Testing & Reporting
Getting Ready
- A spare computer or hard drive for test installs. A virtual machine can be used but we would prefer to see more tests performed on a variety of physical hardware. The installer will present different questions depending on the hardware detected.
- A moderate level of Linux experience so you are able to find the relevant log files and produce useful bug reports: The Reporting Bugs guide for Ubuntu is a useful read.
- Some available time before a milestone release to perform tests and file reports.
- A launchpad account so you can sign up for testing and report bugs. If you have signed up to edit the Ubuntu wiki you will already have one.
Testing CD Releases
In doing specific testing of the CD/DVD images it is important to focus on those aspects that are typically not used by those who simply run the latest unstable version on their system through daily updates (Such testing is of course also extremely valuable). Key points in image testing include Live CD and installer functionality.
Candidate images will be posted at http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/daily-live/
Filling Bugs
As with all testing it is important to file bugs. If you find a bug, please, search if it has already been reported, and if it hasn't, report it yourself. You should also refer to the bug filing/debugging guide for that specific package (if available) to make sure you are aware of known issues and have attached the relevant log files.
If you don't know what package the bug falls under, file it directly against the Mythbuntu project at:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/mythbuntu
Reporting results
Once you have completed your testing of a particular image, you can report your results at http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/build/mythbuntu
Testing Packages
If you are working on a stable Mythbuntu release, we occasionally post backported versions of packages in the unstable release when they are likely to work on earlier releases too. You can help test these packages by enabling the Mythbuntu Testing PPA.
The Mythbuntu testing PPA contains software that may not be available in the official repositories, or newer versions of software in the official repositories. This PPA does not contain core MythTV packages but instead software such as MythExport. Adding this PPA is simple, just download the package below, install it, and select -testing during install.
The Mythbuntu Repos package is configurable from the Mythbuntu Control Centre (in 9.10+) and via command line in all versions (dpkg-reconfigure mythbuntu-repos). If you already have the Mythbuntu Repos package installed and would like to activate the testing PPA, or just want to change which Mythbuntu repos you currently have activated, just open up the Mythbuntu Control Centre, change your settings, and hit apply. If you are on 9.04 or earlier, you will need to configure it via the command line.