Since my server upgraded my SMF forum becomes a blank screen

Started by numapepi, July 29, 2015, 12:19:16 PM

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Oldiesmann

It's really weird that it's not displaying any errors at all even after all that. Are there any recent PHP-related errors in the server error log?
Michael Eshom
Christian Metal Fans

LiroyvH

Do check the permissions indeed, or simply ask the host to have a look in their error log. They can see more. :)
((U + C + I)x(10 − S)) / 20xAx1 / (1 − sin(F / 10))
President/CEO of Simple Machines - Server Manager
Please do not PM for support - anything else is usually OK.

numapepi

The Siteground support team kind of repaired my forum...

Hello John,

Thank you for contacting our Help Desk.

I have straced the system call made by the execution of the index file of your application and it showed that the data loaded was from the cache folder of your application.

Therefore I have renamed the cache folder to cacheOLD which has basically flushed the cache and the issue appears to have been resolved.

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us again.

Best Regards,

Dimitar Dimov
Technical Support Team

So it would seem that the cache was the root of the problem?

However the forum now has an error message that the cache is not available and will negatively effect my forum...

Any ideas?

Kindred

you need a cache directory....  he should have just deleted the cache*.* files out of that directory rather than renaming the whole thing
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

numapepi

There is a cache directory.

He deleted the cache and it solved the problem. But this problem seems to reappear. I can't log in as admin when the problem happens however.

I could fo through C Panel and delete a file or edit a text file... But that still won't solve the macro issue...

margarett

That is a progress.

Can you check the permissions of the cache directory itself, as well as the files inside it?
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

numapepi

It looks like th permissions for the files in that directory are:

          User   Group   World

Read     X         X          X

Write     X         0          0

Execute 0         0          0

Is that what you wanted?

margarett

Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

Illori

Quote from: margarett on July 31, 2015, 11:28:08 AM
644, that's fine.
What about the files inside?

644 on files is what was posted.

Quote from: numapepi on July 31, 2015, 11:16:43 AM
It looks like th permissions for the files in that directory are:

so then you want to know the chmod on the folder not the files?

margarett

Ups :P

Yeah, what are the permissions on the "cache" folder itself?
And is the forum running now?
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

numapepi

The cache folder itself is 755.

The forum is running for now.

margarett

OK, let's keep our bets in the permissions issue in the folder or the files inside.
If it crashes again (which is expected to happen, according to your recent past :( ) please check the permissions of the folder and all files inside, then delete all files (which should bring it back to life)
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

numapepi


margarett

When SMF creates a file (cache files are created by SMF) it tries several permission levels until it eventually reaches 777, this being the "last resort".
My guess at this point is that, for some reason (usually ownership issues) it finds the need to reach 777 on any given file and that your server kills the script because of having a file with these permissions.

That being said: can you try to chmod your index.php to 777 and see if the white screen returns? Then chmod it back to 644 and check if it lives again?
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

numapepi

I changed the cache folder to 777... it worked fine. I also changed all the cache files to 777 and it still worked. Then I changed them back.

I guess I didn't read the post correctly. I noticed it said index.php and not cache.  I changed the index.php to 777 and it hosed up the forum, but differently than the white screen. The error was "error code 500...

If you are the webmaster of this site please log in to Cpanel and check the Error Logs. You will find the exact reason for this error there.

Common reasons for this error are:

Incorrect file/directory permissions: Above 755.
In order files to be processed by the webserver, their permissions have to be equal or below 755. You can update file permissions with a FTP client or through cPanel's File Manager.

Incorrect Apache directives inside .htaccess file.
Make sure you have not specified unsupported directives inside the local .htaccess file. Such include PHP settings and Apache module settings."

I changed the index back and it works again.

margarett

Dang...

I'm now officially lost. Your tests (thank you) totally got me lost.

So, cache folder, the original culprit, seems to be permissions-tolerant. While index.php throws a perfectly visible 500 error (expected). So my theory was just flushed :P
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

numapepi

Could the subprogram somehow be caching a corrupted file? Is PHP somehow involved with the cache process? Could the new version cause a cache file to be corrupted?

margarett

No idea. It would be nice if your host tell us what's going on in the logs, really...
As of now, we can only guess :(
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

LiroyvH

The server preventing .php files with permission 777 to execute is completely normal, it's a security mechanism.
777 should be avoided unless needed. So setting things like Settings.php and the cache folder to 777 is fine and dandy (though preferably 755 if it'll accept that), and that should keep the forum running just fine; but keep index.php lower than 777 with a max of 755. (And that's, imho, already too high) If the cache folder is 777 and that starts causing issues, that is... vague.
((U + C + I)x(10 − S)) / 20xAx1 / (1 − sin(F / 10))
President/CEO of Simple Machines - Server Manager
Please do not PM for support - anything else is usually OK.

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