comparison DOCS/xml/en/bugreports.xml @ 11540:d480f7e36b74

<application> attack

11539:2364dda5fe7e

<para>
Good bug reports are a very valuable contribution to the development of any
software project. But just like writing good software, good problem reports
involve some work. Please realize that most developers are extremely busy and
receive obscene amounts of email. So while your feedback is crucial in improving
MPlayer and very much appreciated, please understand that you have to provide
<emphasis role="bold">all</emphasis> of the information we request and follow
the instructions in this document closely.
</para>
<sect1 id="bugreports_fix">
<title>How to fix bugs</title>
<para>
If you feel have the necessary skills you are invited to have a go at fixing the
bug yourself. Or maybe you already did that? Please read
<ulink url="../../tech/patches.txt">this short document</ulink> to find out how to
get your code included in MPlayer. The people on the
<ulink url="http://mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/mplayer-dev-eng">mplayer-dev-eng</ulink>
mailing list will assist you if you have questions.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="bugreports_report">
<title>How to report bugs</title>
<para>
First of all please try the latest CVS version of MPlayer as your bug might
already be fixed there. Development moves extremely fast, most problems in
official releases are reported within days or even hours, so please use
<emphasis role="bold">only CVS</emphasis> to report bugs. This includes
binary packages of MPlayer. CVS instructions can be found at the bottom of
<ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html">this page</ulink> or in
the README. If this did not help please refer to the list of
<link linkend="bugs">known bugs</link> and the rest of the documentation. If your
problem is not known or not solvable by our instructions, then please report the bug.
</para>

<para>
Please do not send bug reports privately to individual developers. This is
community work and thus there might be several people interested in it. Sometimes
other users already experienced your troubles and know how to circumvent a problem
even if it is a bug in MPlayer code.
</para>

<para>
Please describe your problem in as much detail as possible. Do a little detective
work to narrow down the circumstances under which the problem occurs. Does the bug

</para>

<para>
Also upload a small text file having the same base name as your file with a .txt
extension. Describe the problem you are having with the particular file there and
include your email address as well as the output of MPlayer at verbosity level 1.
Usually the first 1-5 MB of a file are enough to reproduce the problem, but to be
sure we ask you to:
<screen>dd if=<replaceable>yourfile</replaceable> of=<replaceable>smallfile</replaceable> bs=1024k count=5</screen>
It will take the first five megabytes of '<emphasis role="bold">your-file</emphasis>'
and write it to '<emphasis role="bold">small-file</emphasis>'. Then try again on
this small file and if the bug still shows up your sample is sufficient for us.
Please <emphasis role="bold">do not ever</emphasis> send such files via mail!

</para>

<sect3 id="bugreports_debug">
<title>How to conserve information about a reproducible crash</title>
<para>
Recompile MPlayer with debugging code enabled:
<screen>
./configure --enable-debug=3
make
</screen>
and then run MPlayer within gdb using:
<screen>gdb ./mplayer</screen>
You are now within gdb. Type:
<screen>run -v <replaceable>options-to-mplayer</replaceable> <replaceable>filename</replaceable></screen>
and reproduce your crash. As soon as you did it, gdb will return you to the command
line prompt where you have to enter

<sect1 id="bugreports_advusers">
<title>I know what I am doing...</title>
<para>
If you created a proper bug report following the steps above and you are confident
it is a bug in MPlayer, not a compiler problem or broken file, you have already
read the documentation and you could not find a solution, your sound drivers are
OK, then you might want to subscribe to the mplayer-advusers list and send your
bug report there to get a better and faster answer.
</para>

<para>
Please be advised that if you post newbie questions or questions answered in the
manual there, you will be ignored or flamed instead of getting an appropriate answer.
So do not flame us and subscribe to -advusers only if you really know what you are
doing and feel like being an advanced MPlayer user or developer. If you meet these
criteria it should not be difficult to find out how to subscribe...
</para>

