[3be4d97] | 1 | <sect1 id="ch-prepare-askforhelp">
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 2 | <title>How to ask for help</title>
|
---|
[04f5529] | 3 | <?dbhtml filename="askforhelp.html" dir="chapter02"?>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 4 |
|
---|
[a52b2c2] | 5 | <para>If you encounter a problem while using this book, and your problem
|
---|
| 6 | is not listed in the FAQ (<ulink url="&faq-root;"/>), you will find that
|
---|
| 7 | most of the people on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and on the mailing lists
|
---|
| 8 | are willing to help you. An overview of the LFS mailing lists can be
|
---|
[3be4d97] | 9 | found via <xref linkend="ch-scatter-maillists"/>. To assist us in
|
---|
| 10 | diagnosing and solving your problem, include as much relevant
|
---|
| 11 | information as possible in your request for help.</para>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 12 |
|
---|
| 13 | <sect2>
|
---|
[4ceb3a1] | 14 | <title>Things to mention</title>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 15 |
|
---|
[4ceb3a1] | 16 | <para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem you're having, the
|
---|
| 17 | essential things to include in your request are:</para>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 18 |
|
---|
| 19 | <itemizedlist>
|
---|
[4ceb3a1] | 20 | <listitem><para>the version of the book you are using (being &version;),</para></listitem>
|
---|
[66b86e5] | 21 | <listitem><para>the host distribution and version you are using to create
|
---|
| 22 | LFS from,</para></listitem>
|
---|
[1e6acd6] | 23 | <listitem><para>the package or section giving you problems,</para></listitem>
|
---|
[4ceb3a1] | 24 | <listitem><para>the exact error message or symptom you are receiving,</para></listitem>
|
---|
| 25 | <listitem><para>whether you have deviated from the book at all.</para></listitem>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 26 | </itemizedlist>
|
---|
| 27 |
|
---|
[4ceb3a1] | 28 | <para>(Note that saying that you've deviated from the book doesn't mean
|
---|
[2c094d6] | 29 | that we won't help you. After all, LFS is about choice. It'll just
|
---|
[4ceb3a1] | 30 | help us to see other possible causes of your problem.)</para>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 31 |
|
---|
| 32 | </sect2>
|
---|
| 33 |
|
---|
| 34 | <sect2>
|
---|
| 35 | <title>Configure problems</title>
|
---|
| 36 |
|
---|
[b89299e] | 37 | <para>When something goes wrong during the stage where the configure script
|
---|
| 38 | is run, look through the <filename>config.log</filename> file. This file
|
---|
| 39 | may contain errors encountered during configure which weren't printed to
|
---|
[17476c5] | 40 | the screen. Include those relevant lines if you decide to ask for
|
---|
[b89299e] | 41 | help.</para>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 42 |
|
---|
[d28673b] | 43 | </sect2>
|
---|
| 44 |
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 45 | <sect2>
|
---|
| 46 | <title>Compile problems</title>
|
---|
| 47 |
|
---|
| 48 | <para>To help us find the cause of the problem, both screen output and
|
---|
| 49 | the contents of various files are useful. The screen output from both
|
---|
[2c094d6] | 50 | the ./configure script and the make run can be useful. Don't blindly
|
---|
[1e6acd6] | 51 | include the whole thing but on the other hand, don't include too little.
|
---|
| 52 | As an example, here is some screen output from make:</para>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 53 |
|
---|
[21ba4e3] | 54 | <screen>gcc -DALIASPATH=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale:.\"
|
---|
[2c094d6] | 55 | -DLOCALEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale\" -DLIBDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/lib\"
|
---|
| 56 | -DINCLUDEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/include\" -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I.
|
---|
[5e0e068] | 57 | -g -O2 -c getopt1.c
|
---|
[2c094d6] | 58 | gcc -g -O2 -static -o make ar.o arscan.o commands.o dir.o expand.o file.o
|
---|
| 59 | function.o getopt.o implicit.o job.o main.o misc.o read.o remake.o rule.o
|
---|
| 60 | signame.o variable.o vpath.o default.o remote-stub.o version.o opt1.o
|
---|
[5e0e068] | 61 | -lutil job.o: In function `load_too_high':
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 62 | /lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1/job.c:1565: undefined reference to `getloadavg'
|
---|
| 63 | collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
|
---|
| 64 | make[2]: *** [make] Error 1
|
---|
| 65 | make[2]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
|
---|
| 66 | make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
|
---|
| 67 | make[1]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
|
---|
[21ba4e3] | 68 | make: *** [all-recursive-am] Error 2</screen>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 69 |
|
---|
[4e7792e] | 70 | <para>In this case, many people just include the bottom section where it
|
---|
| 71 | says:</para>
|
---|
[27d9bc1a] | 72 |
|
---|
| 73 | <screen>make [2]: *** [make] Error 1</screen>
|
---|
| 74 |
|
---|
| 75 | <para>and onwards. This isn't enough for us to diagnose the problem because it
|
---|
| 76 | only tells us that <emphasis>something</emphasis> went wrong, not
|
---|
| 77 | <emphasis>what</emphasis> went wrong. The whole section, as in the example
|
---|
| 78 | above, is what should be included to be helpful, because it includes the
|
---|
| 79 | command that was executed and the command's error message(s).</para>
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 80 |
|
---|
[5c3c294] | 81 | <para>An excellent article on asking for help on the Internet in general
|
---|
[2c094d6] | 82 | has been written by Eric S. Raymond. It is available online at <ulink
|
---|
[4ad5128c] | 83 | url="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>.
|
---|
[1e6acd6] | 84 | Read and follow the hints in that document and you are much more likely
|
---|
[5c3c294] | 85 | to get a response to start with and also to get the help you actually
|
---|
| 86 | need.</para>
|
---|
| 87 |
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 88 | </sect2>
|
---|
| 89 |
|
---|
[0841437] | 90 | <sect2>
|
---|
[2785ba8] | 91 | <title>Test suite problems</title>
|
---|
| 92 |
|
---|
| 93 | <para>Many packages provide a test suite which, depending on the importance
|
---|
| 94 | of the package, we may encourage you to run. Sometimes packages will
|
---|
| 95 | generate false or expected failures. If you encounter these, you can check
|
---|
[daaa0941] | 96 | the LFS Wiki page at <ulink url="&wiki-root;"/> to see whether we have
|
---|
| 97 | already noted and investigated them. If we already know
|
---|
[2785ba8] | 98 | about them, then usually there is no need to be concerned.</para>
|
---|
[0841437] | 99 |
|
---|
| 100 | </sect2>
|
---|
| 101 |
|
---|
| 102 |
|
---|
[ddfe603] | 103 | </sect1>
|
---|
| 104 |
|
---|