Maybe this should be in bold face type

[Gus]

Maybe this should be in bold face type or a different color type

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=29816.0

[GibsonGM]

Maybe this should be in bold face type or a different color type

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=29816.0

+1

[vigilante397]

Is there a way for it to come as a pop-up so it jumps in front of your face every time you open the site? 

It is kind of remarkable how many people seem not to notice it, and it is really killer instructions.

[tommycataus]

Maybe it could pop up when you're about to post a comment, like the message that comes up informing you when someone else has posted... if it could pick up on key words like 'noob' and 'no sound'... a bit like the drunken text warning app idea?

[R.G.]

It wouldn't help. Each new discoverer of electronics is pretty certain that their problems are unique, never seen before. In fact, they probably don't know what "debugging is", and don't read past the first word.

We're pretty much at steady state. The info is there, some few will read it and use it. Many will go and read it if pointedly directed to it, and only part of those will follow the instructions for any of several reasons. Some few will persist in ignoring the info there ever after being pointed to it, and keep asking their questions because that dreary stuff could not possibly apply to *them*.

It's the nature of humans.

I keep thinking that all the science fiction stuff about humans finding aliens with psychologies so strange that we'll never understand them is completely wrong. I have tried and I cannot conceive of a living being that is both intelligent enough to reproduce and feed both itself and its young, and produce technology would possibly have stranger mental quirks than is found in some human. Maybe more of them are off what humans would consider to be a "center" but the range of human psychology is so wide that some of us will act like most of them. There are Klingons among us. And far, far worse. Maybe even some better.

[armdnrdy]

Lack of common sense, focus and unable to articulate. 

It's a wonder that some people's involuntary body functions don't shut down from their brain not getting enough exercise. 

[Jdansti]

Just as you can for human intelligence, you can plot Gaussian distributions of human quirkiness, ability to follow instructions, and even driving skills. It's the folks on the right side of the distribution you have to watch out for-especially on the driving curve.

[midwayfair]

The debugging post on the DIYpedals subreddit is there as a sticky, at the top of every page, right above where you can post or read a post, every time, and people miss it. It's literally in your face and the first thing you can possibly read at any given point, and some people ignore it. Some people ignore it even when multiple replies link to it.

On the other hand, the forum software here would support putting a link near the "Home" button etc for tech help, which would take people directly to that post for instructions and MAY help simply by nature of being way easier to find than the right subforum for getting tech help.

Edit: I actually think part of the problem is people helping/guessing even when enough info isn't provided. Helping someone understand how to debug is one thing. Helping them ignore the steps for debugging is another altogether.

Another edit: And I've totally failed to fully debug before asking for help before. Some of it I simply wasn't able to do effectively on the circuit I was working on at the time.

[joegagan]

debugging? over rated. if a circuit fails to work on first try,

put it in the box with the others and start a new circuit.

[vigilante397]

debugging? over rated. if a circuit fails to work on first try,

put it in the box with the others and start a new circuit.

90% of mine work on the first try, 5% are successfully debugged and working, the other 5% are in a box waiting for me to get bored enough to debug some more

[LucifersTrip]

I created this linked pic a long time ago so I wouldn't have to write actual sentences to pass people to the debug thread. I also thought it might be a little humorous, so the person you're telling wouldn't think you're a DIY Nazi.




Feel free to cut & paste the "code" if you're not in the mood to type words...

Code Select Expand


[url=http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=29816.0][img]http://www.luciferstrip.com/fuzz/debug.jpg[/img][/url]


[anotherjim]

I notice a lot going wrong due to making assumptions over transistor pinouts. That can afflict even experienced workers if they're used to fitting common types (oh, they're all BCE)./
But a multimeter is available, you can work out from scratch what the pinout is, even tell E from C. Is that skill explained in the debug notes?

