82 lines
3.0 KiB
HTML
82 lines
3.0 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9">
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<TITLE>HOWTO: Multi Disk System Tuning: Getting Help</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO-18.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO-16.html" REL=previous>
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<LINK HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO.html#toc17" REL=contents>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<A HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO-18.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO-16.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO.html#toc17">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s17">17. Getting Help</A></H2>
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<P>
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<!--
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disk!assistance, obtaining
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-->
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<P>In the end you might find yourself unable to solve your problems and need
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help from someone else. The most efficient way is either to ask someone
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local or in your nearest Linux user group, search the web for the nearest
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one.
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<P>Another possibility is to ask on Usenet News in one of the many, many
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newsgroups available. The problem is that these have such a high
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volume and noise (called low signal-to-noise ratio) that your question
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can easily fall through unanswered.
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<P>No matter where you ask it is important to ask well or you will not be
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taken seriously. Saying just <I>my disk does not work</I> is not going
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to help you and instead the noise level is increased even further and if
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you are lucky someone will ask you to clarify.
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<P>Instead describe your problems in some detail that
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will enable people to help you. The problem could lie somewhere you did
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not expect. Therefore you are advised to list up the following information
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on your system:
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<P>
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<DL>
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<DT><B>Hardware</B><DD><P>
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<UL>
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<LI>Processor</LI>
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<LI>DMA</LI>
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<LI>IRQ</LI>
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<LI>Chip set (LX, BX etc)</LI>
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<LI>Bus (ISA, VESA, PCI etc)</LI>
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<LI>Expansion cards used (Disk controllers, video, IO etc)</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Software</B><DD><P>
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<UL>
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<LI>BIOS (On motherboard and possibly SCSI host adapters)</LI>
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<LI>LILO, if used</LI>
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<LI>Linux kernel version as well as possible modifications and patches</LI>
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<LI>Kernel parameters, if any</LI>
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<LI>Software that shows the error (with version number or date)</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Peripherals</B><DD><P>
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<UL>
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<LI>Type of disk drives with manufacturer name, version and type</LI>
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<LI>Other relevant peripherals connected to the same busses</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>
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</DL>
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<P>As an example of how interrelated these problems are: an old chip set caused
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problems with a certain combination of video controller and SCSI host adapter.
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<P>Remember that booting text is logged to <CODE>/var/log/messages</CODE> which can
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answer most of the questions above. Obviously if the drives fail you might not
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be able to get the log saved to disk but you can at least scroll back up the
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screen using the <CODE>SHIFT</CODE> and <CODE>PAGE UP</CODE> keys. It may also be useful to
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include part of this in your request for help but do not go overboard, keep
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it <EM>brief</EM> as a complete log file dumped to Usenet News is more than a
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little annoying.
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<P>
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<P>
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<HR>
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<A HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO-18.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO-16.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="Multi-Disk-HOWTO.html#toc17">Contents</A>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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