glfs/introduction/welcome/askhelp.xml
Randy McMurchy a71ee9cb37 Removed excess spaces from the ends of lines in the source files
git-svn-id: svn://svn.linuxfromscratch.org/BLFS/trunk/BOOK@4512 af4574ff-66df-0310-9fd7-8a98e5e911e0
2005-05-30 21:45:31 +00:00

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
<!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
%general-entities;
]>
<sect1 id="intro-welcome-askhelp">
<?dbhtml filename="askhelp.html"?>
<sect1info>
<othername>$LastChangedBy$</othername>
<date>$Date$</date>
</sect1info>
<title>Asking for Help and the FAQ</title>
<para>If you encounter a problem while using this book, and your problem
is not listed in the FAQ (<ulink url="http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq"/>),
you will find that most of the people on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and on the
mailing lists are willing to help you. An overview of the LFS mailing
lists can be found in <xref linkend="intro-welcome-maillists"/>. To assist us
in diagnosing and solving your problem, include as much relevant information as
possible in your request for help.</para>
<sect2>
<title>Things to Check Prior to Asking</title>
<para>Before asking for help, you should review the following items:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Is the hardware support compiled into the kernel or
available as a module to the kernel? If it is a module, is it configured
properly in <filename>modules.conf</filename> and has it been loaded? You
should use <command>lsmod</command> as root to see if it's loaded. Check the
<filename>sys.log</filename> or run <command>modprobe &lt;driver&gt;
</command> to review any error message. If it loads properly, you may need
to add the <command>modprobe</command> to your boot scripts.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Are your permissions properly set, especially for devices? LFS
uses groups to make these settings easier, but it also adds the step of
adding users to groups to allow access. A simple <command>moduser
-G audio &lt;user&gt;</command> may be all that's necessary for that
user to have access to the sound system. Any question that starts
out with "It works as root, but not as ..." requires a thorough review
of permissions prior to asking.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>BLFS liberally uses <filename>/opt/&lt;package&gt;</filename>.
The main objection to this centers around the need to expand your
environment variables for each package placed there (e.g.,
PATH=$PATH:/opt/kde/bin). In some cases, the package will walk you
through the changes, but some will not. The section called "<ulink
url="beyond.html">Going Beyond BLFS</ulink>" is available to help
you check.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Things to Mention</title>
<para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem you're having, the
essential things to include in your request are:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>the version of the book you are using (being &version;),</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>the package or section giving you problems,</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>the exact error message or symptom you are receiving,</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>whether you have deviated from the book or LFS at all.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>(Note that saying that you've deviated from the book doesn't mean
that we won't help you. It'll just help us to see other possible causes
of your problem.)</para>
<para>Expect guidance instead of specific instructions. If you are
instructed to read something, please do so. It generally implies that
the answer was way too obvious and that the question would not have
been asked if a little research was done prior to asking. The volunteers
in the mailing list prefer not to be used as an alternative to doing
reasonable research on your end. In addition, the quality of your
experience with BLFS is also greatly enhanced by this research, and
the quality of volunteers is enhanced because they don't feel that their
time has been abused, so they are far more likely to participate.</para>
<para>An excellent article on asking for help on the Internet in general
has been written by Eric S. Raymond. It is available online at
<ulink url="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>.
Read and follow the hints in that document and you are much more likely
to get a response to start with and also to get the help you actually
need.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>