"Unable to load 'main' template" or, how can I reinstall?

[olcircuits]

Hi all,

I updated 1.1.2 to 1.1.3 yesterday. That went fine. The update from 1.1.3 to 1.1.4 didn't go so well, though. Earlier, I couldn't log out as admin: "Unable to load 'main' template", so I forced a log out by clearing Firefox's cookies. Now I can't log in: "Unable to load 'main' template". I can get in via Safari browser, so there must be a blessed cookie saved in Safari .

I don't have a gallery. None of the "solutions" for this problem seem to apply to my install. I tried the repair_settings.php thing. No luck. Actually, that repair thing made it such that I can't get in at all... same "Unable to load 'main' template." again.

So, if there's no fix for the "'main' template' error, can I reinstall v1.1.4 from scratch and somehow save my members' avatars, settings, post counts, signatures, etc? There are over 300,000 posts in my forum and I don't want my members to lose all of that.

In the meantime, I'm uploading v1.1.4 to a new folder on my server. I eagerly await your suggestions for either a) fixing the "'main' template" problem or b) reinstalling and moving databases and whatever else is needed to bring the new install up to speed. My obligation to the members of my forum comes first, so I don't care which solution I take. I don't mind putting in whatever labor I have to (as long as I actually can do it).

Thank you very much,
Mark

[olcircuits]

Bump... pleading for replies

[babjusi]

Please don''t bump your topics unless 24 hours have passed as such a thing is frowned upon here.

How did you updated your forum from 1.1.3 to 1.1.4, through the package manager? Did it give any error prior to applying the patch?

Try to replace all your form files with a fresh set of files from a large upgrade 1.1.4 package, minus the upgrade.php and the 2 upgrade.sql files.

Note: If you don''t think that you get fast attention bear in mind that we are all volunteers here and there plenty of other folks who seek support as well, so please don''t start bumping again. Just wait patiently until someone will help you further

[olcircuits]

I won't bump again... it was headed for the 3rd page with only 6 views at the time and it had been 17 hours. I didn't know of the 24-hour rule, but that's prolly my own fault for not reading rules.

Thanks for your reply. I updated through the package manager and somehow screwed it up.

Without anything else to go on, I uploaded v1.1.4 to a new folder. I'm hoping to transfer users:passes, posts, etc. So far, I've copied the "attachments" folder, which has a few hundred avatar files. I've copied the "smileys" folder. I figure I'll leave the "packages" alone, though, since the admins and I can use the package manager to get what we want/need.

I think I'm at the point of needing to copy the users:passes, posts, etc. over, but I don't know where those files are. If they're not in the "forum" directory of my FTP server, my guess is that they're MySQL databases at my host. I have no idea what to do from here.

Thanks for your reply.
Mark

[babjusi]

Mark, did you consider my suggestion about replacing your current forum files with a fresh set from the large 1.1.4 upgrade package?

Or if you have a backup, you can try to import it at the new forum that you installed and then rename that folder to whatever your actual forum folder name is and run repair_settings.php.

[Rumbaar]

Are you getting this error on the default theme as well? Or are you using the default theme?

[olcircuits]

Hi Babjusi,
I eventually tried your suggestion. It worked better than my own process . I was just afraid that posts, etc. were going to be overwritten. Thank you for your help!

Rumbaar,
At the time, I was using MercuryFinal theme. I couldn't log in to change the theme I was using, though. It seemed like I was in a Catch-22.

Thanks guys!
Mark

[Rumbaar]

FYI, if you ever want to get back to the default theme in these type of cases you can force SMF to do it via a URL string:
/index.php?theme=1   {where 1 equals the default theme, tho it can technically be any of the themes.}