Upgrade problems from SMF 1.1 RC2

Started by Michael1052, November 23, 2014, 08:35:53 PM

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Michael1052

I have been running 1.1 RC2 for many years, but have finally decided it's time to upgrade to the latest - mainly for security reasons. But I get an Unknown Error right from the first task in the upgrade script when upgrading to 2.0.9.

I have updated the security patches for 1.1 RC2, although there is some question around that being completely successful. But I am happy to just go to the latest if there is some way.

Any recommendations?

Michael

Kindred

How did you apply security patches to 1.1RC2?
The package patches do not work on RC versions.

(and my gods, you are 23 revisions behind even the 1.1.x series)

I'd suggest upgrading to 1.1.20 first and then try the 2.0 upgrade...

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Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

Michael1052

That worked - upgrading to 1.1.20. But it won't upgrade from there to 2.0.9 - same unknown error.
I could sit on 1.1.20, but one would expect I will need to upgrade further in future.

Are there any more suggested sub-steps?

Michael

kat

How're you doing the upgrade? Like this?

http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/A_friendly_guide_to_Upgrading

You might get some page loading errors, with that link. The wiki seems a bit flaky, for some reason. :(

Michael1052

After hours and hours of trial and error, along with scouring the internet for solutions, I finally solved the problem.

I'm not aware of the human aspect of the software development side of SMF, but being a software developer myself, I have a few suggestions for whoever puts out these upgrades. It appears to me that a lot of work goes into the ongoing development of SMF, which is why I find it extraordinary that such a small extra step is not included in the error messaging or upgrade readme file.

The problem which caused all the trouble for me upgrading from both 1.1 RC2 and 1.1.20 to 2.0.9, was a mismatch between theme URLs. This was easily fixed using the reset-settings tool, except that I had no idea such a small thing could cause the entire upgrade to fail with an Unknown Error.

It would appear a no-brainer that many users of SMF would, over time, get their theme links out of sync, which doesn't in any way impair the operations of the forum. Surely such a common issue would be easy to comment in the error alert? But even simpler to add a single sentence to the upgrade readme file?

I am well aware that developers hate writing up help info, but in this case I suggest a little addition would be of immense value.

Michael

Kindred

hmmmm...

well - didn't you delete your 1.1.x themes before upgrading?   Because 1.1.x themes will never work on 2.0.x
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

Arantor

Also... mismatch between theme URLs? I've never seen that occurring *ever* outside of moving folders and files around, between hosts or servers or things. In fact, SMF itself does actually attempt to figure that out and will offer the user the choice to fix it under some occasions where it can without falling over. (And I've seen many many hundreds of installations over the last 8 years since I've been using SMF)

I see no reason whatsoever for it to do so, however, if you upgrade in place (which is the only supported upgrade route).

Michael1052

Quote from: Kindred on November 29, 2014, 07:41:14 AM
hmmmm...

well - didn't you delete your 1.1.x themes before upgrading?   Because 1.1.x themes will never work on 2.0.x

Yes I did actually - the problem was not the theme directory, but the various links in the settings. I discovered the issue after finding a post on this forum where some others solved their own upgrade errors by matching up their theme links. I can't recall exactly now, but I think I had some links pointing to classic and some to default - simply pointing them all to default solved the upgrade problem and the unknown error never came back. Such a simple thing!

tricities

Please elaborate.  I'm getting, Unable to load the 'main' template." after doing an upgrade to V2.0.9 with no old themes on the server.  I'm being sent to go read FAQs when I've read them all.

That's not a wrinkle in my forehead; it's from falling asleep at the computer desk on the corner of the wood.

tricities

Oh just great!
I did the repair tool and am now getting this.........more problems...........


Notice: Undefined variable: cachedir in /home/ucfmcomm/public_html/pmb/Settings.php on line 51

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: array_combine() in /home/ucfmcomm/public_html/pmb/Sources/Subs-Db-mysql.php on line 649

That's not a wrinkle in my forehead; it's from falling asleep at the computer desk on the corner of the wood.

Michael1052

I didn't mention, because it should be standard practice, that I copied all files across to my computer at each upgrade stable point, thus when I ran into errors, I could easily replace all files on the server. The only hitch with this is when the upgrade moves into database changes - in which case one might have to replace the database, which should also be backed up on each stable point, but it is more of a hassle.

Nonetheless, it is surprising the repair tool caused the problems. I'm afraid I don't know enough about SMF to help you troubleshoot those errors.

tricities

A trojan got into our system.  I took it over about a week ago, did the upgrade, and cannot get the administrator account to show anything but this message. Unable to load the 'main' template.

I've got everything backed up, but I see no reason to reinstall anything I backed up yesterday that has PHP corruptions by the trojan - since there is no stable version at all.
That's not a wrinkle in my forehead; it's from falling asleep at the computer desk on the corner of the wood.

Michael1052

Yes trojan - had the same problem, but luckily it was not in SMF, but that's why I decided to upgrade after all these years. If I were you, I'd install exactly the same SMF version on a local machine, then copy across the php files to the server - of course you will need to watch the links. May be better to run the repair tool on the local copy with the required links, before uploading the settings file. As I say, I'm no expert in SMF, so don't rely on my advise.

Kindred

Tricities,

Pleas do not hijack another user's thread.  You have your own support thread where we are attempting to assist you.   Posting the same question in a completely unrelated thread just confuses matters.
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

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