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 <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> --- 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 + 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; + 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 + 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. -- 2.26.2
