1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> |
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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 | <para>If an issue or a question is encountered while working through |
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14 | this book, check the FAQ page at <ulink url="&faq-root;#generalfaq"/>. |
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15 | Questions are often already answered there. If your question is not |
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16 | answered on this page, try to find the source of the problem. The |
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17 | following hint will give you some guidance for troubleshooting: |
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18 | <ulink url="&hints-root;Errors"/>.</para> |
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19 | |
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20 | <para>We also have a wonderful CLFS community that is willing to offer |
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21 | assistance through the mailing lists and IRC (see the <xref |
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22 | linkend="ch-intro-resources"/> section of this book). However, we |
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23 | get several support questions everyday and many of them can be easily |
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24 | answered by going to the FAQ and by searching the mailing lists first. |
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25 | So for us to offer the best assistance possible, you need to do some |
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26 | research on your own first. This allows us to focus on the more unusual |
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27 | support needs. If your searches do not produce a solution, please include |
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28 | all relevant information (mentioned below) in your request for help.</para> |
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29 | |
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30 | <sect2> |
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31 | <title>Things to Mention</title> |
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32 | |
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33 | <para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem being experienced, |
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34 | the essential things to include in any request for help are:</para> |
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35 | |
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36 | <itemizedlist> |
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37 | <listitem> |
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38 | <para>The version of the book being used (in this case |
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39 | &version;)</para> |
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40 | </listitem> |
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41 | <listitem> |
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42 | <para>The host distribution and version being used to |
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43 | create CLFS.</para> |
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44 | </listitem> |
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45 | <listitem> |
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46 | <para>The architecture of the host and target.</para> |
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47 | </listitem> |
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48 | <listitem> |
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49 | <para>The value of the ${CLFS_HOST} and ${CLFS_TARGET} environment |
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50 | variables, and if applicable, ${BUILD32}, ${BUILD64}, ${BUILDN32}, |
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51 | and ${GCCTARGET}.</para> |
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52 | </listitem> |
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53 | <listitem> |
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54 | <para>The package or section in which the problem was encountered.</para> |
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55 | </listitem> |
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56 | <listitem> |
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57 | <para>The exact error message or symptom received. See <xref |
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58 | linkend="ch-intro-askforhelp-compilation-problems"/> below for an |
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59 | example.</para> |
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60 | </listitem> |
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61 | <listitem> |
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62 | <para>Note whether you have deviated from the book at all. A package |
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63 | version change or even a minor change to any command is considered |
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64 | deviation.</para> |
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65 | </listitem> |
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66 | </itemizedlist> |
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67 | |
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68 | <note> |
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69 | <para>Deviating from this book does <emphasis>not</emphasis> |
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70 | mean that we will not help you. After all, the CLFS project is |
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71 | about personal preference. Be upfront about any changes to |
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72 | the established procedure—this helps us evaluate and determine |
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73 | possible causes of your problem.</para> |
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74 | </note> |
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75 | |
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76 | </sect2> |
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77 | |
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78 | <sect2> |
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79 | <title>Configure Script Problems</title> |
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80 | |
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81 | <para>If something goes wrong while running the <command>configure</command> |
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82 | script, review the <filename>config.log</filename> file. This file may |
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83 | contain the errors you encountered during <command>configure</command>. |
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84 | It often logs errors that may have not been printed to the screen. Include |
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85 | only the <emphasis>relevant</emphasis> lines if you need to ask for |
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86 | help.</para> |
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87 | |
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88 | </sect2> |
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89 | |
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90 | <sect2 id="ch-intro-askforhelp-compilation-problems"> |
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91 | <title>Compilation Problems</title> |
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92 | |
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93 | <para>Both the screen output and the contents of various files are |
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94 | useful in determining the cause of compilation problems. The screen output |
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95 | from the <command>configure</command> script and the |
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96 | <command>make</command> run can be helpful. It is not necessary to |
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97 | include the entire output, but do include enough of the relevant |
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98 | information. Below is an example of the type of information to include |
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99 | from the screen output from <command>make</command>:</para> |
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100 | |
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101 | <screen><computeroutput>gcc -DALIASPATH=\"/mnt/clfs/usr/share/locale:.\" |
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102 | -DLOCALEDIR=\"/mnt/clfs/usr/share/locale\" |
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103 | -DLIBDIR=\"/mnt/clfs/usr/lib\" |
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104 | -DINCLUDEDIR=\"/mnt/clfs/usr/include\" -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I. |
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105 | -g -O2 -c getopt1.c |
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106 | gcc -g -O2 -static -o make ar.o arscan.o commands.o dir.o |
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107 | expand.o file.o function.o getopt.o implicit.o job.o main.o |
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108 | misc.o read.o remake.o rule.o signame.o variable.o vpath.o |
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109 | default.o remote-stub.o version.o opt1.o |
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110 | -lutil job.o: In function `load_too_high': |
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111 | /clfs/tmp/make-3.79.1/job.c:1565: undefined reference |
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112 | to `getloadavg' |
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113 | collect2: ld returned 1 exit status |
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114 | make[2]: *** [make] Error 1 |
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115 | make[2]: Leaving directory `/clfs/tmp/make-3.79.1' |
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116 | make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1 |
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117 | make[1]: Leaving directory `/clfs/tmp/make-3.79.1' |
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118 | make: *** [all-recursive-am] Error 2</computeroutput></screen> |
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119 | |
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120 | <para>In this case, many people would just include the bottom |
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121 | section:</para> |
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122 | |
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123 | <screen><computeroutput>make [2]: *** [make] Error 1</computeroutput></screen> |
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124 | |
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125 | <para>This is not enough information to properly diagnose the problem |
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126 | because it only notes that something went wrong, not |
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127 | <emphasis>what</emphasis> went wrong. The entire section, as in the |
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128 | example above, is what should be saved because it includes the command |
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129 | that was executed and the associated error message(s).</para> |
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130 | |
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131 | <para>An excellent article about asking for help on the Internet is |
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132 | available online at <ulink |
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133 | url="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>. Read and |
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134 | follow the hints in this document to increase the likelihood of getting |
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135 | the help you need.</para> |
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136 | |
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137 | </sect2> |
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138 | |
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139 | </sect1> |
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