Well, there are 2 kinds of issues: the precise ones (spell check doesn't work) and the global ones (OOo doesn't start at all).acknak wrote:I think maybe we do need a "General Troubleshooting" tutorial thread, something like the one on Andrew's site (http://katana.oooninja.com/w/openoffice ... leshooting), that we could refer people to first, before they go on to the more specific tutorials.
It seems to happen regularly that we jump in trying to troubleshoot a specific complex problem, only to eventually come back to "resetting the profile solved the problem". I think Cryofan's basic suggestion is a good one: we should direct everyone first to a general troubleshooting flowchart, that includes trying a fresh profile and possibly re-installing the software, before we dive in to more specific steps.
I don't know if we want to link off-site, or take some time to develop something that we can direct people to by default: "Have you worked through the General Troubleshooting flowchart yet? If not, start there and if that doesn't help, proceed to the ________ tutorial." The more specific tutorials could also start with a "Try this first..." link to the G-T flowchart.
The fresh profile is the best test for global issues. But for precise problems, I'm for the surgical method to avoid collateral damages (losing the customization in the profile).
So we should start with the profile first? It should be a good hint to see if a reinstall is needed (if no change with new profile). Then there are the OS related causes (security applications with Windows, packages dependencies or display problems with GNU/Linux). And finally the configuration files damages.
In fact, it would mean a complete mapping of the profile, explaining what each set of configuration file is for. That's some work!
Any thoughts/proposals?