Panicked. forum gone

[auroramae]

I think it is a permissions problem but I can't even run the  Repair_settings.php  or the upgrade.php
It is completely blank.
Can someone list the correct permissions for the files. I've read the documentation and have set the permissions o match to no avail.

[Antechinus]

Just set everything to 777 and go for it. That'll do for getting you running again. If you're worried about the security of your server you can tighten the permissions once you're sorted.

[auroramae]

I did that already and it didn't help.

trying again.

Thanks for the help.

[auroramae]

all are at 777
no change

html source shows this
<!-- SHTML Wrapper - 500 Server Error -->
<!--#exec cgi="/500.php" -->

Which is ironic since I was trying to wrap it in joomla yesterday....just a coincidence of words.

My control panel error log has this repeatedly
I have not changed my php.ini file
[22-Oct-2008 22:27:09] PHP Warning: Zend Optimizer for PHP 5.2.x cannot be found (expected at '/usr/local/Zend/lib/Optimizer/php-5.2.x/ZendOptimizer.so') - try reinstalling the Zend Optimizer in Unknown on line 0

I did a search of the errors and it seems a lot of messages are posted regarding my error in relation to my host and and other hosts owned by the same company
contacting support on the server

[auroramae]

just an update - in case it can help anyone else in the future
I contacted the host and they said 777 is not allowed.
Changed directories to 755, files to 644 except for the ones specifically listed in the SMF install documentation and it is back online.
He said the zend error is unrelated