PRB: Causes of R6000 "Stack Overflow" Error (32816)


The information in this article applies to:

  • The C Run-Time (CRT), when used with:
    • Microsoft C for MS-DOS 5.1
    • Microsoft C for MS-DOS 6.0
    • Microsoft C for MS-DOS 6.0a
    • Microsoft C for MS-DOS 6.0ax
    • Microsoft C for OS/2 5.1
    • Microsoft C for OS/2 6.0
    • Microsoft C for OS/2 6.0a
    • Microsoft C/C++ for MS-DOS 7.0
    • Microsoft Visual C++ 1.0
    • Microsoft Visual C++ 1.5
    • Microsoft Visual C++ 1.51
    • Microsoft Visual C++ 1.52
This article was previously published under Q32816

SYMPTOMS

An attempt to run an application fails and the run-time library generates the following message:
R6000 Stack Overflow

CAUSE

There are two causes for this error:

  • The stack overflows because your program does not allocate enough stack space to hold the data the application uses during execution. This often affects applications that implement recursive algorithms or contain functions that declare large amounts of stack-based "local" or "automatic" data.
  • The stack overflows because the C startup (initialization) code fails in its attempt to allocate stack space.

RESOLUTION

To address the first cause above, perform one or more of the following:

  • Specify the /STACK linker option to specify a larger stack allocation
  • Modify the source code to use less recursion
  • Modify the source code to allocate less stack-based data
To address the second cause above, reduce the size of the stack or reduce the amount of near data your application stores in the DGROUP segment.

Please refer below for more information about the causes of this error, methods to address the problem, and a method to determine which of the causes above is relevant to a given situation.

MORE INFORMATION

Case 1: R6000 Occurs While Application Running

The stack overflows because the application attempts to push too much data (either function-return addresses or local data) on the stack. Each time a function call is made, the caller pushes the return address on the stack with any parameters. The called function may also allocate stack-based data for its own use. Each process requires stack space.

To address the R6000 error, perform one of the following:

  • Decrease the amount of stack-based data. If you declare a variable with the keyword "static," it is not pushed on the stack each time the function is called.
  • Increase the size of the stack by specifying the /F <x> compiler option switch, where <x> is a hexadecimal number that specifies the desired stack size.
  • Change the stack size by specifying the /STACK:<x> linker option switch (where <x> is a decimal number that specifies the desired stack size) or by using the EXEMOD utility. Note that if you increase the stack size too far, you can cause an R6000 error as described in case 2 below.

Case 2: R6000 Occurs at Startup

The startup code allocates stack space in the DGROUP segment. If DGROUP does not contain enough free space for the stack (by default, 2K), the startup code fails and generates the R6000 error.

To address this situation, either reduce the size of the stack or reduce the amount of data stored in DGROUP. To reduce the stack size, compile with the /F <x> option, link with the /STACK:<x> option, or use the EXEMOD utility, as described above. To reduce the amount of data stored in DGROUP, compile the code in a large-data memory model (compact, large, or huge memory model) instead of a small-data memory model (small or medium memory model). If you are already using a large- data memory model, specify the /Gt compiler option switch to move data from DGROUP into far data segments.

To use the /Gt option, specify /Gt<x>, where <x> is a decimal number of bytes. Data items larger than <x> bytes are placed into a separate data segment which creates room in DGROUP for the stack.

Determining the Cause of the R6000 Error

The CodeView debugger provides an excellent method to determine the cause of the problem. After starting CodeView and specifying your application, execute to the beginning of the main() function by doing one of the following:

  • Manually single-step using the F8 key or T.
  • Enter "g main" at the CodeView command prompt.
Once execution passes the opening curly-brace ({) of main(), the C startup code has allocated space for the stack and data. An R6000 error at this time indicates cause 2 above (a stack overflow at startup). Otherwise, cause 1 is indicated.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/8/2003
Keywords:kb16bitonly kbprb KB32816
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.