Issue in man page sprof.1

Issue in man page sprof.1

[Helge Kreutzmann]

Without further ado, the following was found:

Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!

"$ B<sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>\n"
"Flat profile:\n"
"\\&\n"
"Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
"  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
" time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
" 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
" 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
"  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
"  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"

Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Alejandro Colomar]

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Hi Helge,

On Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 10:46:23AM GMT, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> Without further ado, the following was found:
> 
> Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!

IIUC, this report is that running the example shell session resulted in
that problem.  I've CCed glibc in case they can help.

It would be interesting to know if this can be reproduced, and a full
reproducer.

Cheers,
Alex

> 
> "$ B<sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>\n"
> "Flat profile:\n"
> "\\&\n"
> "Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
> "  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
> " time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
> " 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
> " 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"

-- 
<https://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>

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Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Florian Weimer]

* Alejandro Colomar:

> Hi Helge,
>
> On Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 10:46:23AM GMT, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
>> Without further ado, the following was found:
>> 
>> Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!
>
> IIUC, this report is that running the example shell session resulted in
> that problem.  I've CCed glibc in case they can help.
>
> It would be interesting to know if this can be reproduced, and a full
> reproducer.

Hasn't this been fixed in glibc 2.38?  Via:

commit ab5aa2ee3d3f978e474803cbbc5fe805ad30e293
Author: Andreas Schwab <schwab@suse.de>
Date:   Thu Mar 23 16:46:20 2023 +0100

    dlopen: skip debugger notification for DSO loaded from sprof (bug 30258)
    
    Avoid inconsistent state in the debugger interface.

Thanks,
Florian

Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Helge Kreutzmann]

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Hello Florian,
Am Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 11:50:18PM +0100 schrieb Florian Weimer:
> * Alejandro Colomar:
> 
> > Hi Helge,
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 10:46:23AM GMT, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> >> Without further ado, the following was found:
> >> 
> >> Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!
> >
> > IIUC, this report is that running the example shell session resulted in
> > that problem.  I've CCed glibc in case they can help.
> >
> > It would be interesting to know if this can be reproduced, and a full
> > reproducer.
> 
> Hasn't this been fixed in glibc 2.38?  Via:
> 
> commit ab5aa2ee3d3f978e474803cbbc5fe805ad30e293
> Author: Andreas Schwab <schwab@suse.de>
> Date:   Thu Mar 23 16:46:20 2023 +0100
> 
>     dlopen: skip debugger notification for DSO loaded from sprof (bug 30258)
>     
>     Avoid inconsistent state in the debugger interface.

Apologies that I missed that question.

In Debian stable (Trixie), glibc 2.41-12+deb13u1, this error is no
longer present.

I can run all commands of sprof(1), however none produces any content,
i.e. something beyond the header lines. As I'm not a programmer, I
don't know if this is something to worry about.

helge@twentytwo:/tmp$ sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile
Flat profile:

Each sample counts as 0,01 seconds.
  %   cumulative   self              self     total
 time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name

And no, I don't expect any of the output to be translated, I was just 
curious to try this out.

If you need any further input from my side, please let me know,
otherwise I'm fine as well.

Greetings

        Helge

-- 
      Dr. Helge Kreutzmann                     debian@helgefjell.de
           Dipl.-Phys.                   http://www.helgefjell.de/debian.php
        64bit GNU powered                     gpg signed mail preferred
           Help keep free software "libre": http://www.ffii.de/

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Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Florian Weimer]

* Helge Kreutzmann:

> Hello Florian,
> Am Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 11:50:18PM +0100 schrieb Florian Weimer:
>> * Alejandro Colomar:
>> 
>> > Hi Helge,
>> >
>> > On Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 10:46:23AM GMT, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
>> >> Without further ado, the following was found:
>> >> 
>> >> Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!
>> >
>> > IIUC, this report is that running the example shell session resulted in
>> > that problem.  I've CCed glibc in case they can help.
>> >
>> > It would be interesting to know if this can be reproduced, and a full
>> > reproducer.
>> 
>> Hasn't this been fixed in glibc 2.38?  Via:
>> 
>> commit ab5aa2ee3d3f978e474803cbbc5fe805ad30e293
>> Author: Andreas Schwab <schwab@suse.de>
>> Date:   Thu Mar 23 16:46:20 2023 +0100
>> 
>>     dlopen: skip debugger notification for DSO loaded from sprof (bug 30258)
>>     
>>     Avoid inconsistent state in the debugger interface.
>
> Apologies that I missed that question.
>
> In Debian stable (Trixie), glibc 2.41-12+deb13u1, this error is no
> longer present.

I think we should then assume that your issue was bug 30258.

> I can run all commands of sprof(1), however none produces any content,
> i.e. something beyond the header lines. As I'm not a programmer, I
> don't know if this is something to worry about.
>
> helge@twentytwo:/tmp$ sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile
> Flat profile:
>
> Each sample counts as 0,01 seconds.
>   %   cumulative   self              self     total
>  time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name

Is it possible that no profiling events have been recorded?
How do you call functions in libdemo.so.1?

