just curious to try to get an idea if there is an average number or what the distribution might be. whatever it might indicate, i have 16.

aside from a news story link or something that doesn't really require a response, would you say a zero-answer post generally indicates:

1. a good question that isn't easy and has the experts stumped
2. a common question that has been asked a million times so no one bothers to answer it
3. that the person hasn't asked m/any questions
4. nothing in particular
5. other


if we can determine why posts "go zero," maybe we can improve response rates for them.

well, usually responses are nigh instant, any time ive gotten zero answers its on a relatively obscure subject (very specific hardware, such as mp3 players or something), for the most part, its not a lack of interest or helpfulness. It probably is just that no one has the answer

ya - i find all of what i ask that goes unanswered is specific to particular pieces of not too popular hardware

i find that i get non zero posts if i post anything thats important to me

i think i have about 2-3 i usually get help on my own so when i do ask a question its a bit specific and no one seems to reasoned

if i asked, "what is a computer" id bet id get a few hundred responses tho

heh, well this for a start.

I find that most of the questions that get 0 responses here can be answered by the unix forum at dslreports.com and visa versa.

That 's the same piece of hardware I had trouble with

CMedia

Different Problem though.
Do you have the right module?

My card is a C-Media 8738, and the module is name "cmpci", not "snd_cmipci"

matt@blackbox:~$ /sbin/lsmod
Module Size Used by Not tainted
cmpci 31112 1
soundcore 3844 4 [cmpci]
dmfe 13308 1

I don't think I've ever had any of my questions properly answered on this board. I remember when I asked my first question; and, instead of getting an answer, one of the moderators gave me a condescending lecture saying that I was a newbie and suggested doing things I'd already tried and had said I'd already tried in the original post. In general, I think, if LinuxQuestions.org can get me an answer, I can probably find the answer on my own and, if I cannot readily find an answer on the Internet or through my own skill, it's not likely the people here will either. Usually, this means I spend far too many hours trying to resolve the problem on my own just so I can perform a simple task, or I just say it's not worth the time and effort and reboot into Windows when I need to perform that task.

Not that I have started that many threads, but I have only one with zero responses and it was in regards to software that can speed up or slow down a sound recording. Did find an answer though.

I have one, but I later found the answer which made no sence as to why it fixed the problem

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=162596

my c-media soundcard worked like a charm. i think i musta had a different model. it actually had linus drivers on the cd! but i didnt need 'em.

back on topic, iv had 5. one about a sims-like game, one about a screwed mouse, a speetch-to-text request, converting music filetypes, and a poll for fav audio mixing app.

id say most go unanswered because they are too (hard) specific. i dont recall any questions that ive had that werent eventually answered.

"if we can determine why posts "go zero," maybe we can improve response rates for them."

Once a day I go through all of the 0 answer posts for the previous 24 hours and
answer those that I can. There are about 4 or 5 pages of 0 answer posts every
day. Most are not answered because they ask about obscure hardware or software.
A fairly small minority of questions go answered because they are so incoherent
that no one has a clue what the post is about.

I started using this method of answering questions several month's ago at
finigan's suggestion. Finigan's idea is that you are spending your time much
more effectively by working your way through the 0 answer posts than by piling
in as the third answer to a question about fixing lilo.conf.

So one way to reduce the number of unanswered posts is for each person who answers questions to go through the unanswered posts and answer the few obscure questions that he happens to know the answer to.

---------------------------
Steve Stites

great suggestion! i try to go through the 0 posts, too. somehow it's more satisfying to answer a 0 post than, as you say, to pile on answers redundantly.

great idea, im going to start. one question, though. how do i get the 0 answer post to come up for only ther last 24 hr? the only option i see is "view all unanswered post".

just keep going to the next page until it doesn't say the posts are from "today" anymore. or you can change your options to view threads only from the past day.

I'd like to thank everyone who takes the time to go through 0 reply threads in an attempt to answer them. It is a fantastic way to help LQ. I'll post a note in the next community bulletin to see if we can get more members to do this.

--jeremy