</sect1>

</appendix>

11540:d480f7e36b74

<para>
Good bug reports are a very valuable contribution to the development of any
software project. But just like writing good software, good problem reports
involve some work. Please realize that most developers are extremely busy and
receive obscene amounts of email. So while your feedback is crucial in improving
<application>MPlayer</application> and very much appreciated, please understand
that you have to provide <emphasis role="bold">all</emphasis> of the information
we request and follow the instructions in this document closely.
</para>
<sect1 id="bugreports_fix">
<title>How to fix bugs</title>
<para>
If you feel have the necessary skills you are invited to have a go at fixing the
bug yourself. Or maybe you already did that? Please read
<ulink url="../../tech/patches.txt">this short document</ulink> to find out how to
get your code included in <application>MPlayer</application>. The people on the
<ulink url="http://mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/mplayer-dev-eng">mplayer-dev-eng</ulink>
mailing list will assist you if you have questions.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="bugreports_report">
<title>How to report bugs</title>
<para>
First of all please try the latest CVS version of <application>MPlayer</application>
as your bug might already be fixed there. Development moves extremely fast,
most problems in official releases are reported within days or even hours, so
please use <emphasis role="bold">only CVS</emphasis> to report bugs. This
includes binary packages of <application>MPlayer</application>. CVS
instructions can be found at the bottom of
<ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html">this page</ulink> or in
the README. If this did not help please refer to the list of
<link linkend="bugs">known bugs</link> and the rest of the documentation. If your
problem is not known or not solvable by our instructions, then please report the bug.
</para>

<para>
Please do not send bug reports privately to individual developers. This is
community work and thus there might be several people interested in it. Sometimes
other users already experienced your troubles and know how to circumvent a problem
even if it is a bug in <application>MPlayer</application> code.
</para>

<para>
Please describe your problem in as much detail as possible. Do a little detective
work to narrow down the circumstances under which the problem occurs. Does the bug

</para>

<para>
Also upload a small text file having the same base name as your file with a .txt
extension. Describe the problem you are having with the particular file there and
include your email address as well as the output of <application>MPlayer</application>
at verbosity level 1. Usually the first 1-5 MB of a file are enough to reproduce
the problem, but to be sure we ask you to:
<screen>dd if=<replaceable>yourfile</replaceable> of=<replaceable>smallfile</replaceable> bs=1024k count=5</screen>
It will take the first five megabytes of '<emphasis role="bold">your-file</emphasis>'
and write it to '<emphasis role="bold">small-file</emphasis>'. Then try again on
this small file and if the bug still shows up your sample is sufficient for us.
Please <emphasis role="bold">do not ever</emphasis> send such files via mail!

</para>

<sect3 id="bugreports_debug">
<title>How to conserve information about a reproducible crash</title>
<para>
Recompile <application>MPlayer</application> with debugging code enabled:
<screen>
./configure --enable-debug=3
make
</screen>
and then run <application>MPlayer</application> within gdb using:
<screen>gdb ./mplayer</screen>
You are now within gdb. Type:
<screen>run -v <replaceable>options-to-mplayer</replaceable> <replaceable>filename</replaceable></screen>
and reproduce your crash. As soon as you did it, gdb will return you to the command
line prompt where you have to enter

<sect1 id="bugreports_advusers">
<title>I know what I am doing...</title>
<para>
If you created a proper bug report following the steps above and you are confident
it is a bug in <application>MPlayer</application>, not a compiler problem or broken
file, you have already read the documentation and you could not find a solution,
your sound drivers are OK, then you might want to subscribe to the mplayer-advusers
list and send your bug report there to get a better and faster answer.
</para>

<para>
Please be advised that if you post newbie questions or questions answered in the
manual there, you will be ignored or flamed instead of getting an appropriate answer.
So do not flame us and subscribe to -advusers only if you really know what you are
doing and feel like being an advanced <application>MPlayer</application> user or
developer. If you meet these criteria it should not be difficult to find out how to subscribe...
</para>

</sect1>

</appendix>