Thanks,
Florian

Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Helge Kreutzmann]

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Hello Florian,
On Mon, Feb 09, 2026 at 07:22:09AM +0100, Florian Weimer wrote:
> > Am Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 11:50:18PM +0100 schrieb Florian Weimer:
> >> * Alejandro Colomar:
 
> > I can run all commands of sprof(1), however none produces any content,
> > i.e. something beyond the header lines. As I'm not a programmer, I
> > don't know if this is something to worry about.
> >
> > helge@twentytwo:/tmp$ sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile
> > Flat profile:
> >
> > Each sample counts as 0,01 seconds.
> >   %   cumulative   self              self     total
> >  time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name
> 
> Is it possible that no profiling events have been recorded?
> How do you call functions in libdemo.so.1?
 
I simply copied the instructions in the man page one by one and
observed the output, without really understanding what I'm doing. So
yes, the problem may be perfectly on my side, that I should have
generated some events.

But since I'm not a programmer but a translator, I don't think this is
worth further investigating.

Greetings

          Helge


-- 
      Dr. Helge Kreutzmann                     debian@helgefjell.de
           Dipl.-Phys.                   http://www.helgefjell.de/debian.php
        64bit GNU powered                     gpg signed mail preferred
           Help keep free software "libre": http://www.ffii.de/

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Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Florian Weimer]

* Helge Kreutzmann:

> Hello Florian,
> On Mon, Feb 09, 2026 at 07:22:09AM +0100, Florian Weimer wrote:
>> > Am Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 11:50:18PM +0100 schrieb Florian Weimer:
>> >> * Alejandro Colomar:
>  
>> > I can run all commands of sprof(1), however none produces any content,
>> > i.e. something beyond the header lines. As I'm not a programmer, I
>> > don't know if this is something to worry about.
>> >
>> > helge@twentytwo:/tmp$ sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile
>> > Flat profile:
>> >
>> > Each sample counts as 0,01 seconds.
>> >   %   cumulative   self              self     total
>> >  time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name
>> 
>> Is it possible that no profiling events have been recorded?
>> How do you call functions in libdemo.so.1?
>  
> I simply copied the instructions in the man page one by one and
> observed the output, without really understanding what I'm doing. So
> yes, the problem may be perfectly on my side, that I should have
> generated some events.

The instructions work for me on Fedora 43.  It's possible that they
depend on compiler/linker default settings not being overriden by the
distribution.  Fedora only changes fewer upstream defaults than other
distributions.

Thanks,
Florian

Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Carlos O'Donell]

On 11/17/24 5:46 AM, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> Without further ado, the following was found:
> 
> Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!

This is no translation for this assertion failure.

We don't ask glibc translators, via the Translation Project
(https://translationproject.org/html/welcome.html), to translate the above text.

This is early in the startup of ld.so and we cannot translate this error message
because the infrastructure to do the translation is not usable yet
i.e. elf/dl-minimal.c:__assert_fail.

Once ld.so is fully relocated and setup we can start translating error messages.

I don't see the above message in any of the man pages text?
 
> "$ B<sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>\n"
> "Flat profile:\n"
> "\\&\n"
> "Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
> "  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
> " time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
> " 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
> " 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"

This has no translation today.

This *could* be translated in glibc, but we haven't marked it as translatable.

I expect the reason is that we align the columns precisely on the given English
ascii text in order to produce a nice table, but with a translation that would
need to be adjusted per translated label.

Thus for now this isn't being translated, and to translate it would require an
RFE to rewrite elf/sprof.c in generate_flat_profile and generate_call_graph to
handle the translated column width correctly.

-- 
Cheers,
Carlos.

Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Helge Kreutzmann]

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Hello Carlos,
Am Tue, Nov 19, 2024 at 08:29:34AM -0500 schrieb Carlos O'Donell:
> On 11/17/24 5:46 AM, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> > Without further ado, the following was found:
> > 
> > Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!
> 
> This is no translation for this assertion failure.

Sorry for beeing unclear. This is not about translating the string.
One of our translators tried out the example given in sprof(1) and
came across this message.

So the question is:
Is the example correct, despite the failure?

And if yes, maybe this failure should be mentioned in the man page.

As a side note:
We translators regularly check if messages are translated or not, so
in this case we would *not* translate the output ourselves, but leave
it in English, of course.

Greetings

           Helge
-- 
      Dr. Helge Kreutzmann                     debian@helgefjell.de
           Dipl.-Phys.                   http://www.helgefjell.de/debian.php
        64bit GNU powered                     gpg signed mail preferred
           Help keep free software "libre": http://www.ffii.de/

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Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Carlos O'Donell]

On 11/19/24 11:18 AM, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> Hello Carlos,
> Am Tue, Nov 19, 2024 at 08:29:34AM -0500 schrieb Carlos O'Donell:
>> On 11/17/24 5:46 AM, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
>>> Without further ado, the following was found:
>>>
>>> Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930:
>>> _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state ==
>>> RT_CONSISTENT' failed!
>>
>> This is no translation for this assertion failure.
> 
> Sorry for beeing unclear. This is not about translating the string.
> One of our translators tried out the example given in sprof(1) and
> came across this message.
> 
> So the question is:
> Is the example correct, despite the failure?

