Is it really a bug?

Before you report a bug to our programers, please verify that the bug is really in the software and not in your configuration. Table 3.1 helps you track down the bug yourself and see if it can be fixed.

**Table 3.1:** Bug symptoms and possible causes
Symptom	Check this:
When I open the encoder application from the desktop, a window opens, error messages flash by, and the window closes before I can read anything.	lame is a commandline application. You need to start it from a shell.
`could not open input file`	Have you given an input file to the encoder (see section 2.1.5)? Does the input file exist? Is it readable?
`could not open output file`	Have you given an output file to the encoder (see section 2.1.6)? Does the output directory exist and is it writeable? Does a file of the same name exist and is it deleteable?
`No parameters for this bitrate/samplerate`	Did you override any of the encoders parameters (stereo mode, samplerate)? If so, try another samplerate.
`bitrate too low/high`	LAME only allows bitrates ranging from 32 kBit/s to 320 kBit/s.
The Layer-3 file sounds muffled	Try using a higher bitrate. Try using a higher bandwidth (see section 2.2.1). Try changing the stereo mode.
The stereo image is destroyed.	Try using the `-m s` switch