Ubuntu Wiki

   1 [17:01] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2010/10/15/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
   2 [17:01] <jledbetter> Howdy everyone! My name is Jessica Ledbetter and I’m a web developer and long time user of Linux but new user of Ubuntu. My first install was in October 2009 and I’m currently using 10.10. I’m a member of the Virginia LoCo, California LoCo, and Ubuntu-Women. More information if you want it: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/jledbetter
   3 [17:03] <jledbetter> And Cheri703 is Cheri Francis who has been using Ubuntu since 2008, but only recently begun exploring beyond the basic desktop environment. She is also a member of the Ohio LoCo and often loiters in the Ubuntu-Women IRC room. And she'll be answering your questions today. :)
   4 [17:03] <jledbetter> One of the strengths to Ubuntu is the community. In this session, you’ll learn about the various resources to help you connect with that community to help you fix problems you may encounter while using Ubuntu.
   5 [17:03] <jledbetter> We’ll look at how to figure out what happened, find out ways you can fix it and what to do if you can’t.
   6 [17:04] <jledbetter> As a reminder, if you have a question, please begin it with QUESTION: in the #ubuntu-classroom-chat room. For example: QUESTION: What does the session's title mean? And then we will answer in this channel #ubuntu-classroom with the answer. It keeps the logs tidy and the channel bot happy.
   7 [17:05] <jledbetter> Something happened! There was a crash or data went away or Tomcat and Eclipse are not working well together magically. Pause, don't panic, and put on your detective hat.
   8 [17:05] <jledbetter> Because, no matter what, you'll need information for either yourself to help you fix the problem or for someone else to do it.
   9 [17:05] <jledbetter> First: What happened?
  10 [17:06] <jledbetter> What was the error message (if there was one)?
  11 [17:06] <jledbetter> Can you get a screenshot (print screen)? Â When you print screen, a box will come up and ask where you want to save it to. I usually save it to desktop because it's easy to find and easy to delete after I'm done.
  12 [17:07] <jledbetter> A screenshot can also capture errors that don't have a message like a menu item is in the wrong spot or there's a blank window where text should be.
  13 [17:08] <jledbetter> If you don't want to or can't get a screenshot, you can maybe copy the message into a text editor (like gedit) or write it on a piece of paper. Recording it is very helpful for later.
  14 [17:08] <jledbetter> If you write it down, write it clearly and make sure to get symbols, punctuation and spacing correct, they can make a big difference!
  15 [17:08] <jledbetter> If you copy it, it's easier to paste into forums or a search engine.
  16 [17:09] <jledbetter> If it's something that isn't maybe an error message but happens during a sequence of events, you can try creating a video of your steps: gtk-recordmydesktop. I haven't tried this though. More information: http://recordmydesktop.sourceforge.net/about.php
  17 [17:10] <jledbetter> Information that is also helpful is package information and hardware information.
  18 [17:10] <jledbetter> Steps to find out your package information for Gnome, KDE, etc: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage
  19 [17:11] <jledbetter> If you need to know what hardware you have (for example, sound isn't working and it might be helpful to know *what* soundcard you have): use the hardware lister command: sudo lshw > ~/Desktop/hardware.txt
  20 [17:11] <jledbetter> This will output the list of your hardware to a file called "hardware.txt" on the Desktop. Again, where is easiest for you works here.
  21 [17:12] <jledbetter> Another command line tool is lspci which will list the hardware connected to the PCI bus. If you're having network problems, for example, and want to see if your network card is is seen you can do this which will find all the occurrences of "Network" via the lspci command. Like this: lspci | grep Network
  22 [17:13] <jledbetter> For those more familiar with a Windows layout, or more comfortable with a graphical program vs command line, the package "gnome-device-manager" is a GUI tool that has the information about any devices recognized as attached to the computer.
  23 [17:13] <jledbetter> For more information on debugging applications, check out this wiki page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingProcedures
  24 [17:14] <jledbetter>
  25 [17:14] <jledbetter> Now that you are armed with lots of clues on to why something happened, it's time to put the pieces together and find out how to fix it. First, let's try fixing it ourselves!
  26 [17:14] <jledbetter>
  27 [17:15] <jledbetter> Any questions so far or shall we plow through to how to fix it?
