k8Mz47aTw0PjtpPDU+O2k8Nj47aTw3PjtpPDg+O2k8OT47aTwxMD47Pjs+Pjs+O0AwPEAwPHA8bDxIZWFkZXJUZXh0O1Zpc2libGU7PjtsPFx lO288Zj47Pj47cDxsPENzc0NsYXNzO18hU0I7PjtsPFdlYkdyaWRIZWFkZXI7aTwyPjs+Pjs7Oz47QDA8cDxsPEhlYWRlclRleHQ7PjtsPFxlOz4+Ozs7Oz47 QDA8cDxsPEhlYWRlclRleHQ7PjtsPE51bS4gwqsgOz4+Ozs7Oz47QDA8cDxsPEhlYWRlclRleHQ7PjtsPERhdGE7Pj47Ozs7PjtAMDxwPGw8SGVhZGV yVGV4dDs+O2w8T2dnZXR0bzs+Pjs7Ozs+O0AwPHA8bDxIZWFkZXJUZXh0Oz47bDxBdHRvOz4+Ozs7Oz47QDA8cDxsPEhlYWRlclRleHQ7PjtsPENv bnRlbnV0bzs+Pjs7Ozs+Oz47cDxsPENzc0NsYXNzO18hU0I7PjtsPFdlYkdyaWRQYWdlcjtpPDI+Oz4+O3A8bDxDc3NDbGFzcztfIVNCOz47bDxXZWJH cmlkSGVhZGVyO2k8Mj47Pj47cDxsPENzc0NsYXNzO18hU0I7PjtsPFdlYkdyaWRGb290ZXI7aTwyPjs+PjtwPGw8Q3NzQ2xhc3M7XyFTQjs+O2w8V2 ViR3JpZEl0ZW07aTwyPjs+PjtwPGw8Q3NzQ2xhc3M7XyFTQjs+O2w8V2ViR3JpZEFsdGVybmF0ZUl0ZW07aTwyPjs+PjtwPGw8Q3NzQ2xhc3M7Xy FTQjs+O2w8V2ViR3JpZFNlbGVjdGVkSXRlbTtpPDI+Oz4+Ozs7PjtsPGk8MD47PjtsPHQ8O2w8aTwwPjtpPDI+O2k8Mz47aTw0PjtpPDU+O2k8Nj47a Tw3PjtpPDg+O2k8OT47aTwxMD47aTwxMT47aTwxMz47PjtsPHQ8O2w8aTwwPjs+O2w8dDw7bDxpPDA+Oz47bDx0PDtsPGk8MD47PjtsPHQ8O2 w8aTwwPjs+O2w8dDw7bDxpPDY+Oz47bDx0PHQ8OztsPGk8MD47Pj47Oz47Pj47Pj47Pj47Pj47Pj47dDw7bDxpPDE+O2k8Mj47aTwzPjtpPDQ+O2k 8NT47aTw2Pjs+O2w8dDxwPHA8bDxUZXh0Oz47bDwxOz4+Oz47Oz47dDxwPHA8bDxUZXh0Oz47bDwxOz4+Oz47Oz47dDxwPHA8bDxUZXh0Oz4 7bDwwOC8wMS8yMDA3Oz4+Oz47Oz47dDxwPHA8bDxUZXh0Oz47bDxcPGEgc3R5bGU9InRleHQtZGVjb3JhdGlvbjogbm9uZVw7IGZvbnQtd2Vp Z2h0OiBib2xkXDsiIGhyZWY9IjUzMDAxIlw+QVJFQSBOLiA3IC0gVVJCQU5JU1RJQ0EgLSBFU1BST1BSSSAtIExBVk9SSSBESSBDT1NUUlVaSU9ORSB ERUxMQSBTRURFIERFTCBESVNUQUNDQU1FTlRPIERFSSBWSUdJTEkgREVMIEZVT0NPIFZPTE9OVEFSSSBESSBTQUlOVCBNQVJUSU4gSU4gTE9D QUxJVMOAIFBMRU9ELiBJTVBFR05PIERFTExFIFNPTU1FIE5FQ0VTU0FSSUUgUEVSIExBIFBST0NFRFVSQSBESSBFU1BST1BSSU8uIExJUVVJREFaS…