Why is "report a bug" greyed-out preventing bug reports?

What was the URL of the page that had the disabled button?

I don't know. https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+filebug says "Linux Mint
does not use Launchpad as its bug tracker", even though I used it before. I then
spent about an hour searching for a way to enter a bug report, and one of those
pages had "report a bug" greyed out. I can't find it again, and don't want to
spend another hour searching for it.

How do I report the following bug:

=======
As of 15 February 2018 (and possibly earlier) the following bug has been
reintroduced:

When Linux Mint (Cinnamon OR Mate) starts up (_after_ the login screen), the
Smartlink internal modem is taken off hook, and remains off hook (disabling the
telephone line) until such time as the system is shut down or rebooted (in which
case it goes off hook again after login).

This annoying bug was introduced with Linux Mint 17.0 Trusty, and also occurs
with Ubuntu 14.04. It disappeared with Linux Mint 18.0 Xenial (which is based on
Ubuntu 16.04). Now it is back, possibly as a result of the latest updates,
possibly earlier.

Yes, since Linux no longer supports the Smartlink modem, even with the
modifications to the kernel that previously worked, I could simply disconnect
the internal modem. But I dual-boot to Windoze, and DO use it without problem in
Windoze, so it is more than an annoyance.

I can understand Linux not supporting hardware, but it is unacceptable that
Linux is sending commands to unsupported hardware whihc cause it to malfunction.

========

----- Original Message -----
From: "William Grant" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2018 23:17
Subject: Re: [Question #664567]: Why is "report a bug" greyed-out preventing bug
reports?

Your question #664567 on Launchpad itself changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567

    Status: Open => Needs information

William Grant requested more information:
What was the URL of the page that had the disabled button?

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Linux Mint doesn't track its bugs in Launchpad, so it doesn't make sense to report them here. See https://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/where.html for how to report Linux Mint bugs.

Thank you. That link (and all other links) eventually point to launchpad!

"If the bug relates to an Ubuntu component, it should be reported on Launchpad."

----- Original Message -----
From: "William Grant" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2018 23:43
Subject: Re: [Question #664567]: Why is "report a bug" greyed-out preventing bug
reports?

Your question #664567 on Launchpad itself changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567

    Status: Open => Answered

William Grant proposed the following answer:
Linux Mint doesn't track its bugs in Launchpad, so it doesn't make sense
to report them here. See https://linuxmint-troubleshooting-
guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/where.html for how to report Linux Mint
bugs.

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That page takes you through the process of identifying whether the package is maintained by Ubuntu or by Mint, and that process involves identifying the package name. If Mint includes the "ubuntu-bug" tool, then the best way is then to run "ubuntu-bug that-package-name" and follow the prompts. Otherwise, run "apt showsrc that-package-name", which prints the source package name on the first line, and go to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/that-source-package-name/+filebug?no-redirect.

This is only applicable if you've confidently identified the responsible component! If you haven't, then you want one of the other sections on that troubleshooting page.

Thank you for your reply. Since the problem occurs during logon (as soon as the
userid and password are entered), it is impossible to identify the package by
the means described in the page referenced. Since the problem began with Mint 17
AND Ubuntu 14.04 and disappeared with Mint 18 (Unbuntu 16.04) and re-appeared
very recently, it is obviously an ubuntu-related bug.

So, once again (and I've no spent over three hours trying to report this bug)
HOW DO I REPORT A BUG IN LINUX MINT/UBUNTU?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Watson" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2018 03:02
Subject: Re: [Question #664567]: Why is "report a bug" greyed-out preventing bug
reports?

Your question #664567 on Launchpad itself changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567

    Status: Open => Answered

Colin Watson proposed the following answer:
That page takes you through the process of identifying whether the
package is maintained by Ubuntu or by Mint, and that process involves
identifying the package name. If Mint includes the "ubuntu-bug" tool,
then the best way is then to run "ubuntu-bug that-package-name" and
follow the prompts. Otherwise, run "apt showsrc that-package-name",
which prints the source package name on the first line, and go to
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/that-source-package-
name/+filebug?no-redirect.

This is only applicable if you've confidently identified the responsible
component! If you haven't, then you want one of the other sections on
that troubleshooting page.

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
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If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
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https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Please don't shout at us. We're trying to help you.

