1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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2 | <!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
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3 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
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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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8 | <sect1 id="intro-welcome-askhelp">
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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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19 | is not listed in the FAQ (<ulink url="http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq"/>),
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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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22 | lists can be found in <xref linkend="intro-welcome-maillists"/>. To assist us
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23 | in diagnosing and solving your problem, include as much relevant information as
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24 | possible in your request for help.</para>
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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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34 | available as a module to the kernel? If it is a module, is it configured
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35 | properly in <filename>modules.conf</filename> and has it been loaded? You
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36 | should use <command>lsmod</command> as root to see if it's loaded. Check the
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37 | <filename>sys.log</filename> or run <command>modprobe <driver>
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38 | </command> to review any error message. If it loads properly, you may need
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39 | to add the <command>modprobe</command> to your boot scripts.</para>
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40 | </listitem>
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41 | <listitem>
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42 | <para>Are your permissions properly set, especially for devices? LFS
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43 | uses groups to make these settings easier, but it also adds the step of
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44 | adding users to groups to allow access. A simple <command>moduser
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45 | -G audio <user></command> may be all that's necessary for that
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46 | user to have access to the sound system. Any question that starts
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47 | out with "It works as root, but not as ..." requires a thorough review
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48 | of permissions prior to asking.</para>
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49 | </listitem>
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50 | <listitem>
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51 | <para>BLFS liberally uses <filename>/opt/<package></filename>.
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52 | The main objection to this centers around the need to expand your
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53 | environment variables for each package placed there (e.g.,
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54 | PATH=$PATH:/opt/kde/bin). In some cases, the package will walk you
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55 | through the changes, but some will not. The section called "<ulink
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56 | url="beyond.html">Going Beyond BLFS</ulink>" is available to help
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57 | you check.</para>
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58 | </listitem>
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59 | </itemizedlist>
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60 |
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61 | </sect2>
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62 |
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63 | <sect2>
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64 | <title>Things to Mention</title>
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65 |
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66 | <para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem you're having, the
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67 | essential things to include in your request are:</para>
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68 |
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69 | <itemizedlist>
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70 | <listitem>
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71 | <para>the version of the book you are using (being &version;),</para>
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72 | </listitem>
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73 | <listitem>
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74 | <para>the package or section giving you problems,</para>
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75 | </listitem>
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76 | <listitem>
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77 | <para>the exact error message or symptom you are receiving,</para>
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78 | </listitem>
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79 | <listitem>
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80 | <para>whether you have deviated from the book or LFS at all.</para>
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81 | </listitem>
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82 | </itemizedlist>
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83 |
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84 | <para>(Note that saying that you've deviated from the book doesn't mean
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85 | that we won't help you. It'll just help us to see other possible causes
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86 | of your problem.)</para>
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87 |
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88 | <para>Expect guidance instead of specific instructions. If you are
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89 | instructed to read something, please do so. It generally implies that
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90 | the answer was way too obvious and that the question would not have
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91 | been asked if a little research was done prior to asking. The volunteers
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92 | in the mailing list prefer not to be used as an alternative to doing
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93 | reasonable research on your end. In addition, the quality of your
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94 | experience with BLFS is also greatly enhanced by this research, and
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95 | the quality of volunteers is enhanced because they don't feel that their
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96 | time has been abused, so they are far more likely to participate.</para>
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97 |
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98 | <para>An excellent article on asking for help on the Internet in general
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99 | has been written by Eric S. Raymond. It is available online at
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100 | <ulink url="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>.
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101 | Read and follow the hints in that document and you are much more likely
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102 | to get a response to start with and also to get the help you actually
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103 | need.</para>
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104 |
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105 | </sect2>
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106 |
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107 | </sect1>
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108 |
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