[4122007] | 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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[6732c094] | 2 | <!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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| 3 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
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[4122007] | 4 | <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
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| 5 | %general-entities;
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| 6 | ]>
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| 7 |
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[4afc2603] | 8 | <sect1 id="askhelp">
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[907238e1] | 9 | <?dbhtml filename="askhelp.html"?>
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| 10 |
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| 11 | <sect1info>
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| 12 | <othername>$LastChangedBy$</othername>
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| 13 | <date>$Date$</date>
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| 14 | </sect1info>
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| 15 |
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| 16 | <title>Asking for Help and the FAQ</title>
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| 17 |
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| 18 | <para>If you encounter a problem while using this book, and your problem
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[4e88613] | 19 | is not listed in the FAQ (<ulink url="http://www.&lfs-domainname;/faq"/>),
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[a71ee9cb] | 20 | you will find that most of the people on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and on the
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| 21 | mailing lists are willing to help you. An overview of the LFS mailing
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[4afc2603] | 22 | lists can be found in <xref linkend="maillists"/>. To assist us
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[8aefeb67] | 23 | in diagnosing and solving your problem, include as much relevant information
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| 24 | as possible in your request for help.</para>
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[907238e1] | 25 |
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| 26 | <sect2>
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| 27 | <title>Things to Check Prior to Asking</title>
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| 28 |
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| 29 | <para>Before asking for help, you should review the following items:</para>
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| 30 |
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| 31 | <itemizedlist>
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| 32 | <listitem>
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| 33 | <para>Is the hardware support compiled into the kernel or
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[8aefeb67] | 34 | available as a module to the kernel? If it is a module, is it
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[96ece2d7] | 35 | configured properly in <filename>modprobe.conf</filename> and has it
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[8aefeb67] | 36 | been loaded? You should use <command>lsmod</command> as the
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| 37 | <systemitem class='username'>root</systemitem> user to see if it's
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[96ece2d7] | 38 | loaded. Check the <filename>sys.log</filename> file or run
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[57b11363] | 39 | <command>modprobe <replaceable><driver></replaceable></command> to
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[8aefeb67] | 40 | review any error message. If it loads properly, you may need to add
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| 41 | the <command>modprobe</command> command to your boot scripts.</para>
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[907238e1] | 42 | </listitem>
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| 43 | <listitem>
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[a71ee9cb] | 44 | <para>Are your permissions properly set, especially for devices? LFS
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| 45 | uses groups to make these settings easier, but it also adds the step of
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| 46 | adding users to groups to allow access. A simple <command>moduser
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[57b11363] | 47 | -G audio <replaceable><user></replaceable></command> may be all that's
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[8aefeb67] | 48 | necessary for that user to have access to the sound system. Any question
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| 49 | that starts out with <quote>It works as root, but not as ...</quote>
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| 50 | requires a thorough review of permissions prior to asking.</para>
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[907238e1] | 51 | </listitem>
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| 52 | <listitem>
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[8aefeb67] | 53 | <para>BLFS liberally uses <filename
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[57b11363] | 54 | class='directory'>/opt/<replaceable><package></replaceable></filename>.
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[a71ee9cb] | 55 | The main objection to this centers around the need to expand your
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[907238e1] | 56 | environment variables for each package placed there (e.g.,
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[8aefeb67] | 57 | PATH=$PATH:/opt/kde/bin). In most cases, the package instructions will
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| 58 | walk you through the changes, but some will not. The section called
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[4afc2603] | 59 | <quote><xref linkend="beyond"/></quote> is
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[8aefeb67] | 60 | available to help you check.</para>
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[907238e1] | 61 | </listitem>
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| 62 | </itemizedlist>
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| 63 |
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| 64 | </sect2>
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| 65 |
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| 66 | <sect2>
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| 67 | <title>Things to Mention</title>
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| 68 |
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| 69 | <para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem you're having, the
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| 70 | essential things to include in your request are:</para>
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| 71 |
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| 72 | <itemizedlist>
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| 73 | <listitem>
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| 74 | <para>the version of the book you are using (being &version;),</para>
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| 75 | </listitem>
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| 76 | <listitem>
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| 77 | <para>the package or section giving you problems,</para>
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| 78 | </listitem>
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| 79 | <listitem>
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| 80 | <para>the exact error message or symptom you are receiving,</para>
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| 81 | </listitem>
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| 82 | <listitem>
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[96ece2d7] | 83 | <para>whether you have deviated from the book or LFS at all,</para>
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| 84 | </listitem>
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| 85 | <listitem>
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| 86 | <para>if you are installing a BLFS package on a non-LFS system.</para>
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[907238e1] | 87 | </listitem>
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| 88 | </itemizedlist>
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| 89 |
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| 90 | <para>(Note that saying that you've deviated from the book doesn't mean
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[a71ee9cb] | 91 | that we won't help you. It'll just help us to see other possible causes
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[907238e1] | 92 | of your problem.)</para>
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| 93 |
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| 94 | <para>Expect guidance instead of specific instructions. If you are
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| 95 | instructed to read something, please do so. It generally implies that
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[a71ee9cb] | 96 | the answer was way too obvious and that the question would not have
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| 97 | been asked if a little research was done prior to asking. The volunteers
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| 98 | in the mailing list prefer not to be used as an alternative to doing
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| 99 | reasonable research on your end. In addition, the quality of your
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[8aefeb67] | 100 | experience with BLFS is also greatly enhanced by this research, and
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[a71ee9cb] | 101 | the quality of volunteers is enhanced because they don't feel that their
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[907238e1] | 102 | time has been abused, so they are far more likely to participate.</para>
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| 103 |
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| 104 | <para>An excellent article on asking for help on the Internet in general
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[a71ee9cb] | 105 | has been written by Eric S. Raymond. It is available online at
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[907238e1] | 106 | <ulink url="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>.
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| 107 | Read and follow the hints in that document and you are much more likely
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| 108 | to get a response to start with and also to get the help you actually
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| 109 | need.</para>
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| 110 |
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| 111 | </sect2>
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[f45b1953] | 112 |
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| 113 | </sect1>
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