From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on aws-us-west-2-korg-lkml-1.web.codeaurora.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-11.6 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,INCLUDES_PATCH, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,NICE_REPLY_A,SIGNED_OFF_BY,SPF_HELO_NONE,SPF_PASS, URIBL_BLOCKED,USER_AGENT_SANE_1 autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.0 Received: from mail.kernel.org (mail.kernel.org [198.145.29.99]) by smtp.lore.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3B132C35257 for ; Fri, 2 Oct 2020 17:32:43 +0000 (UTC) Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [23.128.96.18]) by mail.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D4690208A9 for ; Fri, 2 Oct 2020 17:32:42 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: mail.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=infradead.org header.i=@infradead.org header.b="gc8eH01G" Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S2388263AbgJBRcm (ORCPT ); Fri, 2 Oct 2020 13:32:42 -0400 Received: from lindbergh.monkeyblade.net ([23.128.96.19]:54840 "EHLO lindbergh.monkeyblade.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1726215AbgJBRcl (ORCPT ); Fri, 2 Oct 2020 13:32:41 -0400 Received: from merlin.infradead.org (merlin.infradead.org [IPv6:2001:8b0:10b:1231::1]) by lindbergh.monkeyblade.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 74DA1C0613D0; Fri, 2 Oct 2020 10:32:41 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=infradead.org; s=merlin.20170209; h=Content-Transfer-Encoding:Content-Type: In-Reply-To:MIME-Version:Date:Message-ID:From:References:Cc:To:Subject:Sender :Reply-To:Content-ID:Content-Description; bh=nJi1k+MxQc2I6nh3mpCm/yq0hw/XmGot+Y/796SGQlk=; b=gc8eH01GUrw8PlBjvLPULw+IVL EL2eLzkGIbJbfUnl8jfGHsTF3RJYY2I5QGWhvZHSEMyY8VI1oihI11iQ/Am4ldLHQ1Ab7YpnRrKw9 VJV4ry5mXW8t4xxnJGEw3QQJLUctGMCXbXNeYODx7PtFl8Hpts7sJo9UZswE8k6aK/5A1VaSG3w/i mOZxSudRJ+k3lp5Ln9OikQQxpXFzN5V8TOvD/yL2GU3LnCa87a4u6IzLmpqOO6N1Nf1qLP10PLPBQ QStpxTLilPwQKycBO5EdPqK9Y6USABXEM4QG1Ft+xAF/K+7tIQTcCAMpAvOwhU3l5IBPRHsASpz1Y 8tEbWAFA==; Received: from [2601:1c0:6280:3f0::2c9a] by merlin.infradead.org with esmtpsa (Exim 4.92.3 #3 (Red Hat Linux)) id 1kOOv9-00058H-E5; Fri, 02 Oct 2020 17:32:39 +0000 Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH v1 13/26] docs: reporting-bugs: point out the environment might be causing issue To: Thorsten Leemhuis , Jonathan Corbet Cc: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org References: <6dab906efb915c6cd6733df525b1f3da3753c4b4.1601541165.git.linux@leemhuis.info> From: Randy Dunlap Message-ID: Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2020 10:32:36 -0700 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.12.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <6dab906efb915c6cd6733df525b1f3da3753c4b4.1601541165.git.linux@leemhuis.info> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en-US Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On 10/1/20 1:39 AM, Thorsten Leemhuis wrote: > Help users to avoid a few pitfalls, as they might be the real reason why > the kernel is acting up somehow. > > Signed-off-by: Thorsten Leemhuis > --- > Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-bugs.rst | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++ > 1 file changed, 34 insertions(+) > > diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-bugs.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-bugs.rst > index d96b21512c03..2292b79cf462 100644 > --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-bugs.rst > +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-bugs.rst > @@ -583,6 +583,40 @@ not part of the Linux kernel. Your package manager might thus force you to > remove those, too. > > > +Ensure a healthy environment > +---------------------------- > + > + *Make sure it's not the kernels surroundings that are causing the issue you kernel's > + face.* > + > +Problems that look a lot like a kernel issue are sometimes caused by build > +or runtime environment. It's hard to rule out that problem completely, but you > +should minimize it: > + > + * Use proven tools when building your kernel, as bugs in the compiler or the > + binutils can cause the resulting kernel to misbehave. > + > + * Ensure your computer components runs within their design specifications; run > + that's especially important for the main processor, the main memory, and the > + motherboard. Therefore, stop overclocking when facing a potential kernel > + issue. > + > + * Try to make sure it's not faulty hardware that is causing your issue. Bad > + main memory for example can result in a multitude of issues that will > + manifest itself in problems looking like kernel issues. > + > + * If you're dealing with a filesystem issue, you might want to check the file > + system in question with ``fsck`` before trying to reproduce it again. > + > + * When dealing with a regression, make sure it's not something else that > + changed in parallel to updating the kernel. The problem for example might be > + caused by another software that was updated at the same time. It can also by other software > + happen that a hardware component coincidentally just broke when you rebooted > + into a new kernel for the first time. Updating the systems BIOS or changing > + something in the BIOS Setup can also lead to problems that on the first sight > + look like a regression. > + > + > .. ############################################################################ > .. Temporary marker added while this document is rewritten. Sections above > .. are new and dual-licensed under GPLv2+ and CC-BY 4.0, those below are old. > -- ~Randy