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Wiki > Main > ReportingBugs > FlySprayHowto
---+!! How to use FlySpray in a helpful way

%TOC%

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---++ Introduction

Flyspray is *not* a support channel. Our support channels are the [[http://www.rockbox.org/mail][mailing lists]], the [[http://forums.rockbox.org][forums]] and [[http://www.rockbox.org/irc][IRC]]. The tracker is a completely different thing and used in a completely different way. You won't get any support from the tracker, it is used to keep track of tasks (bug reports or patches) *only*. Note that support questions in the tracker will get closed without any comment!

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---++ Submitting a bug report

---+++ Verify

There are a few important things to do if you think you've found a bug in Rockbox.

   * Make sure you use an official version of Rockbox. 3rd party bootloaders and builds are *completely unsupported*. Do not file any bugs when running 3rd party builds unless you have verified the problem persists with an official version of Rockbox.
   * Make sure the bug hasn't already been reported or even solved. The flyspray tracker has a search feature that can be used to verify the bug doesn't exist. Try a few variations of what you think the bug might be called, and use simple one-word searches when you can to make sure you get a wider range of results. If there is a similar task please take into consideration if it would be sufficient to comment on that existing task.
   * If something you expected to be there is missing, it's not necessarily a bug. A lack of a feature is not a bug, and you should check to make sure Rockbox is supposed to be able to do something at this point before writing a bug report about it.
   * When in doubt, check the manual, the wiki, and then if those aren't clear, ask. We know the organization of pages around here can be a bit hard to follow if you're new, and if we know where the relevant information is we'll point you to it or just give you an answer.
   * Please try to verify that the bug still exists on the most up-to-date version of Rockbox possible. It wastes a lot of time chasing bugs in old versions of Rockbox that no longer exist.

---+++ Report

If you think you found a bug it's important to give feedback to the developers so it can get fixed. But wait! As important as a bug report is is also the fact that this report is made in a useful way. For this to work you are expected to follow some rules that are below. Please read them completely before filing anything to our tracker. Following this guidelines greatly improves the chance of your report being processed.

   1 Write down anything that may be helpful. It's really important to be able to reproduce your bug. If you think it's an emergency, calm down. Get yourself a piece of paper and take the time to write it down. (If you really can't wait please show up on [[http://www.rockbox.org/irc][IRC]] instead of filing a task).
   1 Check out the version of Rockbox you are using. To find this go to "Main Menu -&gt; System -&gt; Rockbox Info".
   1 Check out if your problem is specific to some file or some file type. If it is try to find out what's different about that file. Don't forget to note such a finding in your report later.
   1 Now follow the link to the tracker and add a new task. If you haven't registered with our tracker, you can do so now. You are required to use a *valid* email address. This address is used to send notification mails to you when something changes regarding the report you files. This is a really important thing as someone may try to reach you for some specific details. Your email address won't get shown on the tracker page so there's no need to worry about that.
   1 When you managed to file your report completely, wait. This is an open source project run by volunteers in their free time. No one can tell you how much time they will have available in advance. Similarly, don't ask for dates as no one can estimate them. Thus, no one will give you dates.
Please include:
   * What behaviour you are seeing
   * What behaviour you expected
   * How to reproduce the bug
   * The SVN revision/release you are using and if possible the particular SVN revision in which you think the bug was introduced.
Please try to respond to questions in the task for the bug you reported, sometimes developers need more information to be able to reproduce the bug. If the reporter doesn't reply, a bug that can't be reproduced will be closed.

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---++ Submitting a patch
   
   * *The only patches we accept through FlySpray are translation patches(see LangFiles)*
   * Explain in as much detail as possible what the patch does.
   * Add any related existing Flyspray tasks to the list by entering their number in the "Add a new related task" box, under the "Related Tasks" tab.
   * Submitting a patch implies the assumption you want to get it included into Rockbox. 
   * Be aware that inclusion in Rockbox requires you giving your real name. Anonymous contributions aren't accepted in the project.

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---++ Requesting a new feature
   * We do *not* accept feature requests in the tracker. We have a [[http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?board=49.0][Feature Ideas]] section in the forums for discussing new feature ideas. Still, *we do not accept feature requests* and discussing it in the mentioned forum doesn't imply anything. If you have luck it might get noticed and possibly even picked up by a developer. If you really want the feature you're suggesting you should consider working on it yourself.

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CategoryFrontpage: How to report bugs and submit patches [Documentation]
r27 - 19 Oct 2012 - 14:01:56 - AlexMayer
Parents: ReportingBugs