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*READ THIS 1st BEFORE POSTING* FAQs, HOW-TO post about a problem in a useful manner - Printable Version

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*READ THIS 1st BEFORE POSTING* FAQs, HOW-TO post about a problem in a useful manner - althekiller - 2008-07-08 10:05

See: XBMC for Linux specific FAQ - XBMCbuntu FAQ - XBMC v12 (Frodo) FAQ

Things we want from EVERY report:

  1. FULL Debug Log (Please use your favourite paste site! See below.) << NOT OPTIONAL!
  2. If you can, get screenshots to illustrate problems (See below)
  3. "Latest" is NOT a revision, of ANYTHING! (See below)
  4. Linux Distribution and Version (See below)
  5. Architecture (e.g.. i686, x86_64, etc. (See below)
  6. Install Method (PPA, RPM, build.sh, manual, other)
  7. GIT Revision (See below.)
  8. Detailed Instructions to Reproduce the Problem (The more specific the better.)
  9. Backtrace (Only attainable if XBMC has crashed. See below.)
  10. Compiler Output (Only useful if XBMC doesn't build. See below.)


GUI Problems (Navigation, Finding options, Setup, Labels, etc):
  • Skin name

Playback Problems:
  • Video codec and container.
  • Audio codec and container.
  • You may also be asked for a sample. << Use sites like Dropbox or Mediafire and do not post copyrighted materials.

Other things that may be useful:
  • System hardware specs (CPU, RAM, Chipset, etc.)
  • Kernel Version

"Latest" is a completely useless version!
When referring to the version of something, ALWAYS be as detailed as possible. Saying you're using the latest version of something is wrong the second it is updated, and completely useless to someone looking for help on a similar problem in the future. (NOTE: It is perfectly fine to tell someone to upgrade to the latest version of something as this is nearly always a good idea.) Some good examples...
  • Kubuntu 8.04 up to date as of 2008-06-29
  • XBMC for Mac r14000
  • libsmbclient 3.0.27

How do I find my architecture?
Code:
uname -m

How do I find my GIT revision number?
From home screen in default Confluence skin...
  • SYSTEM
  • Choose "System Info" (submenu item)
  • GIT Revision is at the bottom of each page (XBMC 12.0-"tag" Git:20130104-de8789a)

Where is my debug log?
  • Read http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Log_file thoroughly.
  • Don't forget to enable debugging!
  • Don't forget to use a paste site!
  • Code:
    sudo apt-get install pastebinit -y
    cat $HOME/.xbmc/temp/xbmc.log | pastebinit

How do I obtain a backtrace? (Only obtainable if XBMC has crashed out completely to the desktop or terminal)
  • Open terminal
  • Run "ulimit -c unlimited" (You only need to do this if no core file is created automatically)
  • Run "xbmc"
  • Reproduce the crash.
  • Install gdb if you don't have it "sudo apt-get install gdb"
  • Run "gdb /path/to/xbmc.bin /path/to/core" (xbmc.bin path is in the debug log (see above), core file should be in the current directory (may have the process ID number appended))
  • Once gdb has loaded up type "thread apply all bt" and press enter.
  • Press return until you're back at the prompt then copy and paste the output to your favorite paste site.
  • Type "q" then enter to quit GDB.
  • Delete the core file to avoid confusion later.

How do I obtain useful compiler output?
First things first, wait 24hrs. Just as the police don't care if your kids are missing, we don't care if you can't compile! XBMC is in a constant state of flux and it is VERY likely that any compile errors will be resolved in a much shorter time than this. That being said, what not to post. "make: *** [some target] Error #", I'm sure we can all agree that this tells us nothing other than something bad happened while building "some target", so don't waste your time posting it.
Now, there probably isn't actually a problem. Try this from a terminal.
  • Code:
    git clean -xfd && git reset --hard && git pull --rebase
    # This will ensure your "problem" isn't due to stray object files
  • Code:
    ./configure
    # This will ensure your problem isn't do to build system changes.
  • Code:
    make
    # This will most likely succeed. Note: You can pass -jN (N is the number of jobs make should run at the same time) to speed things up.
If the failure occurs again (and the 24hr timer is up!), run "make" and only "make" (no -j# option especially), and paste this output to your favourite paste site.

Paste sites:
Screenshot sites:
File Hosting sites:

This needs to be added to the wiki... - Gamester17 - 2008-07-16 15:58

@althekiller, could this maybe be added to the wiki? Hope the existing article can be cleaned up to describe bug reporting for all platforms, if not then we just need to create a seperate bug reporting article for each platform. http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=HOW-TO_Submit_a_Proper_Bug_Report

- blittan - 2008-07-16 17:15

Althekiller: are this the latest version of this post, in that case.. I like it Smile

- althekiller - 2008-07-16 19:30

@gamester: At some point probably, AFAIK sho was gonna give the wiki a once over when he got back from holiday. I'd like to wait until after that so the language doesn't get lost Wink

@blittan: Yup, this is the one and only version.

RE: *READ THIS 1st BEFORE POSTING* FAQs, HOW-TO post about a problem in a useful manner - Ned Scott - 2013-01-04 23:20

First post updated care of uNiversal, as well as the wiki FAQ.