[673b0d8] | 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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[a0a2d970] | 2 | <!DOCTYPE section [
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[673b0d8] | 3 | <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
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| 4 | %general-entities;
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| 5 | ]>
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[a0a2d970] | 6 | <section xmlns="http://docbook.org/docbook-ng"
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| 7 | xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
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| 8 | xml:id="prepare-askforhelp">
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| 9 | <info><title>How to ask for help</title></info>
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[673b0d8] | 10 | <?dbhtml filename="askforhelp.html"?>
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[c6b5ddb] | 11 |
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[02974d8] | 12 | <para>If you run into a problem while working through this book, you should
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[a0a2d970] | 13 | first check the FAQ at <uri xlink:href="&faq-root;"/> -- often your question
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[02974d8] | 14 | is already answered there. If it is not, you should try to find the source of
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| 15 | the problem. The following hint might give you some ideas for your
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[a0a2d970] | 16 | troubleshooting: <uri xlink:href="&hints-root;errors.txt">&hints-root;errors.txt</uri>.</para>
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[02974d8] | 17 |
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| 18 | <para>If all that fails, you will find that most people on IRC and the mailing
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| 19 | lists (see <xref linkend="ch-scatter-administrativa"/>) are willing to help
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| 20 | you. But to assist them in diagnosing and solving your problem, please include
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| 21 | all relevant information in your request for help.</para>
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[c6b5ddb] | 22 |
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[a0a2d970] | 23 | <section>
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| 24 | <info><title>Things to mention</title></info>
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[c6b5ddb] | 25 |
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| 26 | <para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem you're having, the
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| 27 | essential things to include in your request are:</para>
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| 28 |
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| 29 | <itemizedlist>
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| 30 | <listitem><para>the version of the book you are using (being &version;),</para></listitem>
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| 31 | <listitem><para>the host distribution and version you are using to create
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[673b0d8] | 32 | LFS,</para></listitem>
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[c6b5ddb] | 33 | <listitem><para>the package or section giving you problems,</para></listitem>
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| 34 | <listitem><para>the exact error message or symptom you are receiving,</para></listitem>
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| 35 | <listitem><para>whether you have deviated from the book at all.</para></listitem>
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| 36 | </itemizedlist>
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| 37 |
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[55851d6] | 38 | <note><para>Saying that you've deviated from the book doesn't mean
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[c6b5ddb] | 39 | that we won't help you. After all, LFS is about choice. It'll just
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[55851d6] | 40 | help us to see other possible causes of your problem.</para></note>
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[c6b5ddb] | 41 |
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[a0a2d970] | 42 | </section>
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[c6b5ddb] | 43 |
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[a0a2d970] | 44 | <section>
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| 45 | <info><title>Configure problems</title></info>
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[c6b5ddb] | 46 |
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| 47 | <para>When something goes wrong during the stage where the configure script
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| 48 | is run, look through the <filename>config.log</filename> file. This file
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| 49 | may contain errors encountered during configure which weren't printed to
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| 50 | the screen. Include those relevant lines if you decide to ask for
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| 51 | help.</para>
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| 52 |
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[a0a2d970] | 53 | </section>
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[c6b5ddb] | 54 |
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[a0a2d970] | 55 | <section>
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| 56 | <info><title>Compile problems</title></info>
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[c6b5ddb] | 57 |
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| 58 | <para>To help us find the cause of the problem, both screen output and
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| 59 | the contents of various files are useful. The screen output from both
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| 60 | the ./configure script and the make run can be useful. Don't blindly
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[673b0d8] | 61 | include the whole thing but, on the other hand, don't include too little.
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[c6b5ddb] | 62 | As an example, here is some screen output from make:</para>
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| 63 |
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[55851d6] | 64 | <screen><computeroutput>gcc -DALIASPATH=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale:.\"
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[c6b5ddb] | 65 | -DLOCALEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale\" -DLIBDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/lib\"
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| 66 | -DINCLUDEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/include\" -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I.
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| 67 | -g -O2 -c getopt1.c
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| 68 | gcc -g -O2 -static -o make ar.o arscan.o commands.o dir.o expand.o file.o
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| 69 | function.o getopt.o implicit.o job.o main.o misc.o read.o remake.o rule.o
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| 70 | signame.o variable.o vpath.o default.o remote-stub.o version.o opt1.o
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| 71 | -lutil job.o: In function `load_too_high':
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| 72 | /lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1/job.c:1565: undefined reference to `getloadavg'
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| 73 | collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
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| 74 | make[2]: *** [make] Error 1
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| 75 | make[2]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
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| 76 | make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
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| 77 | make[1]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
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[55851d6] | 78 | make: *** [all-recursive-am] Error 2</computeroutput></screen>
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[c6b5ddb] | 79 |
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| 80 | <para>In this case, many people just include the bottom section where it
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| 81 | says:</para>
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| 82 |
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[55851d6] | 83 | <screen><computeroutput>make [2]: *** [make] Error 1</computeroutput></screen>
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[c6b5ddb] | 84 |
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| 85 | <para>and onwards. This isn't enough for us to diagnose the problem because it
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| 86 | only tells us that <emphasis>something</emphasis> went wrong, not
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| 87 | <emphasis>what</emphasis> went wrong. The whole section, as in the example
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| 88 | above, is what should be included to be helpful, because it includes the
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| 89 | command that was executed and the command's error message(s).</para>
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| 90 |
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| 91 | <para>An excellent article on asking for help on the Internet in general
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[673b0d8] | 92 | has been written by Eric S. Raymond. It is available online at
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[a0a2d970] | 93 | <uri xlink:href="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html">http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"</uri>.
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[c6b5ddb] | 94 | Read and follow the hints in that document and you are much more likely
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| 95 | to get a response to start with and also to get the help you actually
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| 96 | need.</para>
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| 97 |
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[a0a2d970] | 98 | </section>
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[c6b5ddb] | 99 |
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[a0a2d970] | 100 | <section>
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| 101 | <info><title>Test suite problems</title></info>
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[c6b5ddb] | 102 |
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| 103 | <para>Many packages provide a test suite which, depending on the importance
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| 104 | of the package, we may encourage you to run. Sometimes packages will
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| 105 | generate false or expected failures. If you encounter these, you can check
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[a0a2d970] | 106 | the LFS Wiki page at <uri xlink:href="&wiki-root;">&wiki-root;</uri> to see
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| 107 | whether we have already noted and investigated them. If we already know about
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| 108 | them, then usually there is no need to be concerned.</para>
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[c6b5ddb] | 109 |
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[a0a2d970] | 110 | </section>
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[c6b5ddb] | 111 |
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[a0a2d970] | 112 | </section>
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