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CrashLens is best treated here as a workflow idea, not a verified product: available authoritative documentation does not establish a released CrashLens tool, its features, or a privacy policy. You can still turn GPU job logs into a focused local investigation by preserving the failed run, checking system logs for NVIDIA Xid messages, collecting GPU state, and choosing the next diagnostic according to whether the evidence points to application code, the driver, or hardware.
What a focused GPU log investigation can establish
A failed job’s output can help identify when and how a failure surfaced, but it may not identify the underlying cause by itself. On NVIDIA systems, an Xid message is a driver report that a general GPU error occurred. NVIDIA notes that Xid errors can arise from hardware, NVIDIA software, or a user application, so an Xid is evidence to investigate—not a definitive root-cause label. See NVIDIA’s Working with Xid Errors.
The workflow below applies to NVIDIA GPUs and the documented NVIDIA/CUDA tools. It does not establish support for other GPU vendors or software stacks.
Preserve the failed run before changing anything
Keep the original evidence intact so later checks can be compared with the exact failure. Record the job’s stdout and stderr, the command or launch configuration, exit status, timestamps and time zone, host identity, GPU identity, and relevant environment details. Preserve the surrounding logs rather than copying only a single error line.
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This is a practical incident-handling step, not a claimed CrashLens feature. NVIDIA’s node-triage guidance likewise identifies the issue description, key log messages, and diagnostic evidence as useful inputs to GPU incident triage: GPU Node Triage.
Find NVIDIA Xid messages in system logs
On Linux, NVIDIA says Xid messages are written to the kernel log buffer and are commonly recorded in the system journal or log files such as /var/log/messages and /var/log/syslog. Search the relevant time window for NVRM: Xid, then retain the complete message and nearby context. The message contains device and error information that can help narrow the investigation; consult NVIDIA’s documentation for locating and interpreting its fields.
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Use the log system and paths present on the affected machine; distributions and logging configurations differ. Do not assume that the absence of an Xid proves the GPU or driver was healthy.
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Collect GPU state and diagnostic evidence
Start with nvidia-smi
nvidia-smi is installed with the NVIDIA driver and provides basic monitoring and configuration information. Capture the available state with nvidia-smi -q while the issue is being investigated, and preserve the output alongside the job logs. It provides context about the GPU but is not, on its own, a universal root-cause test.
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Use DCGM for datacenter health diagnostics where appropriate
NVIDIA describes DCGM as a datacenter management and monitoring suite that includes health diagnostics. If it is installed and appropriate for the affected node or environment, its diagnostics can add node-level evidence. This is a different scope from inspecting one job’s output, and the cited documentation does not provide a benchmark comparing DCGM with the other tools.
Build a driver report for driver escalation
If the evidence suggests a driver-level problem, run nvidia-bug-report.sh and retain the resulting compressed report for escalation. NVIDIA says the script gathers logs and command output and should be run as root. Review current instructions in NVIDIA’s Xid documentation before running it.
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Choose the next diagnostic by the suspected layer
| Working hypothesis | Useful next evidence or tool | What it can help investigate | Escalation direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application or programming issue | Debugger tools or a relevant Compute Sanitizer check | Application behavior and specific classes of CUDA correctness problems | Application or software owner; involve NVIDIA if evidence points to a driver issue |
| Driver issue | nvidia-bug-report.sh output and relevant system logs |
Driver and system context for a driver bug report | File a driver bug with NVIDIA and include the report, following NVIDIA’s instructions |
| Hardware issue | Xid and system-log context, GPU state, and appropriate node-health diagnostics | Evidence to support investigation of a possible hardware problem | Contact the hardware vendor when hardware is suspected |
These are investigation routes, not guaranteed diagnoses. NVIDIA recommends debugger tools for suspected programming issues, contacting the hardware vendor for suspected hardware problems, and filing a driver bug with NVIDIA—with nvidia-bug-report.sh output—when a driver problem is suspected.
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Use Compute Sanitizer for the code path that failed
Compute Sanitizer is part of the CUDA Toolkit. Its checks address different classes of correctness issues, so choose a check that matches the symptom and the code path rather than treating one run as a general GPU health verdict.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Turn the evidence into a working hypothesis
- Preserve the job record. Save original output, launch details, exit status, timing, host and GPU identity, and relevant environment information.
- Correlate system events. Check kernel or system logs around the failure time for
NVRM: Xidand retain surrounding entries. - Capture GPU context. Save
nvidia-smi -qoutput; consider DCGM health diagnostics for a datacenter node where available and appropriate. - Test the application hypothesis. Use a debugger or a targeted Compute Sanitizer check if the failing code path is suspect.
- Escalate with the right evidence. For a suspected driver problem, prepare the bug-report bundle; for suspected hardware trouble, contact the hardware vendor; for a suspected programming issue, investigate with the relevant debugging tools.
Keep the classification provisional until the evidence supports it. Logs and diagnostics narrow the investigation, but the cited NVIDIA guidance does not promise that this sequence will identify the root cause in every incident.
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