Elite: Dangerous

Manual port configuration

For when you don't want any old software using UPnP to punch any old ports through your router firewall without asking. Edit AppConfig.xml, which could be somewhere in C:/Program Files (x86)/Frontier or C:/Users/username/AppData/Frontier_Developments/Products and set up a UDP port rule on your router (pick a number not in use). You will also need your internet IP address, hostname can be anything:

<Network Port="20922" upnpenabled="0" LogFile="netLog" DatestampLog="1">
  <Self name="hostname" ip="123.45.67.89" port="20922" />
</Network>

Mining

HOWTO

Required outfitting: mining laser, refinery, cargo hold.

Zap the 'roid with your mining laser until a chunk comes off (white blip on the scanner).
Deploy the cargo scoop, target the chunk and use the scoop radar on the target display to intercept the chunk.
Refine it using the cargo section in the ship (RH) menu; any material you refine will be added to a bin, which accumulates the material until it reaches 100 percent. At that point it will clear the bin and drop it into your cargo hold.
With a one-bin refinery you may need to jettison any leftovers before you can hoover up the next chunk, since chunks often contain more than one material.
You can jettison the contents of any incomplete bin if you strike a more valuable material. Don't waste your time refining bauxite if you suddenly strike gold, palladium or platinum for instance!

Tips

Zap several chunks at a time: it may be quicker to zap several chunks off, then muck about scooping them all since they will often form an orderly line, rather than zap, scoop, rinse repeat.
Refinery bins are like extra cargo spaces: when you cargo holds are full, you can keep refining until your bins are at 100 percent; when you next empty the cargo hold, the bins will drop extra cargo items.
Work in pairs: one zaps chunks off, the other scoops. Then swap. Also, safety in numbers.

Systems

Metallic planetary rings and asteroid belts with pristine reserves tend to be in industrial economy or unexplored systems out on the edges of human space, e.g. G 204-11 or HIP 117391. Closer in we can make do with lower reserves, e.g.

LTT 7421: metal-rich planetary rings around several gas giants around LTT-7421 A.
LHS 3384: metallic asteroid belt with common reserves.
LP 811-17, Aphra: major metal-rich reserves.
add your system here