I don't see why it follows that it's a Ubuntu bug. It's not obvious to me; it could just as easily be some kind of subtle integration bug that's been (re)introduced by Mint. To be certain, you'd need to reproduce it with an actual Ubuntu installation.

I don't know what component is responsible for the bug in question. It could be a kernel driver, or it could be network-manager (does Mint use network-manager? I have no idea), or it could be something else. So if you want an answer *right now*, I only have two suggestions:

  http://github.com/linuxmint/linuxmint
  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug?no-redirect

(However, just due to the economics of developer attention, I can't speak for whether anyone will be able to track down a bug of this kind that hasn't been narrowed down to the relevant component.)

How am I shouting? Upper case letters have been standard office practice for
emphasis (where Italics are not available) for the at least 100 years.

It is certainly a bug in Ubuntu 14.04, as I do have an installation of that
distribution, and it does have the identical problem. As to whether or not it is
a bug in the current release of Ubuntu, I don't know. But since it was
apparently addressed in 16.04, there should be a record somewhere of the
solution --- which will help diagnose how/why it has been reintroduced. This
isn't something a user can do.

Thank you for the two links.

Why should a user have to isolate the failing component? Shouldn't the
developers do their own debugging? The problem is easily reproducible and could
be isolated by a trace of what is being written to the COM port during logon ---
something that a person familiar with the system code (not a user) should be
doing.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Watson" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2018 04:14
Subject: Re: [Question #664567]: Why is "report a bug" greyed-out preventing bug
reports?

Your question #664567 on Launchpad itself changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567

    Status: Open => Answered

Colin Watson proposed the following answer:
Please don't shout at us. We're trying to help you.

I don't see why it follows that it's a Ubuntu bug. It's not obvious to
me; it could just as easily be some kind of subtle integration bug
that's been (re)introduced by Mint. To be certain, you'd need to
reproduce it with an actual Ubuntu installation.

I don't know what component is responsible for the bug in question. It
could be a kernel driver, or it could be network-manager (does Mint use
network-manager? I have no idea), or it could be something else. So if
you want an answer *right now*, I only have two suggestions:

  http://github.com/linuxmint/linuxmint
  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug?no-redirect

(However, just due to the economics of developer attention, I can't
speak for whether anyone will be able to track down a bug of this kind
that hasn't been narrowed down to the relevant component.)

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567/+confirm?answer_id=6

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
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You received this question notification because you asked the question.

All-caps has been generally interpreted as shouting in internet messaging ever since I started using it 20+ years ago, but I guess there might be a culture clash here. At any rate you should be aware that it has that connotation.

There should indeed be a record of the solution if it was specifically and intentionally fixed rather than accidentally fixed as a consequence of something else. Both of these things happen, though.

In practice there are many *many* bugs and not so many developers, so the more a user can do to track down where a bug belongs the higher the chance that a developer will be able to do something useful with them.

Thank you for your reply.

I _am_ aware of the "internet connotation", but I was using "all caps" long
before the Internet, and don't wish to change conventions just to keep up with
the lastest fad. (I also remember when the "ESC" key was used to introduce an
escape sequence, rather than an exit; and when the "print screen" key actually
printed the screen, and when it didn't take several days to report a bug. :-) )

I filed the bug report at the two links you suggested. They have already
rejected it because it doesn't specify the specific lines of code causing the
problem. :-(

Thank you again for you assistance. I guess I will have to put an on/off switch
on the telephone line. :-(

----- Original Message -----
From: "Colin Watson" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2018 05:22
Subject: Re: [Question #664567]: Why is "report a bug" greyed-out preventing bug
reports?

Your question #664567 on Launchpad itself changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567

    Status: Open => Answered

Colin Watson proposed the following answer:
All-caps has been generally interpreted as shouting in internet
messaging ever since I started using it 20+ years ago, but I guess there
might be a culture clash here. At any rate you should be aware that it
has that connotation.

There should indeed be a record of the solution if it was specifically
and intentionally fixed rather than accidentally fixed as a consequence
of something else. Both of these things happen, though.

In practice there are many *many* bugs and not so many developers, so
the more a user can do to track down where a bug belongs the higher the
chance that a developer will be able to do something useful with them.

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567/+confirm?answer_id=8

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
following page to enter your feedback:
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/664567

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.