As a contributor or a fix it yourself type of person, reading these crash reports can be an adventure. These are the details of what each argument can mean with a lot of technical detail.

Introduction

Have you ever submitted a crash report? No? Well, we’ll tell you what you need to know!  First take a look at https://crash-stats.mozilla.com, all of this data is part of the telemetry data that users submit when they use Mozilla Firefox. If you would like to turn this on you can go to

Choose from which statistics to opt into automatically.

Review of the basics

• How to submit a crash report http://mzl.la/130e6kS
• Plug in crash reports http://mzl.la/LFnkd7
• Troubleshooting crashes http://mzl.la/Kpf7Zn
• Update everything possible: Plugins, drivers, software, system updates, antivirus
• Graphics driver is up to datehttp://mzl.la/NjT73w See also Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL
• Nvidia provides a tool to scan for outdated drivers http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx?lang=en-us
• Intel also provides a tool for scan for outdated drivers http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect

When users submit the crash report, this is where you come in! 

Examples and Challenge Questions to get you started

What to recognize in some examples:

Example reports from common crashes include Flash, Hardware acceleration, Memory crash,plugin crash and add on crashes.

Example 1

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1003990
Try these steps:

1. Open the report and notice the version number. Is it the latest version?
2. Check these first:

• Match the System Details given in the crash report and in the question.
• Check to see if a bug has been filed.
• View the Source by clicking the link to the right of the Crashing Threads table. Do you see anything that pops out there?
• Firefox version - make sure they are not stuck on an old begat channel
• What was running right before it crashed? What modules?

Challenge questions

1. What module is listed when Firefox crashed?
2. Are there any bugs that have been filed? Is there any information that could help lead to a solution?
3. What is a possible resolution for this issue?

Example 2

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/que.../982396

Follow these steps:

• What sticks out in the Crashing Threads table? Anything noticeable?
• Any bug reports filed?
• Note their Firefox version

Challenge Questions

1. What software is causing the problem?
2. Does the Modules tab show anything suspicious?
3. Any bugs filed?

Advanced: Filing a crash bug

Are you the first to notice more than one crash with a similar signature? Awesome, file a bug for that crash with a link to the question and add what you know from the description of the crash. And again, tell someone in #sumo.

How to read https://crash-stats.mozilla.com

What does each component means?

• Signature: What line in the source code Firefox crashed on
• UUID: University Unique Identifier
• Uptime: How long Firefox was open before it crashed
• Product: What Mozilla product they are using
• Version: What version of the Mozilla product they’re running
• Build ID: The time and date that the product was built
• Release Channel: What channel that Mozilla product is on e.g. Beta, Pre-Alpha, etc.
• OS: What operating system they’re running
• Build Architecture: 32 or 64-bit processor
• App Notes: Internal Firefox Settings
• System Memory Use Percentage: How much memory that product was using.

What each one means: Version: The version will be on top of the crash.

Extension tab: Use this to find out what add-ons are installed.

Signature of the last frame module: The search time period is Important to take note of if you notice a trend of crash reports.

Search: These are advanced reports.

UUID: the crash report id number.

Process Type: used to figure out what caused the problem. This will include the module's file type. For example, typically it will say plugin or Firefox crash

Build Architecture: This is the type of processor. This can be AMD.

Crash reason: This is a generic error that is defined in the code of Firefox that is returned when an error occurs. For example, bad write may mean it could not write some data to the computer's memory.

Apps Notes: These are the vendor ids. This includes the make, model and version of the computer's video card. For example,

• Adapter AMD: X.X.X.VERSIONNUMBER
• NVIDIA: 900.XXX.XX

The information after that will have a+ or - describing if it's on or off. Processor Notes: What computer saved the report.