GDB kind of doesn't work on macOS Sierra

Question

It is a problem that appeared when I first updated to macOS Sierra yesterday.

GDB itself is running OK. However, somehow, it cannot run my program. When I type 'run' and 'enter', it immediately crashes with the information: During startup program terminated with signal SIG113, Real-time event 113.

My GDB is based on homebrew. So today, I uninstalled the whole homebrew package and reinstalled it. After the codesign step, I still faced the same error.

I tried 'sudo' and a few other things. Google had no idea what happened. So I was wondering if you guys might have some magical solution.

`brew update && brew upgrade gdb`, codesigning, and the `set startup-with-shell off` config (these last two are mentioned by brew) and it looks like we’re in business. Sierra 10.12.1. — Ahmed Fasih, Dec 22 '16 at 02:20

score 64 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 20 '18 at 01:04

64

This is how I easily fixed the issue. [Update: based on feedback received and yet to be verified, it seems that this solution works with macOS Sierra 10.12 but not with macOS Sierra 10.12.2]

See video instructions here

Quit gdb
Using your text editor e.g. Sublime Text, save a file called .gdbinit in your user folder.
In the file add the following: set startup-with-shell off
Save the file
gdb should now work

Sources

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7684629?start=0&tstart=0

Where is .gdbinit is located and how can I edit it?

https://sourceware.org/gdb/onlinedocs/gdb/Starting.html

edited Apr 20 '18 at 01:04

culsense

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answered Nov 05 '16 at 11:30

Salamit

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Does not fix the issue with OS X Sierra (for me). – user2664470 Nov 29 '16 at 17:55
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@user2664470 it doesn't seem to work with macOS Sierra 10.12.2. What is your macOS version? – Salamit Dec 02 '16 at 07:24
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macOS Sierra 10.12.1 – user2664470 Dec 02 '16 at 13:50
That could be why. Mine is macOS Sierra 10.12. Have you tried the other options blow? – Salamit Dec 02 '16 at 19:00
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I did this in addition to the signing GDB thing, and now it works. – jrsala Feb 11 '17 at 13:50
@jrsala signing GDB? Do you have a link? – Salamit Feb 12 '17 at 07:15
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@Salamit I had the "Unable to find Mach task port for process-id XYZ" error, in addition to another one I don't remember, so I followed [this](https://sourceware.org/gdb/wiki/BuildingOnDarwin). I still have to run gdb with sudo though, which defeats the purpose of codesigning it I guess? I had to switch to LLDB anyway because core files can't be read by a GNU (homebrew) GDB. **EDIT:** basically I did what Ahmed Fasih succinctly suggests in his comment on this question. – jrsala Feb 12 '17 at 10:02
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It doesn't work for me. I am getting error message: "During startup program terminated with signal ?, Unknown signal". And I have Sierra 10.12.3. – stones333 Feb 19 '17 at 17:22
@stones333 did you try what Ahmed Fasih(check above) did? – Salamit Mar 17 '17 at 20:15
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It's work for me . I'am using macOS 10.12.4 (16E195) – BlackKat Apr 12 '17 at 03:51
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To make this work it is important to specify absolute paths to both gdb and .gdbinit This in 'Debug Configurations" -> Debugger tab. – user1008139 May 25 '17 at 16:13
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This worked for me too macOS 10.13.4 High Sierra. I am using absolute paths in the debug configuration as suggested by https://stackoverflow.com/users/1008139/user1008139 – WolfiG May 01 '18 at 20:36
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gdb 8.1.1 (current version) won't work on macOS 10.12.6 (mine) and later, I think so. Signing and .gdbinit instructions are simple and we can't do it wrong. I believe there is a bug in gdb 8.1.1 code. I downgraded gdb to 8.0.1 and it worked like a charm, thanks to @Hongbo Liu answered here https://stackoverflow.com/a/49104154/108616 – Tien Do Sep 20 '18 at 06:06
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Be aware that set `startup-with-shell off` might cause huge problems later on. This step seems not to be necessary. Thanks to: https://timnash.co.uk/getting-gdb-to-semi-reliably-work-on-mojave-macos/ – Danijel Sep 20 '19 at 10:43

Michał Ciołek · Answer 2 · 2016-12-20T06:33:27.390

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I got the same error after updating to macOS Sierra. Temporarily I changed debugger to LLDB using the library lldbmi2:
1. git clone https://github.com/freedib/lldbmi2.git lldbmi2
2. cd lldbmi2
3. mkdir build
4. cd build
5. cmake ../
6. make
7. sudo make install

Once lldbmi2 is installed, you can debug your application by creating a new C/C++ Application in Debug Configurations... and change the GDB debugger (in Debugger tab) from gdb to lldbmi2. Options to lldbmi2 may be set there. Something like /usr/local/bin/lldbmi2 --log.

Everything seems to be working fine, and even better as GDB.

edited Dec 20 '16 at 06:33

answered Sep 29 '16 at 19:31

Michał Ciołek

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I think you need to revise step 5 to `cmake ..`, otherwise, works great! Thanks! – uclatommy Dec 19 '16 at 00:08
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I tried a couple of gdb related solutions, but none worked. I did not also want to lower the security. But this solution worked like a charm - in High Sierra (10.13.1) !!! Thank you. – Asanga Udugama Dec 01 '17 at 20:48
This solution worked like a charm for High Sierra (10.13.2) Many Thanks – Yehuda Dec 21 '17 at 18:50
The issue is that when you use this method you cannot pass any environment variables to lldb. – llevar Feb 09 '18 at 12:51
gdb just does not work for me (10.12.5) after having tried different solutions. This is the only one that works for me. Thanks. – kenny-liu Apr 02 '18 at 03:14
This solution worked for me too! Also High Sierra (10.13.2)! Thank you very much! – Mykola Servetnyk Aug 16 '18 at 07:22

score 5 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 19 '16 at 17:37

This is due to a Runtime Integrity Protection feature in Sierra - you can deactivate it by following the instructions here.

