Fixing HST Board
- Thread starter jvroig
- Start date
jvroig
Super Moderator
There seems to have been a short time when the board was inaccessible again, but showing no errors. That's due to our hosting company, 1&1. They experienced a little technical difficulties themselves, it seems. Thankfully, it didn't last long.
Let me assure you guys again, under no circumstance will I shutdown the board without leaving a notice that clearly states something like "the board is just temporarily shutdown for maintenance, please check back in a few hours".
-JV
Let me assure you guys again, under no circumstance will I shutdown the board without leaving a notice that clearly states something like "the board is just temporarily shutdown for maintenance, please check back in a few hours".
-JV
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">he doesn't want the board to be like most other BB boards where there is so much vulgarity. He is concerned that making an off-topic forum would result in that kind of degeneration, and you know, that would be a shame since we are probably one of the very very rare boards where everything is so clean and everybody is respectful virtually without mod control.</div>
I think Bryan´s thinking is right at this point ! That is okay ! so at the end it is maybe better when we don`t have a offtopic board !
Thank you for asking.
I think Bryan´s thinking is right at this point ! That is okay ! so at the end it is maybe better when we don`t have a offtopic board !
Thank you for asking.
9to5lifter
New Member
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">i could get on the HST site the other day but not the forum.</div>
Same here (just to let you know). Wow, the golden stars are back! Keep up the good work, JV!
Same here (just to let you know). Wow, the golden stars are back! Keep up the good work, JV!
jvroig
Super Moderator
Guys,
On Tuesday, I've scheduled a trial upgrade. I'll see if some (or most) of our problems will be fixed by a complete upgrade (naturally, I made a complete copy of the forum files, in case something goes wrong). I have my fingers crossed, but I really have little faith in this manuever. Unfortunately, I have very little to go on right now (I've literally poured through a few thousand lines of source codes, plus a few thousand more comparing our code to a vanilla ikonboard code, using various versions), so at least, even if this doesn't solve our problems, it will give me a clue as why we are in the crap that we are in right now.
Thanks for understanding. It'll only take an hour or two.
Regards,
-JV
On Tuesday, I've scheduled a trial upgrade. I'll see if some (or most) of our problems will be fixed by a complete upgrade (naturally, I made a complete copy of the forum files, in case something goes wrong). I have my fingers crossed, but I really have little faith in this manuever. Unfortunately, I have very little to go on right now (I've literally poured through a few thousand lines of source codes, plus a few thousand more comparing our code to a vanilla ikonboard code, using various versions), so at least, even if this doesn't solve our problems, it will give me a clue as why we are in the crap that we are in right now.
Thanks for understanding. It'll only take an hour or two.
Regards,
-JV
jvroig
Super Moderator
For my fellow HSTers who are also IT guys,
Here's some narrative of what I've gathered so far. Maybe after reading this you'll be able to give me some insight that would help crack this case.
1.) At first, I thought this was a simple script error between the lines that wrote to the table, and the line that will redirect the user. Pretty reasonable assumption. Unfortunately, this doesn't account for the other errors (like those in the Admin and Mod Control Panel). And I tried "elimination" of various blocks of code between the method that actually inserts the post into the database (yes, not just lines, blocks of code, it's a little more complex) and the redirect lines. No go. There are dozens of subroutines in the code, and each sub also calls on a lot of subs or methods, which in turn calls on other subs or methods (it's like a web of daisychains, it will take a few days of concentrated work to trace each "path" in the web, so I'm hoping I don't have to resort to that), so it is still possible to be a script error. It just seems highly unlikely now, though.
2.) In the control panels, the drop down lists (which should have contained data from the database - like forum names, table names, etc.) don't have any content at all. This tells us it's either script, or something wrong with the database or (highly unlikely) the database connection. My bet is still the script. Perhaps looking for wrong table/field names, but they suppressed/silenced the errors for a production environment? I don't quite buy this though.
3.) Those who still use Perl to develop web apps right now may help me with this one. Is it just ikonboard, or is the Perl syntax " = q!myPassword!" really doesn't work for setting a password to a database? This sounds like a stupid question, but whatever is entered there ISN'T accepted by the database, so it rejects the connection (I tried on my laptop.) So those who understand will ask me now - "In that case, how in the hell do we get to connect to the db so that our posts go through, which they do?" Well, the thing is, what is actually written in "q! !" is different from the password listed by the hosting company. Is this standard for Perl in web apps (I don't see why it would be), or, more likely, is this just some ikonboard thing? Perhaps I've missed a subroutine that actually decodes the string so that it becomes equal to the actual password?
