Switch to full style
Topic locked

When you want help......

Wed Jul 04, 2012 10:14 am

We want to help you.
Really we do.
That's why we spend hours every day reading and replying to posts, putting together new posts and downloads, testing things out.....

But in order to get the help you want and need as quickly as possible, you have to help US a little bit.

1) Mind readers are very rare and we don't have any here.
We don't know what device you have, we are not looking over your shoulder, and we don't know what you may be trying to do.
Look at some of the threads and what do you see? 5-10 posts of back and forth questions before the meat of the matter can be addressed. A huge waste of time. The more information you have and share in your FIRST post, the faster you may get the answers you need.
Though sometimes we may be amused at the amount of information given for a simple situation, it is far FAR FAR better to have too much information than not enough.
So:
A) Tell us your device..what is it, what model number, how much RAM does it have, etc.
If you can provide a web link to it, all the better. We certainly don't mind looking things up from time to time, but if you already KNOW the information, just tell us.

B) Tell us what you are trying to do, exactly. Upgrade to a new version of something (what?)? Trying to install something that you have not had before (what, and where did you get it from?)? If you can provide a link to whatever it is you downloaded and are trying to get to work, that would help. Information like "I got it from this site" or "I got it somewhere else" is not helpful. Posts/downloads/distributions from the [color="#0000CD"]Moderators[/color] here are fully tested, working, and supported. Posts from others may be OK too, but there can be differences.
Show us exactly what you got, from where, and we can help you to fix it..or replace it if necessary.

2) Nobody here has a monopoly on brains or is perfect.
Sometimes, if nobody knows the EXACT answer to your problem, you may be asked to try a number of different things. Try to comply as best you can and report any results...good or bad. The Mods here are very knowledgeable and experienced, but so are many others who stop by to offer help. Somebody may even have had the exact same situation as you on the exact same hardware, and already knows the answer. Other times, for an unusual situation, it may be a case of going back to basics and eliminating possibilities.

3) We don't know you or how experienced you are.
You may have already tried various things, are not a Newbie, and know what you are doing. We don't know that yet. At no time does anyone here intend to insult your intelligence. So be patient if ideas/solutions seem a bit basic. It's all part of the diagnosis.

4) Don't leave us hanging.
REPLY when things either did or did not work. In the former, it's nice to know when a situation is solved and you are happy. For the latter, more things can probably be tried until you ARE happy. But we need to know.

5) Sometimes, things are just impossible.
It's not your fault, it's not our fault. Maybe your device is too old to run the latest software. Maybe your device is hopelessly broken. Sad, but it happens. Accept it and move on..or try other solutions offered that may be more appropriate for your device.

6) Whoops.
Everybody makes mistakes. We all have. It's part of the learning process. If your device was working fine and then you did something, and now it's not working fine, be honest. There is no point in being embarrassed or hiding that information. It will only delay possibly getting you fixed up and running again....and that's what you want, right?
Many times actions can be reversed. But we have to know what you did and what happened first.
Topic locked