The example looks correct to me.

We have glibc/elf/tst-sprof-basic.sh to verify basic operation of sprof
(though we test it wrapped using the newly built ld.so, so we might improve
this with a containerized test).

It doesn't fail for me on a glibc-2.39 test system I have right now, but
I haven't verified the data is correct either.

If this is failing for you please submit a bug upstream to glibc and we'll review.

> And if yes, maybe this failure should be mentioned in the man page.

We shouldn't document every bug in the man-pages.

We should verify the examples keep working though.
 
> As a side note:
> We translators regularly check if messages are translated or not, so
> in this case we would *not* translate the output ourselves, but leave
> it in English, of course.

Thank you!

-- 
Cheers,
Carlos.

Issue in man page sprof.1

[Helge Kreutzmann]

Without further ado, the following was found:

Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!

"$B< sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>;\n"
"Flat profile:\n"
"\\&\n"
"Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
"  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
" time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
" 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
" 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
"  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
"  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"

"$ B<sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>\n"
"Flat profile:\n"
"\\&\n"
"Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
"  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
" time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
" 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
" 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
"  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
"  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"

Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Alejandro Colomar]

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Hi Helge,

On Sun, Aug 24, 2025 at 02:48:33PM +0000, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> Without further ado, the following was found:
> 
> Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!

Could you please clarify this report?  Is this something libc-help@
should be aware of?


Have a lovely day!
Alex

> 
> "$B< sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>;\n"
> "Flat profile:\n"
> "\\&\n"
> "Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
> "  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
> " time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
> " 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
> " 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"
> 
> "$ B<sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>\n"
> "Flat profile:\n"
> "\\&\n"
> "Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
> "  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
> " time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
> " 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
> " 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
> "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"

-- 
<https://www.alejandro-colomar.es>
Use port 80 (that is, <...:80/>).

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Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Helge Kreutzmann]

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Hello Alex,
Am Mon, Sep 01, 2025 at 03:43:58PM +0200 schrieb Alejandro Colomar:
> On Sun, Aug 24, 2025 at 02:48:33PM +0000, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> > Without further ado, the following was found:
> > 
> > Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!
> 
> Could you please clarify this report?  Is this something libc-help@
> should be aware of?

When I tried this out 2023-12-26, I got this message in Debian
unstable when running this command (after all the previous ones). I
can retry this on the weekend in Debian Trixie, if this helps.

> Have a lovely day!
> Alex
> 
> > 
> > "$B< sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>;\n"
> > "Flat profile:\n"
> > "\\&\n"
> > "Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
> > "  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
> > " time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
> > " 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
> > " 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
> > "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
> > "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"
> > 
> > "$ B<sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile>\n"
> > "Flat profile:\n"
> > "\\&\n"
> > "Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n"
> > "  %   cumulative   self              self     total\n"
> > " time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name\n"
> > " 60.00      0.06     0.06      100   600.00           consumeCpu1\n"
> > " 40.00      0.10     0.04     1000    40.00           consumeCpu2\n"
> > "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x1\n"
> > "  0.00      0.10     0.00        1     0.00           x2\n"
> 
> -- 
> <https://www.alejandro-colomar.es>
> Use port 80 (that is, <...:80/>).

Greetings

         Helge

-- 
      Dr. Helge Kreutzmann                     debian@helgefjell.de
           Dipl.-Phys.                   http://www.helgefjell.de/debian.php
        64bit GNU powered                     gpg signed mail preferred
           Help keep free software "libre": http://www.ffii.de/

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Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Helge Kreutzmann]

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Hello Alex,
Am Mon, Sep 01, 2025 at 03:43:58PM +0200 schrieb Alejandro Colomar:
> On Sun, Aug 24, 2025 at 02:48:33PM +0000, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> > Without further ado, the following was found:
> > 
> > Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!
> 
> Could you please clarify this report?  Is this something libc-help@
> should be aware of?

I followed the version in Trixie stept by step, now this error is
gone, but the output in 
$ sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile

is different:
Flat profile:

Each sample counts as 0,01 seconds.
  %   cumulative   self              self     total
 time   seconds   seconds    calls  us/call  us/call  name

Also for the following commands, no numbers are shown, also no 
lines with <UNKNOWN>.

I'll leave this up to you how to handle this, for me this is now
closed, I was just curios since I'm not a C programmer.

Greetings

           Helge
-- 
      Dr. Helge Kreutzmann                     debian@helgefjell.de
           Dipl.-Phys.                   http://www.helgefjell.de/debian.php
        64bit GNU powered                     gpg signed mail preferred
           Help keep free software "libre": http://www.ffii.de/

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Re: Issue in man page sprof.1

[Jakub Wilk]

* Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>, 2025-09-01 15:43:
>>Issue:    Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 930: _dl_open: 
>>Assertion `_dl_debug_update (args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' 
>>failed!
>
>Could you please clarify this report?  Is this something libc-help@ 
>should be aware of?

It was already forwarded to libc folks back in 2024:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-man/87mshxxyol.fsf@oldenburg.str.redhat.com/

-- 
Jakub Wilk