The following ideas to address the title of this post were written some time ago after some conversation on these matters in a LUG. Since it was discussed by linux enthusiasts, it may be a little advanced for beginners, but they may nevertheless get some benefit from it.
HOW TO APPROACH THE ASKING AND FORMULATION OF QUESTIONS
ON COMPUTER PROBLEMS TO A FORUM
*** PLEASE READ THE WHOLE DOCUMENT BEFORE POSTING ***
A. Searching for answers
========================
1. Create a descriptive title.
(i) Problems of functioning:
If the issue is about something not working, then a useful title
will include these two elements:
--- (a) the object which has the problem, and,
--- (b) the deviation from its expected or intended behaviour.
For example:
- Laptop wifi fails to connect to the router.
- Graphics card displays blank screen.
- systemd network can't start network.
Examples with more precision:
- Dell G1400 laptop fails to connect to Cisco r900 router.
- Nvidia zX489 graphics displays blank screen on Arch desktop.
- systemd network fails to bring up network on ethernet and
wifi.
(ii) Problems which are questions:
If the issue is the seeking of knowledge or information then a
useful title may include the interrogative words:
what, which, when, where, who, whom, whose, why, whether and how,
and end with a question mark.
Examples of questions:
- How to tell if the hard drive is dying on my server?
(instead of: Is my hard drive dying?).
- Where can I find error logs in fedora?
(instead of: I can't find the error logs?).
Examples of questions with more precision:
- How to tell if the 1TB hard drive is dying in debian server?
- Where are the error logs in fedora for network failure?
2. Investigate oneself independently BEFORE asking in the forum.
(i) Use search engines online before asking in the forum.
(ii) Search online with a descriptive title and variations of it.
(iii) Search the forum itself with similar formulations.
(iv) In the absence of results, modify the descriptive title by
extracting the key words from it and searching those.
3. Search with error messages.
(i) If there are error messages on screen, type them exactly into the
search engine. Error messages can appear on screen, or be found
using terminal commands, e.g.
(a) $ journalctl -b -x -p 3
(b) $ cat /var/log/syslog |grep -i error
(c) $ dmesg | grep -i error
The dmesg command may need root permissions to run.
(d) $ grep -e EE -e error Xorg.0.log
(ii) If the error occurs in a GUI environment without error messages
appearing on screen, try opening the troublesome application in
a terminal to see if error messages appear in text on the
terminal screen.
The error messages that need to be entered into search engines
are the ones related to the original concern. In the system
logs there are likely to be error messages unrelated to the
original concern which may or may not have some effect upon
that issue. Extract and use the error messages of the concern.
It's more effective to deal with one issue at a time.
B. Using the forum
==================
1. After having made something of an investigation oneself and not having
resolved the issue, one is ready to ask the forum. The guidelines mentioned
above for descriptive titles and determination of errors are applicable and
just as useful in the forum as elsewhere.
In the forum the subscriber has the opportunity to expand descriptively
in text on the issue of concern.
The form in which the issue is presented to the forum matters as much as the
content. Here are some suggestions:
(i) Use the descriptive title of the issue as outlined above.
(ii) Describe research and steps already taken to try and
resolve the problem.
(iii) Include information about the hardware that is relevant
to the problem.
For example:
- If the problem is a graphics problem then include
graphics card information such as the output of
the relevant commands:
# inxi -G
# lspci -knn |grep -i -A3 vga
# xrandr
- If the problem is network, include output
such as:
# inxi -N -x
# ip a
- If the problem is the system, provide the
the system's specifications such as:
# inxi -Fnxz
NB: information about the whole system
can be very detailed and voluminous.
If the amount of information is too
much to be comfortably read in the forum
it's possible to use a link to a file
sharing website that holds the file
carrying the informaton which allows
forum members who are able to help to
access the details they need. The family
of "ls" commands can collectively
provide much relevant information:
# lspci
# lsusb
# lscpu
# lsblk
# lsmod
# lsmem
(iv) Include information about the software that is relevant
to the problem:
- name of the distribution
- names of the applications of concern
(v) Always include the relevant error messages if found.
(vi) When transcribing error output from the screen, or
transcribing any commands with output which are involved
in the issue, use code tags so that code appears thus:
(vii) When using direct quotes from any source, use quote tags
so that quotes appear thus:
(viii) Describe the problem.
When describing the problem, use paragraphs as opposed to
large blocks of text. Use one idea, or one set of related
ideas per paragraph to help the reader see and understand
more clearly what is being communicated.
(ix) Present the issue in the correct forum section. Sometimes
an issue may fit several categories, e.g. a concern that
is both a network issue and a fedora issue. Placement for
that issue will be a matter for judicious choice. If
uncertain, present the query in the general question
category.
(x) Present the issue once in the forum. Sometimes it takes
time for members to respond, so one simply has to wait.
