HEADS UP: crashdumps on -current! Format change for i386 and amd64!

[Peter Wemm]

Crash dumps on -current for i386 and amd64 are now in ELF format, just 
like in IA64.  There are several reasons for this, including being able 
to do crashdumps on machines with >4GB ram, or machines with 4GB of ram 
where some has been relocated above the 4GB mark due to the PCI hole.

Anyway, there is a libkvm update that understands the new crash dump 
format.  If you have a new dump, you'll need the updated libkvm.  And 
likewise, old crash dumps will need the old libkvm.

My advice is to stash a copy of the old libkvm somewhere safe if you 
want to be able to examine old crash dumps.  gdb6 doesn't care either 
way, the changes are entirely in libkvm.

You should be able to use your saved libkvm by the use of $LD_PRELOAD or 
$LD_LIBRARY_PATH with an otherwise unmodified gdb6.

Building an old libkvm by using a cvs update -D'20050628' and a quick 
compile is also fairly painless.
-- 
Peter Wemm - peter at wemm.org; peter at FreeBSD.org; peter at yahoo-inc.com
"All of this is for nothing if we don't go to the stars" - JMS/B5