13: Appendix 2: Troubleshooting Guide

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Overview

Computers can be maddening. No matter how much we test ERPLAB, we still get occasional bug reports. There can also be bugs in EEGLAB, in Matlab, or in your operating system. Even if there isn’t a bug, EEGLAB, ERPLAB, you might encounter a problem because you specify an incorrect setting or leave out a necessary step. And if you’re writing your own scripts, you’re likely to introduce your own bugs. I can’t tell you how much time I spent troubleshooting problems when I was writing this book!

As I mentioned in Chapter 1, you should look at these problems as an opportunity for working on your general problem-solving skills. Indeed, I find that troubleshooting computer problems is like a microcosm of science. You generate hypotheses, you collect data to test those hypotheses, and you make sure that you can replicate both the problem and the solution.

In this Troubleshooting Guide, I’ve provided a variety of hints and strategies for solving the most common types of problems you’re like to encounter. This includes both specific strategies for issues that often arise in Matlab, EEGLAB, and ERPLAB, along with general strategies for solving computer problems and debugging computer programs. I’ve also provided some exercises to help you learn to interpret Matlab’s error messages and to monitor the operation of a script while it’s running.