Microsoft KB Archive/296885

= Console Process May Hang During the Creation of a Child Console Process =

Article ID: 296885

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition

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This article was previously published under Q296885



SYMPTOMS
When you start a console program that immediately creates another console program, both programs may stop responding (hang).

NOTE: Console programs run from the operating system's command line, in character-mode, not from a graphical user interface.



CAUSE
When the first console process is created, the Client Server Runtime System (CSRSS) creates a new thread for playing sound by using the Media Control Interface (MCI) API DLL (Winmm.dll). If another console process is created at this point, these two threads may deadlock each other.



RESOLUTION
A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to computers that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

  Date         Time   Version        Size       File name   Platform --  22-May-2001  17:05  4.0.1381.298     166,160  Gdi32.dll   Intel 22-May-2001 17:05  4.0.1381.7092    327,440  User32.dll  Intel 26-Mar-2001 18:41  4.0.1381.7095  1,254,512  Win32k.sys  Intel 24-May-2001 15:43  4.0.1381.7095    175,376  Winsrv.dll  Intel 22-May-2001 17:01  4.0.1381.7092    305,424  Gdi32.dll   Alpha 22-May-2001 17:01  4.0.1381.7092    575,760  User32.dll  Alpha 26-Mar-2001 18:37  4.0.1381.7095  2,053,552  Win32k.sys  Alpha 24-May-2001 15:39  4.0.1381.7095    313,616  Winsrv.dll  Alpha NOTE: Due to file dependencies, this hotfix requires Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
Csrss.exe is the user-mode portion of the Win32 subsystem, and Win32k.sys is the kernel-mode portion. CSRSS is an essential subsystem that must be running at all times. CSRSS is responsible for console windows, creating and/or deleting threads, and some parts of the 16-bit virtual MS-DOS environment.

This would typically require the CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE flag to be set in the dwCreationFlags parameter that is sent to the CreateProcess, CreateProcessAsUser, or CreateProcessWithLogonW Platform SDK functions.

Keywords: kbbug kbenv kbfix kbqfe KB296885

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