Tutorial - Posting New Bug

Written by Fujix, Tafoid. November 15, 2008

This page explains how to post a new bug on MAME Testers.

1) Before You Post

Before you post a new bug, please check the following:

Is the bug already posted?
Use the View & Search page and in the field marked "Search: ", you first start with the setname of the game you are going to report about. If you find nothing, be sure to also search using the MAME source driver.c of that set.
For example, you have a bug you want report for the game XEVIOUS. First you search, xevious. After that, check the driver galaga.c. If you don't find any of the bugs mentioning anything to do with what you have, proceed to entering your bug.
Also you can use a serach plug-in for Firefox browser to check bug database quickly. The search result with the plug-in is not saved as your filter set, won't affect your default filter.
Check MAME's warning screen.
When you start MAME, if there is a problem with a particular set, you will be given a screen which lists the problems out that you must type "OK" to. Based on the message(s), posting a new bug is not desired.
- "THIS GAME DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY" - Do not submit ANY bugs except heavy regression.
Also, review the Rules & Guidelines to ensure you are posting a valid bug.

2) Open Bug Submit Form

Click on "New" on the menu bar.

A new bug submission form will open....

3) Fill Out Report Items

Now fill out each item as applicable. Items with * are necessary fields.

Category*
This is where you classify your bug as to it's type. This is the primary criteria used in sorting all bugs. Please check the Legend and attributes page for specific details.
Reproducibility
This is to be set at ALWAYS, unless it's a randomly occuring or intermittent (sometimes) bug.
Severity
Based on the category selected, your bugs are given certain severity levels. Check this page for descriptions of options.
Version*
Select the version number of MAME you used for testing. Please be sure to use the latest version as far as possible to avoid duplicating an already-fixed bug report. If you are compelled to use a previous version, please mention it in your report.
Driver
Specifies the driver source name that the game belongs to. If multiple drivers are affected, please leave this field blank. You can look up driver name at the MAWS database. If you are familiar with a command prompt, use the "-listsource" option.
Affected Sets
Specifies the target game's ZIP name. This will appear in the head of the summary text and be used for reference of the bug throughout MANTIS.
Platform
Describes what kind of MAME binary was used for testing. We accept bugs from SDLMAME or MAMEUI, but they have to be re-confirmed with the official MAME binary to be authentic bug reports.
OS
Describes what kind of OS was used for testing. This is important especially when you use a 64-bit OS such as Windows Vista/XP 64-bit because some bugs come up only on a 64-bit OS. Windows 98 and Me may cause an OS-specific problem, we don't recommend to use them for testing.
Build
Describes what kind of MAME build was used for testing.
Summary*
A brief description of the bug. This text will be used in various places to refer to the bug, so make it specific and pithy. It is NOT PROPER to writing only "Crash" or "Incorrect boss behaviour" or "Graphic is bad" or "The game has a problem". Please add WHEN, HOW and WHERE at least, like "MAME Crash on Startup" or "The boss in the second stage moves incorrectly".
Description*
Main description of the bug. Take your time and please state what is exactly wrong, when it happens and how it should react. You can embed a YouTube and LiveVideo movie clip by pasting embedding code provided by respective service. Supported html tags are <b>, <i>, <b>, <strike>, <u>, <ol>, <ul>, <li>, <dd>, <dl>, <pre> and <blockquote>. You can keep tab indent of source code and screen output with the <pre> tag. Also use <blockquote> to quote text.
Step to Reproduce
This is an optional field to detail steps to reproduce a bug. If it is too obvious to describe (For Example: "Just run the game"), please leave this blank. When it is not easy or it takes long time to reach the point of a bug, please consider adding a save state for ease of confirmation (See below for adding a file).
Additional Information
This is the postscript of the bug. Useful observations regarding the bug as well as noting related problems from other bugs might be helpful in determining it's cause.
Flag
- 64-bit specific
  Check this if the bug is confirmed only on 64-bit operating system..
- Debug build specific
  If you are running a Debug build (not to be confused with the debugger (-debug) in a normal build), check this flag.
- Possible
  This flag is for bugs which you do not have any direct proof of being a bug.. but the behaviour is unexpected. In general, reports with this label require an original reference from the PCB.
- Verified with PCB
  Check this if you confirmed the bug with original materials derived from the original cabinet or PCB (schematics, technical documents, original soundtrack).
File Upload
You can add file related to the bug. If you wish to add multiple files, please submit the report and reopen it. Extensions for images that can be expanded inline are png, gif, jpg and jpeg. Extensions for text files that can be expanded inline are txt, diff, patch, c, h, dif, ini and cfg. Please compress save states (.sta), input files (.inp) or any other large files before you add them as they can be compressed to small size.
View Status
The default view status is always Public.

4) Submit

Click the "Submit Report" button and the report will be assigned a number and added to the bug list.

Please confirm that your submission is correctly listed in the View & Search page. The initial state of bug report is always New. The paper clip icon means that the report has attached files.

Congratulations! Your bug submission has been completed.

5) What's Next?

Your report will be checked by other Testers, Developers and Moderators for validity, reproducibility and regression version if necessary. When the report is confirmed as a proper bug, Status will be changed to Confirmed and will wait for a Developer to claim or fix it.

If a Developer wishes to address the bug, he can assign himself to it. In this case, the status will become Assigned. Please remember that this is an optional status, so not all bugs are assigned to someone before they are fixed.

Some reports may need more proof and inspection to make a final determination. These bugs are set as Acknowledged.

When a Resolution is taken, the status will be changed to Resolved. This is a list of possible resolutions:

Open - No resolution is taken yet. The default value.
Fixed - The bug has been fixed.
Reopened - Bug is again present or was never fixed.
Unable to reproduce - Testers were unable confirm the bug.
Not fixable - A bug which "cannot be fixed" according to Developers.
Duplicate - A bug which has already been entered and dealt with.
Suspended - Reserved for completely invalid and unconfirmed reports.
Won't fix - Developers, for whatever reason, will not fix this bug.

If the report is invalid (unreproducable, not a MAME bug etc.), the status will be Closed. You can't add comment to Closed bugs.

Recapitulating the Status:

Value	Description
New	Comprehensive testing/validiation has not been done yet.
Direction Needed	Situation is deadlocked. Requires official position of Dev Team to be handled.
Acknowledged	Has been processed and some testing has been done, but there has been no final determination made as to it's status.
Confirmed	Another tester or moderator has determined the bug to be valid.
Assigned	Has been assigned to a Developer who is willing to research/correct the bug.
Resolved	A Bug which has been either Fixed, Won't be fixed or is a BTANB.
Closed	Bugs which have been Invalidated, Duplicated, Suspended or Unable to be reproduced.

Note: Some of them have different meaning in MAME Testers from the original Mantis system.

6) Edit Own Report

You can edit/fix/update your own report after you submit it. Click the "Edit Report" button in the bug view page to open the edit form.

7) Monitor Report

You can monitor a bug report to know updates. Please click the "Monitor Report" button in the bug view page to start monitoring it. When you are monitoring a bug report and the status of the bug is changed or someone adds a note, you should receive a notification e-mail. Click the same button to end monitoring.

You can control what event you will receive an e-mail notification on the preference page. Follow My Account → Preferences and check the check boxes you want to receive e-mails. If none of boxes are checked, you won't receive any notifications even if you are monitoring a bug.