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Reporting bugs

This is the guideline of how to report bugs. Take a look at this list below before you send e-mail to bug-grub@gnu.org:

  1. Before unsettled, read this manual through and through, in particular See FAQ.
  2. Always mention the information on your GRUB. The version number and the configuration are quite important. If you build it yourself, write the options specified to the configure script and your operating system, including the versions of gcc and binutils.
  3. If you get troubled with the installation, inform us of how you installed GRUB. Don't omit error messages, if any. Just GRUB hangs up when it boots is not enough.

    The information on your hardware is also essential. These are especially important: the geometries and the partition tables of your hard disk drives and your BIOS.

  4. If GRUB cannot boot your operating system, write down all on the screen. Don't paraphrase them, like The foo OS crashes with GRUB, even though it can boot with the bar boot loader fine. Mention the commands you executed, the messages printed by them, and information on your operating system including the version number.
  5. Explain what you wanted to do. It is very useful to know your purpose and your wish, and how GRUB didn't satisfy you.
  6. If you can investigate the problem yourself, please do. That will give you and us much more information on the problem. Attaching a patch is even better.

    When you attach a patch, make the patch in unified diff format, and write ChangeLog entries. But, even when you make a patch, don't forget to explain the problem, so that we can understand what your patch is for.

  7. Write down anything that you think might be related. Please understand that we often need to reproduce the same problem you encounterred in our environment. So your information should be sufficient for us to do the same thing--Don't forget that we cannot see your computer directly. If you are not sure whether to state a fact or leave it out, state it! Reporting too many things is quite better than omitting an important thing.

If you realize the guideline above, send e-mail to bug-grub@gnu.org, and we will try to fix the bugs.