Help..My Site has crashed

[blackasnight]

Hi All,

My site seems to have crashed with a fatal error which reads:

Notice: Undefined variable: sourcedir in /home/intern41/public_html/IOKForum/index.php on line 54

Warning: require_once(/QueryString.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/intern41/public_html/IOKForum/index.php on line 54

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/QueryString.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/intern41/public_html/IOKForum/index.php on line 54

I would like to get this site up and working as soon as possible.. anyone have any ideas.... I havent logged on for a week or so so dont know why it has dropped out like this.
Regards

[emanuele]

Please try repair_settings.php

[Illori]

are you using 1.1.1* ? if so check your settings.php file and see if it has been wiped out, if so COPY your settings_bak.php to settings.php do not OVERRIDE or RENAME.

[blackasnight]

Hi Illori ...yes Im using 1.1.18 i think. If I am neither overriding or renaming the file do I take it that I copy the contents of the file settings_bak.php to my settings.php?
Regards Rick

[Illori]

yes and you should really consider upgrading to at least 1.1.15 if not 2.0.1

[blackasnight]

Thanks for your help and for moving my post. i realised too late that it was probably in the wrong place!
Can I not download the settings_bak file and rename it to settings.php then upload it to the server, overwriting the current settings.php?
And I checked thru cpanel and the version I used is 1.1.15, ie up to date.

[Illori]

yes as that is not removing the settings_bak.php file.

[blackasnight]

Thanks I'll do that and let you know how i get on.

[blackasnight]

Hi Illori,
Thanks to you my site is working again, replaced the settings file and all is well. But why has this occured? Is this the result of hacking or just a server error? If you have any tips about how I could prevent this happening in the future i would be grateful. And apart from that i guess this problem has been resolved. Thanks again..you really are a hero.
Regards Rick

[Illori]

this occurs rarely when 2 errors happen at the same time and the file is written to by the server and by mistake overwritten and blanks out the page. you can set the file so that the server can not write to it, or you can upgrade to 2.0.1 where this has been fixed.

[MrPhil]

The easiest fix is to make your Settings.php "read only" (444 permissions) once you have it working right. I also have code (see my sig > Fixes) to separate out the overwritten portion (a timestamp of the last database error) into a one-line file and prevent these kinds of catastrophic errors.

I've been telling the SMF developers for years that they need to do something about this, and I've offered my fix if they want it. The response is always "get a better host, so you don't have database errors". They totally deny that there's anything wrong with the code. I'm blue in the face and I've given up on these morons.

[blackasnight]

Thanks to you both for your comments...I shall indeed make my settings file read only. I believe I can do this with a chmod command or similar from cpanel. Thanks again, I was beginning to think I had been attacked by a malicious hacker!.
Best Wishes
Blackasnight