Server crash = Vanilla reset itself

petec

Hi there.
Background: server crashed and was offline for about 30 mins or so. Server came back, Vanilla didn't. The database appears to be intact (92 tables, so there's at least _something_ there), when I navigate to the forum URL it triggers the original install routine, which I don't want to run without advice in case it tools everything up.

Hosted on TextDrive, Vanilla 1.0.3 with a handful of Extensions, about 50 users. Anything else you need to know?

My question: how do I fix it? I know db details and have full access to the files.

Any help appreciated. Thanks!

Pete

(edit: got the version number wrong - 1.3 -> 1.0.3)

Minisweeper

What state is your conf directory in? Are the file permissions all OK? Do all the files contain what look to be the correct settings?

petec

Thanks, Minisweeper:

drwxr-xr-x 2 pragmatika pragmatika 512B Dec 3 17:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 12 pragmatika pragmatika 1.0K Dec 9 00:24 ..
-rwxrwxr-x 1 pragmatika pragmatika 2.1K Dec 17 13:50 database.php
-rwxrwxr-x 1 pragmatika pragmatika 3.3K Jan 10 14:57 extensions.php
-rwxrwxr-x 1 pragmatika pragmatika 159B Jan 7 23:17 language.php
-rwxrwxr-x 1 pragmatika pragmatika 1.8K Dec 2 21:53 readme.txt
-rwxrwxr-x 1 pragmatika pragmatika 0B Feb 9 14:42 settings.php

(pragmatika = my username in this case)

Interestingly, the files were all set to 000, have reset to 755 - still no luck. Database settings are correct in database.php, settings.php is blank.

crash_D.

settings.php contains the most important data about the forum (db name, server, user, languages, paths, etc)... .so it must NOT be empty in any case in a funcitonal forum ... it could be the problem..

petec

Thanks, crash_D., thought that might be the problem So, if I were to hook up a test Vanilla elsewhere, take the settings.php and change the details to that of the broken forum, then drop it in - that should work, in theory, right?

Mark

If all of your settings are intact (in the conf/settings.php file), make sure that this setting is in there, too:

$Configuration['SETUP_COMPLETE'] == '1';

If that isn't set, it will redirect to the installer every time.

If all of your conf/settings.php settings have been wiped for some reason, create a new bogus empty database and run through the install process again using the bogus database. When it is finished, go into your conf/database.php file and change it to point at your actual database (with the valid tables). That should get you up and running again.

The only other thing to do would be to find out why the heck your settings got wiped! (if they did)

petec

Thanks, Mark - will investigate why settings got nuked after I'm back on the air.

Will report back.

/gets coffee

petec

Right, progress: it barfs before displaying the forum with this error:

--8<--

Technical information (for support personel):

Error Message
An error occurred while attempting to retrieve the requested information.
Affected Elements
WhosOnline.GetGuestCount();

The error occurred on or near: Table 'i' is marked as crashed and should be repaired

--8<--

ADM

Can you go into your database and repair the table? You should be able to do that with phpmyadmin.

petec

Tables repaired - now I have a blank screen :( Gunna be a long night...back to play.

petec

Force refresh gives this error: --8<-- Technical information (for support personel): Error Message Could not Add the CaptchaDisableDescription field to the User table Affected Elements CAPTCHA Installer.undefined(); The error occurred on or near: Duplicate column name 'CaptchaDisableDescription' For additional support documentation, visit the Lussumo Documentation website at: lussumo.com/docs --8<-- I'm going to remove CAPTCHA from extensions.php and see what that does. Edit: then do this - http://lussumo.com/community/discussion/4116/captcha-errors/

Minisweeper

I'd say the first starting point would be disabling all your extensions (remove them from the conf/extensions.php file) and re-enabling them till you found the problem ones...

petec

Good thinking, Minisweeper. That did it - all sorted. Thanks, guys - I am very grateful.

Mark

Yay!!