source: chapter01/askforhelp.xml@ 71ba45f

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<sect1 id="prepare-askforhelp">
<title>Help</title>
<?dbhtml filename="askforhelp.html"?>

<para>If an issue or a question is encountered while working
through this book, check the FAQ page at <ulink url="&faq-root;#generalfaq"/>.
Questions are often already answered there. If your question is
not answered on this page, try to find the source of the problem. The
following hint will give you some guidance for troubleshooting: <ulink
url="&hints-root;errors.txt"/>.</para>

<para>If you cannot find your problem listed in the FAQ, search the mailing
lists at <ulink url="&lfs-root;search.html"/>.</para>

<para>We also have a wonderful LFS community that is willing to offer assistance
through the mailing lists and IRC (see the <xref
linkend="ch-scatter-administrativa"/> section of this book). However, we get
several support questions everyday and many of them can be easily answered by
going to the FAQ and by searching the mailing lists first. So for us to offer
the best assistance possible, you need to do some research on your own first.
That allows us to focus on the more unusual support needs. If your searches do
not produce a solution, please include all relevant information (mentioned
below) in your request for help.</para>

<sect2>
<title>Things to Mention</title>
 
<para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem being experienced,
the essential things to include in any request for help are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>The version of the book being used (in this case
&version;)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The host distribution and version being used to
create LFS</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The package or section the problem was encountered in</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The exact error message or symptom being received</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Note whether you have deviated from the book at all </para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<note><para>Deviating from this book does <emphasis>not</emphasis>
mean that we will not help you. After all, LFS is about personal
preference. Being upfront about any changes to the established
procedure helps us evaluate and determine possible causes of your
problem.</para></note>
</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Configure Script Problems</title>

<para>If something goes wrong while running the <command>configure</command>
script, review the <filename>config.log</filename> file. This file may
contain errors encountered during <command>configure</command> which were not
printed to the screen.  Include the <emphasis>relevant</emphasis> lines if you
need to ask for help.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Compilation Problems</title>

<para>Both the screen output and the contents of various files are
useful in determining the cause of compilation problems. The screen output
from the <command>configure</command> script and the 
<command>make</command> run can be helpful. It
is not necessary to include the entire output, but do include enough
of the relevant information. Below is an example of the type of
information to include from the screen output from <command>make</command>:</para>

<screen><computeroutput>gcc -DALIASPATH=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale:.\"
-DLOCALEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale\" 
-DLIBDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/lib\"
-DINCLUDEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/include\" -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I.
-g -O2 -c getopt1.c
gcc -g -O2 -static -o make ar.o arscan.o commands.o dir.o 
expand.o file.o function.o getopt.o implicit.o job.o main.o 
misc.o read.o remake.o rule.o signame.o variable.o vpath.o 
default.o remote-stub.o version.o opt1.o
-lutil job.o: In function `load_too_high':
/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1/job.c:1565: undefined reference 
to `getloadavg'
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make[2]: *** [make] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
make: *** [all-recursive-am] Error 2</computeroutput></screen>

<para>In this case, many people would just include the bottom
section:</para>

<screen><computeroutput>make [2]: *** [make] Error 1</computeroutput></screen>

<para>This is not enough information to properly diagnose the problem
because it only notes that something went wrong, not
<emphasis>what</emphasis> went wrong.  The entire section, as in the
example above, is what should be saved because it includes the command
that was executed and the associated error message(s).</para>

<para>An excellent article about asking for help on the Internet is
available online at <ulink
url="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>.  Read and
follow the hints in this document to increase the likelihood of getting
the help you need.</para>
</sect2>

</sect1>