Forum Rules
From DSL Wiki
Contents |
Registration
If you tried to register, and were blocked, try again. We had to do some drastic moves to prevent the board from being overrun with spam. Pay close attention to the email going out to you and follow the instructions.
If you have tried five times and still are not registered send a query to "dsl.reg at gmail.com" stating your specific actions in trying to register for the Forum.
If none of the above works, please try the Forum Substitute.
Intro to the Forums
If you are actually reading this before posting on the forums, you are in the minority. A "better, smarter, less-likely-to-make-the-forumites-angry" type of minority. This is good.
If not, well, it's still good that you are reading this. Hope you didn't get flamed too much. ^_^
Before you post a question
Learn to love the search function. If this is your first time using DSL, I can promise you that someone else has had your problem, posted about it and had it answered.
Just click the search button, type in what you want to search for, select "All Forums" and "Since the Beginning".
Hit the search button at the bottom and get your results in a few seconds.
You can also use the Search function here in DSL Wiki to search the documentation.
How to Ask Intelligent Questions
In order for us to effectively answer your question, you need to give us some info. Here, I'll show you an example:
hi i downloaded dsl and it doesnt work how do i fix this??!?
thnx!!!
This is a classic noob question. Please notice the extreme lack of crucial info as well as the poor grammar and punctuation. The forums are NOT AIM! In addition to providing some system info, using some kind of formatting and punctuation makes it a lot easier for us to determine what your problem is. Although we would still answer and try to support this person, it will likely prove to be a frustrating experience for both the helper and the one being helped.
Check out this much more appropriate example:
Hi!
I recently downloaded DSL and for some reason I can't get it to boot!
I md5summed the iso, so it's not a bad download, and it boots fine on my other system.
I am trying to boot on a Dell Inspiron 1000. Cdrom booting is enabled in the bios, and the boot order is set right.
When I put the CD in, I get just a blinking cursor, and sometimes the words "ISOLINUX.....".
What should I try next?
Thanks!
-DSL Girl
(Note: this is just an example, this problem should not really exist on as new a laptop as the Inspiron 1000)
Notice that this person gives us some very important pieces of information:
- She tells us that she has made sure that her connection is set up properly. So the download was correct, as far as she knows. Her BIOS is set to boot from cdrom.
- Although she doesn't give us her exact system specs, she does give us enough that with a quick search at Google, we can find them. She tells us she has an "Inspiron 1000".
- She tells us the circumstances of her problem. It hangs when trying to load Isolinux.
This is a very good "Asking for help" post! This is what we LOVE!
I would send DSL Girl this reply:
DSL Girl -
It sounds like you are having issues with Isolinux (the live-CD Bootloader that DSL uses).
Grab the boot floppy image from one of the mirrors and use it to make a boot floppy.
Instructions to do this are in the "Getting started" section of the wiki.
Welcome to the Revolution!!!
-J.P.
... With this info in mind, feel free to make intelligent posts on the forum so that we can help you work out what ever issues you may be having with DSL!!
Links
- How To Ask Questions The Smart Way Note well: This links to a site that is maintained for all of the Internet to reference. It is not part of the DSL Project.