(xi) Avoid "bumping" a post. If no responses are
forthcoming, then a reasonable assumption is that
no one knows how to respond appropriately, in which
case seeking another forum may be useful.
HOW TO APPROACH THE ASKING AND FORMULATION OF QUESTIONS
ON COMPUTER PROBLEMS TO A FORUM
*** PLEASE READ THE WHOLE DOCUMENT BEFORE POSTING ***
A. Searching for answers
========================
1. Create a descriptive title.
(i) Problems of functioning:
If the issue is about something not working, then a useful title
will include these two elements:
--- (a) the object which has the problem, and,
--- (b) the deviation from its expected or intended behaviour.
For example:
- Laptop wifi fails to connect to the router.
- Graphics card displays blank screen.
- systemd network can't start network.
Examples with more precision:
- Dell G1400 laptop fails to connect to Cisco r900 router.
- Nvidia zX489 graphics displays blank screen on Arch desktop.
- systemd network fails to bring up network on ethernet and
wifi.
(ii) Problems which are questions:
If the issue is the seeking of knowledge or information then a
useful title may include the interrogative words:
what, which, when, where, who, whom, whose, why, whether and how,
and end with a question mark.
Examples of questions:
- How to tell if the hard drive is dying on my server?
(instead of: Is my hard drive dying?).
- Where can I find error logs in fedora?
(instead of: I can't find the error logs?).
Examples of questions with more precision:
- How to tell if the 1TB hard drive is dying in debian server?
- Where are the error logs in fedora for network failure?
2. Investigate oneself independently BEFORE asking in the forum.
(i) Use search engines online before asking in the forum.
(ii) Search online with a descriptive title and variations of it.
(iii) Search the forum itself with similar formulations.
(iv) In the absence of results, modify the descriptive title by
extracting the key words from it and searching those.
3. Search with error messages.
(i) If there are error messages on screen, type them exactly into the
search engine. Error messages can appear on screen, or be found
using terminal commands, e.g.
(a) $ journalctl -b -x -p 3
(b) $ cat /var/log/syslog |grep -i error
(c) $ dmesg | grep -i error
The dmesg command may need root permissions to run.
(d) $ grep -e EE -e error Xorg.0.log
(ii) If the error occurs in a GUI environment without error messages
appearing on screen, try opening the troublesome application in
a terminal to see if error messages appear in text on the
terminal screen.
The error messages that need to be entered into search engines
are the ones related to the original concern. In the system
logs there are likely to be error messages unrelated to the
original concern which may or may not have some effect upon
that issue. Extract and use the error messages of the concern.
It's more effective to deal with one issue at a time.
B. Using the forum
==================
1. After having made something of an investigation oneself and not having
resolved the issue, one is ready to ask the forum. The guidelines mentioned
above for descriptive titles and determination of errors are applicable and
just as useful in the forum as elsewhere.
In the forum the subscriber has the opportunity to expand descriptively
in text on the issue of concern.
The form in which the issue is presented to the forum matters as much as the
content. Here are some suggestions:
(i) Use the descriptive title of the issue as outlined above.
(ii) Describe research and steps already taken to try and
resolve the problem.
(iii) Include information about the hardware that is relevant
to the problem.
For example:
- If the problem is a graphics problem then include
graphics card information such as the output of
the relevant commands:
# inxi -G
# lspci -knn |grep -i -A3 vga
# xrandr
- If the problem is network, include output
such as:
# inxi -N -x
# ip a
- If the problem is the system, provide the
the system's specifications such as:
# inxi -Fnxz
NB: information about the whole system
can be very detailed and voluminous.
If the amount of information is too
much to be comfortably read in the forum
it's possible to use a link to a file
sharing website that holds the file
carrying the informaton which allows
forum members who are able to help to
access the details they need. The family
of "ls" commands can collectively
provide much relevant information:
# lspci
# lsusb
# lscpu
# lsblk
# lsmod
# lsmem
(iv) Include information about the software that is relevant
to the problem:
- name of the distribution
- names of the applications of concern
(v) Always include the relevant error messages if found.
(vi) When transcribing error output from the screen, or
transcribing any commands with output which are involved
in the issue, use code tags so that code appears thus:
Code:
output text(vii) When using direct quotes from any source, use quote tags
so that quotes appear thus:
(viii) Describe the problem.
When describing the problem, use paragraphs as opposed to
large blocks of text. Use one idea, or one set of related
ideas per paragraph to help the reader see and understand
more clearly what is being communicated.
(ix) Present the issue in the correct forum section. Sometimes
an issue may fit several categories, e.g. a concern that
is both a network issue and a fedora issue. Placement for
that issue will be a matter for judicious choice. If
uncertain, present the query in the general question
category.
(x) Present the issue once in the forum. Sometimes it takes
time for members to respond, so one simply has to wait.
(xi) Avoid "bumping" a post. If no responses are
forthcoming, then a reasonable assumption is that
no one knows how to respond appropriately, in which
case seeking another forum may be useful.
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