Find error messages
Very often when an applications crashes, and sometimes when it misbehaves, it prints an error message somewhere.
- If the message appears on screen, like in a popup or in the terminal, do read it. In most cases, it hints at what goes wrong (a missing file, a wrong configuration, a corrupted input…) if it doesn’t outright tells the solution (add a missing argument, install a missing dependency, start a service…).
- If no such message appears, there are still ways to look for one.
- Restart the application from the terminal. In many cases an error will be printed there when reproducing the issue.
- Check the system journals . This is often required when the issue comes from the system itself, or when the application runs as a daemon and thus cannot be restarted.