Attn. Bug Reporters - Please Read

Got a question? Read here first. Failure to read this forum beforehand may result in you getting chewed out by the forum regulars.

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adventure_of_link
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Attn. Bug Reporters - Please Read

Post by adventure_of_link »

This is copied from the Bug Reporting announcement, as I wasn't sure to move that here, or make a second copy here. :|

Anyway...

In order to post a useful bug report, a few simple steps must be taken. Before posting any bug report, be sure to read the ZSNES Documentation, and search the forums. It might also be a good idea to check out Bugzilla and the ZSNES Wiki.

1) Make sure you use the latest version of ZSNES. If the bug still exists, download a SVN snapshot build from http://zsnes.ipherswipsite.com to see if it has been fixed. Note: WIP releases are unofficial and unstable and are not warranted to work properly!
Also, if you are upgrading from a previous version of ZSNES, it is suggested to delete your *.cfg and *.dat files in the ZSNES installation folder, especially if you're upgrading from a WIP prior to 2/27/2006, or ZSNES v1.42.

2) Detailed ROM information is required, when reporting a bug in a ROM. Many bugs in games exist because the ROM on the actual game cartridge was incorrectly dumped (i.e. copied to a hard drive, cd-rom, etc.). By providing us with the information displayed when the ROM is scanned with NSRT+Frontend, we can determine whether the ROM was correctly dumped, or if it in fact is a bad dump. In general, all ROM bug reports will be ignored unless the ROM's CRC32 is included in the post. In ZSNES, a ROM's CRC32 (a 8-digit number identifying the ROM) is displayed when it is loaded.

3) If your ROM has a bad checksum (displayed when ROM is opened), your copy of the ROM is probably a bad dump. Also, if a patch has been applied to the ROM, it's checksum will probably be bad. In either case, your bug report will be ignored. Make sure your ROM's checksum is good.

4) A detailed description of the bug is required. Without a detailed description, it may be hard to reproduce the bug. Screenshots are highly recommended, and save states taken before (or in some cases, during) the bug's occurrence are also greatly appreciated. If you don't have a file hosting service for screenshots and save states, there are several places, such as www.rapidshare.com and www.filespace.org

5) If you are having a problem with ZSNES itself, and not with a ROM, be sure to post your system specs. As a good rule of thumb, always post your system specs with a bug report.
Note: To get your system specs, you can look either in your computer's documentation and/or on the packaging. However, in Windows you can do the following:

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Click Start -> Click Run -> in the box type dxdiag.exe -> click OK -> If you get a prompt about checking for WHQL Digital Signatures (you should get this on the first run of dxdiag), click OK.
Check the System tab for OS, Processor, and RAM/Pagefile info. Check the Sound tab for your sound card, and the Display tab for your video card. If needed, in the More Info tab, there is an option to override DirectDraw's Default refresh rate. WARNING: This has priority over what you tell ZSNES to do with the -6 parameter. So, if you want ZSNES to use the refresh rate you give it, you have to give it via -6 and not override.

To those replying to a bug report:
Be helpful. Don't reply unless it's relevant information, and try to be as friendly as possible. If the bug has been reported before, be sure to provide a direct link to the related post.

Read this for your own good:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-que ... html#intro
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html
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