1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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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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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="ch-intro-askforhelp">
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9 | <?dbhtml filename="askforhelp.html"?>
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10 |
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11 | <title>Help</title>
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12 |
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13 | <note>
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14 | <para>
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15 | In case you've hit an issue building one package with the LFS
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16 | instruction, we strongly discourage posting the issue directly onto
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17 | the upstream support channel before discussing via a LFS support
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18 | channel listed in <xref linkend="ch-intro-resources" role='.'/>
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19 | Doing so is often quite inefficient because the upstream
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20 | maintainers are rarely familiar with LFS building procedure. Even if
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21 | you've really hit an upstream issue, the LFS community can still help
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22 | to isolate the information wanted by the upstream maintainers and make
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23 | a proper report.
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24 | </para>
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25 |
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26 | <para>
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27 | If you must ask a question directly via an upstream support channel,
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28 | you shall at least note that many upstream projects have the support
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29 | channels separated from the bug tracker. The <quote>bug</quote>
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30 | reports for asking questions are considered invalid and may annoy
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31 | upstream developers for these projects.
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32 | </para>
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33 | </note>
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34 |
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35 | <para>If an issue or a question is encountered while working through
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36 | this book, please check the FAQ page at <ulink url="&faq-root;#generalfaq"/>.
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37 | Questions are often already answered there. If your question is not
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38 | answered on that page, try to find the source of the problem. The
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39 | following hint will give you some guidance for troubleshooting:
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40 | <ulink url="&hints-root;errors.txt"/>.</para>
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41 |
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42 | <para>If you cannot find your problem listed in the FAQ, search the mailing
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43 | lists at <ulink url="&lfs-root;search.html"/>.</para>
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44 |
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45 | <para>We also have a wonderful LFS community that is willing to offer
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46 | assistance through the mailing lists and IRC (see the <xref
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47 | linkend="ch-intro-resources"/> section of this book). However,
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48 | we get several support questions every day, and many of them could have been easily
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49 | answered by going to the FAQ or by searching the mailing lists first.
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50 | So, for us to offer the best assistance possible, you should first do some
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51 | research on your own. That allows us to focus on the more unusual
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52 | support needs. If your searches do not produce a solution, please include
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53 | all the relevant information (mentioned below) in your request for help.</para>
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54 |
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55 | <sect2>
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56 | <title>Things to Mention</title>
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57 |
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58 | <para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem being experienced,
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59 | any request for help should include these essential things:</para>
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60 |
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61 | <itemizedlist>
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62 | <listitem>
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63 | <para>The version of the book being used (in this case &version;)</para>
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64 | </listitem>
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65 | <listitem>
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66 | <para>The host distribution and version being used to create LFS</para>
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67 | </listitem>
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68 | <listitem>
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69 | <para>The output from the <xref linkend='version-check'/> script</para>
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70 | </listitem>
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71 | <listitem>
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72 | <para>The package or section the problem was encountered in</para>
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73 | </listitem>
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74 | <listitem>
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75 | <para>The exact error message, or a clear description of the problem</para>
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76 | </listitem>
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77 | <listitem>
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78 | <para>Note whether you have deviated from the book at all </para>
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79 | </listitem>
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80 | </itemizedlist>
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81 |
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82 | <note>
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83 | <para>Deviating from this book does <emphasis>not</emphasis> mean that
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84 | we will not help you. After all, LFS is about personal preference.
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85 | Being up-front about any changes to the established procedure helps us
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86 | evaluate and determine possible causes of your problem.</para>
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87 | </note>
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88 |
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89 | </sect2>
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90 |
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91 | <sect2>
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92 | <title>Configure Script Problems</title>
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93 |
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94 | <para>If something goes wrong while running the <command>configure</command>
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95 | script, review the <filename>config.log</filename> file. This file may
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96 | contain errors encountered during <command>configure</command> which were
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97 | not printed to the screen. Include the <emphasis>relevant</emphasis> lines
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98 | if you need to ask for help.</para>
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99 |
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100 | </sect2>
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101 |
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102 | <sect2>
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103 | <title>Compilation Problems</title>
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104 |
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105 | <para>Both the screen output and the contents of various files are useful
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106 | in determining the cause of compilation problems. The screen output from
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107 | the <command>configure</command> script and the <command>make</command>
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108 | run can be helpful. It is not necessary to include the entire output, but
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109 | do include all of the relevant information. Here is an example of the
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110 | type of information to include from the <command>make</command> screen
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111 | output.</para>
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112 |
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113 | <screen><computeroutput>gcc -D ALIASPATH=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale:.\"
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114 | -D LOCALEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale\"
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115 | -D LIBDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/lib\"
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116 | -D INCLUDEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/include\" -D HAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I.
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117 | -g -O2 -c getopt1.c
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118 | gcc -g -O2 -static -o make ar.o arscan.o commands.o dir.o
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119 | expand.o file.o function.o getopt.o implicit.o job.o main.o
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120 | misc.o read.o remake.o rule.o signame.o variable.o vpath.o
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121 | default.o remote-stub.o version.o opt1.o
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122 | -lutil job.o: In function `load_too_high':
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123 | /lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1/job.c:1565: undefined reference
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124 | to `getloadavg'
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125 | collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
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126 | make[2]: *** [make] Error 1
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127 | make[2]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
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128 | make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
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129 | make[1]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
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130 | make: *** [all-recursive-am] Error 2</computeroutput></screen>
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131 |
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132 | <para>In this case, many people would just include the bottom
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133 | section:</para>
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134 |
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135 | <screen><computeroutput>make [2]: *** [make] Error 1</computeroutput></screen>
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136 |
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137 | <para>This is not enough information to diagnose the problem,
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138 | because it only notes that something went wrong, not
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139 | <emphasis>what</emphasis> went wrong. The entire section, as in the
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140 | example above, is what should be saved because it includes the command
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141 | that was executed and all the associated error messages.</para>
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142 |
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143 | <para>An excellent article about asking for help on the Internet is
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144 | available online at <ulink
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145 | url="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>. Read this document,
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146 | and follow the hints. Doing so will increase the likelihood of getting
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147 | the help you need.</para>
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148 |
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149 | </sect2>
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150 |
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151 | </sect1>
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