test_gdb fails on Python 3.6 when built with LTO+PGO

[vstinner]

BPO	30345
Nosy	@pitrou, @vstinner, @jkloth, @mcepl, @encukou, @methane, @koobs, @stratakis, @Dormouse759, @miss-islington
PRs	[3.6] bpo-30345: Update test_gdb.py and python-gdb.py from master #1549 bpo-30345: Add -g to LDFLAGS to ease debug #7709 [3.7] bpo-30345: Add -g to LDFLAGS for LTO (GH-7709) #7824 [2.7] bpo-30345: Add -g to LDFLAGS for LTO (GH-7709) #7825 [3.6] bpo-30345: Add -g to LDFLAGS for LTO (GH-7709) #7826 bpo-30345: travis: use -Og cflags with --with-pydebug #14423 [3.8] bpo-30345: travis: use -Og with --with-pydebug (GH-14423) #14427
Files	build.log root.log pgo-lto-gdb-errors-build

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2018-06-22.07:14:38.565>
created_at = <Date 2017-05-11.16:16:32.838>
labels = ['3.7', '3.8', 'build', 'tests']
title = 'test_gdb fails on Python 3.6 when built with LTO+PGO'
updated_at = <Date 2019-06-28.16:19:24.809>
user = 'https://github.com/vstinner'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2019-06-28.16:19:24.809>
actor = 'vstinner'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2018-06-22.07:14:38.565>
closer = 'vstinner'
components = ['Build', 'Tests']
creation = <Date 2017-05-11.16:16:32.838>
creator = 'vstinner'
dependencies = []
files = ['46856', '46857', '46858']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 30345
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 29.0
messages = ['293503', '293505', '293506', '293507', '293508', '293516', '293582', '295299', '295339', '295341', '295348', '319614', '319616', '319618', '319621', '319623', '319625', '319979', '319984', '319985', '320076', '320213', '320214', '320215', '320216', '346759', '346760', '346762', '346831']
nosy_count = 11.0
nosy_names = ['pitrou', 'vstinner', 'jkloth', 'mcepl', 'petr.viktorin', 'methane', 'koobs', 'cstratak', 'Dormouse759', 'mi', 'miss-islington']
pr_nums = ['1549', '7709', '7824', '7825', '7826', '14423', '14427']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue30345'
versions = ['Python 2.7', 'Python 3.6', 'Python 3.7', 'Python 3.8']

[vstinner]

cstratak reported the following test failure on Fedora 24 when building Python 3.6 with LTO + PGO:

======================================================================
FAIL: test_threads (test.test_gdb.PyBtTests)
Verify that "py-bt" indicates threads that are waiting for the GIL
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/builddir/build/BUILD/Python-3.6.1/Lib/test/test_gdb.py", line 783, in test_threads
    cmds_after_breakpoint=['thread apply all py-bt'])
  File "/builddir/build/BUILD/Python-3.6.1/Lib/test/test_gdb.py", line 218, in get_stack_trace
    self.assertEqual(unexpected_errlines, [])
AssertionError: Lists differ: ["Python Exception <class 'ValueError'> Va[95 chars]nd."] != []
First list contains 2 additional elements.
First extra element 0:
"Python Exception <class 'ValueError'> Variable 'func_obj' not found.: "
+ []
- ["Python Exception <class 'ValueError'> Variable 'func_obj' not found.: ",
-  "Error occurred in Python command: Variable 'func_obj' not found."]

---

[stratakis]

Full build log

[stratakis]

All the dependencies dragged.

gdb is of version 7.11. The failures do not happen with gdb 7.12 (which exists in later Fedora releases).

[vstinner]

I created #1549 to update test_gdb.py and python-gdb.py in Python 3.6. I don't know if it will fix the issus, but it shouldn't hurt :-)

[stratakis]

Note: test_gdb is skipped on later Fedora's actually (possibly due to gdb package no being dragged at the minimal buildroot) so the issue might still be there, so the gdb version might have no effect on that. Will investigate further.

[stratakis]

So the issue wasn't restricted to a specific gdb version or distro release, as due to some issues dependency issues the gdb binary wasn't pulled in the buildroot which makes test_gdb to get skipped.

