Remote Debugger Very Slow To Connect, Step Through

Question

I'm connecting my development box (running Windows Server 2003 x64) to a Windows 7 x64 box. I initiate the remote debugger by using the "Attach to Process" feature under the tools menu. I type in the IP address, and use remote debugging (without authentication). On the receiving end, I set msvcmon to accept connections from any user (No Authentication).

When I try to attach, I see output on the receiving computer (Win7 x64). It prints out "Administrator Connected" every 5-6 seconds. On the sending end (Server 2K3 x64), the UI waits. It is still responsive, however I cannot cancel the attach request. There are no firewalls on either computer and no anti virus software. Eventually, after about 2-3 minutes, I get a listing of all processes and can select the one I want to debug. Once I attach to that process, debugging becomes horrendeously slow. Each time I step over a line of code, it takes a few seconds to register.

This sounds like a bad network connection issue, but that's imposable. I have tried this over routers, switches and including VMWare running on my Server 2K3 box. It does not matter what OS I try to connect to, remote debugging is just horribly slow.

Here is the version I am running:
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
Version 9.0.30729.1 SP
Microsoft .NET Framework
Version 3.5 SP1

Installed Edition: Professional

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008

Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB944899)   KB944899
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944899.

Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB945282)   KB945282
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
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Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB946040)   KB946040
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946040.

Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB946308)   KB946308
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
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Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB946344)   KB946344
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946344.

Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB946581)   KB946581
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946581.

Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB947171)   KB947171
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
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Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB947173)   KB947173
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
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Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB947180)   KB947180
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
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Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB947540)   KB947540
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947540.

Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB947789)   KB947789
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947789.

Hotfix for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU (KB948127)   KB948127
This hotfix is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this hotfix will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948127.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB945140)   KB945140
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945140.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB947888)   KB947888
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If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947888.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB948484)   KB948484
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948484.

Visual Assist X  
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VMDebugger
For more information about VMware Inc, see their website at
http://www.vmware.com
Copyright (c) 2008 VMware, Inc.

Answer 1

Hello

I find a similar report of the problem on the feedback site:
https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=498188&wa=wsignin1.0
According to the product team's comment, the issue was resolved in the latest Visual Studio 2010 beta 2. I will try to retrieve more information about the problem in VS2008 from the team. You are also welcome to add you comments to the feedback page.

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Regards,
Jialiang Ge
MSDN Subscriber Support in Forum
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Answer 2

Thanks for your quick response. I have ran into that web page before. However, I cannot upgrade to Visual Studio 2010 for some time and I am stuck using VS2008. If there is a fix or workaround for VS2008, it would be appreciated.

Answer 3

The only work around that I can think of would be to attach through a project rather than using the 'Attach To Processes' dialog. I am not positive that this would work, but it is probably worth a shot.

If you already have a C++, project, configure it for remote debugging, and set 'Attach' to 'Yes'.
If you don't already have a C++ project, open any executable as a project (File->Open Project, point at exe file), and you will get the same set of options as a C++ project.

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Visual Studio Debugger Dev

Answer 4

Unfortunately for some projects, I cannot use this approach. For example, my current project I am conencting to a Service which cannot be started up by regular means.

Any other workarounds for this are welcome.

What is the cause of this, would you know? If it's another program interfering with remote debugging, maybe I can turn it off?

Answer 5

Sorry if I wasn't making myself clear, projects can attach to a running instance -- they don't need to launch a new process.

I don't know of any other work around that you could use (aside from using Dev10 beta2 for debugging).

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Visual Studio Debugger Dev

Answer 6

Thank you, Gregg, for the assistance!

Hello Mark

Could you please check out Gregg's suggestion and let us know whether it helps you?

Have a nice day!

---

Regards,
Jialiang Ge
MSDN Subscriber Support in Forum
If you have any feedback of our support, please contact [e-mail].
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.
Welcome to the All-In-One Code Framework! If you have any feedback, please tell us.

Answer 7

Hello,

Any remote debugging (Native) is slow and takes a long time to connect. This includes starting the project through Visual Studio or Attaching to a Process.  Local debugging (on the same machine as the source code) is fine. I'm reluctant to upgrade to VS 2K10 Beta2 because our company does not use it for it's development. Is the VS 2K10 remote debugger compatible with VS2008?

Thanks. Though, One work around is to use a x86 machine instead.