  28 [17:18] <Cheri703> Looks like there aren't questions at the moment. Feel free to ask as we go along though!
  29 [17:18] <jledbetter> evdev mentioned in chat about the "apport" command. Here's how to enable it and more about how it can help you debug crashes: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Apport  Thank you, evdev :)
  30 [17:19] <jledbetter> Right o! Back to fixing the problems ourselves.
  31 [17:19] <jledbetter> After recording as much information as possible about error messages and such, try rebooting the computer. This has fixed MANY things for Cheri703 after spending far too much time looking for an answer, rebooted and "oh, it's fixed" TRY THIS FIRST!
  32 [17:19] <jledbetter> And that is why the title of this session ;)
  33 [17:21] <jledbetter> Some common tools needed are a CD, USB, copy of ISO, Ubuntu Rescue Remix ( http://ubuntu-rescue-remix.org/ ). I haven’t needed to do this though. Usually I can fix my problems with either reinstalling the application that “went to a bad state" or by updating a config file that was just plain old wrong.
  34 [17:21] <jledbetter> It's time to search for the solution. You can use a the search on Ubuntu's website or your favorite search engine.
  35 [17:22] <ClassBot> charlie-tca asked: would a Ubuntu desktop image, with the live environment work?
  36 [17:23] <Cheri703> My understanding is that yes, for many things, a regular desktop image would be helpful
  37 [17:23] <Cheri703> the Rescue Remix has additional utilities
  38 [17:23] <Cheri703> Recovery software
  39 [17:24] <Cheri703> You can always try the live cd, and if that doesn't help, use the live session to get the Rescue Remix :)
  40 [17:26] <Cheri703> Ok, jledbetter, back to searching :)
  41 [17:27] <jledbetter> Awesome! Searching... Ah yes, there's a lot of information out there on the wild wild web. How can we phrase our search to find the right answer?
  42 [17:28] <jledbetter> Generally starting very specific and working your way out is the easiest way to go about it. Don't add extra words if possible. "how do I get a dell xmodel# laptop to burn CDs in ubuntu" isn't likely to find a good solution. "Dell xmodel# ubuntu 10.10 cd burn" will offer more options. If nothing is found there, then taking it to "Dell xmodel# ubuntu cd burn" and so on, adjusting terms (cd drive vs burn, etc).
  43 [17:29] <jledbetter> Searching on Ubuntu's website is done here: http://search.ubuntu.com/. This will search Ubuntu.com, Ubuntu documentation, Mailing lists and forums, Ubuntu wiki, Ubuntu Merchandise, and Canonical blog (news).
  44 [17:29] <jledbetter> I usually go to my favorite search engine and type in my error message or my application and the version of Ubuntu. For example, I had issues with Eclipse and 10.04 so I searched "eclipse ubuntu 10.04" and found the answer within the top 2 links.
  45 [17:30] <jledbetter>
  46 [17:30] <jledbetter> Another option to searching everything, is to search or use certain communities specifically. Here is a list of the ways we can get support via community: http://www.ubuntu.com/support/community
  47 [17:30] <jledbetter> Basically, it lists web forums, mailing lists, IRC, Launchpad, and Local language support. It can be a great starting point if you don't remember the links we list in the next few minutes.
  48 [17:31] <jledbetter> If you want to go straight to the official documentation, that's here: https://help.ubuntu.com
  49 [17:31] <jledbetter> If you want to try the community, find your way through it here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/
  50 [17:31] <jledbetter> There's a signpost with some links next to it that will help guide you into the community based on your answer.
  51 [17:32] <jledbetter> If you would like to try "real time" help, you can use IRC . You're using IRC right now to attend this classroom session.
  52 [17:32] <jledbetter> Some good channels to join for help are: Â #ubuntu (the default Ubuntu help channel), #kubuntu (of course, if you're using Kubuntu), your Local Community IRC (more to come on that) and many channels specific to applications (search "*application* IRC").
  53 [17:33] <jledbetter> For more information on IRC, you can look at this help page: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InternetRelayChat
  54 [17:33] <jledbetter>
  55 [17:33] <jledbetter> Here are 3 quick tips on how to ask for help in IRC.
  56 [17:34] <jledbetter> 1) Join and wait a moment. If folks are in the middle of helping someone else, let them finish. That way, your problem can be given attention instead of lots of text scrolling your screen.
