Package upload failed error

[darkaine78]

Every time I try to install a mod, I keep getting the following error message
Package upload failed due to the following error:
"Although the package was downloaded to the server it appears to be empty. Please check the Packages directory, and the "temp" sub-directory are both writable. If you continue to experience this problem you should try extracting the package on your PC and uploading the extracted files into a subdirectory in your Packages directory and try again. For example, if the package was called shout.tar.gz you should:
1) Download the package to your local PC and extract it into files.
2) Using an FTP client create a new directory in your "Packages" folder, in this example you may call it "shout".
3) Upload all the files from the extracted package to this directory.
4) Go back to the package manager browse page and the package will be automatically found by SMF."

I am not even trying to install the shout any more but I can't get it to install properly either I keep getting error messages on any thing I try to install. I have smf 2.0.8 and nothing I am doing is working... Can some one please tell me what I am doing wrong and walk me threw how to fix it.

I used softicious  installer from ifast hosting I don't know if they have a faulty install or what... I hope some one can help me

[Chalky]

Hi and welcome to SMF 

I have changed your topic title to something more descriptive.  We have so many people posting with unhelpful titles like "help please" that nobody bothers looking at them anymore.

Go into your forum files via either FTP or your host's file manager and ensure that your Packages folder is writeable.  Also make sure there is a folder inside Packages called "temp" that is also writeable.  Create "temp" if you don't already have it.  That should solve your problem 

You are correct though that Softaculous and similar installs can be very buggy and come with some weird configurations.  We always advise people to install manually if possible to avoid any issues  http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Introduction_to_installing

[Oldiesmann]

Softaculous isn't the issue here. I've installed SMF that way several times (mostly for test sites and such) and have never had any problems with it. The problem is due to the server configuration. Creating a folder in the Packages directory called "temp" and making it writable should solve your problems. I would also recommend checking out the No temp directory removal mod to get around the problem in the future.

[TonyG]

In v.2.0.9, about half of my installs fail due to "package was downloaded to the server it appears to be empty".
I do have a writable Packages/temp. In fact, I just noticed that it's perms 777. I'm shocked. I just reset that to 755.

So what's the latest wisdom on this?
Is that No Temp Delete mod still a good solution for this?

Is it possible that this issue is caused by low memory, like that "white screen of death" issue?

Thanks!

[Kindred]

Nope, empty packages tend to be a message generated when you actually have a bad package or you have grabbed a packaged mod from github, which mistakenly sets the mod files two levels deep instead of one.

[TonyG]

All of this was done through the SMF package manager.

So outside of hit or miss, is there any way to filter out bad packages from the manager, or perhaps to report them?

I did try manually installing a couple of these and they worked - the zips are not really empty for this slew of published packages.

So... ?

[Kindred]

in short... no.

[TonyG]

Well, there is one of two things going on:
- Either there are mods available to the Package Manager which need fixing by the authors.
or
- Something is wrong with the Package Manager, causing it to fail to load some valid packages.


In the first case, who is the keeper of the database so that we might be able to flag bad packages and alert authors.

In the second case, what's the process for reporting an issue toward getting a resolution.

I'm not fond of "sucks that it doesn't work" resolutions.

[Arantor]

There are issues with the package manager, which were attempted to be fixed in 2.1 though other, different, issues were introduced.

[TonyG]

Thank you VERY much, that's all I need to know.

[Kindred]

when you say "available to the package manager" what do you mean?

If you download the mod from our mod site and then upload and install it in the package manager, does it fail?
Or are the errors occurring because you are trying to use the package manager server option and download mods directly in the package manager?

[TonyG]

From Download Packages I look at the first and only server: "Simple Machines Third-party Mod Site".
Then I click Browse I'll click to Download. Then from Browse Packages I click Install. This is when it says "Although the package was downloaded to the server it appears to be empty."

By "available to the package manager", I mean anything that is in that Browse list. All I can say is that I'm downloading whatever is offered there from the default server. Perhaps mea culpa, there is a nice disclaimer there: "Please note! These modifications come from third parties, and may not be totally reliable. Use at your own risk!" That tells me there is no vetting or other certification.

As to "use at your own risk", that might be what I'm experiencing here, as well as the issues that @Arantor mentioned.

[Arantor]

Mods on the mod site here are reviewed when they first get uploaded but they are not re-reviewed every update simply because of a lack of time to do so. In any case, every mod - and SMF itself - has an implied (and in SMF's case explicit) licence that there is no warranty or anything.

[Kindred]

also, do note

http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/How_can_I_install_a_mod_that_doesn%27t_work_in_my_SMF_version

some mods may not have been updated to the most recent version, but will probably still work.

[Illori]

From Download Packages I look at the first and only server: "Simple Machines Third-party Mod Site".
Then I click Browse I'll click to Download. Then from Browse Packages I click Install. This is when it says "Although the package was downloaded to the server it appears to be empty."

if you are having issues with the mod site though the package manager, why not browse the mod site here, download the mod and install it normally? it sounds like your host does not like the way the mod site works and downloads the packages incorrectly.

[Arantor]

2.1 should perform better in that regard by having changed the guts of how downloading from a remote server is handled.