4.) There are thousands of Ikonboard forums all around the net, or so I've read. All our troubles happened after an upgrade - which is strange since hundreds or thousands of other sites must have done that too, googling our symptoms don't produce relevant results ("server error 500" and the like get a lot of results, but none that actually resembles our problems). So why is it that we seem to be a solitary case where one routine upgrade results in weird errors?
5.) If I made sense, I would ask you to pm me for whatever IT-guru insights you get in the problem, but since our PMs also don't work, please just post here, I monitor this thread for bug reports anyway.
There's still a ton of stuff I need to sort, compare, study and test. If my test on tuesday succeeds, then I guess that's great, but I doubt it would be that easy. Any insight you can give may mean a faster resoluion of this problem.
Thanks.
-JV
Here's some narrative of what I've gathered so far. Maybe after reading this you'll be able to give me some insight that would help crack this case.
1.) At first, I thought this was a simple script error between the lines that wrote to the table, and the line that will redirect the user. Pretty reasonable assumption. Unfortunately, this doesn't account for the other errors (like those in the Admin and Mod Control Panel). And I tried "elimination" of various blocks of code between the method that actually inserts the post into the database (yes, not just lines, blocks of code, it's a little more complex) and the redirect lines. No go. There are dozens of subroutines in the code, and each sub also calls on a lot of subs or methods, which in turn calls on other subs or methods (it's like a web of daisychains, it will take a few days of concentrated work to trace each "path" in the web, so I'm hoping I don't have to resort to that), so it is still possible to be a script error. It just seems highly unlikely now, though.
2.) In the control panels, the drop down lists (which should have contained data from the database - like forum names, table names, etc.) don't have any content at all. This tells us it's either script, or something wrong with the database or (highly unlikely) the database connection. My bet is still the script. Perhaps looking for wrong table/field names, but they suppressed/silenced the errors for a production environment? I don't quite buy this though.
3.) Those who still use Perl to develop web apps right now may help me with this one. Is it just ikonboard, or is the Perl syntax " = q!myPassword!" really doesn't work for setting a password to a database? This sounds like a stupid question, but whatever is entered there ISN'T accepted by the database, so it rejects the connection (I tried on my laptop.) So those who understand will ask me now - "In that case, how in the hell do we get to connect to the db so that our posts go through, which they do?" Well, the thing is, what is actually written in "q! !" is different from the password listed by the hosting company. Is this standard for Perl in web apps (I don't see why it would be), or, more likely, is this just some ikonboard thing? Perhaps I've missed a subroutine that actually decodes the string so that it becomes equal to the actual password?
4.) There are thousands of Ikonboard forums all around the net, or so I've read. All our troubles happened after an upgrade - which is strange since hundreds or thousands of other sites must have done that too, googling our symptoms don't produce relevant results ("server error 500" and the like get a lot of results, but none that actually resembles our problems). So why is it that we seem to be a solitary case where one routine upgrade results in weird errors?
5.) If I made sense, I would ask you to pm me for whatever IT-guru insights you get in the problem, but since our PMs also don't work, please just post here, I monitor this thread for bug reports anyway.
There's still a ton of stuff I need to sort, compare, study and test. If my test on tuesday succeeds, then I guess that's great, but I doubt it would be that easy. Any insight you can give may mean a faster resoluion of this problem.
Thanks.
-JV
JV, if that doesn't work, it might be worth looking into converting to other software. I know a lot of php forums offer convertors. I deal mostly with SMF, and I think they have a convertor, but they might have more features than the HST forum really needs. phpBB could be an option as well.
I just wanted to thank JV personally for his generosity. He has gone WAY out of his way to help me/us out.
There was a question earlier about his status as admin. JV has admin status so he can help us out on the board. I see no reason for this to bother anybody... If anything, we should show our gratitude for his efforts.
There was a question earlier about his status as admin. JV has admin status so he can help us out on the board. I see no reason for this to bother anybody... If anything, we should show our gratitude for his efforts.
About the "off topic" section...please understand I'm not against the idea. I just don't want this board to turn into porn central and all that. Most of the "big" boards did get big until they added the porn etc.
It's just not what I have envisioned for this community. If you want that, there are a few other places on the internet for that...or so they tell me.
But, if you guys would really like an off topic section, I could probably be talked into it if everybody agrees to keep it civil. Come to think of it, there have been many times I have wanted to chat about AV stuff...
I guess i should put up a poll or somethign to see what everybody thinks.
It's just not what I have envisioned for this community. If you want that, there are a few other places on the internet for that...or so they tell me.