  57 [17:34] <jledbetter> 2) Be patient. Not everyone is at the keyboard 24/7. Some are at work and might be away from the keyboard for a moment before starting to answer your question or even during.
  58 [17:35] <jledbetter> 3) Be polite. Almost all of us are volunteers and help out others because we like it. If we don't know the answer, we might know someone or another way to get the answer.
  59 [17:36] <jledbetter> And then there's how not to ask for help. An example is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=661374  Basically, be a little more specific in your request so that others can help debug your problem with you. :)
  60 [17:37] <jledbetter> Let's say that you have a very large error message or the application you were using output a bunch of lines with file names in them like a "stack trace," then you can use an external way to paste the information in and share it with those in the channel.
  61 [17:38] <jledbetter> This way, it's more easily readable to all involved. This is a place you can paste your error message: http://paste.ubuntu.com/
  62 [17:39] <jledbetter> If you would like to post your problem in a more leisurely manner and/or read through some potential solutions to your problem, you can try the forums: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=327  The forums are great. I found an answer to a problem I was wrestling with for a few hours there last night, as a matter of fact!
  63 [17:40] <jledbetter> A wonderful forum to start out with is "Absolute Beginner's Talk" http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=326
  64 [17:40] <jledbetter> The usual recommendations for how to ask for help and how not to ask for help apply, of course. If you do get a solution outside of the forum, please post a reply in your thread with what worked for you. It might help out someone else! Also, it'll stop others from trying to solve the solved problem.
  65 [17:40] <jledbetter> Any more questions so far?
  66 [17:41] <jledbetter> Well, if you do, feel free to ask with QUESTION :)
  67 [17:42] <jledbetter> Another way to ask for help much like a forum is via Stackexchange. And, it's new: http://askubuntu.com
  68 [17:43] <jledbetter> And more about the project is here: http://castrojo.tumblr.com/post/1283990862/and-were-live
  69 [17:43] <jledbetter> I highly recommend it. Just flipping through the questions and answers is fun and informative. As Jorge Castro says, "Remember people love to vote on answers with screenshots and easy to use instructions. Go get em!" And you already know how to make screenshots from a few minutes ago, right?
  70 [17:44] <jledbetter> Sill more ways to find help are Launchpad answers (http://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu), mailing lists  (https://lists.ubuntu.com/#Community+Support), your local Local Community (LoCo) team - (http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/), or even your local Linux User Group (LUG) (http://www.linux.org/groups/).
  71 [17:45] <jledbetter> With your LoCo team and Linux User Groups, you might be able to take it to the group in person. That might help.
  72 [17:45] <jledbetter> Or just asking in your team channel might find an answer more quickly than #ubuntu. That's the order that I do it: LoCo team channel then #ubuntu.
  73 [17:46] <jledbetter> Let's say that you went through all the previous methods to try to find solution and are still stuck. Perhaps it's an honest to goodness bug and needs to be fixed.
  74 [17:48] <jledbetter> Here is how you can file a bug report: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs
  75 [17:48] <jledbetter> Again, if you want to see about some real-time help or have problems reporting the bug, the "Bugsquad" is in #ubuntu-bugs.
  76 [17:48] <jledbetter> A bug report should include at least the release of Ubuntu, version of package (example: apt-cache policy firefox-3.5), what you expected to happen, and what actually happened.
  77 [17:50] <jledbetter> If you don't want to go through finding and fixing your system, there is paid support available. And more on that is here: http://www.ubuntu.com/support/services
  78 [17:50] <jledbetter> Any other questions?
  79 [17:51] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
  80 [17:52] <Cheri703> jledbetter: looks like we answered EVERY question anyone could possibly have! ;)
  81 [17:52] <jledbetter> Cheri703: We're that good ;)
  82 [17:53] <jledbetter> Today we were reminded of one of the strengths to Ubuntu: its community. Hopefully, you've seen how easy it is to find many different ways to connect to the knowledge base of the community and how to get help fixing problems. Â Also, you saw what to do if all else fails and you need to file a bug report.
  83 [17:54] <jledbetter> And, speaking of bug reports, up next is hggdh,  one of the members of the Bug Squad, to talk about "Bug Triaging: Do's and Do not's."
  84 [17:56] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.