Cannot attach Powerpoint fiels to a topic... can anyone help?

[agentx42]

I have our forum up and running www.cai.servebbs.org:8080/smf/index.php

I posted a topic with attachments. All of the MS Word attachments posted fine but when I tried to post a 4MB file of powerpoint slides I received an immediate error message that said either the file was too big or it took too long to upload.

I can't figure this out because I think I have everything configured right according to the on-line documentation (see below)

In PHP.INI I changed the settings to the following:

; Maximum size of POST data that PHP will accept
post_max_size = 10M

upload_max_filesize = 10M

And after I made the changes in the file I restarted the webserver just to be sure they took effect

In SMF I went to:

ADMIN>Attachments and Avatars>Attachment Settings>

I made the following changes:

Max Attachment Folder Space = "0"
Max Attachment size per post = "0"
Max Number of attachments per post = "0"

There are no restrictions checked in that section to limit the type of files uploaded.

I have 23 GB of free space on the hard drive.

What am I missing?

[ccbtimewiz]

Is .pps a permitted file type extension?

[agentx42]

Sorry... I did not think I was posting a random PM.  I looked all through the documentation and followed all the directions for set up and it just does not work with that type file (.PPT).  I just thought there might be a bug or something. I went through the documentation on the site (even did a search) and did not find anything on this issue.

If I missed something in the support documentation I apologize and I'll look again, but I can't seem to find it and this seemed the most appropriate location to seek help.

In the admin section of the forum I do not have the box checked for permissible files as the documentation indicates that if the box is NOT checked then all file types are permitted.  If that is incorrect I can go back in and add the PPT file extention to the permitted files and check the box.

[ThorstenE]

maybe, it's a timing problem?!?

check the values for max_execution_time and max_input_time in php.ini

for example:

Code Select Expand


max_execution_time = 500     ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds
max_input_time = 500 ; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing request data

[agentx42]

Changed the value of both to 500 just like the example and restarted apache.  It started to for a few second then I got this:

Your attachment couldn't be saved. This might happen because it took too long to upload or the file is bigger than the server will allow.

Please consult your server administrator for more information.

[cme1st2302]

I don't believe ccbtimewiz was accusing you of sending a random pm  it is part of his signature.

[agentx42]

That makes me feel a LOT better    I didn't want to be a bother but this is a very perplexing problem... I'm sure it is something simple I'm just too dumb to see....

[ccbtimewiz]

Indeed, it's part of my signature. ^^;

Anyways, does this error occur on any other large files?

[agentx42]

I have only tried it in Powerpoint so far. I'll test with word and image files then let you know.

Bob

[agentx42]

I tried it with a 3MB Pdf file and a couple 1MB JPG files.  Same error message.  It comes up about 15 seconds after I hit Post

AGH!

[ThorstenE]

ok, maybe this helps:
http://www.radinks.com/upload/config.php

[agentx42]

Thanks, this was very helpful but I'm still stuck

I went back into the Php.ini file and the settings seem ok:

file_uploads                         ON
upload_max_filesize            10M
max_input_time                   500
memory_limit                       128M
max_execution_time           500
post_max_size                   10M

In the fine print of the page it says: "The apache webserver has a LimitRequestBody configuration directive that restricts the size of all POST data regardless of the web scripting language in use. Some RPM installations sets limit request body to 512Kb. You will need to change this to a larger value or remove the entry altogether"

I went into the httpd.conf file and did a search for "LimitRequestBody" and could not find it anywhere in there.

This site does have an applet it saus you can download for free that helps with uploads, but I'm getting onthe ragged edge of my abilities here and have not yet been daring enough to try and install it. It may also have a 1MB limit in the free version which really does not get me any further down the road.

If I'm the only one having this problem I must be doing something wrong....

Just for th eheck of it I created another reply to this and tried to upload the file. It worked perfectly! (I went back in and deleted the post so as to not consume server space).  So however this forum is set it works.

Curiouser and curiouser.....

[青山 素子]

Have you restarted Apache after you make these changes?

[agentx42]

Yes.  When that didn't work I did a complete server hard shutdown and restart for the whole machine....

I tried posting from a machine connected to the same router as the server. I know that should not make any difference, but I'm going to try to have someone attempt an attachment of a 3 MB PPT file from outside and see if for some weird reason that works.

[ThorstenE]

have you verified editing of php.ini with phpinfo();?

sometimes there is more than one php.ini and so you could have changed the wrong one.. verify also your .htaccess (if there exists one). some values of php.ini can be changed with .htaccess.. (parameters begin with php_admin_value or php_admin_flag)

[agentx42]

You're right!!!!

when I ran the phpinfo it showed me the program isn't using the PHP.ini file inthe PHP folder but, for some reason, one in the C:\windows directory!  I made the changes there and it's now working!

Thanks for all the help.

I cut the string down to a short para on the steps it took to fix this... do you think there would be any benefit to sending it into SMF to add to their FAQ area so others can find it in the future? If so, any particular area I shoudl send it?

Thanks again for all the help!