Hi guys,
whenever you have a problem and are asking the mailing list for help,
there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, make sure you have
read this:
http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki/ReportingErrors
However, there’s something else you should keep in mind: If you want
help from the mailing list, you must present your problem such that it
is easiest for us to understand. Remember, none of us is getting paid to
read this list and answer your questions, and if you present your
question well, more people will likely read it and possibly have an
answer. It’s in your best interest that lots of people want to read
your posting and help you.
Here’s a couple of guidelines that might help:
** Always post all relevant details **
How did you install (source / binaries), which GR version, which OS,
which platform, which RF hardware…
** Don’t post long logs or files **
When posting something like a cmake or make output, or maybe files
longer than 15 lines, use a service like pastebin.com to paste your
text. Most terminals have a back-scroll feature which allows you to copy
a large number of lines.
Ideally, you can identify the line that is most relevant to your
problem, and post that inside your email. (Note: When doing a parallel
make that fails, it’s not necessarily the last one!). Unless you know
the source of your problem, though, still go ahead and pastebin the
entire output.
Don’t post screenshots of text! We might want to use the ‘search’
feature.
** No large attachments **
Please upload anything larger than a few kB to an upload service such as
Dropbox, don’t send it to the mailing list.
** Show us the code **
If your code is not working, send us the code. If you’re working on a
secret project, make a snippet with just your problem (rename blocks and
variables or whatever). If you’re working on a high-profile project and
really, really don’t want to share any of it, but are still stuck, the
mailing list might not be the right place for this problem.
** GRC: Use the screenshot feature **
When you have a faulty GRC flowgraph and send out the .grc file, you are
expecting people to download the file, load it into their GRC and run
it (they might even have the wrong version of GNU Radio installed, or
none at all on the computer they are currently using). To
increase the number of people who will have a look at the flow graph,
use GRC’s screenshot feature and upload the image to a service such as
imgur.com. Often, just having a look at a flow graph will reveal errors,
and since the effort to do this is much smaller than opening the .grc
file, more people will help you.
That said, it doesn’t hurt to send out both. Most .grc files are small
enough you can attach them.
tl;dr: Make it as easy as possible for the list readers to help you.
Martin
–
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Communications Engineering Lab (CEL)
Dipl.-Ing. Martin B.
Research Associate
Kaiserstraße 12
Building 05.01
76131 Karlsruhe
Phone: +49 721 608-43790
Fax: +49 721 608-46071
www.cel.kit.edu
KIT – University of the State of Baden-Württemberg and
National Laboratory of the Helmholtz Association