Reboot your system Keep command+R pressed until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Select the menu Utilities/Terminal Type "csrutil enable --without debug" in the terminal

Finally, reboot your machine again

Note that disabling this will lower the security of your system, so doing the above should really be your decision.

Another impact of this change is that the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variable is no longer reset when spawning new processes via the shell. This variable is used by the dynamic linker to find dynamic libraries. It takes precedence over the search path coded in the executables, so is considered as unsafe by the OS. As a result, macOS by default unsets the variable so that the executable you spawn uses its own libraries. We recommend using the DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH instead, which comes after the application's library search path, in case some libraries are still not found.

did anyone experience any issues because of DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH no longer being reset? — user308827, Nov 01 '16 at 03:48

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 09 '16 at 11:16

Multiple solutions that worked for Sierra 10.12.0 do not work with Sierra 10.12.1. With this version, you need an updated version of GDB (patch committed at FSF on Nov 9), in addition to disabling spawning of shell with 'set startup-with-shell off'. See instructions at http://blog.adacore.com/gnat-on-macos-sierra

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 12 '17 at 02:23

5

assume your MacOS version is 10.12.6.

upgrade your gdb to version 8.0.1 brew upgrade gdb
execute echo "set startup-with-shell off" >> ~/.gdbinit ( I saw this command when I installed gdb by brew )
create a certificate with name gdb-cert and trust this certificate in code signing option
reboot your mac
execute sudo codesign -s gdb-cert /usr/local/bin/gdb
done! have a fun ~

BTW,you can use lldb to replace gdb .

answered Sep 12 '17 at 02:23

Jinmiao Luo

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hot to do step 3? tnx. – Eziz Durdyyev Apr 06 '18 at 16:54
open Keychain Access App, look at your menu. Keychain Access - Certificate Assistant - Creat a Certificate. when your have created your certificate, find it in login keychain and `⌘ + i` to view certificate info. in there you can trust this certificate manually. English is not my native language， please excuse typing errors. – Jinmiao Luo May 02 '18 at 06:04
thanks for suggesting `lldb` - that was the best option for me – zoecarver May 29 '18 at 14:11
have to execute ```touch ~/.gdbinit``` if .gdbinit not exists. – Jiho Lee May 30 '21 at 08:01

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 13 '17 at 18:35

I've been having multiple issues with Sierra.

For starters my code that had worked on previous OSX versions has stopped working on this version. Nor would it compile.In addition GDB from brew is a complete mess. To add on that other 3rd party libraries got broken (e.g. libevent).

("Good job" Apple).

After "upgrading" to Sierra I suggest the following steps to get GDB working:

Install a newer gcc (Should take about 60 minutes - depending on your CPU etc...)

brew install gcc
Download the source code of GDB
Since gcc and g++ are aliased to the old gcc and g++ make sure to link it to the newer gcc and g++ e.g.:

export CC=`which gcc-6`

export CXX=`which gxx-6`
Configure & Compile gdb:

./configure

make CFLAGS=-Wno-error=deprecated-declarations CXXFLAGS=-Wno-error=deprecated-declarations

sudo make install

score 4 · Answer 7 · edited Sep 22 '18 at 08:45

4

This works for me:

Unlink current gdb: brew unlink gdb
Install gdb 8.0.1: brew install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/9ec9fb27a33698fc7636afce5c1c16787e9ce3f3/Formula/gdb.rb
Optional: avoid upgrade gdb with brew pin gdb

edited Sep 22 '18 at 08:45

Zoe

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answered Sep 21 '18 at 19:48

fgriberi

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This works on Sierra 10.12.6, check also here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49001329/gdb-doesnt-work-on-macos-high-sierra-10-13-3/49104154#49104154 – Guglie Nov 23 '18 at 09:57

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered May 02 '18 at 00:58

I know my answer is not specifically related to GDB, but since I also had some difficulties making GDB to work myself, I'd like to recommend you to give a try on LLDB. For me, it worked like a charm:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/gdb_to_lldb_transition_guide/document/lldb-terminal-workflow-tutorial.html

Since Xcode itself now uses LLDB instead of GDB, this can be a more convenient alternative for Mac users. And, in my particular case, it integrated much easier in Eclipse than GDB:

https://wiki.eclipse.org/CDT/User/FAQ#How_do_I_get_the_LLDB_debugger.3F

DomQ · Answer 9 · 2021-04-08T16:48:43.967

Update as of today (2021-04-08, Big Sur 11.2.3 (20D91), gdb version 10.1): I got it to work with some patches.

Install gdb with brew install --build-from-source domq/gdb/gdb
Code-sign it
If gdb can't read your binary (not in executable format: file format not recognized) you might need to “un-fat” it first:
```
lipo -thin x86_64 -output ls-x86_64 /bin/ls
```

⚠ You currently can't seem to break main — I may or may not get back to you on that soon.

GDB kind of doesn't work on macOS Sierra

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