Using gdb to single-step assembly code outside specified executable causes error “cannot find bounds of current function”

Question

I\'m outside gdb\'s target executable and I don\'t even have a stack that corresponds to that target. I want to single-step anyway, so that I can verify what\'s going on in

Answer 1

You can use stepi or nexti (which can be abbreviated to si or ni) to step through your machine code.

Answer 2

The most useful thing you can do here is display/i $pc, before using stepi as already suggested in R Samuel Klatchko's answer. This tells gdb to disassemble the current instruction just before printing the prompt each time; then you can just keep hitting Enter to repeat the stepi command.

(See my answer to another question for more detail - the context of that question was different, but the principle is the same.)

Answer 3

Instead of gdb, run gdbtui. Or run gdb with the -tui switch. Or press C-x C-a after entering gdb. Now you're in GDB's TUI mode.

Enter layout asm to make the upper window display assembly -- this will automatically follow your instruction pointer, although you can also change frames or scroll around while debugging. Press C-x s to enter SingleKey mode, where run continue up down finish etc. are abbreviated to a single key, allowing you to walk through your program very quickly.

   +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
B+>|0x402670 <main>         push   %r15                                        |
   |0x402672 <main+2>       mov    %edi,%r15d                                  |
   |0x402675 <main+5>       push   %r14                                        |
   |0x402677 <main+7>       push   %r13                                        |
   |0x402679 <main+9>       mov    %rsi,%r13                                   |
   |0x40267c <main+12>      push   %r12                                        |
   |0x40267e <main+14>      push   %rbp                                        |
   |0x40267f <main+15>      push   %rbx                                        |
   |0x402680 <main+16>      sub    $0x438,%rsp                                 |
   |0x402687 <main+23>      mov    (%rsi),%rdi                                 |
   |0x40268a <main+26>      movq   $0x402a10,0x400(%rsp)                       |
   |0x402696 <main+38>      movq   $0x0,0x408(%rsp)                            |
   |0x4026a2 <main+50>      movq   $0x402510,0x410(%rsp)                       |
   +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
child process 21518 In: main                            Line: ??   PC: 0x402670
(gdb) file /opt/j64-602/bin/jconsole
Reading symbols from /opt/j64-602/bin/jconsole...done.
(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) layout asm
(gdb) start
(gdb)