WT? where's my honeyot httpRBL installation (and others)?

[Wombat.AU]

OK so I don't have a busy forum but still it does contain helpful info for visitors.

Today I noticed that there was an upgrade to 2.0.3 available and proceeded to follow the admin upgrade thingo.

That stopped by telling me the DB had "gone away"! ...eh?

Remembering an email notice about some upgrades available from "Spectaculous" via my control panel I checked it out and followed it's upgrade option for smf. Except for comment about a missing english_british language file all went OK and 2.0.3 was installed.

BUT THEN I discovered NO previously installed packages were included, including the honeypot which has worked flawlessly against MANY 1000's of spammers since I upgraded to smf v2 a long time ago.

So,
(1) why did all my packages disappear?
(2) why is that when I try to reinstall the httpRBL package I receive the crazy DB "has gone away" error again (the one that initially stopped the smf upgrade)?

These must be bugs.

Any helpful advice appreciated. Regards.

[vbgamer45]

If you did the full upgrade package from SMF that will will wipe out all your installed mods.
You should only install the change package from the package manager.

Any full version upgrade that you download and upload will overwrite all your files and you will need to install your mods.

[Arantor]

Blame Spectaculous. Its idea of an upgrade is to just nuke whatever files you have and to replace them with standard copies which erased all your mods (as mods, by definition, modify the files in your installation)

As far as the 'gone away' error, that's unusual, even for that mod. Best to ask in the dedicated thread for that mod (you'll find it in the Modifications & Packages board, and replying to its thread there means its maintainer will be able to investigate)


Edit: ninja'd.

[Wombat.AU]

Thank you people for the replies.

But I reiterate, the same error blocked installation of 2.0.3 via admin and that is why I used the Spectaculous thingo... which worked (so far as install of 2.0.3 went).

I assure you I haven't been on the ink or funny cigs!

So here it is exactly (when trying reinstall of httpRBL)...

"MySQL server has gone away
File: /home/userme/public_html/asubdom/smf/Sources/Packages.php
Line: 844"

One might think it's just the package causing the hassle in both cases yet I just tried reinstalling [ Google Translate for SMF 2.0 ] and [ Stop Spammer ] and exactly the same error appears again.

I guess I'll just have to look around, and reconsider options if the flood of spammers get through again. Regards.

[vbgamer45]

I would try contacting your host. Your database server might be over worked.

[kat]

In an ideal world, you'd've backed-up, before attempting this upgrade.

If you didn't, you might just be lucky, in that your host may have a recent backup for you to revert to.

You MIGHT be even luckier. If you go to your site's CPanel, under the "Files" section, do you have an icon labelled "R1Soft Restore Backups", as I have?

If so, you have access to those backups and you can restore them, yourself.

[NanoSector]

I would try contacting your host. Your database server might be over worked.

And decided to quit its job, it's probably sitting in the local park by now..
/kidding

The Admin panel update would've been enough. Softaculous doesn't detect the update though and will keep bugging you for updates, which is one of the many reasons not to install through these software nukers installers.

[Wombat.AU]

Thanks again to all who offered advice. FYI...

The problem may not have been a "bug" in current versions but a glitch or brake that crept in somewhere way past but didn't surface for whatever until trying to install 2.0.3.

I had saved an SQL backup just before the very first attempt so with all other attempts to re install ANY packages still failing I deleted the whole smf, dir and all, via Softaculous (easy) and RE installed NEW v2.0.3 inc a new DB too. Then the SQL import went flawlessly too.

All packages are now installing(re) OK including httpRBL etc.

FYI I have always used the admin package installer / upgrader and just used Softaculous now because of the failure of all packages. In fact I think SMF was installed way before Softaculous even existed.

Can't be bothered trying to trace what causes that weird meaningless error notice "MySQL server has gone away" but I think someone had just returned from a long pub lunch when putting that error handler in the code.

Anyhoo, all's well that ends!

Regards.

[emanuele]

Can't be bothered trying to trace what causes that weird meaningless error notice

Being a server error that could popup everywhere in your forum to anyone, you should be interested in track down the issue. But the forum is yours, so why should I be bothered?

"MySQL server has gone away" but I think someone had just returned from a long pub lunch when putting that error handler in the code.

Tell MySQL developers.

[Wombat.AU]

pathetic, touchy, out of line, uncalled for, missed the point.

[Arantor]

pathetic, touchy, out of line, uncalled for, missed the point.

So was that post of yours.

Nothing in 2.0.3 changed package handling or DB handling. Any change that occurred was down to your host.

The 'MySQL has gone away' is MySQL's error to say that the server didn't return an answer promptly, and that's almost *always* down to the host configuration, or in rare cases really inefficient queries - but there aren't any of those in the package manager (there are almost no queries in the package manager at all)

Softaculous (or Spectaculous, whatever it's called) is at least shipping working versions then, for years both it and Fantastico were actually distributing broken versions of the software and then blaming it on SMF when it was broken.