How to collect a debug log to help us with debugging.

Overview

We have had a number of reports of PerformanceTest not starting correctly. The startup process seems to freeze either permanently and in some cases it may crash. We have done extensive testing on 100's of different computers, in various configurations. We have found that the main reason for this is corrupt SMBIOS (System Management BIOS) in the PC.

We have added two command line options to PerformanceTest to help with this startup problem.

DEBUGMODE: Creates a debug log file that can be sent to us for investigation;

SAFEMODE: Skips the loading of SMBIOS system information on startup.

This page describes the process needed to create a startup log file from PerformanceTest and starting PerformanceTest in Safe mode.

Debug mode

Placing the "DEBUGMODE" text on the PerformanceTest command line will result in two log files being created.

In older  versions of Windows you can edit the command line by finding PerformanceTest in the start menu then right clicking to edit the shortcut properties.

In Windows 10 you can right click on the PerformanceTest icon in the start menu, choose "Open File Location" and the right click on the PerformanceTest shortcut to open the properties. After adding the DEBUGMODE parameter you will likely see a warning that administrator permissions are required so click the "continue" button.

Log file

The log file is created the user Documents directory, C:\Users\username\Documents\Passmark\PerformanceTest9.

The name of the first log file is "PerfTestLog.txt" and the name of the second log file is "SysInfoLog.txt"

These are the files you should send us. Once you have created these files you should mail them to us at help@passmark.com . A startup log file can help us locate the fault in the software.

Example PerfTestLog.txt file

0.000s - DEBUG: Starting... 0.000s - DEBUG: PerformanceTest 9.0 build 1003 64-Bit 0.016s - DEBUG OS: Windows 7 Professional Edition Service Pack 1 build 7601 (64-bit) 0.016s - DEBUG Path: C:\Program Files\PerformanceTest9 0.016s - DEBUG Command line: "C:\Program Files\PerformanceTest9\PerformanceTest64.exe" DEBUGMODE 0.016s - Date: 10/26/16 12:02:46 0.047s - HORZRES - 3840 VERTRES - 2160 0.047s - LOGPIXELSY - 144 LOGPIXELSX - 144 DPIScale - 1.500000 0.047s - DEBUG: Opening splash window 0.281s - DEBUG: Init CD Burner 0.296s - DEBUG: Retrieving Computer Name 0.296s - DEBUG: Retrieving OS Name 0.296s - DEBUG: Retrieving Graphics Info 1.201s - Video adapters: iNumDD 9 1.201s - Video adapter 0: bDisplay: 1 szDeviceDescription: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 szDriverVersion: 21.21.13.7254 1.217s - Monitor 0:1 3840x2160x32 60Hz (Primary monitor) 1.217s - Monitor 0:2 3840x2160x32 60Hz 1.233s - DEBUG: Retrieving USB Info 1.623s - DEBUG: GetProcessList 1.638s - DEBUG: Checking language and local 1.638s - DEBUG: Got language and local 1.638s - DEBUG: Creating main window 1.685s - DEBUG: Updating Baseline List 1.716s - DEBUG: Finished updating Baseline List 1.825s - DEBUG PERF: Initialize3DEnvironment 4.103s - g_D3D9ComplexDeviceUsed found (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970) 4.134s - DEBUG: Creating performance stats thread 4.134s - DEBUG: Performance stats thread created 4.150s - DEBUG: Initialising bitmap resources 4.150s - DEBUG: Closing splash window 4.353s - DEBUG PERF: Added counter 4.680s - DEBUG: Finished Welcome Window 4.680s - DEBUG: Launch System Information Thread 4.680s - DEBUG: Check for battery power 4.680s - DEBUG: Check for power saver plan 4.696s - DEBUG: Check for script 4.696s - DEBUG: Entering message loop 4.789s - SysInfoThread start 4.789s - DEBUG: SlowGather 4.789s - DEBUG: Retrieving Disk Info 6.006s - DEBUG: Retrieving SMART Info 7.987s - DEBUG: Retrieving Memory Info 7.987s - DEBUG: Retrieving CPU Info

Safe mode

Placing the "SAFEMODE" text on the PerformanceTest command line will result in PerformanceTest starting without trying to obtain SMBIOS information. This may help with problems starting PerformanceTest, due to corrupt SMBIOS or SMBIOS not configured by the OEM. This command line parameter is only compatible with DEBUGMODE.
eg. PT.exe SAFEMODE