[LucifersTrip]

I notice a lot going wrong due to making assumptions over transistor pinouts. That can afflict even experienced workers if they're used to fitting common types (oh, they're all BCE)./
But a multimeter is available, you can work out from scratch what the pinout is, even tell E from C. Is that skill explained in the debug notes?

guides/datasheets are available, like these:
http://english.electronica-pt.com/components-cross-reference
http://www.datasheetcatalog.com/

but many use this thing which id's pinouts:
http://www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/jz_dca55.html

and there's a new cheaper one on the market jimi spotted:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108076.0

[deadastronaut]

IQ test before registering?..(i'd be out)

a full medical and brain scan? (ditto)

and a full and comprehensive CV?. ( more of a pamphlet in my case )


now if only we were all cloned to be superior in every way then we could all be as one conciousness like the krell  , then our master race plan would be complete.....whoooarrghhhhhh....

[bluebunny]

^^ Any "master race" that spends all its time building pedals is just asking to gets its ass whupped sooner or later.  

Edit:   No "later", just "sooner".  

[deadastronaut]

i love a good whooping...whoop whoop...whoppedy whoop whoop

my head needs de-bugging now..

[Mark Hammer]

It is in the nature of human communication that insufficient context is provided (as will be true of this post).  Not wrong to hope for better, but probably naive to expect it every time.

And that's what gentle nudges like Gus's are for.

[Luke51411]

I think some of it is lazyness as in I don't want to debug someone just tell me what I did wrong. I've been guilty of that. I find that when most of my circuits work the first time I get more frustrated/impatient on the ones that don't. I just want to hear pretty/ugly sounds with loads of toan why is it not passing signal gahhhh.
Now I try to just let it rest for a day or two instead of throwing it on the forum. Usually with fresh eyes I can figure it out pretty quick.

[greaser_au]

it also applies to the general forums (fora?) as well. In the last day or two, a new poster (2 or 3 posts or so) indicated that he was reading RG's debug pages and was struggling with basics.  Four or five posts later someone (also with less than 5 posts) pipes up directing to a link to RG's debug pages saying that they would be helpful*...    (which, of course they ARE,  (thank you, R.G.) but the newbie indicated he was already looking there in his post).

It's apparent that people many do not even bother to read even an OP's original message properly.   It's the same on many forums and mailing lists, even on the professional ones.

david

[Mark Hammer]

There are plenty of resources here that I constantly overlook, despite being one of the originals from back in the 90's.  And as time marches on, and the sheer volume of stuff here increases, the odds of new people overlooking those many resurces will increase.

But I will emphasize the following:

POKE AROUND; THERE MAY JUST BE A RESOURCE HERE THAT SUITS YOUR NEEDS PERFECTLY, OR A THREAD THAT HAS GRAPPLED SUCCESSFULLY WITH A CHALLENGE THAT HAS BEFALLEN YOU.

MAKE YOUR THREAD HEADERS AND QUESTIONS CLEAR TO PEOPLE SO THE ATTENTION OF THOSE WITH RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE WILL BE ATTRACTED TO IT.  IF THE RESOURCE YOU NEED ISN'T HERE, CHANCES ARE IT WILL BE SOMEWHERE, AND THEY WILL DIRECT YOU TO IT.

IF FACED WITH A PROBLEM/MALFUNCTION/CHALLENGE, ALWAYS TRY AND PROVIDE AS MUCH BACKGROUND INFO AS YOU CAN.  IF YOU GOT YOUR SCHEMATIC AND/OR LAYOUT FROM SOMEWHERE, LINK TO IT, SINCE SOMETIMES THERE CAN BE MULTIPLE REDRAWS OF THE SAME CIRCUIT FLOATING AROUND AND SOME CAN HAVE ERRORS - EVEN WHEN SEEMINGLY "OFFICIAL".  IF THERE ARE CERTAIN OPERATING CONDITIONS THAT RESPONDERS NEED TO BE AWARE OF, MENTION THEM.  IF YOU HAVE MEASURED ANYTHING, MENTION IT.