SerialPlot keeps crashing all the time

[vpougatchev60]

I was using the SerialPlot 0.12 for a while without any issues. Recently it started crashing more and more frequently. No changes in my serial device that sends the data. No changes in Windows. Today I downloaded and installed the version 0.13 (serialplot-0.13.0-win64). It keeps crashing even faster than the previous version.

Here is the recorded video showing all my settings:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/iitu65340xlqzv0xisuwi/SerialPlot-Crashing.mp4?rlkey=304hof8oatfq88ga4fu4eh1yq&dl=0

[hyOzd]

Unfortunately there isn't much information to go by. Can you check the console log by starting the application from command line? Can you also share your settings file, it may be helpful to reproduce the issue.

Does the app crash only when it is plotting? Does it crash if port is not opened? Or port is open but plotting is paused?

[vpougatchev60]

I tried to run the app from the command line. It started normally and crashed again shortly. However, there was no console log output in the terminal window.

Here is my settings file:

MySettings.txt

The app crashes only when it is plotting. I open the port, which turns my device on. It begins streaming data only after I send it a "B" command. Then it starts plotting. If I pause the plotting using the Pause button, it still crashes. But if I stop data streaming by sending an "S" command, the app stops plotting but does not crash.

I also installed this version on my new laptop, and the app did not crash for over 45 minutes running with the same serial device.

[hyOzd]

@vpougatchev60 this points to the parser code or even maybe even lower levels of code serialport library maybe?

Can you try setting the data format to 'Simple Binary' and see if it still crashes? It will plot gibberish with your data but it should help us narrow down the issue to a specific parser. To be honest it is still going to be difficult to pin point the root cause without running the application with debugger.

[hyOzd]

Also not crashing on your laptop, points to a operating system/driver level issue. We have encountered some strange issues with newer versions of Windows (10/11) in terms of serialport handling 🤔

[vpougatchev60]

I set Simple Binary with 1 channel and int8. It crashed momentarily. Then I set the same thing but int16 - crashed in 5-6 seconds.

I have Windows 11 Pro version 24H2 build 26100.3194 on the PC where crashing occurs and Windows 11 Home version 24H2 build 26100.3194 on the laptop.

[vpougatchev60]

I was over-optimistic about having the app not crashing on my laptop. When I tried it again (no changes were made) it started crashing like crazy.

[vpougatchev60]

Is there a way I can download the 0.12 version? All links I found are broken.

[vpougatchev60]

One more update. I have an Arduino device that mocks the real device in terms of the serial communication protocol. They work identically which was confirmed by my software reading the live stream. If I connect this Arduino device to the serialplot, it works fine - no crashes. It must be something going on in data packet parsing.

[hyOzd]

I have an Arduino device that mocks the real device in terms of the serial communication protocol.

If your Arduino is sending the same data as the other device, I wouldn't say this is related to packet parsing. That would indicate a lower level issue, maybe driver related or how serialport library that we use is triggering the driver. Note that we are using Qt's serialport library.

[hyOzd]

Please try this link for v0.12 (this should be 32bit static version) : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kym3Bysou86nhIadJYyf0LPx0VHdz215/view?usp=drive_link

[vpougatchev60]

Your Google Drive denied me access to your file. I sent a request. Could you please accept it?

[vpougatchev60]

Unfortunately, 0.12 crashes the same way.

[vpougatchev60]

Here is an event log recorded by Windows on the last crash:
Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 3/14/2025 12:31:36 PM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: Application Crashing Events
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: VAD\vp
Computer: VAD
Description:
Faulting application name: serialplot.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x67cc0459
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.26100.3323, time stamp: 0xfacafff0
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000000269a9
Faulting process id: 0x7008
Faulting application start time: 0x1DB9517AAF7D429
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\serialplot\bin\serialplot.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 5abffe83-04a0-4d5e-b4ae-89eca2239e57
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Is it realistic to add some reasonable exception handling to catch exceptions and quickly recover the streaming process? It would be huge. Your app is so great to work with, and it would be too bad not to use it.

[hyOzd]

@vpougatchev60 Thanks for the log.

Is it realistic to add some reasonable exception handling to catch exceptions and quickly recover the streaming process? It would be huge.

This exception looks too severe for something like that. To be frank I wouldn't go that route not without at least understanding the root cause of the issue. Running the app with a debugger would quickly point out the issue (hopefully).

I'm trying to build a version of serialplot with more up to date qt libraries. Maybe there is a fix in the library itself. Will let you know if I can get it working.

[vpougatchev60]

Fully understood. If you need my help in debugging this issue, either by running a debug version or giving you remote access to my PC to debug, I will gladly do that.