But, if you guys would really like an off topic section, I could probably be talked into it if everybody agrees to keep it civil. Come to think of it, there have been many times I have wanted to chat about AV stuff...
I guess i should put up a poll or somethign to see what everybody thinks.
If jv has a server setup on his home computer, he could grab a dump of the database and do the conversion on his computer first. That's what I did for one of my sites when I had to go through a conversion. I'd imagine the 500 error for posting might cause some problems with the conversion, but as long as all the information is kept in a database and not in any flat files, it should be possible.
jvroig
Super Moderator
Sorry I couldn't drop by sooner. While working on HST board my posting rights (jvroig account) got revoked (while working, I use a separate admin account because one of the board's existing errors is that it fails to modify any member info at all, so it didn't work when Bryan tried to make me admin, so instead he just gave me access to an admin account). Long story, and since ikonboard CP isn't working, I had to restore my posting rights by directly editing the corresponding database entry. Because of all that hassle, couldn't find time for it until I cleared up work I had piled up.
As for the error reporting switch, Ikonboard doesn't have any that I have found so far, and I don't have access to the server settings since 1&1 owns it, not Bryan.
I don't want to quit on ikonboard yet. It was conversion that caused this in the first place, I don't want to make another conversion until I know for a fact that 1&1's support (or lack of) for CGI/Perl is the cause of the errors. I'll be installing a brand new, vanilla ikonboard on the HST server (don't worry, you won't even notice), and if that works fine, then we have no problem with the hosting, and I'll just rename the directories and our problems are magically gone. If that works anyway (this approach also means no downtime at all, save for a few seconds). Let's pray to Geebus that this works. Save us Geebus!
If it becomes clear that it is a hosting problem (1&1 doesn't fully support all CGI or Perl modules necessary), then I guess I'll switch the board with Bryan's go signal. I'm hoping it won't come to that.
Regards,
-JV
As for the error reporting switch, Ikonboard doesn't have any that I have found so far, and I don't have access to the server settings since 1&1 owns it, not Bryan.
I don't want to quit on ikonboard yet. It was conversion that caused this in the first place, I don't want to make another conversion until I know for a fact that 1&1's support (or lack of) for CGI/Perl is the cause of the errors. I'll be installing a brand new, vanilla ikonboard on the HST server (don't worry, you won't even notice), and if that works fine, then we have no problem with the hosting, and I'll just rename the directories and our problems are magically gone. If that works anyway (this approach also means no downtime at all, save for a few seconds). Let's pray to Geebus that this works. Save us Geebus!
If it becomes clear that it is a hosting problem (1&1 doesn't fully support all CGI or Perl modules necessary), then I guess I'll switch the board with Bryan's go signal. I'm hoping it won't come to that.
Regards,
-JV
ChrisHouston
New Member
My gut feel is that the current problems with the board have something to do with the DB responding with unrecognised messages. I've had similar errors when the DB drops or changes the standard "end of recordset" marker.
Granted, that was on an ASP site with MS SQL Server, not a PHP/Perl site with MySQL (I assume). But it's just a nagging suspicion.
Chris.
Granted, that was on an ASP site with MS SQL Server, not a PHP/Perl site with MySQL (I assume). But it's just a nagging suspicion.
Chris.
jvroig
Super Moderator
I just installed a plain vanilla ikonboard on the HST server. It works flawlessly. I would have transferred our site to it behind the scenes so that we'd have a flawless board, but I had to use a different version (3.1.5 not 3.1.4) because that's what was available to me, and www.ikonboard.com has been down for several days already so I couldnt get a copy of the 3.1.4 version.
Thankfully, however, I managed to snag another copy of 3.1.4 through - hold your breath - my browser's cache. I downloaded 3.1.4 before, then lost it (I delete pretty quickly) because I finished it and started studying 3.1.5. But I remembered it might still be in the browser cache, so even though ikonboard site is down, I typed in the exact url to downloading 3.1.4 version, and like magic my browser took it from the cache and gave me another copy.
Hopefully, this will mean our problems are soon over. Save us Geebus!
-JV
Thankfully, however, I managed to snag another copy of 3.1.4 through - hold your breath - my browser's cache. I downloaded 3.1.4 before, then lost it (I delete pretty quickly) because I finished it and started studying 3.1.5. But I remembered it might still be in the browser cache, so even though ikonboard site is down, I typed in the exact url to downloading 3.1.4 version, and like magic my browser took it from the cache and gave me another copy.
Hopefully, this will mean our problems are soon over. Save us Geebus!
-JV