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Reporting Crashes for Mac OS X Builds (Mozilla & Camino)

Talkback is not available on Mac OS X builds, so contributors need to manually send in crash data. This article provides configuration steps and bug submission rules. For updates to this document, see Mac OS X - Crash Reporter documentation

Audience:

  • Anyone using a Mac OS X build with a Bugzilla account.
  • Camino (formally Chimera) users - upgrade to 0.7, and use Talkback (automated crash logging and reporting).

Overview:

Mozilla builds usually come with a crash reporting feature, Talkback. Contributors should load builds with Talkback whenever possible, because crashes are the worst kind of bug and the hardest to track and fix. Mozilla has an entire process devoted to receiving talkback, tracking frequency, and fixing crashers. 

Unfortunately, talkback is not available for Mac OS X builds at this time.

Enable Crash reporting (Mac OS X 10.1.x)

To enable CrashReporter (steps from Apple's Activating CrashReporter in OS X)

  1. Open Console (in /Applications/Utilities).
  2. Select Preferences... from the Application Menu.
  3. Select the Crashes tab.
  4. Check the Log crash information in... checkbox.

Checking both options is recommended:

  • 'Log crash information in ~/Library/Logs/
  • Automatically display crash logs

Reporting the crash:

Bug should be filed using typical, good bug-filing manners. Most importantly:

  • Provide any steps if possible. Include the version of Mac OS X (Apple menu | About This Mac) and the build number or milestone.
  • Use attachments to save crash logs, please do not paste the log into a comment.
  • Do not send the entire .crash.log file. Console appends crash logs, so you need to cut out the specific crash, save it as a file, and then upload it via the attachment form.
  • If a problem is reproducible, attaching multiple crash logs that look different, or from different milestones is reasonable. Many redundant logs usually do not help. The bug owner can ask for more if needed.