So I was able to reproduce it on my system by installing gdb (version 7.12.1), compiling python 3.6 from sources with
--enable-optimizations and --with-lto flags enabled and running 'make test'

Also applied the relevant PR however it didn't fix the issue.

Attaching the full log of 'make test'

[vstinner]

New changeset d05f7fd by Victor Stinner in branch '3.6':
[3.6] bpo-30345: Update test_gdb.py and python-gdb.py from master (bpo-1549)
d05f7fd

[mi]

I rebuilt my python-3.6.1 with the path (d05f7fd) and tried debugging again -- same problem:

% gdb7121 /opt/bin/python3.6
...
(gdb) r SCRIPT.py
Thread 1 received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
...
(gdb) py-bt
Python Exception <type 'exceptions.ValueError'> Variable 'func_obj' not found.:
Error occurred in Python command: Variable 'func_obj' not found.

[mi]

The actual stack, which I'm trying to debug, begins like this:

#0 0xbfbfd34e in ?? ()
#1 0x2a9ec81e in ?? () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKit.so.5
#2 0x2acf0efe in ?? () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKit.so.5
#3 0x2acd8b74 in ?? () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKit.so.5
#4 0x2acd5d60 in ?? () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKit.so.5
#5 0x2acd87ae in ?? () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKit.so.5
#6 0x2a9fe2e3 in QWebFrameAdapter::load(QNetworkRequest const&, QNetworkAccessManager::Operation, QByteArray const&) () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKit.so.5
#7 0x2d7a18dd in QWebFrame::setUrl(QUrl const&) () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKitWidgets.so.5
#8 0x2d7ad5eb in QWebView::setUrl(QUrl const&) () from /opt/lib/qt5/libQt5WebKitWidgets.so.5
#9 0x2d75efd4 in meth_QWebView_setUrl(_object*, _object*) ()
from /opt/lib/python3.6/site-packages/PyQt5/QtWebKitWidgets.so
#10 0x28125151 in _PyCFunction_FastCallDict () from /opt/lib/libpython3.6m.so.1.0
#11 0x28125326 in _PyCFunction_FastCallKeywords () from /opt/lib/libpython3.6m.so.1.0
#12 0x2819a458 in ?? () from /opt/lib/libpython3.6m.so.1.0
#13 0x28193ab2 in _PyEval_EvalFrameDefault () from /opt/lib/libpython3.6m.so.1.0
#14 0x2819b790 in ?? () from /opt/lib/libpython3.6m.so.1.0
#15 0x2819a425 in ?? () from /opt/lib/libpython3.6m.so.1.0
#16 0x28193ab2 in _PyEval_EvalFrameDefault () from /opt/lib/libpython3.6m.so.1.0
[...]

Maybe, it is "too deep" into the native (not Python) code for the feature to work?

[jkloth]

It seems that commit (c525723) changed the parameter name in the definition of _PyCFunction_FastCallDict(). I believe that changing 'func_obj' to just 'func' should fix it (in Tools/gdb/libpython.py).

[mi]

So, I tried the modified patch (see http://aldan.algebra.com/~mi/tmp/patch-issue30345) -- and now I simply get a different variable name in the error-message:

(gdb) py-bt
Python Exception <type 'exceptions.ValueError'> Variable 'func' not found.:
Error occurred in Python command: Variable 'func' not found.

However, the older version of the patch only referenced "func_obj" in test_gdb.py -- not in libpython.py -- so I may have misunderstood Jeremy's suggestion entirely...

[Dormouse759]

LTO may break the debug symbols and make GDB unusable.
There is an option, that fixes the issue: to use a -g switch in link flags.
Note that this slows loading of the debug symbols significantly.

I suggest these options as possible approaches:

1. make the configure script include -g in LDFLAGS when --enable-optimizations and --with-lto are used

2. same as 1), but only when --with-pydebug is also used.

3. document this problem and make the user aware that this possible fix (-g in link flags) exists

[vstinner]

• ["Python Exception <class 'ValueError'> Variable 'func_obj' not found.: ",

bpo-32962: My commit 019d33b "python-gdb catchs ValueError on read_var()" (PR 7692) catches this ValueError.